2010 30th Annual GCSSEPM Foundation Bob F. Perkins Research Conference
"Seismic Imaging of Depositional and Geomorphic Systems"
December
5-8, 2010
Marriott Westchase Hotel,
Houston, Texas
Seismic geomorphology is the integration of three-dimensional seismic data and the historical study of earth forms—geomorphology. Through this discipline we can see the ancient morphology of our depositional systems, in a spatial detail and at a dense time scale that we have not considered before. Quantitative methods applied to these data enable us to risk and define our subsurface reservoir and seal systems with a reduced uncertainty. In areas where much of our understanding was previously based upon schematic models and distant analogs often derived in basins very different from our own, we now rely on quantitative morphologic data measured from our own reservoirs in our own data. Having these data allow us to reexamine the empirical relationships among system elements and create models to predict, for instance, channel lithology from channel sinuosity, levee width based upon levee height or carbonate apron width from slope. They enable us to view the true distribution of petrographic facies within a context of 3D spatial distribution of depositional elements. We can begin to explain why some wells produce and others don’t. We can begin to predict with increased accuracy. Application of quantitative seismic geomorphology to existing data volumes around the world has the potential to provide a heretofore unrealized dense, deep and spatially extensive understanding of older geomorphologic framework of the world.
The aim of the 30th annual Bob F. Perkins Research Conference is to discuss the integration of geomorphic and depositional systems principles and three-dimensional seismic interpretation toward an improved understanding of how to interpret paleo-landscapes and seascapes.