22 July, 2014

Latitudinal Controls on Stratigraphic Models and Sedimentary Concepts

An AAPG / SEPM Hedberg Research Conference

 

This conference will provide an opportunity for attendees to share knowledge and identify differences in depositional processes, define how variability affects play elements, and define differences in stratigraphic models and sedimentary concepts.

Enhance cooperation, exchange ideas, and identify opportunities for further collaborations about stratigraphic and sedimentary models. This research conference will provide attendees with the opportunity to interact with leading research geoscientists to network and share ideas & knowledge.

Stratigraphic and sedimentary models are important tools in reducing exploration risk and have been successfully applied in both mature and frontier basin exploration settings. With increasing interest it’s timely to examine in  detail, process variability at different latitudes, and determine how stratigraphic and sedimentary facies models should be modified (or not) to include that variability.

Divided into several sessions the conference will cover a wide range of related themes which includes, process controls & their latitudianal associations, sources, chronostratigraphic framework, applying latitudinal variations to models, and much more*.

Join us Sept. 28 – Oct. 1, 2014 in Banff, Alberta, Canada at the Rimrock Resort. For more information: Hedberg Research Conference

Purpose

By design, the conference will provide an opportunity for geologists, stratigraphers, engineers, geophysicists and academics to gather, share knowledge, and identify opportunities for further collaboration.

Goals
The primary goals of this conference are:

  1. Identify differences in depositional processes between high and low latitude systems
  2. Define how such variability affects hydrocarbon play elements
  3. Define the differences in stratigraphic models and sedimentary concepts that arise due to differences in latitude
  4. To search for insights that may be applicable for subsurface interpretations & petroleum exploration.
  5. To identify revisions to models, including the application of new techniques such as Earth System Modeling, to improve stratigraphic and sedimentary models

Conference Description

Stratigraphic and sedimentary models are important tools in reducing exploration risk and have been successfully applied in both mature and frontier basin exploration settings. However, although these models are based on decades of research, they rely primarily on temperate and tropical latitude analogs. The question is whether this inherently biases the results of such models when they are applied to systems at higher latitudes, which may have ramifications for high latitude exploration.

Examples of processes that are known to vary with latitude include Coriolis effects, which are stronger at high latitudes, whereas tidal forces are weaker. Then there are the extremes of seasonality in higher latitudes that affect fauna and flora, as well as resulting in more variable hydrological conditions leading to highly seasonal fluvial discharge. In addition, some important high latitude processes such as ice melt algal blooms have no temperate or tropical equivalent and are thus unaccounted for in established models. The sum of these differences can, and do, impact numerous play elements including reservoir, source, and seal in both their quality and distribution.

With increasing exploration interest in high latitudes, especially the Arctic, it is timely to examine in more detail process variability at different latitudes, and determine how stratigraphic and sedimentary facies models should be modified (or not) to include that variability.

Technical Themes
The program will be split in several sessions corresponding to the suggested themes listed below: *

  • Process controls and their latitudinal associations: climate, oceanography, topographic controls, weathering and sediment flux
  • Source: geochemistry, sedimentology, productivity and preservational differences with latitude; prevalence of different processes; modelling of latitudinal variations in source facies; glacial system associated source rocks
  • Reservoir: clastics vs. carbonates (viz., Tethyan vs. Boreal arguments); weathering and sediment flux variations; deepwater, non-marine, shallow marine systems; glacial systems
  • Seal: fine clastic deposition variations; weathering systems and the dominance of mechanical vs chemical processes
  • Chronostratigraphic framework: sequence stratigraphy and biostratigraphy; can we correlate between high, mid and low latitudes?
  • Applying latitudinal variations to models

* The final list of themes will be determined once the abstracts have all be received, reviewed and assembled into the conference agenda.

For registration and full event details please visit: HERE!