Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wylie, A. S. Articles by Wood, J. R. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Well-log tomography and 3-D imaging of core and log-curve amplitudes in a Niagaran reef, Belle River Mills field, St. Clair County, Michigan, United States

¹ Department of Geological Engineering and Sciences, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, Michigan 49931; aswylie{at}mtu.edu
² Department of Geological Engineering and Sciences, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, Michigan 49931; jrw{at}mtu.edu

A. S. "Buddy" Wylie is currently a research scientist and engineer with Michigan Technological University, where he received his Ph.D. in 2002. He holds M.S. and B.S. degrees in geology from North Carolina State University. He worked for 19 years in petroleum exploration and reservoir characterization in a variety of positions for companies including Gulf, Chevron, Santa Fe Energy, and Mobil. His present interests include the continued development of log-curve amplitude slicing and tomography for subsurface imaging of petroleum systems and reservoirs.James R. Wood is presently professor of geology at Michigan Technological University (MTU) and director of the Subsurface Visualization Laboratory at MTU. He received his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1972 and spent 11 years with Chevron Oil Field Research Company from 1978 to 1990. His present interests include petroleum geology and surface geochemistry as well as computer-based mapping of the subsurface.

Well-log tomography, a recently developed technique that generates subhorizontal slices through log curves, was used to create a series of amplitude slices from the core permeability, core porosity, and gamma-ray log curves for the wells penetrating the Silurian Brown Niagara reservoir in the Belle River Mills field. Log-curve amplitude slicing and three-dimensional (3-D) imaging of the core permeability and core porosity amplitudes show the detailed anatomy of the pinnacle reef in terms of these important reservoir properties. Although the reef has been dolomitized, the spatial distribution of permeability and porosity amplitudes in the reservoir appears to be controlled by the original pore and depositional fabrics of the wackestone, boundstone, stromatolite, and reef conglomerate rock types.

Trends and patterns observed in the normalized gamma-ray log tomography approximate the trends and patterns observed in the core permeability and core porosity tomography in the Belle River Mills field. The similarities in the tomography trends and patterns establishes a potentially significant relationship that can be used to interpret log-curve amplitude patterns in other Niagaran pinnacle reef fields with log-curve data only and perhaps lead to improved sequence-stratigraphic models for these reservoirs.

Well-log tomography and 3-D imaging provide complementary visualization tools that use existing data to image reservoirs and geologic formations. These imaging tools can be used to improve the design and placement of vertical, deviated, and horizontal wellbores for primary, secondary, tertiary, and gas storage operations in these reefs and other reservoirs.