Text and Figures by Geoff Bohling and John Doveton Programming by Geoff Bohling

The Oz Machine is a Java applet designed to accompany John Doveton's online tutorial on geological interpretation of wireline logs. It provides an interactive exercise to help students gain experience in the interpretation of lithology (rock type) from a suite of well logs. Well logs represent measurements of various properties (electromagnetic, acoustic, nuclear) of the rocks and fluids encountered by a wellbore and are used by petroleum industry analysts to guide decisions regarding further well development and investigation. The Oz Machine generates and displays a set of logs based on a synthetic lithological sequence and provides a palette of 14 lithologies with which to "paint" a lithological column in the depth track of the log display. Alternatively, sequences may be generated with true lithologies shown in the depth track, giving you the opportunity to study the log-lithology associations for any number of sequences. The logs employed in the synthetic analysis are gamma ray, neutron porosity, density porosity, and photoelectric factor. The Oz Machine requires Java 1.3.1 (or higher). If necessary, you can download the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) from java.com. From here you may . . .

Return to the geological log interpretation tutorial Read about the synthetic generation process Read the operating instructions (short, sweet, and recommended) Run the machine . . . . . . Or if that doesn't work, try this.

This zip file contains a standalone (application) version of the Oz Machine which is able to read LAS files, allowing interpretation of lithologies from actual logs. The zip file also contains two example LAS files. Download the zip file and extract the enclosed folder to your hard drive. Open the folder and double-click on OzMachineApp.jar to run the application. (Zip file updated Oct. 25, 2010.)

<< Portal || Introduction || Gamma Ray >>

The following pages will familiarize you with the basics of the geological interpretation of common logs as they appear on hard-copy blue-line logs (or their electronic raster copies). The lithologies considered are those common in sedimentary successions, with particular emphasis on sandstones, limestones, and dolomites, which have potential for oil, gas, or water production. However, other log keys are given of evaporite sequences and coal-bearing clastic successions. The logs used in interpretation are all measurements of nuclear properties, which are sensitive to both fluids and gases within the pore space and the mineral composition of the rock framework. They are the gamma-ray, neutron porosity, bulk density, and photoelectric index logs. These logs are available for thousands of wells across Kansas, either as paper copy, raster or digital logs. Mastery of the principles described in this tutorial and practice with the Oz Machine will give you a start with the skills to "read the rocks" from these wireline logs.

<< Introduction || The Gamma Ray Log || Density/Neutron Overlay >>

A majority of the elements are found in a variety of isotopic forms. Many of these isotopes are unstable and decay to a more stable form, while emitting radiation of several types. Gamma rays have significantly high penetrations and can be measured by simple devices such as Geiger counters or scintillation detectors on logging tools. Of the many radioactive isotopes which are known, only three types occur in any appreciable abundance in nature:

The uranium series The thorium series, and The potassium-40 isotope

The measurement scale of the gamma-ray log is in API (American Petroleum Institute) units, accepted as the international reference standard that allows consistent comparisons to be made between a wide variety of gammaray counting devices. The API standard is set by the primary calibration test pit at the University of Houston where a radioactive cement calibrator is assigned a value of 200 API units and conceived originally so that a typical Midcontinent shale would register at about 100 API units.

Analyses of the North American Shale Composite (NASC) reference standard reported values of Th 12.3 ppm, U 2.66 ppm., K 3.2%, which converts to an equivalent gamma-ray log reading of 121.7 API units. Although higher than the vague assertion that a typical Midcontinent shale should read about 100 API units, the hypothetical log value of the NASC standard is a good match with the gray shales of the Pennsylvanian succession shown in the figure at right. The black shales, however, are prominent as thin anomalously radioactive zones. Their markedly different character is produced by a high U content that supplements radioactive sources in gray shales of 40K contained in illite and other K-bearing minerals, and Th contained in monazite in the silt and clay fraction and adsorbed at clay-mineral surfaces. In the majority of stratigraphic and petroleum geological applications, the gamma ray log is used as a "shale log", both to differentiate shales and "clean" formations and to evaluate shale proportions in shaly formations. Typical sandstones, limestones and dolomites have relatively low concentrations of radioactive isotopes as contrasted with shales. Most carbonates show very low levels of radioactivity unless they contain disseminated shale or have been mineralized by uranium-bearing solutions. Simple orthoquartzites show similarly low values, although relatively high readings may be introduced by significant amounts of shale, felspar, mica or heavy minerals such as zircon.

<< Gamma Ray || Density and Neutron Log Overlay || Photoelectric index >>
The gamma-ray log generally allows a basic distinction of shales from nonshales but is not usually diagnostic of the rock type in hydrocarbon reservoir or aquifer formations. Neutron and density logs are used to evaluate porosity in these units but are also affected by the neutron moderating characteristics and densities of the formation minerals. By

overlaying the two logs on a common reference scale, a true volumetric porosity can be estimated and the formation lithology interpreted. A scale of equivalent limestone percentage porosity is the most commonly used reference because limestone is intermediate in its neutrondensity properties between sandstone and dolomite. A hypothetical overlay is shown of neutron and density logs for some common reservoir lithologies and a shale in the figure. Shales show a high gamma-ray reading, a high neutron reading, and a moderate density reading. Limestones generally have a low gamma-ray value, and a coincident density and neutron response, because of common calibration to an assumed limestone porosity scale. Dolomites have a low gamma-ray value, a relatively low density porosity (because the grain density of dolomite is higher than calcite) and a relatively high neutron reading (because the neutron moderating character of dolomite is higher than calcite). Sandstones have a low gamma-ray value, a relatively high density porosity (because the grain density of quartz is less than calcite), and a relatively low neutron reading. The true, effective porosity of shale-free zones in the reservoir lithologies is approximately midway between the two extremes of the neutron and density porosities.

<< Density-Neutron Overlay || The Photoelectric Index || Multiple Log Overlay >>
The photoelectric index (Pe) is a supplementary measurement by the latest generation of density logging tools, and records the absorption of lowenergy gamma rays by the formation in units of barns per electron. The logged value is a direct function of the aggregate atomic number (Z) of the elements in the formation, and so is a sensitive indicator of mineralogy. The values are less sensitive to pore volume changes than either the neutron or density logs, so that the index is an excellent indicator of mineralogy. The common reservoir mineral reference values are : quartz 1.81 ; dolomite 3.14 ; calcite 5.08 barns/electron. The photoelectric index log is commonly scaled on a range between 0 and 10 barns/electron, and a generalized interpretation guide is given in the figure. The variable compositions of clay minerals means that their position on the scale should only be taken as a broad indication. The ordering of clay minerals on the index is almost entirely a function of their likely content of iron. The photoelectric index log is particularly useful when considered in conjunction with the neutron/density porosity overlay as an additional input to resolve mixtures of minerals such as commonly occur in "complex carbonates" as cherty dolomitic limestones or anhydritic dolomites. Successful interpretation requires the disposition of the neutron/density porosity traces to be considered simultaneously with the Pe curve. The photoelectric factor curve should be watched most carefully, because it has a finer vertical resolution (about half a foot) than the neutron/density curves (about 2 feet). As a result, the Pe character can give a better reading on

lithology in thin beds, where the averaging effect of adjacent thick beds may smooth the neutron and density responses adversely.

<< Photoelectric Index || Multiple Log Overlay || Example >>

The addition of the photoelectric index curve to the gamma ray and neutron-density log overlay provides both additional validation of simple lithology picks and the resolution of ambiguities in interpretation of "complex" (multimineral) lithologies. The generalized expectations of log patterns for shales and endmember reservoir lithologies of limestone, dolomite, and sandstone are shown in the figure. In the examination of the neutron-density log overlay, dolomites and siliceous rocks (either sandstones or cherts) can be recognized by the curve separations. However, the close overlay of the two could be caused either by a limestone or a cherty dolomite (or a cherty dolomitic limestone!). The inclusion of the photoelectric index can be used to choose between these alternatives. Similarly, a dolomite reading on the photoelectric index curve could also be caused by a cherty or sandy limestone. The simultaneous consideration of the neutron-density log overlay resolves the more likely of these two interpretations. An example of the log interpretation of simple and "complex" lithologies is described on the next page.

<< Multiple Log Overlay || Example from Central Kansas || Evaporite Properties >>

The

example section has a variety of common rock type mixtures, which makes it a good demonstration of the interpretive power of the combined photoelectric index and neutron/density overlay. The Cherokee "Burgess Sandstone" is picked out by the density/neutron crossover which is shown to be a silica matrix effect rather than "gas effect" by the Pe value. As with the other log measures, the photoelectric index does not distinguish whether the silica mineral is quartz sand or chert. This additional distinction must be made either from drill-cuttings information or inferred from petrographic experience of correlative units. The carbonates in the underlying Mississippian have zones with almost every mixed lithology drawn from the three endmembers of limestones, dolomites and cherts. Limestones are easily recognized as segments of Pe curve trace which are about 5 barns/electron, and a close match of the neutron and density porosity curves. At higher porosities, limestones will show minor drifts in the Pe value below 5, but these zones could equally represent either dolomitic limestone (recognized by systematically higher neutron than density porosity, but "clean" gamma-ray response), shaly limestones (higher neutron than density porosity, but indications of shale from the gamma-ray logs), or cherty limestones (density porosity higher than neutron porosity). Cherty dolomites are sometimes difficult to discern on the neutron/density overlay alone, and may even look like limestones, because of the conflicting effects of dolomite and quartz. However, cherty dolomites are marked on the photoelectric index by distinctive shifts downward from the dolomite towards the quartz value. As with so many visual processes, the pattern recognition of lithologies from these logs is easier to do than to describe in words! After some limited practice, log sequences can be "read" for rocktype very rapidly, particularly since most zones are simple lithologies.

<< Example || Logging Properties of Evaporites || Coal Properties >>

The geological interpretation of log overlays is easily extended to sedimentary lithologies other than the common reservoir lithologies of sandstone, limestone, and dolomite. The common evaporite minerals of gypsum, anhydrite, and halite (listed in the order of their evaporitic appearance in the Usiglio Sequence) have highly distinctive logging properties as shown in the table: Pe neutron porosity density porosity (bulk density) Halite Gypsum 4.7 4.0 -3 -2 60 39 (2.04) -16 (2.98) 21 (2.35) Anhydrite 5.1

and on the figure. Halite and anhydrite have markedly low and high bulk densities, respectively, while the very high neutron porosity of gypsum is caused by hydrogen in its water of crystallization.

<< Evaporite Properties || Logging Properties of Coal Sequences || On to the Oz Machine >>
Clastic successions containing coals were commonly developed in deltaic environments with clastic deposits of shales, siltstones, and sandstones, as well as occasional ironstones (typically siderite). The clay mineralogy of the finer-grained rocks is quite variable and can show elevated contents in kaolinite, particularly in paleosols. The logging properties of coals vary according to their rank, but typical figures are: Pe neutron porosity density porosity (bulk density) Anthracite Lignite 0.16 0.20 38 60 52 72 (1.47) 86 (1.24) 89 (1.19) Bituminous 0.17

The Oz Machine uses a Markov chain simulation to generate the synthetic sequence of lithologies. The first (lowermost) lithology in the sequence is selected at random from the set of possible lithologies. Then the lithology for the next half-foot interval up is selected according to a set of "transition probabilities" describing the likelihood that any given lithology will occur immediately above the first lithology generated. This process is repeated for each half-foot interval until the entire column is filled with assigned lithologies. The transition probabilities are stored in a transition probability matrix, where the entry in row i, column j represents the probability that facies j will occur above facies i. The structure of the transition probability matrix is shown below, with the filled cells representing non-zero probabilities:

The Oz Machine transition probability matrix is subdivided into three major regions:

"Playaworld" for evaporite sequences, "Marineworld" for marine carbonate-shale successions, and "Deltaworld" for clastic coal-bearing successions.

The transition probabilities of the "portal states" of dolomitic shale which links Playaworld with Marineworld, and sandy shale which links Marineworld with Deltaworld controls the typical duration of a succession within each facies domain. The main diagonal values (transitions of a state to itself) control the thickness distribution of lithologies. Inevitably, the thickness variability will be artificial, because the probability model dictates a geometric distribution, while the observed distributions are more closely matched by a

lognormal distribution. However, this aberration is not noticeable on the relatively short sequences generated by the machine. The transition probability values are arbitrary but judiciously chosen to generate sequences that conform reasonably with natural stratigraphic successions. The sequences are perhaps a little more accelerated than their real equivalents, by presenting more lithological variability over relatively short intervals rather than the common real-world experience of monotonous lithological repetition. However, the purpose of the simulator is to provide training in log interpretation and this aim is aided by accentuating the challenge. Each lithology consists of a specified mix of component minerals and the log responses for each half-foot interval are computed as a combination of the log values associated with the component minerals (with a little random deviation from the ideal "recipe" thrown in at each step). The logs are also smoothed with a simple five-point filter to emulate the vertical averaging provided by actual logging tools.