Exercise 12a: Burial History

Objective

Construct a simple burial history diagram and use it to make some

predictions about the source and reservoir.

Introduction

In this exercise, you are given the stratigraphic column at a single location.
From this, you will construct a very simple burial history diagram. Then you
will predict:
1. When the source began to generate,
2.

What range to expect for reservoir porosity.

There are 8 stratigraphic units sitting on basement. The predicted ages,

thicknesses, and water depths for each unit are given in the table below.

UNIT

AGE (top)

THICKNESS

Water Depth (top)

0 Ma

150 m

50 m

10 Ma

150 m

150 m

18 Ma

150 m

250 m

29 Ma

150 m

300 m

38 Ma

100 m

300 m

Seal

48 Ma

100 m

300 m

Reservoir

60 Ma

100 m

250 m

Source

68 Ma

100 m

300 m

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Exercise 12a: Burial History, continued

Part 1 Construct a Burial History Diagram
Step

Action

Figure 1 is the start of a simple burial history diagram. The

present-day stratigraphy is based on interpreted seismic horizons,
which is displayed on the right side of the diagram. Water depths
back through time have been provided. These would come from
(1) nearby well data or (2) estimates that are based on seismic
facies analysis and interpreted depositional environments. As part
of a typical analysis, initial water depth predictions are refined so
as to give reasonable burial history diagrams throughout the study
area.
Complete the chart showing how each unit has been buried with
time. For now we will assume each unit has its present-day
thickness back through time, i.e., no compaction.
We will make several simplifying assumptions.
1. Sea level has remain constant back through time
2. There is no compaction effects for the stratigraphic units
(thicknesses remain constant)
3. There was no significant erosion
4. Motion was purely vertical, no translation of units laterally
(e.g., downdip slumping).

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Exercise 12a: Burial History, continued

Part 2 Source Maturity

Thermal
History and
Source
Properties

For divergent (pull-apart) continental margins, we can infer the thermal

history from burial history diagrams. In a simplistic fashion, here is what we
do.
For this type of margin, the depth to basement is controlled by two factors:
(1) thermal subsidence caused by the cooling of extended (thinned)
continental crust and (2) the weight (load) of the sediment deposited on top
of basement. Again for simplicity, we assume a 1-D loading correct is
adequate, i.e., no flexure. Given the sedimentary column, we can estimate
the subsidence due to sediment loading. We subtract the loading component
from total subsidence to obtain an indication of the subsidence due to the
cooling of thinned continental crust - the thermal component.
Figure 2 shows the burial history diagram with (1) a sea level curve (2)
sediment compaction effects, and (3) the components of subsidence
loading and thermal. Note in Figure 2 that thermal subsidence is close to
zero from 68 to 60 million years ago. At 60 Ma the rate of thermal
subsidence (slope) is large and subsequently the rate slows exponentially.
This is what we would expect if some type of heating event occurred 60 Ma,
e.g., a phase of rifting or nearby volcanism.
Figure 3 shows the thermal component of subsidence (thick, solid line) and
some theoretical subsidence curves calculated for continental crust that has
been thinned 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% (rifting to the point of
emplacement of oceanic crust). Comparing the thermal component to these
curves, we interpret this location is on continental crust that has been thinned
about 50%.
This enables us to predict heat flow through time at this location. There is a
certain level of background heat flow (e.g., from radiogenic sources). We
add the heat flow associated with a 50% rifting event at 60 Ma (bottom of
Figure 3). Then we can use basin modeling software to predict the thermal
history for all stratigraphic units, e.g., the source and reservoir.
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Exercise 12a: Burial History, continued

Step
2

Action
Given the burial and thermal history obtained by back-stripping
layers (going back through time), we can now model the basin
history forward through time and a uniform time step (typically 0.5
or 1 million years). We can predict the effects of burial,
temperature, pressure, and time on source and reservoir
properties.
Figure 4 shows the burial history along with the tops of te
predicted oil and gas windows through time. Based on Figure 4,
answer the following questions:
1. When did the base of the source interval begin to
generate oil?
2. When did the top of the source interval begin to
generate oil?
3. When did the base of the source interval pass from the
oil to the gas window?
4. Is the source currently generating oil, gas, or both?

Reminder: These answers are valid only for the single location
we have been modeling. Further basinward crustal thinning would
have been more than 50%, heat flow would have been higher, and
the source would have started generating oil earlier. Further
landward the source would have started generating oil later, if at
all.

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Exercise 12a: Burial History, continued

Part 3 Reservoir Porosity

Reservoir
Properties

We can also model the properties of the reservoir unit. We assume that the
porosity at the time of deposition was 38%. We then predict how porosity
decreased with burial (depth + time) due to mechanical compaction and
diagenetic effects.

Step
3

Action
Figure 5 shows porosity as a function of time for the top of the
reservoir. The solid curve is our most likely case. We can also
model optimistic and pessimistic cases (dashed lines) by varying
the inputs.
Based on Figure 5, answer the following questions:

1. What is the most-likely present-day porosity at the top

of the reservoir?

2. What is the best-case (most optimistic) present-day

porosity for the top of the reservoir?

3. What is the worst-case (most pessimistic) present-day

porosity for the top of the reservoir?

4. Note the dip in porosity for the worst-case scenario

around 30 Ma. What might this be due to?