Turbidite systems, Part 1: Sequence and

seismic stratigraphy
PAU/.. W f:IMI.'R, Umvcrsl/y of Colorado. Bouldcr. Colorado. U S

ROGER M. SUTT. Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, US

W ilh th" incrc~""d empha,, O" ik"p", atcr nploration

and dcvdopmcnl globally. conside rable wurk h,H' bec"
done lo under,tand lurbiditc "yslems. Thew ~rc ddined
as sedimen ts init iatly dcposit l>d in dC't.,p wat er, ~nd whi ch
m~y now oceur in Ihe d'l'!>r I'.,rts o/ scdiment.lry b",ins
(s.ometimes in gre,1t water deplhs). TI1(.'se deposits have
Ix-en studied in tenns o/ the Iithu/,Ki~'S distriblltion, rcs<!T
voir architecture, 2-Dand 3-Dsdsmic appearance, "nd lhe.
production capabililies. Therc Mt' collsider,lblc sIra ti
graphic variabilitil'S in [urbidite systl'ms that alfeet reser
voir performJncc ;,nd d,-,vdopment plans, The petroleum
industry's increa,;ed undcrstanding uf thesc variabilities
and their effects has oceurred through the integralion of a
number of dis.ciplines: 2-D and )-D scismic, wi ,,::line logs,
biostratigraphy, eores. petrophysics and roek properties,
reservoir simulation, and outerop sludies for buildin;
semiquantitative reservoir model s
Anumber of papers have id~ntificd and dassified the
basiecontrolsand prupertiesof turbidit" depasits. Reading
and Richards (1994) propase<! a dassification based on Figure l. R eservo i~ a rch itectura l elements of deep
two primary eontrols: grain size in gravity flow (i ,e., water depositibnal sys te ms. (Afler Readings and
amou nt of mud versus sand in flows). and nature of sed- Richa rds.)

levees Channel Complexe s Sheet Sands

Gul! Wlng Exlerna l Geome l rles Discontinuous to Shingled Laterallv Continuous

.-1
1 I [UPPER)

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CVa.ES
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lENSES

RIPPLED

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figure 2. Generalized end-member dassification for turbidite reservoir types. Core and log characleristics are also
Usled. (Afler Chapi n el al. Reprinted by penniss ion of Ihe Gulf Coast Sodety of Economk Paleonlologists and
Mineralogists foundalion.l
I!
 b)

G,,,v"'-,;ch tu,b;dit~ sys t~nts. Grdvd -,id, 'y,k n ' ~ l",XUr

tleM lu.;hl,md M~dS assodat~d with l,lUlt-bounded I;."on,
lhey "re j,lirly r"re;n the geolugic r....:urd . They "re dOIll
"ldted by debr;s ilows and chUtl'S (whu>-c depUSlts Me
p'.......rl y "",ted) and ch~lmels (whos.e fin e,m bt: wd l sorkd ).
On 20 ,o.:ismic, they are uternally wt!dge sh,'po..>d ,mol
"huw inkn",lIy slightly diverg;ng rdk..: tiuns tow"rd tho.:
Idult ,md c"nv~rging rdlL..:t;uns basinward (Figure 3)
3-D h"ri/."n extracti"ns ;n",;trak the cumpl~xiti~s ,,1 sed
""e,,t ddivery ,yst<.'llIs; ehannds anct ChUk' S<.)[netill1e,
,-""l>ell',;.olved
Wirdin... lug,ignatuTesaTe variable ,md "Te dilliclllt tu
""rddk boctw,-'Cn wdls uwing tu abrupt lateral ,mct v"r
,,,;,,1 ~hanges in st ratigraphic unts; thiel, gr,lVd -filled .~~.~.~""
~ h<","d s abruptly ehange to shal ... facies (Figure 4). In Figure 3. I'rofiles across Ihe Broe an d MilJe, Fields,
p'ru~i,n~1 aTeas, d<.'pu:;iliun is by avalanching and d~bris North Sea. (a) Seismic prolile and (lo) s<:hematic cross
nuw, wh...Teas turbidil... procl'SSl'S dUlllinate mUre ba si,, seclion. (Afler Weimer ~nd Link.)

~-----~--~
~

~
"~
~ _._...
1 - '-....
,~--
a=."
0
0 =='"
= ._
D =-"=;",,-'
:=="":._,
, :::--Z..coo:::=:...--=
, =,":.':.::.."='"
Figure 4. b .. mple uf res.e ..... uircunelatiun. in a gravel-ri ch tu,bidite syslem, Suoth Brae Field, Norl h Sea. Note
~ brupt bleral ch~nges in sorne levels uf Ihe field. (A ftcr Robcrts.)

456 ,,,,u-fM.#. """" '999

1

;1
(1 ,.;" ". ~) ()1l1 IJ ~l"~lll(", channd, .lr,I"" ." lo sil.;hll}"
'"lU"u~ 1.,>I.>" ...llllwIl'rIl'iniofchanncbl,'"d lob<:~I.\ct..cd
.",d",,.lllv,<:,lrKl<:d
Onw"ilnl'lu.;s.,ml.11,;."",'h:dch.1,,nelfillsh.l\'C.lh'gh
'WIlo-g''''""nd (>7lfy', ).lndl'xhibilhigh I'rodllcli,>n '.1\,"
"',Ih );",'d ",'(TI' dficic'KY. L..b<.><; .11-.0 L'xhib,1 hi.;h n<:l _
t.l -); r,,~, ~.",d I",,,"('nl.,.;'" (I' i);,,,,, 6). r>.-bny ,,1 IhL'
1'.1ko.;","'Tl"'r"o"sfrnmlh"N"rlhS.,.1(.....;.I:nrl"~."'d
!'r,.;.; Fidd~).or" ",,,,dr(h lu,b,dilL' ,,",;t,'m~

Sand-richlurbiditc sYS lem s. S.",drich"ysl<:m,ar,chM
II .1cl<:riY<'{lb,highn.I-h'g",,,~,,,,,",dstoncprim.1rilyi,,ch.ln
ncl.fillsY'lcm~ ..",d 1I,".,lIyd"",Olhavewelldev" 10ll'd
lewcs. On 2-1) scismic cha nnel fill is lens lo moundcd
sh.1peins\nkc~S('CII"n.wilhen>sionallnHlc~liollat th<:bJS('
f\.l ixed s,,,,d/n,,,,1 lurbidil" sys lcms. IlwS(konds"f",,.
1.n"n.Il('CI.ltr"nst;unb<:lw~"..n s.,nd-rich .lndmud_n(h,\s
lems In I",,,,~ uf depositiona l demenls ,lnd scismic f"c;"~'S,
",ilh an ",'",aH moderare nel-to gross 5.'nd (-50%), On 2[)
scismic,,'.;.;r,'daron~l ch .1nnclsconsislofdiscrclL'p,",'Il ...1

Figure 5, Seis mi c prome across sand-rich turbidite sys tem. North Sea. Note the di stinct mound ed appeara nce to the
system.(AfterJageretal.)

sw NE

Figu .... 6. Wireline logseclion ac ross a und-rich turb idile reservo ir, Forties fi eld, North Su. Nole Ihe high neHo
gross sand co ntenl in Ihe reservoir. (Afler Kulpea and van Geuns.)

1:.
 Figure 7. Seismic pro /ile aeross a mixed sand-mud rieh turbidile system, Alba Field, North Sea. (After Newton and
Flanagan.)
rcfle.::lions.with variableamplitudc.llankedbylevee-over CenozoicWestAfricaindudingthe ....> ntdiscoveriesin
bankdcposil:5 (Figurc7).On3-Dseismicch.mnelsarestraight offshoreAngola{GirJsoland Dahlia Fields)
losinuous,withampliludegenerallydiffercnt thansur
roundingoverbankdeposits. Thelewe-overbankstrala Mud-richturbiditesysteln s. Mud-richturbidi tesarechar
exhibitlateral1y conlinuousrcfle.::tionsofvariableampli acterizedby""low neHo-grosS 5,lnd percentageswithin
tude. On 3-D seismic they have arcally widespread refle<: channel-levee systeln" lobes (sheet sands). and slides
tions with variable amplitude. Sheet (and amalgamated) These systems are similar to mixed mud-sand syslems bul
sandsexhibitparallel(somehmesmomlded),laterallycon varyinlhreeprimaryways:(I)slidesal\'considerablymore
tinuous reflections with discrete terminations (onlap, down common;(2)leveesvolumetricallydominateoverchan
lap). On 3-D seismic, reflections are areally widespread, nels;and(3)thenet-togrosssandislower.Seismicfades
exhibitsimilaramplitudes,andrommonlyonlaptheedges alsovary a bil with moreemphasis on the mud-dominated
o/ margins. Slides vary from rolaloo parallel lo hwnmocky overbanksetting (Figures 9 and 10)
to mound('d reflections with varying amplitude and poor Examplesof mud-ricn lurbidite systems thal are pelro
continuity, depending upon Ihe deg~ of deformation and leum productive are Neogcne strata of Ihe northem Gulf
reliquefying.Relll"Clionshaveirregulardistributionandindi of Mexiro and Upper Cretaceous Slrata of Ihe Sacramento
Valley(Califomia).
cate~r:...f~:rl~i:~~~?o~~~~i~heet and amalgamated
sheetsandsexhibilblockygammaraylogcharacterupto Sequenc<~ slraligraphic setting of turbidite syslcms.ln
a few hundred feel thiek(Figure8). Thl"Sesandsexhibil general.turbiditesystemshaveadistincloccurrencewithin
good lateral conlinuity, whcI"(> amalgamaled. CMnnel lill a sequence slratigraphic framework (Vai!, 19S7). The tur
also exhibits blocky or upward-fining/lhinning chaTae biditesysletnsarepackagedwilhinkeyslmligraphicsur
terislicsand mayalsobcup to 200 feet Ihick. Todifferen faces and l or horizons. The sand-rich portionsof turbidile
tiate sheet sands fromchannel sands may require3-D sys tems usually directly overlie sequence boundaries in a
seismic. Bestproduetion ratesandsweepefficiencyoccur
inamalgamatedchanne1sorshects,butstructuraltrapping
isgeneral1yneeded . Leveesronsistoflhin(1-3inehes)pla
nar-to-ripple laminaled sandstones inlerbcdded with
shales. Thesethinhedsmaybcmorelalcral1yconlinuous
fartherawayfromthechannelmargins.Net-to-grosssand
isoftenontheorderof30-5S%inproximalleveesgrading
to 10% in more distal overbank deposits. Thin beds form
10wresistivily,low-contrastpayinmanyareas,owingto
theirinterbedded,conlinuousnature.Channelsandadja
cenlleveesmaynolbcinpressureortluidrommunica
tion.lnsuchsystems,initialproductionratescanhequite
high, followed by rapid decline, then sustained produc
tionallowerrales. Associatedslidesexhibithighlyvari
ablegrainsize,dependinguponthetypeofmaterialthat
lailed.
Examplesof Il'SCrvoirs from mixed mudsand rich sys FigureS. Wirelinelogseclion~crossamixedmud-sand
Ii temsindudelheEoceneslrataofthe NorthSea, Miocenc
strataof5..1n Joaquin llasin (Calif0mi~), and portionsof
turbidite reservoir, Alba Fie1d,North Su. (After
NewtonJndFlanagan.)

jil
Figu re 9. Seismic profile lrom northem Gulf 01 Mex ico. Note the vertica l changes from lat erally cont inuous, s heel
like refl edions at lhe base of the 4.1 M a sequ ence, upward to more d iseontinuous (chan nelized ) re fl ect ions. Tim e
bued gamma log (l eft) and fauna1 abu ndance cu rve (rightJ are shown fo r well.
deep basin. Most sedimentsin turbidite systcms are graphicmodelssimplisticaHyloundcrsl,lndingturbidit('
deposiled indeep waler associaled with a basinward shifl syslemsand Iheirdislribution. To properly apply sequence
in marine depositional systems due lo a relative lowering stratigraphytoturbiditesystcms,manyotherfaclorsmusl
ofsea levelanderosion(i.e.,sequenceboundary). Wi thin beinduded indevelopinga modeJ suchas thedistribu
oneor severaldepositionalsequenees,thereisanupward lionandnatureoflhemargina1marine depocenlerslhat
change wilhin Ihe turbidile syslems from more sand-rieh feed the turbiditesystems(i.e., fluvial-domin3ted deltas
to more mud-rieh. This vertical ehange in facies relation versusstrand-plainshorelines;submarinecaoyon fed ver
shipsimpaetsexp10rationonwheretheoilis trappedand suslinesources;longshorcd riftversusfluvialfedeanyons).
ondevelopmentforlhebes twaytorecoverthereservoirs aswell asreceivingbasin topography (sa!t cored, tiltro
There is also a hierarchy of shale bodies in turbidite
syslems.Fossilferousshaleslhatdevelopassocialedwith
reducedsedimentationduring major Iransgressionsare
ealled oondensed sections. These shales can be used for
loca l a nd regionaleorre lation. Turbidite systems are
deposited between these majoreondensed seclionsand
overlie thesequenceboundary.lnternaltoadeposilional
sequence, localizedoondensedsectionsmayformthatare
assoda led wilh local channel abaodonmeot. Thesc two
kindsofshalescanaffectperfonnaoceaseffectiveflowbar
riers/baffles tofl uidmovemenl.Otherkindsofshalesarc
~~::::~::r~h~~~.f thewaningstagesof lurbiditecur
Manyturbid itesystemsthalproducegloba1Jyarefound
in sed imenlary basins Ihal had sigoificanl sea-f1oor
bathymetry al Ihe time of deposilion Ihat af~{!Ct Ihe ~)Ver Fi gure 10.Wirelinelogsect ion ac ross mud -richtur
aHstrata l geometriesof reservoirs. Examples mdude mtra bid ite svstems, northem Gulf of Mexico. Note upwa rd
slope sa lt withdrawal basins (norlhem Gulf of Mexioo, chan ge from streel sa nd s tomorechanne li zed sa nd s.
WesIAfrica),shaletec::tonicsandfaulting(offshoreNigeria), (Alter McGee el a l. Reprinled by penniss ion ol lh e
and wrench aod rifl rclak-d basemeot faulling (North Sea, Gulf Coas t Sodety 01 Ecooom ic I'aleonlologisls and
California). Thus, il is misleading toarply sequcneestrati Mineralogists Found ati on.)
Suggutions for further reading. [~eservoir architedure
of turbidite sheet sandstof\CS in laterally extensive outcrops.
Ross Formation, WeSlcrn [reland by Chapin el al. (in
Su'mnrille fmlS arrd lu,'idile syslrms. Gulf Coast Section
SEI'M 15th Annual Research Conferenc!! Proceedings,
1994), "Evolution of Paleagenc submari ne fansof the North
Sea in space and time by Jager el al. (in Pelro/eum Ge%gy
ofNorll1111t'l'1 Europe: Proceeclings 01 the Four!h Conference,
The Geological Socidy, London, 1993). "Geological mod
ehng 01 a turbidile reservoir, Forlies Ficlcts, North Sea" .by
Kulpecz and van Gcuns (m Smlds lorl f Pe/roleum Resert'Otr5.
Springer-Verlag, 1990.) 'Geologic models and reservoir
geometries 01 Auger Field, deepwater G.ulf of Mexico" by
McGee et al. (in Su'"wrme Fans .IId Tu r',d,le Sys/elllS; Gulf
CoaS! Section SEPM 15th Annual Research Conference
Proceedings, 1994), "Comparing examples of modern and
ancien! turbidite systems: problems and conrepts" by Mutti
and Normark (in Marine C/assic Sedimtl1tology. London,
Graham, and Trolman. 1987). "An integrated approach to
the study of turbidite systems by Mulli and Normark (in
Seismic Facies and Sedimell/ary Proce5ses 01 Su'ma rine Fans
and Turbidilt Systems, Springer-Verlag, 199\). "The Alba
Field: evolution 01 fue depositional moder by Newton and

~~~:!;i~~~nJ~~~I~~:;rl~e~~~re:fn~~r~~e~~~~~;;
Society, London. 1993}. "Turbidile systerns in deep-water
basin rnargins classified by grain size and feeder sys tem"
by Read ing and Richards (AAPG Bulle/m. 1994). "The
South Brae Field. Block 16j7a, UK NorthSea" by RoberlS
(in Uni/ed KillgMm Di/and Gas Fil'lds 25 YtIlrsCommemoraliw
Vo/ume, The Geo!ogical Society Memoir 14, 1991). ~Seismic
stratigraphy interpretation using aequence straligraphy,
part 1," by Vail (in Alias of Seismic Slraligraphy, AAPG
Studies in Geo!ogy 27. 1987). "Glqbal petrQleum occur
rences in submarine fans and turbidite systems" by Weimer
and Link (in Stismic FadtS and Sedimenlary Processes of
Submarine Fans and Turbidile Sys/ems. Springer-Verlag,
1991),a;

CQr'tSl"mding aulhor: p, W,im". pau/(/k"...rc,colorado,tdu

Editor. Nol" Thr Gwlogic Co/umn. which app"''' monlhly in TLE.
i. (IJ prodwctd cwpmllir>tly l1y lhe SEG Inl"'p ....lalion Comm.iIlH:.M
lhe AAPG Voph!fS""lln'tgralwn Comm,'ltt ond (2) coerd,tlQlrd l1y
M./lJJyThcmassonondLttL:rwya,