High Resolution 3d Seismic Imaging Of Subsurface Fluid Flow Systems And Sediment Remobilization In Sedimentary Basins

High Resolution 3D Seismic Imaging of Subsurface Fluid Flow Systems and Sediment Remobilization in Sedimentary Basins

Subsurface Sand Remobilization and Injection

Sand injectites form during shallow-crustal deformation. Short periods of elevated pore-fluid pressure, which developed regionally, triggered formation of hydrofracture networks into which sand was sometimes injected. Sand injection complexes preserve a record of this process and sandstone intrusions are significant reservoirs in many petroleum systems. Most known subsurface sand injection complexes are from offshore NW Europe and associated with Paleogene strata. Outcrop occurrence is global. Sand injection into unconventional host rocks, including granitoid and metamorphic basement and coal seams, raises awareness of the breadth of geological environments in which sand injection may occur. Discordance between sandstone intrusions and sedimentary hosts occurs on a scale from millimetres to kilometres and is a fundamental diagnostic of intrusions. Microscale textural characterization provides new opportunities to establish possible additional criteria for differentiating intrusions from depositional sandstone. The significance of sand injection complexes in shallow crustal evolution is exemplified by the wide range of lithological hosts and diverse tectonostratigraphic settings documented in this volume. Potential for original research still remains.

Seismic Geomorphology

We are poised to embark on a new era of discovery in the study of geomorphology. The discipline has a long and illustrious history, but in recent years an entirely new way of studying landscapes and seascapes has been developed. It involves the use of 3D seismic data. Just as CAT scans allow medical staff to view our anatomy in 3D, seismic data now allows Earth scientists to do what the early geomorphologists could only dream of - view tens and hundreds of square kilometres of the Earth's subsurface in 3D and therefore see for the first time how landscapes have evolved through time. This volume demonstrates how Earth scientists are starting to use this relatively new tool to study the dynamic evolution of a range of sedimentary environments.