A morphometric analysis of tunnel valleys in the eastern North Sea based on 3D seismic data

2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 801-815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas B. Kristensen ◽  
Mads Huuse ◽  
Jan A. Piotrowski ◽  
Ole R. Clausen
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Batchelor ◽  
Dag Ottesen ◽  
Benjamin Bellwald ◽  
Sverre Planke ◽  
Helge Løseth ◽  
...  

<p>The North Sea has arguably the most extensive geophysical data coverage of any glacier-influenced sedimentary regime on Earth, enabling detailed investigation of the thick (up to 1 km) sequence of Quaternary sediments that is preserved within the North Sea Basin. At the start of the Quaternary, the bathymetry of the northern North Sea was dominated by a deep depression that provided accommodation for sediment input from the Norwegian mainland and the East Shetland Platform. Here we use an extensive database of 2D and 3D seismic data to investigate the geological development of the northern North Sea through the Quaternary.</p><p>Three main sedimentary processes were dominant within the northern North Sea during the early Quaternary: 1) the delivery and associated basinward transfer of glacier-derived sediments from an ice mass centred over mainland Norway; 2) the delivery of fluvio-deltaic sediments from the East Shetland Platform; and 3) contourite deposition and the reworking of sediments by contour currents. The infilling of the North Sea Basin during the early Quaternary increased the width and reduced the water depth of the continental shelf, facilitating the initiation of the Norwegian Channel Ice Stream.</p>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Bellwald ◽  
Sverre Planke ◽  
Sunil Vadakkepuliyambatta ◽  
Stefan Buenz ◽  
Christine Batchelor ◽  
...  

<p>Sediments deposited by marine-based ice sheets are dominantly fine-grained glacial muds, which are commonly known for their sealing properties for migrating fluids. However, the Peon and Aviat hydrocarbon discoveries in the North Sea show that coarse-grained glacial sands can occur over large areas in formerly glaciated continental shelves. In this study, we use conventional and high-resolution 2D and 3D seismic data combined with well information to present new models for large-scale fluid accumulations within the shallow subsurface of the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The data include 48,000 km<sup>2</sup> of high-quality 3D seismic data and 150 km<sup>2</sup> of high-resolution P-Cable 3D seismic data, with a vertical resolution of 2 m and a horizontal resolution of 6 to 10 m in these data sets. We conducted horizon picking, gridding and attribute extractions as well as seismic geomorphological interpretation, and integrated the results obtained from the seismic interpretation with existing well data.</p><p>The thicknesses of the Quaternary deposits vary from hundreds of meters of subglacial till in the Northern North Sea to several kilometers of glacigenic sediments in the North Sea Fan. Gas-charged, sandy accumulations are characterized by phase-reserved reflections with anomalously high amplitudes in the seismic data as well as density and velocity decreases in the well data. Extensive (>10 km<sup>2</sup>) Quaternary sand accumulations within this package include (i) glacial sands in an ice-marginal outwash fan, sealed by stiff glacial tills deposited by repeated glaciations (the Peon discovery in the Northern North Sea), (ii) sandy channel-levee systems sealed by fine-grained mud within sequences of glacigenic debris flows, formed during shelf-edge glaciations, (iii) fine-grained glacimarine sands of contouritic origin sealed by gas hydrates, and (iv) remobilized oozes above large evacuation craters and sealed by megaslides and glacial muds. The development of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet resulted in a rich variety of depositional environments with frequently changing types and patterns of glacial sedimentation. Extensive new 3D seismic data sets are crucial to correctly interpret glacial processes and to analyze the grain sizes of the related deposits. Furthermore, these data sets allow the identification of localized extensive fluid accumulations within the Quaternary succession and distinguish stratigraphic levels favorable for fluid accumulations from layers acting as fluid barriers.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hector Barnett ◽  
Mark T. Ireland ◽  
Sanem Acikalin

<p>The energy industry in the UK faces a challenge to decarbonize to support reaching net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. In nearly all scenarios emission reductions are characterized not only by energy demand reductions, but also the decarbonization of electricity and heating. The use of hydrogen as a replacement for natural gas is one proposed solution, where renewable hydrogen is either blended into the gas grid or used directly. To ensure continuity of supply large scale hydrogen storage will be needed to meet this demand.</p><p>Hydrogen has been stored in small volumes (<25GWh) in salt caverns at various locations onshore in the United Kingdom since 1959. These caverns store hydrogen for industrial usage. In order to meet the demand for energy related hydrogen storage an increasing number of new and potentially larger storage options will be needed. Engineering of larger salt caverns for a hydrogen energy system will require thick salt formations which are optimally located with respect to both the hydrogen production facility and the end use. The Permian and Triassic salts deposits of both the Southern North Sea and the East Irish Sea offer vast areas for potential cavern development. Previous studies have described the landscape of underground gas storage onshore and offshore the UK, but to date there have been few detailed geophysical and geological studies on the hydrogen storage potential offshore.</p><p>The identification of suitable storage sites requires an understanding of the subsurface geology including potential structural discontinuities which could compromise the integrity of storage sites and be pathways for leakage. This analysis of hydrogen storage sites will utilise extensive existing modern 3D seismic data and well data taken from the Southern North Sea. We describe the geological setting of the Permo-triassic salt in the SNS in relation to the potential to develop salt cavern storage and develop play risk assessment maps. These risk assessment maps form part of a play fairway analysis workflow in order to identify the optimal storage sites for hydrogen on the UCKS.</p>


2016 ◽  
Vol 674 ◽  
pp. 76-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ole Rønø Clausen ◽  
Katrine Juul Andresen ◽  
Jens Andreas Rasmussen

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Samuel Okiongbo ◽  
Righteous Ombu

Abstract. In the Southern North Sea, 3D seismic data had been widely acquired to explore for hydrocarbons, but interpretations of these datasets until now focus mainly on the deep exploration targets of the petroleum companies. Less attention is given to shallow sediments. But these sediments often contain channels that can serve as potential reservoir units. Thus the mapping and identification of these shallow channels and defining their infill lithology is important. In this study, seismic spectral decomposition technique has been used to delineate shallow thin channel geometry in a 3D seismic data acquired in the Dutch sector of the North Sea. The concurrent interpretation of curvature and coherence cubes with seismic facies analysis based on reflection terminations and geometry, amplitude and continuity enables the discrimination between shale versus sand filled channels. The results of the spectral decomposition show two distinct low sinuosity channel features in NNE–SSW direction but becomes diffuse towards the North. The strong negative curvature anomaly along the channels's axes observed in the most negative curvature attribute implies that the sediments within the channels have undergone more compaction. These strong negative curvature anomalies are interpreted to be due to differential compaction of shale filled channels.


2012 ◽  
Vol 368 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dagmar Müther ◽  
Stefan Back ◽  
Lars Reuning ◽  
Peter Kukla ◽  
Frank Lehmkuhl

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