Quantitative characterisation and prediction of deep-marine sedimentary architecture and facies heterogeneity through relational databasing
This is a fully-funded 3.5 year PhD studentship
for UK or EU candidates. The award will pay all tuition fees and a
tax-free stipend at the UK Research Council rate (currently £13,590).
Start date is flexible; suggested April-September 2014. Deadline for
applications: 6th February 2014.
Background
The number of sedimentological studies providing
data on the sedimentary architecture of deep-marine depositional systems
is steadily growing, under the impulse of both industrial and academic
drivers. These studies indicate the ongoing need for improved
characterization and prediction of deep-marine hydrocarbon reservoirs
and the associated interest in deciphering the complex interplay of
autogenic and allogenic factors in the rock record. To address these
interests there is an urgent need for a method of storing data from many
studies of different deep-marine depositional systems in a way that
permits different types of datasets to be standardized, such that they
can be compared or merged in a reliable and well-founded manner. By
drawing upon experience in the development of relational databases for
both deep-water and fluvial systems (DWAKB: Baas et al. 2005, FAKTS:
Colombera et al. 2012, respectively), an improved database methodology
is being developed at Leeds as an instrument to permit the digitization
of deep-marine sedimentary architecture (DMAKS 2). DMAKS 2 aims to
classify deep-marine depositional systems and to record their
fundamental architectural and facies properties, including genetic-unit
geometries, and both hierarchy and spatial relationships. DMAKS 2 will
in effect be a research tool with which it should be possible to inform
and carry out both pure and applied sedimentary research using metadata –
an approach that is in its infancy for geological studies.
Project description
The candidate will contribute to the development of
the DMAKS2 database, driving database population with literature- and
field-derived architectural data. Original fieldwork, which may involve
the digital acquisition of 3D virtual outcrop models by means of
photogrammetrical techniques, will be carried out on ancient deep-marine
successions in Europe to obtain data suitable for database population.
The candidate could also choose to complement field data with a study
involving interpretation of larger-scale sedimentary architecture from
seismic datasets. Notably, the candidate will need to identify published
case studies of deep-marine sedimentary architecture from which data
would be derived for database input, so that metastudies generating new
information from the integration of new and published data could be
attempted. The multi-scale architectural characterisation enabled by the
DMAKS2 design will permit the candidate to tailor the type of field and
seismic data collection to suit his/her specific interests and the
research questions he/she may want to address. Importantly, to make best
use of the database as a research tool, the candidate will need to work
on database optimisation, which will be tested through research-focused
queries with which the particular research questions or hypotheses will
be addressed.
Example research themes that could be addressed within the scope of this project include:
- the
compilation of quantitative facies models describing the sedimentology
of slope to basin-floor settings of classified deep-marine depositional
systems, based on the synthesis of several suitable database case
studies;
- investigation of the importance of controlling
variables in determining processes and associated
sedimentological/architectural features by performing comparative
studies of many different systems;
- determination of the scale-dependent or scale-independent nature of architectural features in deep-marine clastic systems;
- application
of database output to improve the realism and prediction capability of
stochastic and deterministic subsurface forecasting tools.
Qualifications
Candidate should have a degree in Earth Sciences
with minimum BSc 2.1 or equivalent. The project would suit a student
with strong numerical and computing skills. Experience in geostatistics
would be a significant advantage.
Research Environment
The student will be a member of the industry-funded
Turbidites Research Group (TRG)
JIP project. She/he would thus be integrated into a dynamic and active
research group, with ongoing research into deep marine clastics via
field studies, physical and numerical modelling and seismic studies. An
internship with a major oil company would be possible during the
duration of the PhD.
References
Baas et al. 2005, The deep-water architecture
knowledge base: towards an objective comparison of deep-marine
sedimentary systems Petrol. Geosci. 11, 309-320.
Colombera et al. 2012, A relational database for the
digitization of fluvial architecture: Concepts and example applications
Petrol. Geosci. 18, 129-140.
Further details:
