Register      Login
Australian Energy Producers Journal Australian Energy Producers Journal Society
Journal of Australian Energy Producers
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Non peer reviewed)

Application of a probability model to detect unrecognised igneous intrusions in sedimentary basins

Simon Holford A * , Mark Bunch A , Nick Schofield B and Michael Curtis A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Australian School of Petroleum and Energy Resources, University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.

B Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Aberdeen, AB24 3UE, Scotland.

* Correspondence to: simon.holford@adelaide.edu.au

The APPEA Journal 62 S426-S430 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ21051
Accepted: 24 February 2022   Published: 13 May 2022

© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.

Abstract

Mafic igneous intrusions are a common feature in extensional sedimentary basins, particularly those located at volcanic rifted margins, and are important in both exploration and development contexts due to their range of interactions with the petroleum system and their role as potential drilling hazards. Experience from a range of basins containing mafic igneous intrusions suggests that seismically resolvable intrusions are typically accompanied by a large number of intrusions that are too thin to be confidently identified and interpreted from seismic reflection surveys. The increased vertical resolution of wireline log data affords an opportunity to identify such sub-seismic-scale intrusions, though in many wells with full wireline suites igneous intrusions are often misidentified as sedimentary units, including felsic intrusions whose physical properties are more similar to sedimentary rocks. Here we apply a wireline-log-based probability model to well data from a number of basins. In previous applications, the model has proven highly effective in predicting the occurrence of carbonate cementation zones in sandstones in comparison to neural network approaches. We demonstrate its ability to predict the presence of igneous intrusions that were not previously identified by either seismic interpretation, or through the analysis of well-derived datasets. The broader application of this model to large suites of legacy data could lead to improved knowledge of the occurrence of intrusions in basins with implications for basin modelling and well planning.

Keywords: drilling, igneous intrusions, machine learning, magmatism, probability, sedimentary basins, seismic reflection, wireline logging.

Professor Simon Holford is South Australian State Chair of Petroleum Geoscience at the Australian School of Petroleum and Energy Resources, University of Adelaide. Simon has published ~100 papers on the prospectivity and tectonics of rifted margins, petroleum geomechanics and magmatism in basins. Simon has successfully supervised ~15 PhD students and ~60 Honours and Masters students. Simon has a PhD from the University of Birmingham and a BSc (Hons) from Keele University. Simon has won multiple awards, including Best Paper prizes at APPEA 2012 and AEGC 2019, Best Extended Abstract at APPEA 2021 and the Geological Society of Australia’s Walter Howchin and ES Hills medals. Simon was President of the SA/NT branch of PESA during 2015–2017.

Mark Bunch is a Senior Lecturer in Energy Geoscience at the Australian School of Petroleum and Energy Resources, University of Adelaide. He graduated with a BSc (Hons) from Durham University in 2000, before completing an MSc in 2001 then a PhD in 2006 at the University of Birmingham. His research interests include the application of AI and machine learning to petroleum industry problems, formation evaluation and seismic geomorphology. Mark is a member of AAPG, ASEG and PESA.

Nick Schofield is a Reader in Igneous and Petroleum Geology at the University of Aberdeen. He gained his undergraduate degree in Geology from the University of Edinburgh, before undertaking a PhD at the University of Birmingham investigating the emplacement of sill intrusions. Nick has worked and published extensively on intrusive and extrusive volcanism within sedimentary basins globally and works closely with the petroleum industry on igneous-related aspects of the subsurface.

Michael Curtis graduated from the University of Bristol, UK, with an MSci Geology degree in 2010. He moved to Perth shortly after to work in the West Australian mining industry. He worked as an exploration geologist with several small minerals exploration companies on nickel, copper, tungsten and potash projects. When the minerals industry collapsed in 2014, Michael transitioned into the petroleum industry, working at RISC Advisory as a geoscience consultant until 2017. Michael began his PhD at the Australian School of Petroleum and Energy Resources, University of Adelaide, in 2018, where he is currently researching the impacts of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous magmatism on petroleum systems of the Northern Carnarvon Basin. Michael has won several awards for the quality of his research including the PESA Postgraduate Scholarship and an ASEG Research Foundation Grant. Michael is a current and active member of PESA, ASEG and GSA.


References

Bunch MA (2020) A probability model to detect carbonate cementation in sandstones and other enigmatic wireline facies. Marine and Petroleum Geology 118, 104424
A probability model to detect carbonate cementation in sandstones and other enigmatic wireline facies.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Curtis M, Holford S, Bunch M, Schofield N (2022) Seismic, petrophysical and petrological constraints on the alteration of igneous rocks in the Northern Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia: implications for petroleum exploration and drilling operations. The APPEA Journal 62, 196–222.
Seismic, petrophysical and petrological constraints on the alteration of igneous rocks in the Northern Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia: implications for petroleum exploration and drilling operations.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Holford S, Schofield N, MacDonald J, Duddy I, Green P (2012) Seismic analysis of igneous systems in sedimentary basins and their impacts on hydrocarbon prospectivity: examples from the southern Australian margin. The APPEA Journal 52, 229–252.
Seismic analysis of igneous systems in sedimentary basins and their impacts on hydrocarbon prospectivity: examples from the southern Australian margin.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Holford SP, Schofield N, Jackson CA-L, Magee C, Green PF, Duddy IR (2013) Impacts of igneous intrusions on source reservoir potential in prospective sedimentary basins along the western Australian continental margin. In ‘The Sedimentary Basins of Western Australia IV, Proceedings of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia Symposium, Perth, WA’. (Eds M Keep, SJ Moss) (PESA)

Holford SP, Schofield N, Reynolds P (2017) Subsurface fluid flow focused by buried volcanoes in sedimentary basins: evidence from 3D seismic data, Bass Basin, offshore southeastern Australia. Interpretation 5, SK39–SK50.
Subsurface fluid flow focused by buried volcanoes in sedimentary basins: evidence from 3D seismic data, Bass Basin, offshore southeastern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Iyer K, Svensen H, Schmid DW (2018) SILLi 1.0: a 1-D numerical tool quantifying the thermal effects of sill intrusions. Geoscientific Model Development 11, 43–60.
SILLi 1.0: a 1-D numerical tool quantifying the thermal effects of sill intrusions.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Magee C, Muirhead JD, Karvelas A, Holford SP, Jackson CAL, Bastow ID, Schofield N, Stevenson CTE, McLean C, McCarthy W, Shtukert O (2016) Lateral magma flow in mafic sill complexes. Geosphere 12, 809–841.
Lateral magma flow in mafic sill complexes.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Mark NJ, Schofield N, Pugliese S, Watson D, Holford S, Muirhead D, Brown R, Healy D (2018) Igneous intrusions in the Faroe Shetland Basin and their implications for hydrocarbon exoploration; new insights from well and seismic data. Marine and Petroleum Geology 92, 733–753.
Igneous intrusions in the Faroe Shetland Basin and their implications for hydrocarbon exoploration; new insights from well and seismic data.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Mark N, Schofield N, Gardiner D, Holt L, Grove C, Watson D, Alexander A, Poore H (2019) Overthickening of sedimentary sequences by igneous intrusions. Journal of the Geological Society 176, 46–60.
Overthickening of sedimentary sequences by igneous intrusions.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Mark NJ, Holford SP, Schofield N, Eide CH, Pugliese S, Watson DA, Muirhead D (2020) Structural and lithological controls on the architecture of igneous intrusions: examples from the NW Australian Shelf. Petroleum Geoscience 26, 50–69.
Structural and lithological controls on the architecture of igneous intrusions: examples from the NW Australian Shelf.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Meeuws FJE, Holford SP, Foden JD, Schofield N (2016) Distribution, chronology and causes of Cretaceous–Cenozoic magmatism along the magma-poor rifted southern Australian margin: links between mantle melting and basin formation. Marine and Petroleum Geology 73, 271–298.
Distribution, chronology and causes of Cretaceous–Cenozoic magmatism along the magma-poor rifted southern Australian margin: links between mantle melting and basin formation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Meeuws FJE, Foden JD, Holford SP, Forster MA (2019) Geochemical constraints on Cenozoic intraplate magmatism and their relation to Jurassic dolerites in Tasmania, using Sr-Nd-Pb isotopes. Chemical Geology 506, 225–273.
Geochemical constraints on Cenozoic intraplate magmatism and their relation to Jurassic dolerites in Tasmania, using Sr-Nd-Pb isotopes.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Millett JM, Wilkins AD, Campbell E, Hole MJ, Taylor RA, Healy D, Jerram DA, Jolley DW, Planke S, Archer SG, Blischke A (2016) The geology of offshore drilling through basalt sequences: understanding operational complications to improve efficiency. Marine and Petroleum Geology 77, 1177–1192.
The geology of offshore drilling through basalt sequences: understanding operational complications to improve efficiency.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Reynolds P, Holford S, Schofield N, Ross A (2017) Three‐dimensional seismic imaging of ancient submarine lava flows: an example from the southern Australian margin. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 18, 3840–3853.
Three‐dimensional seismic imaging of ancient submarine lava flows: an example from the southern Australian margin.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Reynolds P, Schofield N, Brown RJ, Holford SP (2018) The architecture of submarine monogenetic volcanoes–insights from 3D seismic data. Basin Research 30, 437–451.
The architecture of submarine monogenetic volcanoes–insights from 3D seismic data.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Reynolds P, Holford S, Schofield N, Ross A (2022) 3D seismic reflection constraints on the emplacement of mafic laccoliths and their role in shallow crustal magma transport: a case study from the Ceduna sub-basin, Great Australian Bight. Marine and Petroleum Geology 135, 105419
3D seismic reflection constraints on the emplacement of mafic laccoliths and their role in shallow crustal magma transport: a case study from the Ceduna sub-basin, Great Australian Bight.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Schofield N, Holford S, Millett J, et al. (2017) Regional magma plumbing and emplacement mechanisms of the Faroe-Shetland sill complex: implications for magma transport and petroleum systems within sedimentary basins. Basin Research 29, 41–63.
Regional magma plumbing and emplacement mechanisms of the Faroe-Shetland sill complex: implications for magma transport and petroleum systems within sedimentary basins.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Schofield N, Holford S, Edwards A, Mark N, Pugliese S (2020) Overpressure transmission through interconnected igneous intrusions. AAPG Bulletin 104, 285–303.
Overpressure transmission through interconnected igneous intrusions.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Svensen HH, Polteau S, Cawthorn G, Planke S (2018) Sub‐volcanic Intrusions in the Karoo Basin, South Africa. In 'Physical Geology of Shallow Magmatic Systems. Advances in Volcanology'. (Eds C Breitkreuz, S Rocchi) pp. 349–362. (Springer, Cham).
| Crossref |

Watson D, Holford S, Schofield N, Mark N (2019) Failure to predict igneous rocks encountered during exploration of sedimentary basins: a case study of the Bass Basin, Southeastern Australia. Marine and Petroleum Geology 99, 526–547.
Failure to predict igneous rocks encountered during exploration of sedimentary basins: a case study of the Bass Basin, Southeastern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

White R, McKenzie D (1989) Magmatism at rift zones: the generation of volcanic continental margins and flood basalts. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 94, 7685–7729.
Magmatism at rift zones: the generation of volcanic continental margins and flood basalts.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |