Seismic Forward Modelling of Upper Carboniferous – Lower Permian carbonate buildups, North Greenland and the Barents Sea

Lars Stemmerik¹, Steen Agerlin Petersen², Bjarne Rafalesen³, and Rasmus Rasmussen¹. (1) Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Copenhagen, DK-1350, Denmark, phone: +45 3814 2728, ls@geus.dk, (2) Norsk Hydro, Norsk Hydro Research Centre, Sandsliv. 90, Bergen, N-5049, Norway, (3) Department of Geology, University of Tromso, University of Tromsø, Dramsveien 201, Tromso, N-9037, Norway

Carbonate buildups are typically composite features, formed through the repeated colonization of paleobathymetric highs. In the upper Paleozoic of the Arctic, there is a discrepancy between the 4th- and 5th-order 5-10 m stacking and organisation of carbonate buildups seen at outcrop and the 50-100 m ‘3rd-order’ sequence stratigraphic organisation of the buildups seen in exploration seismic data. Here we present the results of forward seismic modelling of carbonate buildups exposed at outcrop in Greenland and compare them to regional exploration data from the Barents Sea. The study aimed to better understand the seismic response of the buildups and to better constrain the distribution of reservoir facies within them. Previous attempts to make seismic models of these systems were limited by the inability of the forward modelling software to properly reflect the complex internal stacking patterns, rapid changes in lithology and diagenesis within the buildups, and to realistically distribute rock properties. The use of seismic forward Compound Modelling software, developed by Norsk Hydro Research Centre, Bergen has helped to make more realistic models based on outcrop from which the seismic response of the buildups is better realized.

Use of Outcrop Analogs in Reservoir Characterization and Modeling (AAPG/SEPM)
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