CHARACTERIZATION OF

CARBONATES AIDS
EXPLORATION
BOTTOM LINE
Applying reservoir characterization during exploration for Lower Cretaceous strata in the
Eastern Gulf region has great potential to improve the rate of drilling success. Geologically char-
acterizing Lower Cretaceous Gulf carbonates facilitates identifying priority areas, focuses atten-
tion to areas with a greater probability for success, and ultimately saves exploration dollars.

PROBLEM ADDRESSED
KEY WORDS:
Exploration requires successfully predicting reservoir trends and connectivity, litholo-
Geological
gy, and petrophysical properties and sedimentary models for seismic interpretation. In Characterization
the Lower Cretaceous strata of the Eastern Gulf, the keys to successful exploration are Carbonate Depositional
understanding the structural, stratigraphic, depositional, and diagenetic processes. Models
Diagenesis
Seismic Velocity

TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW
The Comanchean carbonate platform encircling the
modern Gulf of Mexico includes one of the largest
and long-lived reef tracts in earth history. This Lower
Cretaceous platform is one of many platforms that
formed in the Cretaceous Tethyan Realm.
Understanding and describing geological controls of
reservoir formation and distribution in the northeast-
ern Gulf of Mexico may help exploration efforts not
only in the Gulf, but in many analogous areas of the
world.
The business impact of understanding the structural,
stratigraphic, depositional, and diagenetic trends of
the Lower Cretaceous of the eastern Gulf can be great.
These geological features are the key to predicting
reservoir trends and connectivity, predicting lithology
and petrophysical properties ahead of the drill, and
defining sedimentary models for seismic interpreta-
tion.
Based on a workshop sponsored by PTTC's Eastern Gulf
Region on September 2, 1999, in Jackson, MS.
SPEAKERS
Lower Cretaceous Carbonate Depositional Framework:
Robert Scott, Precision Stratigraphy Associates
Outer Continental Shelf-James Limestone
Andrew Petty, US Minerals Management Service
Onshore Lower Cretaceous Carbonate Reservoirs
Rick Turner, Barrow-Shaver Resources Co.
Geological Setting
The US Gulf Coast Lower Cretaceous carbonate sec-
tion has numerous intervals with potential reservoirs
and seals. Many of the rocks were subaerially exposed
and formed leached porosity. Early marine cementa-
tion did not normally destroy all the depositional
porosity in many facies. Meteoric leaching affected
many stratigraphic horizons and commonly created
porosity. Deep burial generally destroys porosity,
although exploration targets include early-formed
porosity that is now deeply buried.
By the end of the Albian, the composition of reefs had
changed from coral-algal-microbe-dominated to rud-
ist-dominated types. Mixed coral and rudist assem-
blages occupied shelf margins facing open oceans, but
rudists characterized ramp buildups fringing shallow,
intra-platform basins. Recognition of these changes is
important in hydrocarbon exploration, because it
greatly influenced reservoir facies development and
geometry.
Two general shelf buildup models apply to the
Comanchean Shelf. Near the shore, ramp grainstones
and patch reefs developed. Toward the basin, shelf-
margin reefs and high-energy carbonate sands formed
large tracts of facies with preserved initial porosity.
Back-reef areas of washover fans have greater proba-
bility of porosity preservation than the reef crest and
fore reef where syndepositional micrite occluded
much of the pore space.
Stratigraphic and Seismic Models
Regional unconformities divide the Lower Cretaceous
of the US Gulf Coast into 13 mappable units. Many
contacts developed updip, but not downdip. These
sequences represent transgressive-regressive deposi-
tional events in 1-3/my duration. Each contains
smaller-scale cycles that typically shoal upwards in
response to changes in relative sea level and climate.
Each unit thickens downdip to the shelf margin
where it is thickest.
There are several rules of thumb for carbonate seis-
mology techniques indicating that rock-intrinsic prop-
ertiessuch as porosity, pore type, composition and
grain sizeare closely related to velocity:
1. Shallow-water, coarse-grained carbonate lithologies
tend to have higher velocities than deep-water, mud-
rich carbonates.
2. Mineralogy has little influence on the seismic
velocity in carbonates because the velocity in calcite
and dolomite are nearly the same.
3. Porous carbonates generally have lower velocities,
but the relationship is not simple.
4. Worldwide observations indicate that an imped-
ance contrast can form between layers with different
porosity types.
5. Both density and velocity correlate with porosity in
carbonates.
6. Fluid presence and types seem to have only a small
effect on velocities in carbonates, but pore type and
shape are important.
Seismic Velocity Related to Pore Types
The relationship between seismic velocity and porosi-
ty is complicated by pore geometry and mineralogy,
and the fact that most rocks have more than one pore
type. However, some generalizations related to pore
type include:
1. Intercrystalline and Interparticle Porosity - These
pore types have a characteristically high internal
surface area. Both primary and shear velocities are
low for a given porosity and are strongly dependent
on effective or net overburden pressure.
2. Moldic and Intraparticle Porosity - Moldic (MO)
porosity is secondary, while most intraparticle (WP)
and intracrystalline porosity is primary. Velocities in
rocks with MO or WP pores are relatively insensitive
to pressure changes and are generally high for a
given porosity, since these pores are hard to deform.
3. Vug and Channel Porosity - Vuggy pores have
strong rock frameworks and low internal surface-
area-to-porosity ratios. Thus, primary and shear
velocities are relatively high at a given porosity and
are insensitive to pressure changes. Channel pores
are usually easy to deform, consequently these rocks
usually have relatively low velocities at a given
porosity.
4. Fenestral Porosity - This typically secondary pore
type has openings larger than the grain-supported
interstices. Velocities behave similarly to those with
intercrystalline pores.
5. Fracture/Breccia Porosity - Fracture porosity
evolves to breccia type, with increasing dislocation
between opposing fracture walls. A unique feature of
a fracture is that both primary and shear velocities
depend on the direction of wave propagation relative
to the fracture's orientation. If fractures are abundant
and randomly oriented in a rock, the rock will
behave isotropically. Although fractures contribute
little to total porosity, they can greatly decrease the
velocity of the rock. In deeply buried rocks, most
small fractures are probably closed and have little
effect on P-wave velocities.
Lithology and Log Characteristics
There are also a few rules of thumb for interpreting
well logs with carbonates:
1. Spontaneous Potential (SP) logs - Detect permeable
beds and boundaries; they also aid in estimating the
amount of shale. SP logs commonly respond to car-
bonate mudstone in the same way as in clay shale. A
shift from shale baseline in carbonates identifies an
increase in carbonate grain size.
2. Resistivity logs - Help indicate porosity, permeabil-
ity, and fluid type.
3. Gamma Ray (GR) log - Indicates radioactive mineral
zones within carbonates originating from mineralogi-
cal changes, including shales, organics, glauconite
zones, pedogenic zones, and hardgrounds.
4. Sonic log - Measures matrix porosity, not vuggy or
fracture porosity, making the calculated sonic veloci-
ty of vuggy or fractured carbonates too low. Vug/frac-
ture porosity can be calculated by subtracting sonic
porosity from total porosity measured by a density or
neutron log. The difference is called secondary
porosity index and can be mapped in carbonates.
5. Neutron log - Measures the hydrogen ion concen-
tration. If properly calibrated, it will measure actual
porosity in limestone.
Depositional Cycles
Carbonate sediments are excellent reflectors of varia-
tions in sediment supply and mineralogy. Repetitive
sedimentary cycles of lithology and biota in carbon-
ates can be created by episodic processes (repeating at
unpredictable time intervals) or by oscillating
processes (which are both regular and predictable).
Earth precession, obliquity, and eccentricity influence
carbonate sedimentary cycles at frequencies of 19-24
thousand years (Ka), 40-41 Ka, and 95-128 Ka, 413
Ka, 2 million years (Ma), respectively. Frequencies of
these processes have changed through geological
time.
Climatic changes also alter carbonate production
rates. During times of greater production, sedimenta-
tion rates increase and the net result is aggradation
and progradation. Coring such an event reveals a
shoaling up facies succession that often has evidence
of subaerial exposure at the top. Depositional cycles
are extremely useful in predicting the stratigraphic
level at which porosity may be present in carbonate
settings.
Diagenetic Models
The high-risk element in defining carbonate plays is
developing and preserving carbonate porosity. Much
of the problem stems from diagenesis, which is the
set of physical and chemical changes that occur to
carbonates after deposition and prior to metamor-
phism. Modern carbonate sediments comprise
metastable mixtures of aragonite, high-Mg calcite and
low-Mg calcite. A conversion to stable low-Mg calcite
alters original porosity. Tracking this conversion is
important to predicting porosity.
Cementation, compaction, dissolution, neomorphism,
microbial micritization, and dolomitization processes
operate in marine, meteoric, and burial diagenetic
environments. The main variables controlling diage-
netic alterations include composition/mineralogy of
the sediment, pore fluid chemistry and flow rates,
burial/uplift/sea-level changes, influx of different
pore fluids, and climate.
Fractures are extremely important in the delivery of
hydrocarbons in carbonates. Generally, fracture
porosity is not related to original rock fabric. Early-
formed fractures tend not to be as effective as late-
stage fractures for fluid flow. Early-formed fractures
in carbonates may be distinguished by their highly
variable length. They are filled with sediment and
early cement, and are formed by volume change of
sediment or by gravity. Meteoric fractures fill with
cement or residual soils, cave filling, or caliche. In
contrast, late-stage, deep-burial fractures cross-cut
other sets, have facing surfaces that seldom match in
shape, and few are offset by other fractures. In addi-
tion, they are uncemented, oil stained, and oriented
relative to tectonic stresses.
CONNECTIONS:
Robert W. Scott
Precision Stratigraphy Associates
RR Box 103-3
Cleveland, OK 74020
ph 918-243-7871
e-mail rwscott@ix.netcom.com

Meteoric diagenesis, occurring within the saturated Andrew Petty

or unsaturated "freshwater" zone, is critical to devel- US Minerals Management Service
oping the porosity encountered in carbonate reser- 1201 Elmwood Park Blvd., MS 5124
voirs. Diagenesis at subaerial unconformities within New Orleans, LA 70123-2394
the meteoric zone affect porosity formation by rear- ph 1-800-200-GULF, fax 504-736-2905
ranging pore networks without increasing porosity or e-mail andrew.petty@mms.gov
permeability. Shorter periods of exposure may be
associated with greater porosity and may form pore Rick Turner
systems resistant to compaction. Barrow-Shaver Resources Co.
100 East Fergeson, Suite 712
Once buried below depth of freshwater and marine, Tyler, TX 75702
the phreatic influence on the subsurface diagenetic ph 903-593-5221 fax 903593-1692
environment is significantly different. Each basin has e-mail barrowshaver@tyler.net
a unique brine history and prediction is difficult,
although cementation and pore occlusion predomi-
nate. Porosity tends to decrease with depth due to
cementation and compaction.

For information on PTTCs Eastern Gulf Region and its activities contact:

Ernest A. Mancini, Professor of Geology

University of Alabama
Box 870338, 202 Bevill Bldg., Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
ph 205-348-4319, fax 205-348-0818, e-mail emancini@wgs.geo.ua.edu

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