Sedimentology, Stratigraphy and Depositional Processes in Siliciclastic Turbidite Systems

全球经济是由能源驱动的。随着人们越来越多地关注燃煤的负面环境影响，液态和气态碳氢化合物正成为我们日益增长的能源需求的主要来源。对于生产商来说，这需要维持目前的碳氢化合物产量，这反过来又需要用新的储量取代产量。然而，目前，新的“大象”油田(即那些能够大量生产常规石油和天然气的油田)位于深海海洋浊积系统中，位于现代大陆边缘以外的非常深的水域，通常超过2500米，如加拿大的东海岸和北海岸。在这些地区，勘探和生产成本高得令人望而却步，因此需要仔细的经济考虑和关注。为了使这些勘探和开采努力具有经济效益，公司必须增加成功的机会和每口井的体积产量。对这些具有重大经济意义的参数影响最大的变量是地质框架及其如何控制储集层的产状和动态。然而，要详细了解储集层的结构和性能，需要了解次地震尺度的特征，因此这需要基于野外露头和实验调查。本研究将以新元古代温德米尔超群为基础，研究深海盆地底坡硅质碎屑序列的相组成和地层几何学。此外，一个配套的实验计划将调查沉积物浓度对构成深海沉积记录的水流的沉积特征的影响。

The global economy is driven by energy. With increasing attention being focused on the negative environmental effects of coal burning, liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons are becoming the principal source for our ever-growing energy needs. For producers this requires maintaining the current volume of hydrocarbon production, which in turn requires replacing production with new reserves. Presently, however, the new "elephant" fields (i.e. those capable of high-volume conventional oil and gas production) occur in deep-marine turbidite systems situated in very deep water, commonly more than 2500 m, off modern continental margins, like the eastern and northern coasts of Canada. In these areas exploration and production costs are prohibitive, and as a consequence necessitates careful economic consideration and concern. In order to make these exploration and exploitation efforts economic, companies must increase their chance of success and the volumetric output from each well. The variable that most impacts these economically significant parameters is the geological framework and how it controls reservoir occurrence and performance. A detailed understanding of reservoir architecture and performance, however, requires an understanding of sub-seismic-scale features, which therefore requires field-based outcrop and experimental investigation. Based on the Neoproterozoic Windermere Supergroup, part of this research will study the facies composition and stratal geometry of a deep-marine basin floor to slope siliciclastic succession. In addition, a companion experimental program will investigate the influence of sediment concentration on the characteristics of deposition from the very flows that build-up the deep-marine sedimentary record.