Bathymetrically controlled carbonate microfacies of an Upper Devonian (Frasnian) ramp and relationship to correlative reservoirs, western Alberta and northern British Columbia

加拿大西部沉积盆地的上泥盆统灰岩、白云岩和页岩沉积于3.75亿-3.8亿年前，至今仍拥有大量的常规和非常规油气资源。该盆地曾经是一个巨大的浅水碳酸盐平台和毗邻盆地的综合体，有点类似于今天的巴哈马。海洋位于西北部和西部。对许多地下储集层进行了研究，并将其与落基山脉露头的类似物进行了比较，后者提供了三维图像。台地内部由浅水泻湖和潮滩组成，碳酸盐砂滩和生物礁沿台地边缘形成。泥沙从内部被冲走，落到了邻近的斜坡上。碳酸盐泥浆、粘土、粉砂和大量有机碳聚集在深部，成为烃源岩。没有受到详细审查的一个背景是，当平台的地形起伏减少时，开发了面向海洋的坡道。这种岩石是含有化石的石灰岩和页岩。在威尔莫尔荒野公园的一个地方，这些属于鹰山地层的地层拥有壮观的珊瑚礁，这些珊瑚礁曾经高出周围海底25米。这一地区提供了一个独特的机会，可以将珊瑚礁中的成分与邻近的和覆盖的海床进行比较。由化石组成的数据集将能够确定坡道上不断演变的水深。这些信息将被用来理解水深测量和海平面变化对地下碳酸盐台地边缘结构和相邻盆地聚集的作用。赫斯基能源公司目前正在相关地层中勘探和开发常规和非常规资源，特别是页岩气，露头数据集将提供更好的了解，尤其是这些平台周围的地层演化、水柱生产力和储集层开发。该数据集使赫斯基公司处于竞争优势，并将指导计划中的勘探活动和钻探地点。

Upper Devonian limestones, dolomites and shales of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, deposited some 375-380 million years ago, still host huge quantities of conventional and unconventional oil and gas resources. The basin was once a vast complex of shallow-water carbonate platforms and adjacent basins somewhat akin to the present-day Bahamas. The ocean lay to the northwest and west. Many subsurface reservoirs have been studied and compared to outcrop analogues in the Rocky Mountains which provide a three-dimensional view. Platform interiors consisted of shallow lagoons and tidal flats, while carbonate sand shoals and organic reefs formed along platform margins. Sediment was washed off the interiors and onto the adjacent slopes. Carbonate mud, clay, silt and enormous amounts of organic carbon accumulated in the deeper areas, subsequently becoming the hydrocarbon source rocks. One setting that has escaped detailed scrutiny is the ocean-facing ramp that developed when the topographic relief of the platforms decreased. Such rocks are fossiliferous limestones and shales. In one locality in the Willmore Wilderness Park, these strata, belonging to the Mount Hawk Formation, host spectacular reefs that once towered 25 m above the surrounding seafloor. This locality offers a unique opportunity to compare the components in the reefs versus the adjacent and overlying beds. The dataset consisting of fossil composition will enable determination of the evolving water depths on the ramp. This information will be applied to understand the role of bathymetry and sea level changes on subsurface carbonate platform margin architecture and accumulation in adjacent basins. Husky Energy Inc. is currently exploring and developing both conventional and unconventional resources, particularly shale gas, in correlative strata, and the outcrop dataset will provide a better understanding of the stratigraphic evolution, water-column productivity and reservoir development especially around these platforms. This dataset puts Husky at a competitive advantage and will guide planned exploration activities and drilling locations.