estimation of changes in water column velocities and thicknesses from time lapse seismic data sea bed diffractions are frequently observed for several of the fields in the norwegian sea and the barents sea this is a challenge in time lapse seismic analysis since diffracted multiples are difficult to remove by processing and therefore is a major source of poor time lapse data quality in this work we test if the diffractions can be used for enhanced 4d interpretation by analysing the time shift of the sea bed diffraction hyperbola between the base and monitor it is tested if changes in water velocity and tides can be estimated two models using time lapse diffraction analysis are tested the first one simply adds time shifts for the two branches of the diffraction hyperbola and this average time shift is then used to estimate the water velocity change the other method uses an inversion method based on the diffraction equation for a point diffractor to estimate the velocity change in line common midpoint shifts are estimated by subtracting the time shifts of both hyperbola branches followed by direct inversion the diffraction based time shifts are compared to time shifts estimated by standard cross correlation of the sea bed reflection the averaging method gives slightly higher uncertainties while the inversion using an exact traveltime equation gives similar uncertainties compared to the sea bed reflection method

seismic imaging of reservoir flow properties time lapse amplitude changes asymptotic methods provide an efficient means by which to infer reservoir flow properties such as permeability from time lapse seismic data a trajectory based methodology much like ray based methods for medical and seismic imaging is the basis for an iterative inversion of time lapse amplitude changes in this approach a single reservoir simulation is required for each iteration of the algorithm a comparison between purely numerical and the trajectory based sensitivities demonstrates their accuracy an application to a set of synthetic amplitude changes indicates that they can recover large scale reservoir permeability variations from time lapse data in an application of actual time lapse amplitude changes from the bay marchand field in the gulf of mexico we are able to reduce the misfit by 81 in twelve iterations the time lapse observations indicate lower permeabilities are required in the central portion of the reservoir

a methodology for 7d warping and deformation monitoring using time lapse seismic data a methodology is presented for vector analysis of the image displacements warping between successive 3d seismic image volumes that provides 7d analysis including lateral and vertical displacements of in situ subsurface deformation around hydrocarbon reservoirs the key challenges are 1 assessment of just vertical shifts is insufficient and vector displacements should be determined 2 robust vertical displacements can usually be derived but lateral shifts are less well defined because of the generally smooth data character in a horizontal horizon plane 3 subvoxel resolution is necessary for correct matching and deformation analysis 4 velocity and strain effects are intrinsically combined in time lapse seismic images 5 separation of accumulated and local effects is necessary 6 apparently coherent and smooth displacement fields do not necessarily provide good strain analysis 7 warping is easily degraded by noise and good cross matching is a prerequisite to address these challenges a full 3d local warp vector derivation methodology is proposed which involves 1 constraint using prior estimates 2 local refinement with subvoxel resolution and 3 3d and vectorial conditioning using a deformable mesh with sensitivity to image match quality the warping approach is extended to separate accumulated from local effects and to analyze in situ deformation based on the displacement vector volume this is achieved by a finite element approach to determine an elemental pseudostrain tensor field and an iterative procedure to separate the pseudostrain into velocity and strain components the approach up to the strain analysis is demonstrated using a real data example which indicates the potential of the methodology accumulated overburden effects are separated to reveal a local compaction signature in the reservoir but realistic quantitative values of strain have not yet been realized

primary productivity and early diagenesis in the toarcian tethys on the example of the mn rich black shales of the sachrang formation northern calcareous alps organic inorganic and isotope geochemical investigations have been performed on 25 samples 20 laminated marl samples and 5 re sediment samples taken from a 27m thick black shale section of early toarcian age cropping out in the northern calcareous alps on the basis of mno fe organic carbon toc contents and hydrogen index hi values the laminated marls of the section can be divided into two parts toc contents and hi values are below 2 and 500 mg hc g toc in the lower mn rich and fe rich part mno between 2 and 16 fe between 3 9 and 6 4 while they range between 5 and 9 and 600 700 mg hc g toc respectively in the upper mn poor and fe poor part mno 1 fe between 1 5 and 3 8 both original amount of organic carbon toc or calculated from toc mno and sulphur contents and cao concentration show a strong upward increase in the lower mn fe rich part of the section toc or and cao are believed to represent planktonic particles hence their simultaneous upward increases are interpreted as the result of an at least 2 5 fold increase of productivity during the first part of the black shale event following the same logic in the second part of the black shale event productivity is believed to have slightly decreased from the previously reached high level stratigraphic variation of the sulphur isotopic ratio support this scenario comparison of organic geochemical and 34 s data of the re sediments with those of the neighbouring marls suggests that increase and decrease of productivity was paralleled by expansion and withdrawal of oxygen depleted waters during the black shale event the extent of the oxygen depleted bottom water was governed by changes in intensity of productivity changes in rates of deposition of mn and fe were not related to those of the productivity but they deeply influenced nature and intensity of bacterial degradation of organic matter and especially the incorporation of sulphur into kerogen the high contribution of mn and fe minerals in the case of the lower mn rich part prevented by both dilution and degradation of om due to mn reduction an intense incorporation of sulphur into om in the upper mn and iron poor part the high initial c org fe ratio led to an important incorporation of sulphur into om and an early termination of sulphate reduction

reservoir monitoring and characterization using satellite geodetic data interferometric synthetic aperture radar observations from the krechba field algeria deformation in the material overlying an active reservoir is used to monitor pressure change at depth a sequence of 11 field estimates allows us to construct a measure of diffusive traveltime throughout a reservoir the dense distribution of traveltime values means that we can construct an exactly linear inverse problem for reservoir flow properties application to interferometric synthetic aperture radar insar data gathered over a carbon dioxide c o2 injection site in algeria reveals pressure propagation along two northwest trending corridors an inversion of the traveltimes indicates the existence of two northwest trending high permeability zones the high permeability features trend in the same direction as the regional fault and fracture zones model parameter resolution estimates indicate the features are well resolved

4 d constrained depth conversion for reservoir compaction estimation application to ekofisk field ekofisk field in the norweigian sector of the north sea is a remarkable example of a strongly compacted chalk reservoir since the start of production in 1971 the water bottom has subsided by over 8 m as a result of reservoir compaction hermansen et al the field wide waterflood begun in 1989 was expected to halt pressure depletion and reservoir compaction after a few years of waterflooding ekofisk reservoir pressure began increasing but compaction and subsidence continued laboratory studies on chalk cores indicated that high porosity oil filled chalk compacts strongly when flushed with seawater these studies along with reservoir flow simulation and geomechanic modeling led to a model of a water weakening compaction sylte et al ongoing efforts deployed to monitor the reservoir compaction and seabed subsidence include twice a year compaction logging in a monitoring well daily gps measurements at the platforms and periodic bathymetry surveys nine surveys from 1970 to 1999

pelagic carbonate chemostratigraphy sr mg 18o 13c abstract a synthesis of the elementary sr and mg and isotopic 18 o and 13 c geochemistry of mesozoic to recent bulk pelagic carbonates suggests that the influence of late burial diagenesis is considerably less than was previously thought and that bulk carbonate geochemistry could be important for both paleoceanography and stratigraphy numerous chemical fluctuations in sr ca mg ca and 13 c 12 c ratios have occurred in the ocean during the last 140 ma the main factors responsible are 1 variations in submarine hydrothermal activity and 2 sea level fluctuations the validity of the chemostratigraphic methodology can be demonstrated by the synchroneity and the worldwide occurrence of various geochemical shifts

nannofacies analysis as a tool to reconstruct paleoenvironmental changes during the early toarcian anoxic event the black shales of lower toarcian schistes carton in france jet rock in england posidonia shale in germany are sediments formed by fine alternations of millimetric to sub millimetric clear and dark laminae a study of polished core surfaces dotternhausen core sw germany was carried out in sem in order to characterize the micro fabrics of different laminae and their content in nannofossils two main intervals were recognized where fabrics and nannofossil content are significantly different in the clay rich interval characterized by high wt toc and a large negative carbon isotope excursion both in carbonates and organic matter the dominant micro fabrics are well foliated or lumpy giving evidence of the absence or reduction of benthic life nannofossils are scarce and only concentrated in discrete laminae separated by large abiotic intervals assemblages are indicative of a deep nutricline but sporadic nutrient inputs occurred as demonstrated by fluctuation in abundance of specimens of the biscutaceae nutrients were probably delivered to the german basin via riverine influx different sized framboids of pyrite were recognized in this interval the smallest ones 2 m being probably precipitated in an anoxic and sulphidic water column the clay rich interval was likely deposited during low sea level in a restricted basin these conditions were followed by a sea level rise and better water mass circulation within the german basin sedimentation records an increase in carbonate deposition organic matter content decreased and carbon isotopes came back to pre excursion values micro fabrics became less markedly laminated pyrite framboids nearly disappeared and rich and diversified nannofossil assemblages are recorded sea water conditions were probably highly fluctuating as indicated by alternation of intervals dominated in turn by schizosphaerella spp flourishing under generally oligotrophic conditions where nutrients were temporarily available in surface waters due to storms and by crepidolithus spp a deep dweller the results of this work fit well with a silled basin model

in situ measurement of velocity stress sensitivity using crosswell continuous active source seismic monitoring abstractthe ability to characterize time varying reservoir properties such as the state of stress has fundamental implications in subsurface engineering relevant to geologic sequestration of co2 stress variation here in the form of changes in pore fluid pressure is one factor known to affect seismic velocity induced variations in velocity have been used in seismic studies to determine and monitor changes in the stress state previous studies conducted to determine velocity stress sensitivity at reservoir conditions rely primarily on laboratory measurements of core samples or theoretical relationships we have developed a novel field scale experiment designed to study the in situ relationship between pore fluid pressure and seismic velocity using a crosswell continuous active source seismic monitoring cassm system at the cranfield mississippi co2 sequestration field site we actively monitored seismic response for five days with a temporal resolution of 5 min the target was a 26 m thick inject

formation processes of framboidal pyrite abstract pyrite framboid formation may be the result of four consecutive processes 1 nucleation and growth of initial iron monosulfide microcrystals 2 reaction of the microcrystals to greigite fe 3 s 4 3 aggregation of uniformly sized greigite microcrystals i e framboid growth and 4 replacement of greigite framboids by pyrite the uniform morphology uniform size range and ordering of the microcrystals in individual framboids as well as the range of observed framboid structures from irregular aggregates to densely packed spherical aggregates and polyframboids are consequences of these processes using dlvo theory derjaguin landau verwey and overbeek we have evaluated the stability of colloidal iron monosulfide suspensions with ionic strengths typical of marine and lacustrine waters in addition to van der waals attractive and double layer repulsive forces a term is included to account for the ferrimagnetic properties of greigite numerical models predict that magnetically saturated greigite particles 0 1 m in diameter will rapidly aggregate in either marine or fresh water the aggregation model is in agreement with the sequence of greigite formation followed by pyrite framboid formation established in a previous experimental study sweeney and kaplan 1973 and is consistent with the occurrence of framboids composed of other magnetic minerals e g greigite magnetite and magnesioferrite based on the temperature dependent magnetic properties of greigite and aging experiments in hydrothermal solutions this mechanism for framboid formation via precursor greigite could operate to temperatures of 200 c consistent with the occasional occurrence of pyrite framboids in the paragenesis of metalliferous ore deposits

numerical paleoceanographic study of the early jurassic transcontinental laurasian seaway the forces governing marine circulation of a meridional transcontinental seaway is explored with the princeton ocean model the jurassic laurasian seaway which connected the low latitude tethys ocean with the arctic sea is modeled quantitatively the global ocean is found to have a profound influence on seaway dynamics a north south density difference and hence sea level difference of the global ocean was probably the main factor in forcing the seaway flow when the tethys waters were the denser water the net seaway flow was southward and conversely it was northward for denser arctic waters marine bioprovincial boundaries and sediment data indicate that the seaway probably was dominated by boreal faunal groups and reduced salinities several times in the jurassic the model results suggest that this can be explained by southward flowing seaway currents which may have been related to an oceanic thermohaline circulation where no northern high latitude deep convection occurred

an estimation method for effective stress changes in a reservoir from 4d seismics data advances in seismics acquisition and processing and the widespread use of 4d seismics have made available reliable production induced subsurface deformation data in the form of overburden time shifts inversion of these data is now beginning to be used as an aid to the monitoring of a reservoir s effective stress past solutions to this inversion problem have relied upon analytic calculations for an unrealistically simplified subsurface which can lead to uncertainties to enhance the accuracy of this approach a method based on transfer functions is proposed in which the function itself is calibrated using numerically generated overburden strain deformation calculated for a small select group of reference sources this technique proves to be a good compromise between the faster but more accurate history match of the overburden strain using a geomechanical simulator and the slower less accurate analytic method synthetic tests using a coupled geomechanical and fluid flow simulator for the south arne field confirm the efficacy of the method application to measured time shifts from observed 4d seismics indicates compartmentalization in the tor reservoir more heterogeneity than is currently considered in the simulation model and moderate connectivity with the overlying ekofisk formation

the early toarcian and cenomanian turonian anoxic events in europe comparisons and contrasts two intervals of mesozoic time are demonstrably of sufficient geological brevity to qualify readily for the term anoxic event the earlyfalciferum zone orexaratum subzone of the toarcian and thewhiteinella archaeocretacea interval zone that straddles the cenomanian turonian boundary both periods of time saw regional deposition of anomalously organic rich strata black shales accompanied by a positive 2 pdb carbon isotope excursion in coeval biogenic carbonates and significant faunal change the duration of both events was probably less than half a million years and both were preceded by regional erosion and possible upwelling coincident sea level rise and transgression is likely a european view of these events however spotlights some significant differences whereas thefalciferum zone organic matter is generally more concentrated and more hydrogen rich on the palaeo european shelf than on the tethyan continental margins the reverse holds true for the black shales formed during thewhiteinella archaeocretacea interval zone furthermore the carbon isotope composition offalciferum zone organic matter from both north european and tethyan sites is anomalously negative compared to that developed in thewhiteinella archaeocretacea interval zone differing planktonic organisms may have been involved and their possible diverse ecological requirements may go some way to explaining the nature and distribution of facies deposited during these two events

chemostratigraphy of the jurassic system applications limitations and implications for palaeoceanography current chemostratigraphical studies of the jurassic system primarily involve the use of one sedimentary component marine organic carbon one divalent transition metal substituted in carbonate manganese and two isotopic tracers strontium isotope ratios 87 sr 86 sr and carbon isotope ratios 13 c carb and 13 c org in carbonate and in organic matter other parameters such as mg ca and sr ca ratios in calcite oxygen isotope ratios 18 o in carbonate sulphur isotope ratios 34 s in carbonate hosted sulphate nitrogen isotope ratios 15 n org in organic matter osmium isotope ratios 187 os 188 os in black shales and neodymium isotope ratios 143 nd 144 nd in various mineral phases are also useful but at present give poor resolution because the database is incomplete or compromised by various factors stratigraphical patterns in total organic carbon toc can be of either local or regional significance depending on the lateral extent of the former nutrient rich and productive water mass divalent manganese follows a similar pattern being concentrated most probably as a very early diagenetic phase only in oxygen depleted waters that typically underlie zones of elevated organic productivity shifts in mg ca and sr ca ratios on the time scale of ammonite subzones seem largely to reflect temperature changes strontium isotope ratios from pristine skeletal calcite provide a global signal 13 c values from carbonates with minimal diagenetic overprint potentially do the same although small spatial differences in palaeo water mass composition may have been locally significant oxygen isotope determinations on carbonate rocks and fossils generally yield values that are too scattered to be stratigraphically useful because they reflect palaeotemperature the evaporation precipitation balance in sea water and the impact of any diagenesis involving an aqueous phase nitrogen isotope ratios in organic matter reflect the chemistry of ancient water masses as affected by nitrate utilization and denitrification and the stratigraphical pattern of this parameter is more likely to correlate only on a regional basis neodymium isotope ratios in sea water are also water mass dependent and greatly affected by regional sources and oceanic current systems preliminary data on sulphur isotope ratios in carbonates and osmium isotope ratios in organic rich shales both potentially offering global correlation indicate that these tracers may be valuable although the records at present are not sufficiently well established to allow high resolution regional correlation in all cases biostratigraphically well dated reference sections against which the relevant geochemical data have been calibrated are required in the first instance to date studies on the stratigraphical distribution of organic carbon have been principally carried out in both northern boreal and southern tethyan europe carbon isotope stratigraphy has been undertaken primarily but not exclusively on bulk pelagic sediments from the alpine mediterranean or tethyan domain and strontium isotope stratigraphy has been undertaken largely on calcitic skeletal material belemnites and oysters from northern and southern europe in many sections including those containing ammonites multi parameter chemostratigraphy can give resolution that exceeds that attainable by classic biostratigraphical means strontium isotope ratios in skeletal calcite are a particularly powerful tool for illustrating changes in sedimentary rate and revealing gaps in the stratigraphical record

linking reservoir geomechanics and time lapse seismics predicting anisotropic velocity changes and seismic attributes seismic technology has been used successfully to detect geomechanically induced signals in repeated seismic experiments from more than a dozen fields to explain geomechanically induced time lapse 4d seismic signals we use results from coupled reservoir and geomechanical modeling the coupled simulation yields the 3d distribution over time of subsurface deformation and triaxial stress state in the reservoir and the surrounding rock predicted changes in triaxial stress state are then used to compute changes in anisotropic p and s wave velocities employing a stress sensitive rock physics transform we predict increasing vertical p wave velocities inside the reservoir accompanied by a negative change in p wave anisotropy e 0 a stress sensitive rock physics transform that predicts a

predicting and monitoring long term compaction in unconsolidated reservoir sands using a dual power law model we propose a model for predicting the long term creep compaction of unconsolidated sand reservoirs prior to significant depletion the model is based upon linear viscoelasticity theory whereby deformation is decoupled into instantaneous and time dependent components the instantaneous component of deformation is modeled using a power law function of effective pressure model parameters are solved by conducting a constant strain rate laboratory experiment the time dependent deformation is modeled using a power law function of time associated model parameters are solved by conducting a creep strain test at the anticipated in situ effective pressure in total application of the model involves measurement of three model parameters obtained by conducting two different laboratory experiments we illustrate the model utilizing samples from unconsolidated sand reservoirs in the wilmington field in california and an offshore field in the gulf of mexico we show that the stiffness change associated with the porosity reduction predicted by the model is large and could be monitored using p wave velocity this should make compaction observable with 4d seismic surveys of the example fields

paleoceanographic changes of the late pliensbachian early toarcian interval a possible link to the genesis of an oceanic anoxic event abstract secular records of the elemental and isotopic composition of belemnite calcite were studied in pliensbachian and toarcian sections from the yorkshire coast uk and southern germany to investigate oceanographic change during an interval prior to and including the toarcian oceanic anoxic event oae records from southern germany are correlated to the uk stratigraphy using strontium isotope stratigraphy the geochemical trends measured from belemnite calcite are consistent between the two sections and are interpreted in terms of temperature and salinity of the northwest european epi continental sea the data suggest that a dramatic environmental change coincided with the toarcian oae belemnite mg ca sr ca and na ca ratios increase by a factor of between 1 7 and 2 coincident with a 3 negative shift in 18o from the mid tenuicostatum zone until the lower falciferum zone of the uk ammonite biostratigraphy a period of 0 6 0 7 myr taken at face value the mg ca and 18o data argue for an abrupt warming of 6 7 c and substantial freshening during this interval global warming accompanied by an accelerated hydrological cycle and increased runoff is proposed to explain these changes prior to these events data from lower in the yorkshire section suggest a possible cooling accompanied by a shift to more saline waters during the period from the upper pliensbachian margaritatus zone to the toarcian lower tenuicostatum zone this earlier event may also have been important in causing density stratification in the northwest european epi continental sea

the early toarcian early jurassic and the cenomanian turonian late cretaceous mass extinctions similarities and contrasts abstract the early toarcian eto and cenomanian turonian c t mass extinctions are comparable from a wide range of scales and perspectives from a broad standpoint their similarities include virtually identical extinction intensity at the familial and generic levels widespread basinal facies deposited during sea level highstands an overall greenhouse climate and anoxia as an important causal mechanism the high resolution macroinvertebrate data analyzed here consisting of stratigraphic ranges diversity and abundance point to smaller scale similarities the two events resulted in significant ecological disruption and in both cases the biotic responses were very similar taxa inhabiting the upper water column were unaffected by anoxia and included ammonites and in the eto belemnites in addition epifaunal taxa adapted to low oxygen conditions such as the buchiids posidoniids and inoceramids flourished in the post extinction environment during the survival interval as conditions ameliorated the biota became more diverse and gradually began to resemble pre extinction biotas furthermore the 13c curves predict the end of the survival interval and suggest that the period characterized by carbon isotope excursions represent disrupted environmental conditions this points to the potential application of 13c as a tool for determining the repopulation modes and timing for other mass extinctions

determining the dilation factor in 4d monitoring of compacting reservoirs by rock physics models hydrocarbon depletion and fluid injection cause compaction and stretching of the reservoir and overburden layers 4d prestack seismic data can be used to detect these changes because compaction stretching causes changes in traveltimes and seismic velocities we show that by using two different petro elastic models at varying effective pressures a good approximation is to assume that the fractional changes in layer

analysis of time lapse travel time and amplitude changes to assess reservoir compartmentalization fluid depletion within a compacting reservoir can lead to significant stress and strain changes and potentially severe geomechanical issues both inside and outside the reservoir we extend previous research of time lapse seismic interpretation by incorporating synthetic near offset and full offset common midpoint reflection data using anisotropic ray tracing to investigate uncertainties in time lapse seismic observations the time lapse seismic simulations use dynamic elasticity models built from hydro geomechanical simulation output and a stress dependent rock physics model the reservoir model is a conceptual two fault graben reservoir where we allow the fault fluid flow transmissibility to vary from high to low to simulate non compartmentalized and compartmentalized reservoirs respectively the results indicate time lapse seismic amplitude changes and travel time shifts can be used to qualitatively identify reservoir compartmentalization due to the high repeatability and good quality of the time lapse synthetic dataset the estimated travel time shifts and amplitude changes for near offset data match the true model subsurface changes with minimal errors a 1d velocity strain relation was used to estimate the vertical velocity change for the reservoir bottom interface by applying zero offset time shifts from both the near offset and full offset measurements for near offset data the estimated p wave velocity changes were within 10 of the true value however for full offset data time lapse attributes are quantitatively reliable using standard time lapse seismic methods when an updated velocity model is used rather than the baseline model

the response of marine phytoplankton and sedimentary organic matter to the early toarcian lower jurassic oceanic anoxic event in northern england abstract early toarcian organic rich sediments reflecting the lower jurassic oceanic anoxic event were investigated in the brown moor borehole north yorkshire northern england integrated micropalaeontological calcareous nannofossils and dinoflagellate cysts and geochemical rock eval pyrolysis analyses reveal a sequence of changes mainly driven by palaeoecological shifts these changes mainly involve the composition source and preservation rate of sedimentary organic matter as well as algal population dynamics a sequence of successive disappearances of individual species during the early toarcian dactylioceras semicelatum and harpoceras exaratum ammonite subzones affect the composition of the phytoplankton assemblages which become gradually dominated by opportunistic taxa this range top sequence is followed by the temporary disappearance of both calcareous nannofossils and dinoflagellate cysts the disappearance event which are replaced by tasmanites an increase in type ii kerogen marks this interval these modifications were related to a gradual water stratification and to the development of a stable pycnocline these factors controlled the development of an oxygen minimum zone within the water column and the distribution of nutrients in the surface waters the disappearance event is coincident with the maximum extent of the oxygen minimum zone a repopulation event and an increase in type iii kerogen mark the end of the phytoplankton crisis in the upper part of the h exaratum ammonite subzone preadapted survivors e g biscutum dubium biscutum finchii and crepidolithus crassus mainly characterise the repopulated calcareous nannofossil assemblages whereas a significant turnover affected the dinoflagellate cyst community the re established phytoplankton populations are a response to the gradual restoration of mixed marine waters characterised by meso eutrophic conditions at the surface and by sustained nutrient regeneration the integrated calcareous nannofossil and dinoflagellate cyst biostratigraphy provided a reliable biochronological framework for the brown moor borehole succession allowing correlation with lower toarcian anoxic strata in central italy the integrated micropalaeontological approach indicates some diachroneity of lower jurassic ammonite zones in the boreal and tethyan realms

rock physics analysis and time lapse rock imaging of geochemical effects due to the injection of co2 into reservoir rocks the fundamental concept of time lapse seismic monitoring is that changes in physical parameters such as saturation pore fluid pressure temperature and stress affect rock and fluid properties which in turn alter the seismic velocity and density increasingly however time lapse seismic monitoring is called upon to quantify subsurface changes due in part to chemical reactions between injected fluids and the host rocks this study springs from a series of laboratory experiments and high resolution images assessing the changes in microstructure transport and seismic properties of fluid saturated sandstones and carbonates injected with co2 results show that injecting co2 into a brine rock system induces chemo mechanical mechanisms that permanently change the rock frame injecting co2 into brine saturated sandstones induces salt precipitation primarily at grain contacts and within small pore throats in rocks with porosity lower than 10 salt precipitation reduces permeability and increases p and s wa

estimation of layer thickness and velocity changes using 4d prestack seismic data in some hydrocarbon reservoirs severe compaction of the reservoir rocks is observed this compaction is caused by production and is often associated with stretching and arching of the overburden rocks time lapse seismic data can be used to monitor these processes since compaction and stretching cause changes in layer thickness as well as seismic velocities it is crucial to develop methods to distinguish between the two effects we introduce a new method based on detailed analysis of time lapse prestack seismic data the equations are derived assuming that the entire model consists of only one single layer with no vertical velocity variations the method incorporates lateral variations in relative velocity changes by utilizing zero offset and offset dependent time shifts to test the method we design a 2d synthetic model that undergoes severe reservoir compaction as well as stretching of the overburden rocks finally we utilize the method to analyze a real 2d prestack time lapse seismic line from t

overburden 4d time shifts induced by reservoir compaction at snorre field abstract interpreting and understanding overburden seismic changes are important to avoid health safety and environmental hse accidents and well drilling problems furthermore overburden time shifts might indicate areas with reservoir compaction and depletion in the snorre sandstone field 4d seismic time shifts of as much as 3 ms are observed in the overburden the cumulative overburden time shifts captured at top reservoir correlate well with pressure depletion areas in the reservoir indicating that the time shifts might be related to changes in stress and strain because of reservoir compaction for further investigation a 2d geomechanical model is built in the area with the most prominent overburden time shifts based on the stiffness of the reservoir and surrounding rocks and simulated reservoir pore pressure changes the geomechanical model predicts a maximum downward displacement at the top reservoir of 0 4 m and maximum seabed subsidence of 0 25 m by defining an appropriate strain sensitiv

duration of the early toarcian carbon isotope excursion deduced from spectral analysis consequence for its possible causes abstract the marked 3 8 negative carbon isotope excursion associated with the early toarcian oceanic anoxic event oae 183 myr ago in the early jurassic period is thought to represent one of the most important perturbations of the c cycle in the last 200 myr however the origin of this excursion remains strongly debated primarily due to uncertainties in the estimation of its duration which ranges from 200 kyr to 1 myr here we present a new orbital calibration of the early toarcian carbon isotope excursion based on spectral analyses of two independent datasets generated from the sedimentary record of two hemipelagic sections from portugal peniche and sw germany dotternhausen in order to better constrain the timescale and hence the origin of this excursion these analyses reveal that orbital cycles exert a strong influence on both the calcium carbonate content in portugal and on the greyscale of black shales in germany which allow us to propose a duration of 1 9 myr for the early toarcian and of 900 kyr for the entire carbon isotope excursion the shift towards lower carbon isotope values lasted 150 kyr and carbon isotope values remained low for 450 kyr the subsequent increase of carbon isotope values lasted 300 kyr this calibration suggests that the sustained input of isotopically light carbon at the origin of the excursion occurred over 600 kyr and thus dismisses causal mechanisms implying relatively small source reservoirs such as the massive dissociation of methane hydrates in the light of our new cyclostratigraphic timescale the massive input of isotopically light carbon associated with the emplacement of the karoo ferrar basaltic province appears as the most likely cause of the toarcian global carbon isotope excursion we also show that the c isotope perturbation coincided with a transition from precession eccentricity dominated cycles to obliquity eccentricity dominated cycles suggesting that the oae was marked by a fundamental change in the response of the climate system which allowed the obliquity signal normally better recorded at high latitudes to be a dominant forcing factor of short term sedimentary cycles at tropical latitudes

on the use of quasi static deformation to understand reservoir fluid flow deformation above a producing reservoir provides a valuable source of information concerning fluid flow and flow properties quasi static deformation occurs when the displacements are so slow that we may neglect inertial terms in the equations of motion we present a method for inferring reservoir volume change and flow properties such as permeability from observations of quasi static deformation such displacements may represent surface deformation such as tilt leveling interferometric synthetic aperture radar insar or bathymetry observations or subsurface deformation as inferred from time lapse seismic surveys in our approach the equation for fluid flow in a deforming reservoir provides a mapping from estimated fractional volume changes to reservoir permeability variations if the reservoir behaves poroelastically over the interval of interest all the steps in this approach are linear thus the inference of reservoir permeability from deformation data becomes a linear inverse problem in an application to the wilmington oil field in california we find that observed surface displacements obtained by leveling and insar are indeed compatible with measured reservoir volume fluxes we find that the permeability variations in certain layers coincide with fault block boundaries suggesting that in some cases faults are controlling fluid flow at depth

estimation of flow properties using surface deformation and head data a trajectory based approach 1 a trajectory based algorithm provides an efficient and robust means to infer flow properties from surface deformation and head data the algorithm is based upon the concept of an arrival time of a drawdown front which is defined as the time corresponding to the maximum slope of the drawdown curve the technique involves three steps the inference of head changes as a function of position and time the use of the estimated head changes to define arrival times and the inversion of the arrival times for flow properties trajectories computed from the output of a numerical simulator are used to relate the drawdown arrival times to flow properties the inversion algorithm is iterative requiring one reservoir simulation for each iteration the method is applied to data from a set of 14 tiltmeters located at the raymond quarry field site in california using the technique i am able to image a high conductivity channel which extends to the south of the pumping well the presence of this permeable pathway is supported by an analysis of earlier cross well transient pressure test data

a method for estimating apparent displacement vectors from time lapse seismic images reliable estimates of vertical inline and crossline components of apparent displacements in time lapse seismic images are difficult to obtain for two reasons first features in 3d seismic images tend to be locally planar and components of displacement within the planes of such features are poorly resolved second searching directly for peaks in 3d crosscorrelations is less robust more complicated and computationally more costly than searching for peaks of 1d crosscorrelations i estimate all three components of displacement with a process designed to mitigate these two problems i address the first problem by computing for each image sample a local phase correlation instead of a local crosscorrelation i address the second problem with a cyclic sequence of searches for peaks of correlations computed for lags constrained to one of the three image axes

chemostratigraphy of the posidonia black shale sw germany i influence of sea level variation on organic facies evolution abstract during the toarcian widespread deposition of organic rich mudrocks black shales occurred across europe linked to a 3rd order sea level rise we provide a high resolution multi proxy chemostratigraphic study of the dotternhausen sections in sw germany embedded in a stratigraphic and palecological framework chemostratigraphy and paleoenvironmental reconstruction is based on rock eval and elemental analysis of bulk organic matter and biomarker analysis of aliphatic hydrocarbon fractions aliphatic biomarker ratios applied to reconstruct the facies development include pristane phytane and pristane phytane n c 17 n c 18 ratios carbon preference index c 27 c 29 sterane and hopane sterane distribution results show that sea level change exerted the major control on the composition of primary produced organic matter and on its redox controlled preservation changes in primary production and in the ratio of terrestrially versus marine derived organic matter take place drastically at the onset of black shale deposition the relative proportion of terrestrial versus marine biomass accumulation is independently assessed by highly correlative bulk organic matter properties hi values and biomarker ratios cpi the terrestrially derived end member yields hi values of 50 100 mg hc toc and cpi values of 1 4 2 0 whereas the marine end member has hi values of 600 700 mg hc toc and cpi values of 0 95 1 05 correspondingly the shift in plant versus bacteria derived biomass is discriminated by hi values and hopane sterane ratios data were grouped according to their position in the lowstand lst lower and upper transgressive tst highstand systems tract hst and maximum flooding surface mfz of the sequence stratigraphic framework occurrence of organic matter with a significant bacterial contribution is restricted to the lst and lowermost tst and shows hopane sterane ratios of 0 25 0 5 marine phytoplanktonic matter dominates the upper tst hst and mfz with organic matter giving hopane sterane ratios between 0 5 and 1 7 samples from the hst yield hi values between 450 and 500 mg hc toc which is consistently lower by 150 mg hc toc when compared to the tst the lower quality of the organic matter deposited in the hst is due to its longer settling times through a thicker oxygenated water column a strong correlation with relative sea level stand and the c 27 c 29 sterane ratio is observed lst exhibits c 27 c 29 sterane ratios of 0 7 during transgression values increase to 1 0 reaching a maximum at 1 4 during sea level highstand thus reflecting decreasing terrigenous input and shifts in near shore versus open marine algal communities episodic fluctuation of anoxia is discussed on the basis of a monsoonal climate model which infers significant surface run off during summer monsoon providing high nutrient supply and associated high primary productivity in combination with a density stratified water column excellent preservation conditions for organic matter were established dry winter conditions with inversion of the surface water flow regime led to seasonal export of bottom waters and episodic establishment of dysoxic conditions variations in the extent of annual flushing of sub basins on the toarcian shelf controlled long term organic matter accumulation rate paleoclimate variability and its connection with sea level stand is thus of paramount importance for different modes of organic matter accumulation and redox system stability

permo pennsylvanian palaeotemperatures from fe oxide and phyllosilicate δ18o values abstract the oxygen isotope composition of fossil roots that have been permineralized by hematite are presented from eight different stratigraphic levels spanning the upper pennsylvanian and lower permian strata of north central texas hematite 18o values range from 0 4 to 3 7 the most negative 18o values occur in the upper pennsylvanian strata and there is a progressive trend toward more positive 18o values upward through the lower permian strata this stratigraphic pattern is similar in magnitude and style to 18o values reported for penecontemporaneous authigenic palaeosol phyllosilicates and calcites suggesting that all three minerals record similar paragenetic histories that are probably attributed to temporal palaeoenvironmental changes across the late pennsylvanian and early permian landscapes palaeotemperature estimates based on paired 18o values between penecontemporaneous hematite and phyllosilicate samples suggest these minerals co precipitated at relatively low temperatures that are consistent with a supergene origin in a low latitude soil forming environment hematite phyllosilicate 18o pairs indicate 1 relatively low soil temperatures 24 3 c during deposition of the upper pennsylvanian strata followed by 2 a considerable rise in soil temperatures 35 37 3 c during deposition of the lowermost permian strata significantly d and 18o values of contemporaneous phyllosilicates provide single mineral palaeotemperature estimates that are analytically indistinguishable from temperature estimates based on hematite phyllosilicate oxygen isotope pairs the results between the two temperature proxy methods suggest that the inferred large temperature change across the upper pennsylvanian lower permian boundary might be taken seriously if real such a significant climate change would have undoubtedly had far reaching ecological effects within this region of pangaea notably there are important lithological and palaeobotanical changes such as disappearance of coal and coal swamp floras across the upper pennsylvanian early permian boundary of north central texas that may be consistent with major climatic change toward warmer conditions

early jurassic mass extinction a global long term event the end pliensbachian extinction event 187 ma has been interpreted either as one of 10 global periodically recurring mass extinctions of the past 250 m y or as a minor localized european event elevated levels of family extinction spanned five ammonite zones during the late pliensbachian and the early toarcian an interval of 7 5 m y and were distributed unequally in the boreal tethyan and austral realms detailed sampling of invertebrate macrofaunas through complete expanded sequences in northwest europe shows that most species extinctions occurred in the early toarcian following a regional anoxic event the early jurassic mass extinction event took place over a long time scale and it was global in extent

recent advances in time lapse laboratory rock physics for the characterization and monitoring of fluid rock interactions abstractmonitoring thermo chemo mechanical processes geophysically e g fluid disposal or storage thermal and chemical stimulation of reservoirs or natural fluids simply entering a new system raises numerous concerns because of the likelihood of fluid rock chemical interactions and our limited ability to decipher the geophysical signature of coupled processes one of the missing links is understanding the evolution of seismic properties together with reactive transport because rock properties evolve as a result of chemical reactions and vice versa capturing this coupling experimentally is one of the missing elements in the existing literature this paper describes recent advances in rock physics experiments to understand the effects of dissolution induced compaction on acoustic velocity porosity and permeability this paper has a dual aim understanding the mechanisms underlying permanent modifications to the rock microstructure and providing a richer set of experimental information to inform th

influence of background heterogeneity on traveltime shifts for compacting reservoirs compaction induced by pore pressure decrease inside a reservoir can be monitored by measuring traveltime shifts of reflection events on time lapse seismic data recently we introduced a perturbation based formalism to describe traveltime shifts caused by the 3d stress induced velocity field around a compacting reservoir application of this method to homogeneous background models showed that the offset variation of traveltime shifts is controlled primarily by the anisotropic velocity perturbations and can provide valuable information about the shear and deviatoric stresses here we model and analyse traveltime shifts for compacting reservoirs whose elastic properties are different from those of the surrounding medium for such models the excess stress is influenced primarily by the contrast in the rigidity modulus across the reservoir boundaries synthetic examples demonstrate that a significant 25 or more contrast in enhances the isotropic velocity perturbations outside the reservoir nevertheless the influence of background heterogeneity is mostly confined to the reservoir and its immediate vicinity and the anisotropic velocity changes are still largely responsible for the offset dependence of traveltime shifts if the reservoir is stiffer than the host rock the background heterogeneity reduces anisotropic velocity perturbations inside the reservoir but increases them in the overburden as a result in this case the magnitude of the offset variation of traveltime shifts is generally higher for reflections from interfaces above the reservoir we also study compaction induced stress strain and traveltime shifts for a stiff reservoir embedded in a softer layered model based on velocity profiles from the valhall field in the north sea despite producing discontinuities in strain across medium interfaces horizontal layering does not substantially alter the overall behaviour of traveltime shifts the most pronounced offset variation of traveltime shifts is observed for overburden events recorded at common midpoints close to the reservoir edges on the whole prestack analysis of traveltime shifts should help better constrain compaction induced velocity perturbations in the presence of realistic background heterogeneity

stochastic inversion of pressure and saturation changes from time lapse avo data effects of pressure and fluid saturation can have the same degree of impact on seismic amplitudes and differential travel

coccolith sr ca as a new indicator of coccolithophorid calcification and growth rate 1 polyspecific coccolith separates from core top sediments in the eastern equatorial pacific show variations of 15 in sr ca ratios across the equatorial upwelling zone with sr ca highest at the equator and decreasing off axis these variations cannot be due to changes in the sr ca of seawater which varies by less than 2 in the surface ocean variations in sr ca of coccolith sediments are similar to variations in primary productivity and alkenone estimated coccolithophorid growth rates in overlying surface waters and to caco3 rain rates measured in sediment traps because of these relationships and because calcification rate exerts a strong control on sr ca in abiogenic calcites we suggest that the observed sr ca variations in coccoliths may be strongly controlled by coccolithophorid growth and calcification rates although temperature may also influence coccolith sr ca to a lesser degree changes in dissolution intensity and coccolith assemblages appear to exert a minor influence if any on coccolith sr ca in these sediment core tops if further work confirms relationships between coccolith sr ca and coccolithophorid productivity sr ca records of past changes in coccolithophorid productivity may be useful in reconstructing past variations in the rain ratio of organic to carbonate carbon an important control on deep ocean ph and partitioning of co2 between the atmosphere and ocean in addition coccolith sr ca might provide an independent record of past changes in coccolithophorid growth rates which in combination with data on the carbon isotopic fractionation in coccolithophorid organic matter may permit more reliable calculations of past dissolved co2 in the surface ocean

evidence for major environmental perturbation prior to and during the toarcian early jurassic oceanic anoxic event from the lusitanian basin portugal the timing and causal relationships between the pronounced negative c isotope excursion and paleoenvironmental perturbations associated with the toarcian oceanic anoxic event early jurassic remain unclear particularly because biotic crises and carbonate production decrease appear to have been initiated earlier than the main c isotope anomaly here we present a new quantification of late pliensbachian early toarcian calcareous nannofossils abundance and size from the peniche reference section portugal together with o and c isotope records of well preserved brachiopod shells from the same section the brachiopod shell 13c curve parallels that of bulk carbonate and records two pronounced negative isotopic excursions close to the pliensbachian toarcian boundary 2 and during the toarcian oceanic anoxic event 3 5 our results indicate that both c isotope negative excursions were characteristic of benthic and shallow water environments suggesting that these two carbon cycle perturbations affected all epioceanic reservoirs coeval shifts toward lower values of brachiopod oxygen isotope compositions and closely correlated northward migrations of mediterranean ammonite fauna suggest that both events coincided with major rises in seawater temperatures probably as a result of increased co2 levels and enhanced greenhouse conditions co2 induced changes in seawater chemistry likely affected the calcification potential of both neritic and pelagic systems as evidenced by synchronous drops of platform derived carbonate accumulation and drastic reductions in size 3 m of the main pelagic carbonate producer schizosphaerella we suggest that the early toarcian paleoenvironmental crisis occurred in two distinct episodes that were most likely related to two successive phases of intense volcanic degassing in the karoo ferrar province

early jurassic schizosphaerellid crisis in cantabria spain implications for calcification rates and phytoplankton evolution across the toarcian oceanic anoxic event 1 the toarcian oceanic anoxic event 183 myr ago represents a global perturbation marked by increasing organic carbon burial and a general decrease in calcium carbonate production likely triggered by elevated carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere here we present quantitative analyses of calcareous nannofossil diversity and abundance from the castillo de pedroso section in cantabria northern spain we compare these data with geochemical data c and o isotopes obtained from biogenic and bulk carbonate records in order to highlight the response of calcareous phytoplankton to major climatic and paleoceanographic changes the pliensbachian toarcian boundary is characterized by an abrupt decrease in abundance of schizosphaerella punctulata the most important lithogenic contributor to hemi pelagic carbonates in the early jurassic the early toarcian nannofloral assemblages show an increase in abundance of mitrolithus jansae and small sized r selected taxa and a progressive decrease in s punctulata percentages the deep dwellers m jansae and s punctulata experienced a major crisis slightly prior to the deposition of the toarcian black shales that are characterized by high abundances of eutrophic taxa such as lotharingius spp and biscutum spp the return of s punctulata associated with lower percentages of eutrophic taxa was observed just above the toarcian black shales the toarcian episode reveals that high co2 levels and increasing primary productivity probably triggered a shift in abundance from highly calcified nannoliths such as s punctulata and m jansae to small sized r selected coccoliths that overall record a biocalcification crisis at the onset and during the toarcian episode

cross matching with interpreted warping of 3d streamer and 3d ocean bottom cable data at valhall for time lapse assessment legacy streamer data and newer 3d ocean bottom cable data are cross matched and analysed for time lapse analysis of geomechanical changes due to production in the valhall field the issues relating to time lapse analysis using two such distinctly different data sets are addressed to provide an optimal cross matching workflow that includes 3d warping additionally an assessment of the differences between the imaging using single azimuth streamer and multi azimuth ocean bottom cable data is provided the 3d warping utilized in the cross matching procedure is sensitive to acquisition and processing differences but is also found to provide valuable insight into the geometrical changes that occur in the subsurface due to production as such this work also provides a demonstration of the use of high resolution 3d interpreted warping to resolve the 3d heterogeneity of the compaction and subsidence this is an important tool for valhall and possibly other fields where compaction and subsidence and monitoring thereof are key factors in the reservoir management since the predominant observed production induced changes are compaction of the soft high porosity chalk reservoir due to pore pressure reduction and the resultant overburden subsidence such reservoir compaction could have significant implications for production by changing permeabilities and production rates furthermore the subsidence effects could impact upon subsea installations and well bore stability geomechanical studies that have previously been used to model such subsidence and compaction are only constrained by observed surface displacements and measured reservoir pressure changes with the geological overburden being largely neglected the approaches suggested herein provide the potential for monitoring and assessment in three dimensions including the probable heterogeneity and shearing that is needed for full understanding of reservoir compaction and the resultant effects on the overburden to for example mitigate well bore failures

modeling dynamic elastic properties of compacting chalk reservoirs using an integrated rock physics workflow a case study in the ekofisk field norway an integrated rock physics modeling workflow is discussed that aims at predicting the effective elastic moduli and density of a producing reservoir in response to pressure porosity and fluid saturation changes and that is suitable for application to compacting chalk reservoirs a simple extended form of nur s modified voigt model is used to build the dry rock elastic modulus and porosity relationship granular medium contact theory is used to model pressure change and gassmann s equation is used to model the fluid effect a dynamic compaction model from reservoir simulation is used to model porosity change due to compaction the rock physics model is calibrated at well locations from the ekofisk field in the north sea however the absence of time lapse logging makes the 4d calibration challenging effective fluid properties are calculated dynamically with the fluid acoustics for geophysics flag software program using inputs from the reservoir simulator and pvt measurements for low water saturatio

global and local forcing of early toarcian seawater chemistry a comparative study of different paleoceanographic settings paris and lusitanian basins 1 the early toarcian was characterized by two large perturbations to the carbon cycle a positive trend associated with increased organic matter burial and ocean anoxia and a pronounced negative carbon isotope excursion cie we contrast the geochemical evolution in the carbonate phases of two successions one from the paris basin sancerre core comprising black shales the other from the lusitanian basin peniche section with very minor lithological expression of bottom water anoxia our aim was to identify whether these carbon cycle perturbations were related and differentiate between the common global versus regional expressions of the biogeochemical response and ocean chemistry our results highlight contrasts in timing of different phases of anoxia in both locations through the widely documented negative cie widespread anoxic conditions were not a necessary prerequisite for generating a pronounced cie as required by the recycling so called kuspert model the production of carbonate simultaneously dropped during the 13c negative shift in both locations likely in response to lowered seawater saturation rate induced by substantial absorption of co2 from the atmosphere the recovery interval was accompanied by a rapid reestablishment of seawater alkalinity and primary and carbonate productivity in epicontinental seas as evidenced by high 13c and sr ca in contrast with the more open ocean regime in the lusitanian basin our results confirm that parallels can be draw between the ocean productivity response and feedback during the toarcian cie and the petm both events are characterized by ocean acidification and reduced pelagic calcification followed by a peak in nearshore coccolith productivity which could have helped the recovery from the perturbation

shelf and open ocean calcareous phytoplankton assemblages across the paleocene eocene thermal maximum implications for global productivity gradients abrupt global warming and profound perturbation of the carbon cycle during the paleocene eocene thermal maximum petm ca 55 ma have been linked to a massive release of carbon into the ocean atmosphere system increased phytoplankton productivity has been invoked to cause subsequent co2 drawdown cooling and environmental recovery however interpretations of geochemical and biotic data differ on when and where this increased productivity occurred here we present high resolution nannofossil assemblage data from a shelf section the u s geological survey usgs drill hole at wilson lake new jersey and an open ocean location ocean drilling program odp site 1209 paleoequatorial pacific these data combined with published biotic records indicate a transient steepening of shelf offshelf trophic gradients across the petm onset and peak with a decrease in open ocean productivity coeval with increased nutrient availability in shelf areas productivity levels recovered in the open ocean during the later stages of the event which coupled with intensified continental weathering rates may have played an important role in carbon sequestration and co2 drawdown

volumetric bounds on subsurface fluid substitution using 4d seismic time shifts with an application at sleipner north sea abstracta method is presented for the volumetric estimation of subsurface fluid substitution based on the analysis of 4d seismic time shifts since time shifts cannot resolve for fluid saturation and layer thickness simultaneously without additional constraints mass estimates are derived from the complete set of possible fluid saturations and layer thicknesses the method considers velocity saturation relationships that range from uniform fluid mixing to patchy fluid mixing based on a generalized velocity saturation relationship that is parameterized by the degree of patchiness explicit upper and lower fluid mass bounds are provided we show that the inherent ambiguity between fluid saturation fluid mixing and layer thickness has a severe impact on the convergence of these mass bounds that is fluid substitution scenarios with patchy fluid mixing and roughly linear velocity saturation relationships allow for more accurate fluid quantification than scenarios associated with uniform mixing applicatio

osmium isotope evidence for the regulation of atmospheric co2 by continental weathering the long term stability of earth9s climate throughout the phanerozoic stands in marked contrast to the dramatic fluctuations that have taken place on time scales as short as a few years reflecting the high efficiency of longer term climate regulation through negative feedbacks a fundamental mechanism is thought to involve control of co 2 in the ocean atmosphere system through continental weathering although unambiguous high resolution data supporting this hypothesis have hitherto not been available organic rich mud rocks from yorkshire england which were deposited during the toarcian oceanic anoxic event ca 181 ma early jurassic contain evidence of an exceptionally large excursion in the 187 os 188 os ratio of contemporaneous seawater from 0 4 to 1 0 the most likely explanation for this excursion is that it resulted from a transient increase in global continental weathering rates of 400 800 the os isotope excursion coincided with a well documented global 13 c excursion of 6 that affected all the major biospheric reservoirs of the time higher mean global temperatures caused global chemical weathering rates to increase substantially while in turn chemical weathering was very effective in reducing the elevated levels of atmospheric co 2 and the high temperatures to preexcursion levels

massive dissociation of gas hydrate during a jurassic oceanic anoxic event in the jurassic period the early toarcian oceanic anoxic event about 183 million years ago is associated with exceptionally high rates of organic carbon burial high palaeotemperatures and significant mass extinction heavy carbon isotope compositions in rocks and fossils of this age have been linked to the global burial of organic carbon which is isotopically light in contrast examples of light carbon isotope values from marine organic matter of early toarcian age have been explained principally in terms of localized upwelling of bottom water enriched in 12c versus 13c refs 1 2 5 6 here however we report carbon isotope analyses of fossil wood which demonstrate that isotopically light carbon dominated all the upper oceanic biospheric and atmospheric carbon reservoirs and that this occurred despite the enhanced burial of organic carbon we propose that as has been suggested for the late palaeocene thermal maximum some 55 million years ago the observed patterns were produced by voluminous and extremely rapid release of methane from gas hydrate contained in marine continental margin sediments

calcareous nannoplankton changes across the early toarcian oceanic anoxic event in the western tethys 1 calcareous nannoplankton were profoundly affected by environmental perturbations coincident with the early toarcian oceanic anoxic event t oae we quantify the abundance of nannofossils across the t oae at three locations in western europe where the event is marked by a prominent negative carbon isotope excursion cie data were treated by statistical analysis and the shannon diversity index was applied in order to describe nannofossil assemblage changes related to paleoenvironmental evolution in the basal toarcian before the t oae high proportions of taxa with an affinity for low temperature e g p liasicus t patulus bussonius occurred this observation is consistent with interpretations of published oxygen isotope records during the t oae the lowest abundance of nannofossils is observed but there is a peak of a coccolith calyculus from an organism that probably thrived in low saline surface waters depleted of nitrate at the end of the perturbation the lowest diversities of nannofossils occurred and assemblages are dominated by crepidolithus crassus a deep dweller this interval corresponded to progressive reoxygenation of deep water and the reoccupation of the deep photic zone by nannoplankton the highest abundance of nannofossils is recorded above the cie and testifies to the recovery of the entire nannoplankton community the t oae was widespread perhaps global and probably linked to major changes in the atmosphere and hydrosphere however the record of this event varies in the basins surrounding the western tethys suggesting regional imprints on the global signal the regional variability may attest to establishment of effective connections between the arctic and tethys oceans which allowed cool low saline water formed at high latitudes to stream toward the western tethys

a new approach to separate seismic time lapse time shifts in the reservoir and overburden abstractfor a robust way of estimating time shifts near horizontal boreholes we have developed a method for separating the reflection responses above and below a horizontal borehole together with the surface reflection data the method uses the direct arrivals from borehole data in the marchenko method the first step is to retrieve the focusing functions and the up down wavefields at the borehole level using an iterative marchenko scheme the second step is to solve two linear equations using a least squares minimizing method for the two desired reflection responses then the time shifts that are directly linked to the changes on either side of the borehole are calculated using a standard crosscorrelation technique the method is applied with good results to synthetic 2d pressure data from the north sea one example uses purely artificial velocity changes negative above the borehole and positive below and the other example uses more realistic changes based on well logs in the 2d case with an adequ

changes in dynamic shear moduli of carbonate rocks with fluid substitution to assess saturation effects on acoustic properties in carbonates we measure ultrasonic velocity on 38 limestone samples whose porosity ranges from 5 to 30 under dry and water saturated conditions complete saturation of the pore space with water causes an increase and decrease in compressional and shear wave velocity as well as significant changes in the shear moduli compressional velocities of most water saturated samples are up to 500 m s higher than the velocities of the dry samples some show no change and a few even show a decrease in velocity shear wave velocity vs generally decreases but nine samples show an increase of up to 230 m s water saturation decreases the shear modulus by up to 2 gpa in some samples and increases it by up to 3 gpa in others the average increase in the shear modulus with water saturation is 1 23 gpa the average decrease is 0 75gpa the vp vs ratio shows an overall increase with water saturation in particular rocks displaying shear weakening have disti

the timing of paleoenvironmental change and cause and effect relationships during the early jurassic mass extinction in europe the early jurassic marine mass extinction is one of several crises thought to coincide with anoxia transgression and warming caused by catastrophic release of gas hydrates however high resolution study of expanded sections in yorkshire england reveal that only the first of these factors is truly coincidental with extinction the well known transgression and large negative carbon isotope perturbation attributed to massive release of methane from gas hydrates occur after these events the anoxic event is developed diachronously in the european area with anoxia developing and fading away earlier in the mediterranean region compared with the nw european record however for a brief interval in the mid semicelatum subzone anoxia was simultaneously developed throughout the european region and it is this time that is marked by extinction of both benthic and pelagic marine fossils the sea level curve is also more complex than hitherto assumed with a minor regression occurring late in the semicelatum subzone shortly after the extinction the toarcian crisis occurred during a phase of global warming but the postulated release of methane from gas hydrates is too late to be implicated in the extinction mechanism as indeed is a recently reported cooling event from within the warming trend

utilizing the onset of time lapse changes a robust basis for reservoir monitoring and characterization time lapse monitoring is useful for imaging changes in geophysical attributes due to fluid flow in trying to use time lapse data for reservoir characterization difficulties often arise when relating changes in geophysical observations to changes in fluid saturation and pressure as an alternative approach for reservoir monitoring and characterization we introduce the idea of an onset time the time at which a measured quantity such as a seismic traveltime or a reflection amplitude begins to deviate from its background value we illustrate the idea and demonstrate its utility through the consideration of traveltimes recorded by the continuous active source seismic monitoring system at the frio pilot site near houston texas the system which transmits an elastic wave every 15 min is used to monitor the movement of carbon dioxide injected into a permeable sand formation from these data we can estimate the onset of changes in seismic traveltimes to six receivers in an adjacent borehole numerical simulation and synthetic tests indicate that the onset times are not very sensitive to the method used to compute the effective fluid bulk modulus and correspondingly the seismic compressional velocity rather the onset times are strongly influenced by saturation changes within the formation specifically by the break through time of the injected fluid phase by means of an iterative inversion algorithm we use the onset times to estimate permeability variations between the boreholes at the frio pilot site the authors 2014 published by oxford university press on behalf of the royal astronomical society

application of a linear finite frequency theory to time lapse crosswell tomography in ultrasonic and numerical experiments time lapse seismic monitoring is the geophysical discipline whereby multiple data sets recorded at the same location but at different times are used to locate and quantify temporal changes in the elastic parameters of the subsurface we validate a time lapse monitoring method by crosswell tomography using two types of wavefield modeling experiments 1 a 3d real ultrasonic waveform experiment and 2 2d synthetic finite difference wavefield simulations for both wavefield experiments a time lapse structure simulating a fluid sweep in a reservoir layer is applied the time lapse tomographic monitoring approach is based on the standard ray theory and a finite frequency wavefield theory where the latter takes into account the finite frequency properties of recorded wavefields the inverted time lapse models compiled with either the ray theory or the finite frequency wavefield theory locate and correctly quantify the flooding zone in the simulated fluid sweep model both wavefield theories provide an adequate result because the flooding zone is comparable in size to the fresnel volume

quantitative estimation of compaction and velocity changes using 4d impedance and traveltime changes in some hydrocarbon reservoirs severe compaction of the reservoir rocks is observed this compaction is caused by production and it is often associated with changes in the overburden time lapse or 4d seismic data are used to monitor this compaction process since the compaction causes changes in both layer thickness and seismic velocities it is crucial to distinguish between the two effects two new seismic methods for monitoring compacting reservoirs are introduced one based on measured seismic prestack traveltime changes and the other based on poststack traveltime and amplitude changes in contrast to earlier methods these methods do not require additional empirical relationships such as for instance a velocity porosity relationship the uncertainties in estimates for compaction and velocity change are expressed in terms of errors in the traveltime and amplitude measurements these errors are directly related to the quality and repeatability of time lapse seismic data for a reservoir at 3000 m depth wit h9mo fcompaction and assuming a 4d timeshift error of 0 5 ms at near offset and 2 ms at far offset we find relative uncertainty in the compaction estimate of approximately 50 60 using traveltime information only

overburden 4d time shifts indicating undrained areas and fault transmissibility in the reservoir abstract production induced geomechanical stress changes cause velocity changes in the overburden that might be detected as 4d seismic time shifts the strength of the velocity changes depends on the degree of pressure changes and the elastic properties of the reservoir and overburden layers even small velocity changes less than 1 might accumulate into detectable seismic time shifts at the top reservoir since the overburden thickness typically ranges from one to several kilometers reservoir pressure changes inducing seismic time shifts are observed in the overburden of the snorre heidrun and statfjord fields all located on the norwegian continental shelf the strong correlation between overburden time shifts geomechanics and reservoir pressure changes is used to indicate undrained areas and transmissibility across faults which is useful information for increased oil recovery well planning and reservoir model updating 4d geomechanical models are built with input from simulated reservoir pres

hydrothermal venting of greenhouse gases triggering early jurassic global warming abstract the climate change in the toarcian early jurassic was characterized by a major perturbation of the global carbon cycle the event lasted for approximately 200 000 years and was manifested by a global warming of 6 c anoxic conditions in the oceans and extinction of marine species the triggering mechanisms for the perturbation and environmental change are however strongly debated here we present evidence for a rapid formation and transport of greenhouse gases from the deep sedimentary reservoirs in the karoo basin south africa magmatic sills were emplaced during the initial stages of formation of the early jurassic karoo large igneous province and had a profound influence on the fate of light elements in the organic rich sedimentary host rocks total organic carbon contents and vitrinite reflectivity data from contact aureoles around the sills show that organic carbon was lost from the country rocks during heating we present data from a new type of geological structures termed breccia pipes rooted in the aureoles within the shale of the western karoo basin the breccia pipes are cylindrical structures up to 150 meters in diameter and are mainly comprised of brecciated and baked black shale thousands of breccia pipes were formed due to gas pressure build up during metamorphism of the shales resulting in venting of greenhouse gases to the toarcian atmosphere mass balance calculations constrained by new aureole data show that up to 1800 gt of co2 was formed from organic material in the western karoo basin about 15 times this amount of co2 27 400 gt may have formed in the entire basin during the intrusive event u pb dating of zircons from a sill related to many of the pipes demonstrates that the magma was emplaced 182 5 0 4 million years ago this supports a causal relationship between the intrusive volcanism the gas venting and the toarcian global warming

time lapse tomographic inversion using a gaussian parameterization of the velocity changes most seismic studies of changes in traveltimes are of a qualitative nature and a major challenge in four dimensions is to use the information contained in time shifts to quantify the nature of velocity changes in the subsurface layers we propose a 4d tomographic inversion method that uses time shifts from prestack seismic data to estimate parameters describing the 2d velocity field after changes have occurred prestack data allow for the usage of many offsets thus increasing the information input for the inversion the velocity changes are parameterized by a chosen number of gaussian functions in two dimensions and weighted least squares inversion is used to estimate the parameters describing these functions we have found that the parameters describing the position and shape of the gaussian velocity anomalies can be estimated with this method for simple synthetic cases for more complex cases with overlapping gaussian functions resolution of the parameters can be difficult and in these cases our recom

probabilistic analysis and comparison of stress dependent rock physics models a rock physics model attempts to account for the nonlinear stress dependence of seismic velocity by relating changes in stress and strain to changes in seismic velocity and anisotropy understanding and being able to model this relationship is crucial for any time lapse geophysical or geohazard modelling scenario in this study we take a number of commonly used rock physics models and assess their behaviour and stability when applied to stress versus velocity measurements of a large dry core data set of different lithologies we invert and calibrate each model and present a database of models for over 400 core samples the results of which provide a useful tool for setting a priori parameter constraints for future model inversions we observe that some models assume an increase in vp vs ratio hence poisson s ratio with stress a trait not seen for every sample in our data set we demonstrate that most model parameters are well constrained however third order elasticity models become ill posed when their equations are simplified for an isotropic rock we also find that third order elasticity models are limited by their approximation of an exponential relationship via functions that lack an exponential term we also argue that all models are difficult to parametrize without the availability of core data therefore we derive simple relationships between model parameters core porosity and clay content we observe that these relationship are suitable for estimating seismic velocities of rock but poor when comes to predicting changes related to effective stress the findings of this study emphasize the need for improvement to models if quantitatively accurate predictions of time lapse velocity and anisotropy are to be made certain models appear to better fit velocity depth log data than velocity stress core data thus there is evidence to suggest a limitation in core data as a representation of the stress dependence of the subsurface the differences in the stress dependence of the subsurface compared to that measured under laboratory conditions could potentially be significant although potentially difficult to investigate its importance is of great significance if we wish to accurately interpret the stress dependence of subsurface seismic velocities

sea bed diffractions and their impact on 4d seismic data a sea bed reflection is used to estimate changes in water layer velocities between timelapse seismic surveys such corrections are crucial in order to obtain high quality 4d seismic data this might be a challenge in areas where rough sea bed topography creates sea bed diffractions that interfere with the sea bed reflection as in several of the northern fields in the norwegian sea these diffractions and diffracted multiples are difficult to attenuate during data processing and become a source of noise in time lapse data in this work we study how cross correlation analysis of time lapse seismic data at a sea bed reflection may be perturbed by the presence of diffractions the seabed topography from the norne field is used in 2d finite difference modelling to explain some of the observed variation in a water layer time shift in field data we find that a rough sea bed and the diffracted energy it induces cause residual noise on the 4d data the variation to the water layer time shift increases with sea bed complexity and is amplified by interaction with other sources of non repeatability like water column variations mis positioning and strength of the ice scours creating the diffracted energy time shift variations with mis positioning and velocity changes between the surveys seem to best explain the observed variation in the time shift for time lapse seismic field data from norne

40ar 39ar ages of the sill complex of the karoo large igneous province implications for the pliensbachian toarcian climate change 1 reliable geochronological results gathered so far n 76 have considerably constrained the timing of the emplacement of the karoo large igneous province lip yet strikingly missing from this dating effort is the huge southern sill complex cropping out in the 0 6 106 km2 main karoo sedimentary basin we present 16 new 40ar 39ar analyses carried out on fresh plagioclase and biotite separates from 15 sill samples collected along a n s trend in the eastern part of the basin the results show a large range of plateau and miniplateau ages 176 2 1 3 to 183 8 2 4 ma with most dates suggesting a 3 ma 181 184 ma duration for the main sill events the available age database allows correlation of the karoo lip emplacement with the pliensbachian toarcian second order biotic extinction the global warming and the toarcian anoxic event provided that adequate calibration between the 40k and 238u decay constant is made the mass extinction and the isotopic excursions recorded at the base of the toarcian appear to be synchronous with both the increase of magma emission of the karoo lip and the emplacement of the sills the co2 and so2 derived from both volcanic emissions as well as carbon rich sedimentary layers intruded by sills might be the main culprits of the pliensbachian toarcian climate perturbations we propose that the relatively low eruption rate of the karoo lip is one of the main reasons explaining why its impact on the biosphere is relatively low contrary to e g the camp triassic jurassic and siberia permo triassic lips

a multimethod global sensitivity analysis to aid the calibration of geomechanical models via time lapse seismic data time lapse seismic attributes are used extensively in the history matching of production simulator models however although proven to contain information regarding production induced stress change it is typically only loosely i e qualitatively used to calibrate geomechanical models in this study we conduct a multimethod global sensitivity analysis gsa to assess the feasibility and aid the quantitative calibration of geomechanical models via near offset time lapse seismic data specifically the calibration of mechanical properties of the overburden via the gsa we analyse the near offset overburden seismic traveltimes from over 4000 perturbations of a finite element fe geomechanical model of a typical high pressure high temperature hpht reservoir in the north sea we find that out of an initially large set of material properties the near offset overburden traveltimes are primarily affected by young s modulus and the effective stress i e biot coefficient the unexpected significance of the biot coefficient highlights the importance of modelling fluid flow and pore pressure outside of the reservoir the fe model is complex and highly nonlinear multiple combinations of model parameters can yield equally possible model realizations consequently numerical calibration via a large number of random model perturbations is unfeasible however the significant differences in traveltime results suggest that more sophisticated calibration methods could potentially be feasible for finding numerous suitable solutions the results of the time varying gsa demonstrate how acquiring multiple vintages of time lapse seismic data can be advantageous however they also suggest that significant overburden near offset seismic time shifts useful for model calibration may take up to 3 yrs after the start of production to manifest due to the nonlinearity of the model behaviour similar uncertainty in the reservoir mechanical properties appears to influence overburden traveltime to a much greater extent therefore reservoir properties must be known to a suitable degree of accuracy before the calibration of the overburden can be considered

strontium isotope profile of the early toarcian jurassic oceanic anoxic event the duration of ammonite biozones and belemnite palaeotemperatures we profile 87sr 86sr 13c 18o sr ca mg ca and na ca in belemnites through pliensbachian and toarcian strata on the yorkshire coast uk which include the early jurassic oceanic anoxic event the 87sr 86sr profile shows that the relative duration of ammonite subzones differ by a factor of up to 30 the lower jurassic exaratum subzone is 30 times longer than the clevelandicum subzone because the exaratum subzone in yorkshire which contains the anoxic event is condensed by a factor of between 6 5 and 12 2 times relative to adjacent strata using our 87sr 86sr profile the resolution in correlation and dating attainable in the interval is between 1 5 m and 15 m of section and better than 0 25 myr in parts of the sequence this stratigraphic resolution equals that attainable with ammonites a new age model is provided for late pliensbachian and early toarcian time that is based on the 87sr 86sr profile through the sequence the sr ca mg ca na ca and 18o of belemnite carbonate covary suggesting that elemental ratios may be useful for palaeotemperature measurement our 13cbelemnite data splits into three the previously reported positive isotope excursion to 6 5 in the early toarcian we speculate that the excursion s resulted from addition to surface waters of isotopically heavy co2 via ebullition of methanogenic co2 from the sediment during early burial of organic rich 10 toc sediments

expression of the early toarcian negative carbon isotope excursion in separated carbonate microfractions jurassic paris basin abstract the causes of the pronounced negative excursion in carbon isotope values that was recorded during the early toarcian oceanic anoxic event t oae are still under debate particularly with regard to the local versus global pattern of the excursion and the extent to which recorded signals are under a diagenetic control in this study we employ a novel microseparation technique in order to investigate the isotopic and mineralogical characteristics of different size fractions of the carbonate content from a toarcian section recovered from the sancerre couy borehole southern paris basin beyond the recognition of a 6 13 c excursion in the bulk carbonate content our data also demonstrate that biogenic particles such as coccoliths and inorganic grains precipitated as early diagenetic phases including dolomite both record the excursion with the same magnitude although several black shales occur through the paris basin toarcian section it is only that associated with the onset of the oae that coincides with a large negative carbon isotope excursion taken together these observations indicate that during this event the entire water column was characterized by homogeneous carbon isotope values such a pattern is incompatible with the idea that the negative excursion was generated simply through the upwelling of bottom waters enriched in re mineralized organic carbon cf the kuspert model since this would have required a strong vertical gradient in the water column additionally the paris basin data show that the decrease in carbonate 13 c values during the oae occurred in several discrete steps each of some 2 as has previously been found for organic carbon substrates in other european sections the stepped nature of the isotopic profile which is part of a stratigraphic signature previously ascribed to milankovitch forcing is compatible with regular pulsed input of light carbon into the whole atmosphere ocean system from a climatically sensitive source such as gas hydrate or from thermal methanogenesis of organic rich sediments in the karoo ferrar large igneous province contrasts in the amplitude of the negative carbon isotope excursion on a regional scale remain an important unexplained aspect of the toarcian record

dolomite formation in the dynamic deep biosphere results from the peru margin early diagenetic dolomite beds were sampled during the ocean drilling programme odp leg 201 at four reoccupied odp leg 112 sites on the peru continental margin sites 1227 684 1228 680 1229 681 and 1230 685 and analysed for petrography mineralogy 13c 18o and 87sr 86sr values the results are compared with the chemistry and 13c and 87sr 86sr values of the associated porewater petrographic relationships indicate that dolomite forms as a primary precipitate in porous diatom ooze and siliciclastic sediment and is not replacing the small amounts of precursor carbonate dolomite precipitation often pre dates the formation of framboidal pyrite most dolomite layers show 87sr 86sr ratios similar to the composition of quaternary seawater and do not indicate a contribution from the hypersaline brine which is present at a greater burial depth also the 13c values of the dolomite are not in equilibrium with the 13c values of the dissolved inorganic carbon in the associated modern porewater both petrography and 87sr 86sr ratios suggest a shallow depth of dolomite formation in the uppermost sediment 30 m below the seafloor a significant depletion in the dissolved mg and ca in the porewater constrains the present site of dolomite precipitation which co occurs with a sharp increase in alkalinity and microbial cell concentration at the sulphate methane interface it has been hypothesized that microbial hot spots such as the sulphate methane interface may act as focused sites of dolomite precipitation varying 13c values from 15 to 15 for the dolomite are consistent with precipitation at a dynamic sulphate methane interface where 13c of the dissolved inorganic carbon would likewise be variable a dynamic deep biosphere with upward and downward migration of the sulphate methane interface can be simulated using a simple numerical diffusion model for sulphate concentration in a sedimentary sequence with variable input of organic matter thus the study of dolomite layers in ancient organic carbon rich sedimentary sequences can provide a useful window into the palaeo dynamics of the deep biosphere

the rate and consequences of sr diagenesis in deep sea carbonates we have used a diffusion advection reaction model for sr exchange during deep sea carbonate diagenesis to determine the rate and consequences of sr exchange between porewaters and bulk carbonate at six dsdp sites 590b 575 593 516 305 and 289 where the required sr concentration and isotopic composition data for the interstitial waters are available from the literature the model can reproduce both the sr2 and 87sr 86sr profiles in the porewaters at each of the sites by adjusting the rate of sr exchange due to solution reprecipitation as a function of sediment age we find that the rate of solution reprecipitation at all of the sites is highest for the youngest sediment 1 10 m y and decreases by about an order of magnitude over the first 10 m y of sediment age the effect of this exchange on the properties of the bulk carbonate is to reduce the sr content by 5 25 depending primarily on the sedimentation rate and shift the 87sr 86sr by as much as 0 00004 from the value the sediment had when first deposited isotopic shifts of this magnitude are large compared to present analytical uncertainties and therefore should be corrected for when using bulk carbonate 87sr 86sr for stratigraphic correlation the average sr loss in the carbonate sections studied is about 15 from which we conclude that the sr flux from carbonate sediments to the overlying ocean is of the order of 15 of the riverine sr flux we also show that the isotopic composition of the diagenetic sr flux is at all times quite close to the contemporaneous seawater value and therefore this flux plays a very minor role in the overall sr budget that determines the sr isotopic composition of seawater the range of sr losses from bulk carbonate due to diagenesis that we calculate is too small to account for the typical decrease in sr content seen in pelagic carbonates as a function of age about 70 over the first 100 m y we conclude that this decrease is not the result of diagenesis and must involve some changing property of the ocean itself

comment on carbon isotope record of the early jurassic toarcian oceanic anoxic event from fossil wood and marine carbonate lusitanian basin portugal by hesselbo s jenkyns h c duarte l v and oliveira l c v hesselbo et al 2006 hereinafter hjdo06 present stable isotopic profiles through lower toarcian sediments at peniche portugal and interpret them as evidence of a massive injection to the atmosphere of isotopically light co2 derived from methane oxidation the atmospheric inputs supposedly gave rise to negative isotopic excursions in all carbon reservoirs the paper follows others proposing that environmental change in early toarcian time was driven by the release to the atmosphere of methane either from marine clathrates hesselbo et al 2000 kemp et al 2005 or from organic rich shales that were baked by karoo ferrar intrusions mcelwain et al 2005 the methane hypothesis was tested by van de schootbrugge et al 2005 who highlighted the existence of sections that lacked a negative excursion in ac in one or more sample media amongst them is the section on the coast of yorkshire uk used to erect the methane hypothesis by hesselbo et al 2000 which lacks a negative excursion in the c of belemnite calcite mcarthur et al 2000 van de schootbrugge et al 2005 as the excursion is not seen in these sections it cannot represent a global event and so could not have resulted from methane release which would have influenced all reservoirs of carbon new data are now provided by hjdo06 for a section peniche

palaeoceanography methane release in the early jurassic period arising from d b kemp a l coe a s cohen l schwark nature 437 396 399 2005 kemp et al reply dramatic global warming triggered by release of methane from clathrates has been postulated to have occurred during the early toarcian age in the early jurassic period1 kemp et al 2 claim that this methane was released at three points as recorded by three sharp excursions of 13corg of up to 3 magnitude but they discount another explanation for the excursions namely that some perhaps all of the rapid excursions could be a local signature of a euxinic basin caused by recycling of isotopically light carbon from the lower water column this idea has been proposed previously see ref 3 for example and is supported by the lack evidence for negative 13c excursions in coeval belemnite rostra4 kemp et al dismiss this alternative claiming that each abrupt shift would have required the recycling of about double the amount of organic carbon that is currently present in the modern ocean however their measurements are not from an ocean but from a restricted epicontinental seaway and so would not require whole ocean mixing to achieve the excursions

sensitivity of compaction induced multicomponent seismic time shifts to variations in reservoir properties abstractpore pressure variations inside producing reservoirs result in excess stress and strain that influence the arrival times of reflected waves inversion of seismic data for pressure changes requires better understanding of the dependence of compaction induced time shifts on reservoir pressure reduction using geomechanical and full waveform seismic modeling we investigate pressure dependent behavior of p s and ps wave time shifts from reflectors located above and below a rectangular reservoir embedded in a homogeneous half space our geomechanical modeling algorithm generates the excess stress strain field and the stress induced stiffness tensor as linear functions of reservoir pressure analysis of time shifts obtained from full waveform synthetic data shows that they vary almost linearly with pressure for reflectors above the reservoir but become nonlinear for reflections from the reservoir or deeper interfaces time shift misfit curves computed with respect to noise contaminated data from a

time lapse seismic data registration and inversion for co2 sequestration study at cranfield abstractthe time lapse seismic survey for co2 sequestration study at cranfield can be problematic because of misalignments between time lapse data sets such misalignments can be caused by the seismic data processing workflow and may result in the wrong interpretation of time lapse seismic amplitude differences we propose an efficient local correlation based warping method of registering the time lapse poststack data sets which can align these data sets without changing original amplitudes application of our registration method to cranfield time lapse data demonstrates its effectiveness in separating time shift character from seismic amplitude signature after registration time lapse differences show an improved consistency in vertical cross sections and a more localized distribution of difference amplitudes along the horizon allowing us to apply a high resolution basis pursuit inversion bpi for acoustic impedances inversion results show that decreases in acoustic impedances occur mostly at the to

modeling and analysis of compaction induced traveltime shifts for multicomponent seismic data abstractmodeling of time shifts associated with time lapse 4d seismic surveys is helpful in evaluating reservoir depressurization and inverting for subsurface stress using coupled geomechanical and full waveform seismic modeling we study the influence of compaction induced stress and strain around a simplified reservoir on compressional p shear s and mode converted ps waves we estimate compaction induced time shifts and analyze their dependence on reflector depth and pressure drop inside the reservoir time shifts between synthetic baseline and monitor surveys are obtained by processing techniques that are potentially applicable to field data although p wave time shift lags for reflectors in the overburden are indicative of induced anisotropy they are two to three times smaller than s wave time shift leads for reflectors beneath the reservoir we also investigate the contributions of the deviatoric and volumetric stains to the time shifts for all three modes time shifts for s and ps waves

estimation of thickness and velocity changes of injected carbon dioxide layers from prestack time lapse seismic data in this study we bring together the two main categories of time lapse seismic analysis amplitude analysis and time shift analysis to estimate simultaneously the changes in thickness and velocity of a 4d seismic anomaly the methodology is applied to time lapse seismic monitoring of carbon dioxide c o2 storage at sleipner field norway that shows significant 4d effects the 4d anomalies resulting from c o2 injection appear as a multilayer reflection pattern within the relatively shallow utsira sand this multireflective appearance within the sand layer is interpreted as c o2 layers trapped below thin shale layers because most of the c o2 layers are believed to be thin 0 20 m the interference between top and base of these layers needs to be taken into account in 4d seismic analysis by studying the reflected event from a horizon below the utsira sand we estimate 4d traveltime shifts caused by the presence of the c o2 layer above thishorizon we then combine these traveltime shifts with measur

4d gravity response of compacting reservoirs analytical approach abstracttime lapse gravity is a technique sensitive to subsurface change in mass and in mass distribution we attempted to devise a method to predict gravity effects caused by redistribution of subsurface mass induced by reservoir compaction first displacements and strains due to compaction were modeled using a geomechanical model then 4d gravity effects were derived from the displacements and the volumetric strains computed in and around the reservoir a sensitivity study was carried out for geomechanical parameters such as poisson s ratio as well as for geometrical parameters such as reservoir radius and depth finally changes in gravity due to compaction were compared to changes induced by reservoir fluid substitution given a rigid basement close below a strongly compacting reservoir our modeling case showed that the deformation itself could give gravity changes comparable to changes caused by reservoir fluid density changes which are the changes traditionally targeted by gravity monitoring

the effect of microstructure and nonlinear stress on anisotropic seismic velocities recent work in hydrocarbon reservoir monitoring has focused on developing coupled geomechanical fluid flow simulations to allow production related geomechanical effects such as compaction and subsidence to be included in reservoir models to predict realistic time lapse seismic signatures generation of appropriate elastic models from geomechanical output is required these elastic models should include not only the fluid saturation effects of intrinsic shape induced and stress induced anisotropy but also should incorporate nonlinear stress dependent elasticity to model nonlinear elasticity we use a microstructural effective medium approach in which elasticity is considered as a function of mineral stiffness and additional compliance is caused by the presence of low aspect ratio displacement discontinuities by jointly inverting observed ultrasonic p and s wave velocities to determine the distribution of such discontinuities we assessed the appropriateness of modeling them as simple planar penny shaped features by using this approximation we developed a simple analytical approach to predict how seismic velocities will vary with stress we tested our approach by analyzing the elasticity of various sandstone samples from a united kingdom continental shelf ukcs reservoir some of which display significant anisotropy as well as two data sets taken from the literature

monitoring overburden layer changes and fault movements from time lapse seismic data on the valhall field summary a method developed by roste et al which discriminates between layer thickness and velocity changes is tested on pre stack time lapse seismic ocean bottom cable obc data from the valhall field a key parameter in this discrimination process is the dilation factor which is the relative velocity change divided by the relative thickness change within a given layer the high quality and good repeatability of the obc data enables us to estimate with a reasonable accuracy for values between 0 and 5 for values below 5 complementary information like for instance geomechanics is required for the top reservoir horizon we estimate a maximum subsidence of 0 50 m 0 29 m and a corresponding velocity decrease for the sequence from the seabed to the top reservoir of 2 0 m s 1 0 40 m s 1 time lapse distortion patterns with characteristic time shift versus offset signatures are observed the positions and vertical extents of the distortion zones are determined from ray path considerations and modelling the distortion zones correlate with buried faults indicating that a time lapse distortion zone might be produced by a localized slip in a fault zone we present an extended method which allows for vertical in addition to lateral variations in the relative thickness and velocity changes this method can be viewed as a simplified version of time lapse tomography but involving fewer unknown parameters giving more stability to the estimated changes in thickness and velocity using this technique we are able to estimate for positions with localized time lapse distortions

basinal restriction black shales re os dating and the early toarcian jurassic oceanic anoxic event 1 profiles of mo total organic carbon toc through the lower toarcian black shales of the cleveland basin yorkshire united kingdom and the posidonia shale of germany and switzerland reveal water mass restriction during the interval from late tenuicostatum zone times to early bifrons zone times times which include that of the putative early toarcian oceanic anoxic event the degree of restriction is revealed by crossplots of mo and toc concentrations for the cleveland basin which define two linear arrays with regression slopes ppm of 0 5 and 17 the slope of 0 5 applies to sediment from the upper semicelatum and exaratum subzones this value which is one tenth of that for modern sediments from the black sea mo toc regression slope 4 5 reveals that water mass restriction during this interval was around 10 times more severe than in the modern black sea the renewal frequency of the water mass was between 4 and 40 ka the mo toc regression slope of 17 applies to the overlying falciferum and commune subzones the value shows that restriction in this interval was less severe and that the renewal frequency of the water mass was between 10 and 130 years the more restricted of the two intervals has been termed the early toarcian oceanic anoxic event but is shown to be an event caused by basin restriction local to nw europe crossplots of re os and mo against toc show similar trends of increasing element concentration with increase in toc but with differing slopes together with modeling of 187 os 188 os and d 98 mo the element toc trends show that drawdown of re os and mo was essentially complete during upper semicelatum and exaratum subzone times mo toc regression slope of 0 5 drawdown sensitized the restricted water mass to isotopic change forced by freshwater mixing so that continental inputs of re os and mo via a low salinity surface layer created isotopic excursions of up to 1 3 in d 98 mo and up to 0 6 for 187 os 188 os restriction thereby compromises attempts to date toarcian black shales and possibly all black shales using re os chronology and introduces a confounding influence in the attempts to use d 98 mo and initial 187 os 188 os for palaeo oceanographic interpretation

molybdenum isotope evidence for global ocean anoxia coupled with perturbations to the carbon cycle during the early jurassic relatively brief periods of severe paleoenvironmental change during the jurassic and cretaceous were associated with the widespread accumulation of organic rich marine deposits termed oceanic anoxic events oaes these intervals involved abrupt global warming of 5 10 c higher rates of continental weathering elevated extinction rates and large scale perturbations to the global carbon cycle the major oaes also overlapped temporally the emplacement of large igneous provinces however despite being known as oaes the extent of seawater anoxia at those times is undefined and the causative processes remain unclear here we show how changes in seawater molybdenum isotope ratios a proxy for seawater anoxia during the toarcian early jurassic oae define the onset and expansion of oxygen deficient conditions our data also place constraints on the areal extent of marine anoxia during the event and demonstrate that anoxia expanded and contracted periodically broadly in line with precession driven changes in 13 corg despite their intermittent occurrence over geological history oaes have an important contemporary relevance because the magnitude and high rates of environmental change then were broadly similar to those occurring at the present day