Shelf
Sandstones or Wave-dominated Deltas: A Comparison of the Nuiqsut
and Nechelik Formations,
Burns, Beverly A.1, James
MacEachern2, David
B. Bannan3, Douglas G. Knock3,
Robert J. Kunemund3, Justine Boccanera4, Wayne J.
Campaign5 (1) ConocoPhillips Alaska, Stravanger, Norway (2) Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC
(3) ConocoPhillips Alaska, Anchorage, (4) CocnocoPhillips Alaska, Anchorage, (5) Conocophillips
Alaska, Anchorage, Alaska
The Oxfordian Nuiqsut and Nechelik formations
comprise stacked, coarsening and cleaning-upward, fine to very fine-grained,
shallow marine sandstone successions, deposited on the North Slope of Alaska.
Previous workers have suggested that these sandstones were deposited in a shelf
to lower shoreface settings. The Nuiqsut
Formation overlies the Nechelik Formation, which in
turn is overlain by the Alpine A Sandstone. The Nuiqsut and the Nechelik
formations range in thickness from 200 to 300 feet (60 to 90 m). The reservoirs
are thoroughly bioturbated (BI 5) and contain very
few preserved physical sedimentary structures. Core plug data indicate the
sandstones are characterized by moderate reservoir quality and the sands are
quartz-rich. Wire line log correlation and seismic mapping demonstrate that
coarsening-upward cycles prograded
from the north-northwest to south-southeast across a broad low relief Jurassic
shelf, but cannot be traced long distances along inferred depositional strike.
The sandstones are truncated to the north by two major unconformities (Upper
Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous) and pinch out stratigraphically
to the south. Isopach maps and core data indicate
that the best quality rock occurs in the eastern portion of the depositional
sequence, which actually corresponds to the thinnest portion of the reservoir.
Detailed sedimentologic and ichnological
analyses of the facies indicate that the sandstones
were deposited in delta-front environments, and pass upward out of markedly heterolithic prodelta sediments.
Integration of core, seismic, and wire line log data suggests that the Nuiqsut and Nechelik sandstones
were deposited in wave-dominated to wave-influenced deltaic settings that were
minimally influenced by storms.
AAPG Search and Discover Article #90063©2007 AAPG Annual Convention, Long Beach, California