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Lookup NU author(s): Joshua Obradors Prats, Dr Mohamed Rouainia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2023 The AuthorsMulti-well pressure data from the Magnolia Field, located on a flank of the salt-bounded Titan passive mini-basin in the Garden Banks area of the continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico, indicate remarkably high overpressures that vary, at similar depths, by up to 10 MPa between sand bodies 1 km apart. In the present paper, we integrate geological and geophysical analysis with 2D forward hydro-mechanical evolutionary modelling to assess the contribution of both disequilibrium compaction and diapir-related tectonic loading to the observed overpressure and to understand controls on pressure compartmentalisation. The 2D finite element evolutionary model captured the sedimentation of isolated sand channels bounded by mud-dominated sediments close to a rising salt wall which led to tectonic loading on sediments. Comparison of results from the 2D and 1D models shows that disequilibrium compaction can explain most of the overpressure as a result of very rapid deposition of mainly mud-rich, low permeability sediments; tectonic loading contributes around 7% of the observed overpressure. The models also show that linked to the high sedimentation rates, small variations in the permeability and connectivity of the mud-rich sections that bound the channel sands result in highly compartmentalised pressure distributions in adjacent sand bodies.
Author(s): Obradors-Prats J, Calderon Medina EE, Jones SJ, Rouainia M, Aplin AC, Crook AJL
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Marine and Petroleum Geology
Year: 2023
Volume: 155
Print publication date: 01/09/2023
Online publication date: 02/06/2023
Acceptance date: 01/06/2023
Date deposited: 03/07/2023
ISSN (print): 0264-8172
ISSN (electronic): 1873-4073
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2023.106352
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2023.106352
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