APPLIED GEOPHYSICS, Vol.6, No.1 (March 2009), P.17 - 29, 9 Figures.

DOI:10.1007/s11770-009-0011-4

Automatic discrimination of sedimentary facies and

lithologies in reef-bank reservoirs using borehole
image logs*
Chai Hua1, 2, Li Ning2, 4, Xiao Chengwen3, Liu Xingli3, Li Duoli3, Wang Caizhi2, and Wu Dacheng3

Abstract: Reef-bank reservoirs are an important target for petroleum exploration in marine
carbonates and also an essential supplemental area for oil and gas production in China. Due
to the diversity of reservoirs and the extreme heterogeneity of reef-banks, it is very difcult to
discriminate the sedimentary facies and lithologies in reef-bank reservoirs using conventional
well logs. The borehole image log provides clear identification of sedimentary structures
and textures and is an ideal tool for discriminating sedimentary facies and lithologies. After
examining a large number of borehole images and cores, we propose nine typical patterns
for borehole image interpretation and a method that uses these patterns to discriminate
sedimentary facies and lithologies in reef-bank reservoirs automatically. We also develop
software with user-friendly interface. The results of applications in reef-bank reservoirs in
the middle Tarim Basin and northeast Sichuan have proved that the proposed method and the
corresponding software are quite effective.
Keywords: Reef-bank reservoirs, sedimentary facies, lithology, borehole image logs, pattern
recognition

Introduction
Organic reefs and banks are special carbonate
buildups produced by biological processes. They may
form effective traps and become reservoirs for oil and
gas accumulations (Riding, 2002; Fan and Zhang, 1985).
Approximately 50% of the reserves and 60% of the
production of the worlds total oil and gas are believed
to be contained in reef-bank carbonate reservoirs (Wei
et al., 2006; Wen et al., 2005). Reef-bank reservoirs
are an important target for petroleum exploration in

marine carbonates in China. In recent years, many reefbank reservoirs with superior reservoir characteristics
and hydrocarbon shows have been found in the middle
Tarim, west Qaidam, east Sichuan, west Hubei and
the Pear River Mouth Basin. The reef-bank reservoirs
have various types and are extremely heterogeneous.
Numerous studies have been conducted using well log
evaluation (Wang et al., 2005; Ren et al., 1999; Zhang
et al., 2006) but most of them consisted of performing
stratigraphic division and qualitative analysis using
conventional well logs, insufcient to meet requirements
in research and production. Borehole image logs have

Manuscript received by the Editor September 1, 2008; revised manuscript received February 24, 2009.
*This work was sponsored by the National S&T Major Special Project (No. 2008ZX05020-01).
1. School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
2. Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, PetroChina, Beijing 100083, China.
3. Research Institute of Exploration and Development, Tarim Oileld Company, PetroChina, Korla 841000, China.
4. College of Geophysics and Petroleum Resource, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434023, China.

17

Automatic discrimination of sedimentary facies and lithologies

very high vertical resolution (approx. 2.5 mm) and
nearly complete borehole coverage. They provide
critical information on clays, bioclasts, calcite crystals,
pores, fractures, stylolites, bedding, bioturbate textures,
and other geological features in reef-bank reservoirs and
can be used for discriminating sedimentary facies and
lithologies (Serra, 1989; Lovell et al., 1997; Prensky,
1999; Russell et al., 2002). Structural features such as
faults and folds can also be clearly identied (Faivre and
Catala, 1995; Prilliman et al., 1997), making the logs an
effective tool for near-well structure and formation stress
analyses. In addition, they are sensitive to dissolution
pores and cracks and can be used to estimate porosity,
permeability, and other parameters (Nurmi et al., 1990;
Standen et al., 1993; Newberry et al., 1996). Using core
calibration and a comparison and manual classication
of a large number of borehole images, we propose nine
typical borehole image patterns and devise a method to
discriminate sedimentary facies and lithologies in reefbank reservoirs automatically.
Our procedures are: (1) Calibrate borehole image
logs with cores and summarize the borehole image
features of all sedimentary facies and lithologies; (2)
By comparing a large number of borehole images with
cores, find out all typical borehole image patterns and
their corresponding sedimentary facies and lithologies;
(3) Utilize image analysis and pattern recognition
algorithms to determine the borehole image patterns
automatically; And (4) In conjunction with other logs,
determine the sedimentary facies and lithologies using
the borehole image pattern correlation obtained in
step (2). The borehole image patterns and the pattern
recognition method in our procedure are totally different
from those proposed in previous studies. In the past,
pattern recognition was mainly used in shape analysis
of conventional logs. Its use in image logs was limited
to picking fractures and parameters. Our approach is
more extensive and includes a proposed correlation of
nine typical borehole image patterns with corresponding
geological significance and a method of automatically
discriminating sedimentary facies and lithologies in reefbank reservoirs using these borehole images.

Borehole image features of reef-bank

reservoirs
In reef-bank reservoirs, four subfacies can be
distinguished: reef mound, lime-mud mound, grain bank,
and interbank sea (Chen et al., 1999; Zhao and Zhu,
2001; Wang et al., 2007). Borehole image features of
18

each subfacies are quite different. After performing logcore depth matching for a large number of wells in the
middle Tarim Basin and northeast Sichuan, we calibrate
the borehole images of these wells to cores on a scale
of 1:1 and describe the borehole image features of each
subfacies systemically (shown in Figure 1).
(1) Reef mound subfacies: Reef mounds occur in the
outer belt of the platform margin which is a moderate to
high energy environment. They consist predominantly
of framestone and bafflestone. Reef mound subfacies
can be divided into reef core and reef ank microfacies.
Reef cores are the major part of reef mounds. There are
many skeletons and bioclastic debris in reef core strata
but borehole images can rarely provide information
about these sedimentary components. Due to the high
water energy conditions, reef core microfacies often
have low clay content, leaving no distinct signatures
on borehole images. Therefore, borehole images of
reef core microfacies are often characterized by blockshaped features without any layers or spots. Reef anks
represent a transitional environment between reef cores
and non-reef sediments, so their borehole images are
characterized by block-shaped features with interlayering
with other features.
(2) Lime-mud mound subfacies: Lime-mud mounds
occur in the inner belt of the platform margin which
is a moderate to low energy environment. They are
formed of lime mud held together by the mucus of
mound builders. The primary lithology of lime-mud
mounds is bindstone. Similar to the reef mounds, limemud mound subfacies can be divided into mound core
and mound flank microfacies. Mound cores are the
major part of lime-mud mounds. They are characterized
by binding and clotted textures with well developed
algal laminae but no frame builder. As shown in Figure
1(a), algal laminae have relatively low resistivities and
they often lead to dense thin dark laminae features in
borehole images. Mound anks represent a transitional
environment between mound cores and non-mound
sediments. Their borehole images are characterized by
thin laminae features with interlayers of other features.
(3) Grain bank subfacies: Based on the water energy
conditions, grain bank subfacies can be divided into
high energy and low energy grain bank microfacies.
High energy grain banks occur in the outer belt of the
platform margin, whose clay has been washed out
leaving only well sorted grains. The primary lithology
of high energy grain banks is sparry grainstone. Most
interparticle pores of this microfacies are cemented by
sparry calcite, leading to high resistivity. Therefore, the
borehole images of the microfacies are characterized by
bright block-shaped features, as shown in Figure 1(b).

Chai et al.
conditions of interbank sea areas are extremely low.
Interbank sea rocks consist predominantly of micritic
limestone and argillaceous limestone, often with dense
clay bands and laminae. Due to the high clay content, the
resistivity is relatively low. This leads to dark bands in
a dark background in the borehole images, as shown in
Figure 1(f) and 1(g). In a typical case, the sparse to dense
clay laminae can lead to light to dark transformation
features in borehole images, as shown in Figure 1(h).
The examination of a large number of borehole
images and cores from the middle Tarim and northeast
Sichuan indicates that borehole image features of each
subfacies in reef-bank reservoirs are quite different.
Such correlation can be used to discriminate sedimentary
facies and lithologies in reef-bank reservoirs.

5507.25

5504.75

5507.50

5505.00

Depth
5398.25

5398.00

Core

Dense clay bands, interbank

sea subfacies.

Depth
5397.75 5397.64

Borehole image

Core

Layered clay nodules, low energy

grain bank microfacies.

5407.81
5408.00
5408.25

(e)

Sparse clay bands, low energy

grain bank microfacies.

5420.75
5421.00

5,691.25

(d)
Depth

(c)
Borehole image

Core

5420.62

Borehole image

5421.25

5,691.00

5,690.66

Core

Dissolution poresand high energy

grain bank microfacies.

(b)
Depth

(a)
Borehole image

Core

5507.00 5506.84

Algal laminae and mound

core microfacies.

Borehole image

Sparry grainstone with little clay, high

energy grain bank microfacies.

Depth

Core

5504.41

Borehole image

Depth

Sometimes, there are some uncemented interparticle

pores and/or secondary dissolution pores, which manifest
themselves as random dark spots in the borehole images,
as shown in Figure 1(c). Low energy grain banks occur
in the inner belt of the platform margin with relatively
high clay content. The primary lithology of low energy
grain banks is micrite grainstone with plenty of clay
bands and laminae, leading to band-shaped features in
borehole images, as shown in Figure 1(d). Sometimes,
clay bands and laminae can be bent and broken up into
irregularly shaped lenses by compaction and dissolution,
forming nodular clay layers and being displayed as dense
layered dark spots in the borehole images, as shown in
Figure 1(e).
(4) Interbank sea subfacies: The water energy

(f)

19

5689.87
5690.00

Broken clay bands, nodules and

interbank sea subfacies.

5416.50
5417.00

5690.50

5416.75

Core

Sparse to dense clay laminae,

interbank sea subfacies.

Depth

Borehole image

Core

5416.35

Borehole image

5690.25

Depth

Automatic discrimination of sedimentary facies and lithologies

(g)

(h)

Fig. 1 Borehole image features of different subfacies and microfacies in reef-bank reservoirs.

Borehole image interpretation

patterns
Borehole images clearly reveal sedimentary structure
and texture features. When creating the borehole image
patterns for interpretation, we must consider their

geological significance in addition to graphic features

(shape and texture). After examining a large number of
borehole images and incorporating results of previous
research efforts (Leduc et al., 2002; Linek, 2003, Chen
et al., 2001; Geng et al., 2002Li and Zhou, 2008), we
propose nine typical borehole image patterns and their
associated geological significance for interpretation, as
shown in Figure 2 and Table 1.

(a) Block pattern.

(b) Gradient pattern.

(c) Spot pattern.

(d) Laminae pattern.

(e) Band pattern.

(f) Layered spot pattern.

(g) Crack pattern.

(h) Induced crack pattern.

(i) Stylolite pattern.

Fig. 2 Nine typical borehole image interpretation patterns.

(a) Block pattern: As shown in Figure 2(a), the block

pattern describes a borehole image having a uniform
bright colored background with no layer or spot features.
The uniform bright color indicates that the lithology is
pure limestone without any clay laminae or nodules with
relatively high resistivity. This pattern represents high
water energy environments. In reef-bank reservoirs, it is
also possible that the borehole images have an extremely
dark background, which indicates the lithology is
mudstone.
20

(b) Gradient pattern: As shown in Figure 2(b), this

pattern describes a borehole image having a color
transformation from light to dark or vice versa in a
continuous depth range. The color transformation
indicates that the lithology changes from one kind to
another. The comparative examination shows the dark
colored images correspond to strata with dense clay
laminae, while the light colored images correspond to
strata with sparse clay laminae. This pattern indicates a
low water energy environment.

Chai et al.
(c) Spot pattern: As shown in Figure 2(c), this pattern
describes a borehole image having a bright colored
background with random dark spots which are not
layered. The former indicates the resistivity is relatively
high, while the latter can be caused by interparticle
pores, dissolution pores, conductive minerals, and etc.
This pattern represents high water energy environments,
too.
(d) Laminae pattern: As shown in Figure 2(d), this
pattern describes a borehole image having a bright
colored background with dense dark thin laminae. The
bright colored background indicates the resistivity is
relatively high. Comparative examination shows that
the regular thin laminae were caused by algal laminae.
Sometimes, dense horizontal stylolites can lead to
similar images. Because their geological implications
are different, we categorize stylolites as another pattern.
The laminae pattern indicates a low water energy
environment with dense algae.
(e) Band pattern: As shown in Figure 2(e), this pattern
describes a borehole image having a bright colored
background with horizontal dark thick bands. The bright
colored background indicates the resistivity is relatively
high. Core-log examination shows that the horizontal
dark bands were caused by clay bands. Sometimes, lowangle cracks can lead to similar images but we consider
cracks as another pattern. Band pattern indicates a
low water energy environment. It is also possible
for borehole images to have a dark background with
horizontal bright colored bands, which often occurs in
the transition range between mudstone and limestone
strata. When the clay content decreases, the lime content

will increase and its borehole image gradually changes

to the band pattern with bright colored background and
dark bands.
(f) Layered spot pattern: As shown in Figure 2(f),
this pattern describes a borehole image having a bright
colored background with dense layered spots. The bright
colored background indicates the resistivity is relatively
high. The layered spots are caused by irregular clay
bands and nodules. This pattern is different from the spot
pattern which is caused by interparticle and dissolution
pores. The spots of the latter are randomly distributed
but not layered, with low clay content.
(g) Crack pattern: As shown in Figure 2(g), this
pattern describes a borehole image having either a bright
colored background with dark sine curves or a dark
background with bright colored sine curves. The dark
and bright sine curves are caused by conductive and
resistive cracks. The resistive cracks are often caused by
calcite cementation.
(h) Induced crack pattern. As shown in Figure 2(h),
this pattern describes a borehole image having a bright
colored background with two vertical and symmetrical
dark lines, representing cracks induced by in-situ stress
during drilling and coring.
(i) Stylolite pattern: As shown in Figure 2(i), this
pattern describes a borehole image having a bright
colored background with saw-toothed dark lines. Sawtoothed lines are typical for stylolites. If cemented by
calcites, the stylolites will not appear in borehole images,
because the resistivities of limestone and cemented
stylolites are almost the same. Stylolites indicate
compaction and dissolution.

Table 1 Relationship of borehole image interpretation patterns, sedimentary facies and lithologies in reef-bank reservoirs.
Subfacies

Microfacies

Borehole image
interpretation patterns

Primary lithologies

Reef mound

Reef core

Block pattern

Framestone, bafestone

Reef ank

Transformation from block pattern

to other patterns

Framestone, bafestone,
grainstone, micritic limestone

Lime-mud
mound

Mound core

Laminae pattern

Bindstone

Mound ank

Transformation from laminae pattern

to other patterns

Bindstone, grainstone,
micritic limestone

Grain bank

High energy
grain bank

Block pattern, spot pattern

Sparry grainstone

Low energy
grain bank

Band pattern, layered spot pattern

Micritic grainsone

Gradient pattern, band pattern,

layered spot pattern

Micritic limestone
argillaceous limestone

Interbank sea

These nine borehole image patterns represent their

corresponding geological features and significance.

21

Automatic discrimination of sedimentary facies and lithologies

Their categorization can improve the accuracy and
efciency of borehole image interpretation and simplify
the interpretation procedure. They are of practical
importance to reservoir evaluation and sedimentary
description in reef-bank reservoirs.

Automatic recognition of borehole

image patterns
A wealth of information is contained in borehole
images. In practice, borehole images are often
interpreted at least on a scale of 1:5 or 1:10 to identify
sedimentary structures and textures accurately. For
manual interpretation, the workload is high and the
efciency is low. It is often inuenced by human vision
and experimental factors, affecting the interpretation
accuracy. Therefore, automatic recognition of the
borehole image patterns becomes the key factor
of whether the borehole image interpretation can
be automated in practical applications. At present,
pattern recognition technology has been used in some
conventional log interpretation applications with limited
success. This is because that the conventional logs
provide only limited information with which it is difcult
to sort out discriminative features for classication and
pattern recognition.
Input

Image Processing

Segmentation

Feature Extraction

Feature Selection

Classification

Evaluation

Output

Fig. 3 Procedure of the automatic recognition of borehole

image patterns.

22

The proposed automatic recognition algorithm for

borehole image pattern interpretation can deal with these
problems well and has been proven effective in practice.
As shown in Figure 3, the recognition procedure includes
data input, image processing, segmentation, feature
extraction, feature selection, classification, evaluation,
and decision output. To obtain the best decision, the
program may have multiple iterations at each step
based on the feedbacks from the next step. Details are
introduced below.

Image processing
Image processing includes calibration, image
representation, image enhancement, and other preprocessing steps. Image representation is to map
the initial borehole image data to color or gray
scale images. There are various color spaces,
such as NTSC, YCbCr, HSV, CMY, CMYK, HIS,
and RGB (Either Theodoridis and Koutroumbas,
2006, or Zhang, 2005, whichever was number 31) .
Convenient color spaces should be used to facilitate
needed calculations. Image enhancement accentuates
the features and reduces the noise by histogram
equalization, Fourier transformation, and other
methods.

Image segmentation
Image segmentation separates the graphic features
to prepare for feature extraction. This is a precondition
for image analyses. First, we clean the background
and accentuate the graphic features using binarization
methods. Then we mark each area whose value is 1
as a separate feature. The simplest and most widely
used method is thresholding. Threshold values are
determined according to histograms of borehole images
(Zhang, 2005). Then, inflation, shrinkage, and other
morphological processes are performed to separate
the features. Figure 4 shows a borehole image from
an interbank sea formation and its histogram. We
need to nd a proper threshold to separate these highresistive band features from the background. The
histogram shows a double-peaked structure. The left
peak represents high-resistive features while the right
one stands for the low-resistive background. It can be
shown that the optimal threshold lies in the trough.
When the contrast between features and the background
is obvious, the thresholding method works very well.
But if features and the background have similar colors
or gray levels, thresholding is not an effective way to
discriminate them. In this case, a watershed algorithm
should be used.

Chai et al.

p (z)

(a)
(b)
(a) A borehole image of an interbank sea (b) The histogram of the image on left. The optimal threshold lies in the trough.

Fig. 4 Threshold decision by histogram.

The watershed algorithm is based on the topographic

concept, viewing the image as a three-dimensional
topological surface. As the water level moves down,
the watersheds appear one after another. In the same
manner, feature boundaries can be decided (Gonzalez
and Woods, 2002; Zhang, 2005). In an image, a

(a) The original image

watershed represents a local maximum gray level, so

watershed lines constitute feature boundaries. Figure 5 (a)
shows a borehole image, Figure 5 (b), the thresholding
segmentation result, and Figure 5 (c), the watershed
algorithm result. It is obvious that watershed algorithm
is more effective than thresholding.

(b) The result of thresholding segmentation

(c) The result of watershed segmentation

Fig. 5 Segmentation results of thresholding and watershed algorithms.

Feature extraction.
After segmentation, quantitative analyses should
be performed on the geological features. This step is
called feature extraction, in which the parameters of
features are calculated. During feature extraction, the
most important procedure is to classify features on the
basis of their geological signicance and analyze them
according to the classification. Parameter importance
varies for each feature. Figure 6 shows some common
features picked up from borehole images of reefbank reservoirs. Pores and clay nodules are difcult to

discriminate only by their shapes and their distribution

must be considered. Algal laminas and clay bands look
similar, but they can be distinguished by thickness.
Typical stylolites are sawtooth-shaped and curvature can
be used to recognize them. For cracks, dip direction and
dip angle are the most important parameters. In addition,
shape parameters also include aspect ratio, eccentricity,
sphericity, and etc.
Besides shape features, texture features are also
important. The gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM)
method is very effective for texture analysis (Zhang,
2005). Based on GLCM, the angular second moment,
contrast, entropy, homogenization, and other texture
23

Automatic discrimination of sedimentary facies and lithologies

parameters can be calculated. If function f(x, y) denes a
certain spatial relation, the elements of the GLCM over

p( g1 , g 2 )

image S are defined as (Gonzalez and Woods, 2002;

Zhang, 2005).

#{[( x1 , y1 ), ( x2 , y2 )] S | f ( x1 , y1 )
#S

g1 & f ( x2 , y2 )

g 2}

(1)

while the denominator is the number of all pixel pairs in

image S.

where the numerator is the number of pixel pairs whose

values are g1 and g2 and have a spatial relation f(x, y),

(a) A group of dissolution pores.

(b) A group of clay nodule.

(c) Three similar features. is an algal lamina;

is a clay band; is a stylolite.

(d) A high-angle crack.

Fig. 6 Common features in borehole images of reef-bank reservoirs.

Figure 7 shows a group of borehole images with different

(a) Algal laminae.

(e) Layered clay nodules.

(b) Sparry grainstone.

textures and Table 2 lists ve texture parameters for them.

(c) Dissolution pores.

(f) Dense clay bands. (g) Broken clay bands and nodules. (h) Sparse to dense clay laminae.

Fig. 7 Borehole images with different textures.

24

(d) Sparse clay bands.

Chai et al.
Table 2 Texture analysis results of the borehole images shown in Figure 7
Image

Direction
(degree)

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)

Angular second
moment

Contrast

Correlation

Inverse difference
moment

0.002

38.242

6.42E-04

0.513

7.118

90

0.001

68.613

6.35E-04

0.277

7.836

0.018

75.832

7.12E-04

4.73E-01

6.509

90

0.02

57.516

7.17E-04

0.532

6.31

0.004

46.428

5.52E-04

0.431

7.209

90

0.004

43.349

5.52E-04

0.405

7.254

0.003

90.732

2.44E-04

0.426

7.524

90

0.003

87.472

2.44E-04

0.415

7.602

0.002

136.664

2.07E-04

0.324

8.18

90

0.003

121.664

2.07E-04

0.317

8.246

0.011

70.504

1.76E-04

0.465

7.342

90

0.008

122.772

1.75E-04

0.351

7.834

0.002

151.935

1.54E-04

0.349

8.162

90

0.002

146.844

1.54E-04

0.285

8.477

0.002

49.523

5.30E-04

0.327

7.586

90

0.003

34.598

5.32E-04

0.505

7.021

Feature selection
Feature selection should be performed before the
classification. We have obtained more than 50 feature
parameters after the feature extraction including both
discriminative features and irrelevant features. If there
are too many feature parameters, the computational
complexity and the classication error rate will increase,
limiting the applicability of the classification system
(Theodoridis and Koutroumbas, 2006). Therefore, feature
selection must be applied to remove these redundant
features and improve the systems performance.
Fishers Discriminant Ratio (FDR) is used to estimate
each features discriminating ability. Suppose there are
M classes (1, 2, ... , M) and m features (x1, x2, ... , xm).
Feature xks class separability for classes i and j is
dened as:

( Pi  P j ) 2

C ( xk )ij

V V
2
i

2
j

(2)

where i, j, i, and j are xks means (average value)

and variances for classes i and j. Then x ks class
separability for all M classes is dened as:

C ( xk )

Entropy

C ( x )

k ij

(3)

j zi

where k = 1, 2, ... , m.
We then choose the most effective feature combination
to be the feature vector x. Calculate the class separability
of each feature and pick up the best one, say, xa. List

all two-dimensional feature vectors which contain xa,

such as [xa, x1]T, [xa, x2]T, ..., [xa, xm]T and estimate their
class separability. Find the best two-dimensional vector
[xa, xb]T, then list all three-dimensional feature vectors
which contain xa and xb ... Repeat this procedure until the
feature vector x meets the classication requirement.
An effective feature selection can improve the
classication accuracy rate and reduce the computational
complexity. It is an essential prerequisite for an effective
classication scheme.

Classication and recognition

Automatic classication and recognition are performed
by discriminant functions. A discriminant function g(x,
i) calculates feature vector xs probability of belonging
to each class. If x belongs to class i, then

g ( x, Zi ) ! g ( x, Z j )

(4)

where j = 1, 2, ..., M and j i. In practice, we use the

smallest Euclidean distance to form the discriminant
function g(x, i). First, use a mean vector to represent a
class. The mean vector of class i is dened as:

mi

1
Ni

(5)

xZ i

where Ni is the total number of training samples of class

i. i = 1, 2, ..., M. Then we calculate the Euclidean
distance to estimate the similarity between feature vector
x and mean vector mi:
25

Automatic discrimination of sedimentary facies and lithologies

Di ( x) || x  mi ||

(6)

where i = 1, 2, ..., M. Finally, the feature vector x is

classied to the class i which has the smallest Di value.
Finally, we perform the classication and identication
and modify the parameters until the classication error
rate is acceptable for practical applications.
Furthermore, the software must provide a convenient

Data

150.0

Core

Borehole image

Borehole image feature

250

Pattern

5408.50
5408.75

5408.50

5408.50
5408.75

5408.25

-1500.0

5408.25

1500.0 FMIA

Well A

Windou (W) Help (H)

5408.75

GR

Well B

View (V)

Depth scale 1:5

Conventional log
0.0

Scale (S)

Depth

Well name: A

Data (D)

Depth

Welcome

Tool (T)

5408.25

Edit (E)

Depth

Task panel

File (F)

user-friendly interface for interpreters to supervise and

modify the classication results. As shown in Figure 8,
the software is developed on the CifWeb platform for
general well log interpretation. Our applications in reefbank reservoirs in the middle Tarim Basin and northeast
Sichuan have proven that the proposed method and the
corresponding software are effective.

Fig.8 User interface of the borehole image interpretation software.

Case analysis
We applied the automated pattern recognition method
to discriminate the sedimentary facies and lithologies of
well TZ-X using borehole image data and compared the
result with core descriptions to verify the effectiveness
of the method and software.
The borehole image data of well TZ-X was input
to the automatic recognition program for borehole
image patterns. The program then made an automatic
classification and discriminant for the borehole image
data along the well. After classification, the result was
modified manually to eliminate the obvious errors.
As shown in Figure 9, the interval was divided into
eight layers, labeled A to H. Then we identified the
sedimentary facies and lithologies in conjunction with
26

conventional logs based on the relationship of borehole

image patterns and sedimentary facies from Table 1.
Layers A, B, C, D, and F fall into either the band or
layered spot (band intermittent) pattern. These two
patterns are both likely to be interbank sea subfacies
and there may be low-energy grain bank microfacies.
Their difference is that interbank sea areas have much
lower hydrodynamic conditions and higher clay content
compared to low energy banks, so we can distinguish
them by gamma-ray logs. Layers A and C have high
gamma-ray values, which indicates these two layers
belong to the interbank sea subfacies with higher clay
content. Their primary lithology is micritic limestone
and there may be clay bands or laminae. Layers B, D,
and F have relatively low gamma-ray values, which
indicate these three layers belong to the low energy grain
bank microfacies. Their primary lithology is micrite

Chai et al.

Layer

Pattern

Recognization result

Core

Core description

Gray to dark gray, medium to thick-bedded micritic

limestone with bioclasts, argillaceous micritic limestone.
Interbank sea subfacies.

SP 200.0
Interbank sea
subfacies micritic
limestone and
argillaceous limestone
Low energy grain
bank microfacies
micrite grainstone

Interbank sea
subfacies micritic
limestone

Low energy grain bank

microfacies micrite grainstone

Mound core
microfacies bindstone

Dark gray bioclastic and micritic limestone.

Low energy grain bank microfacies.

5775.00

Light gray micritic-sparry grainstone.

Moderate and low energy grain bank microfacies.

Light gray and thrombolite limestone.

Mound core microfacies.

Low energy grain bank

microfacies micrite
grainstone

Light gray micritic grainstone.

Low energy grain bank microfacies.

High energy grain

bank microfacies
Sparry grainstone

Light gray thick-bedded micritic-sparry grainstone.

Grain bank subfacies.

Mound ank
microfacies bindstone
and grainstone

5825.00

5825.00

5800.00

5775.00

5800.00

0.0

Borehole image

mound core microfacies, while the band and layered

spot patterns are typical for low energy grain banks,
interbank sea areas, and other non-mound environments.
This combination indicates a transitional mound flank
environment between mound and non-mound sediments.
The primary lithologies of layer H are bindstone,
grainstone, and micritic limestone. Finally, we compare
the analysis results with the core descriptions. As
shown in Figure 9, the core descriptions were input into
the track on the far right side. The sedimentary facies
and lithologies calculated using the proposed method
coincides very well with the core descriptions.
Depth

Conventional log
0.0 GR 150.0

Depth

grainstone. Layer E falls into the laminae pattern which

is typical for the mounded core microfacies of the limemud mound subfacies. So layer E belongs to the mound
core microfacies and its primary lithology is bindstone.
Layer G falls into the spot pattern (porphyritic?),
which is typical for the high energy grain bank
microfacies but not any other microfacies. The primary
lithology is sparry grainstone. Layer H is more
complicated than the other layers with a number of
thin layers with band patterns and layered spot pattern
sandwiched together but most of layer H falls into
the laminae pattern. The laminae pattern is typical for

Gray to light gray thick-bedded cryptalgal and

thrombolite limestone.
Mound ank microfacies.

Fig. 9 Well TZ-X discrimination of sedimentary facies and lithology results using the proposed method.

Conclusions
(1) Borehole image logs provide critical information
on sedimentary structures and textures. They are
important for identifying good reservoirs and describing
sedimentary features.
(2) The nine borehole image patterns provide a
correlation between borehole images and sedimentary
facies and lithologies. They significantly improve
the accuracy and efficiency of borehole image
interpretation, reduce the influence of subjective
factors, and provide an important reference for borehole

image interpretation.
(3) We devised a new method which automatically
discriminates sedimentary facies and lithologies in reefbank reservoirs using borehole image logs and developed
the corresponding software. The proposed method and
the corresponding software have proved to be effective
in practical applications.
(4) The method and patterns proposed in this paper
have a wide scope of applicability. When used in
different areas, the parameters and patterns should be
properly modified according to the geological ages,
lithologies, and sedimentary environments as well as
structure and texture features.
27

Automatic discrimination of sedimentary facies and lithologies

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Chai Hua received his BS in Geology (1999) from the

Tongji University and MS in
Software Engineering (2001)
from the Peking University.
He is now a PhD student
at the Peking University.
His research interests focus
on well log processing and
interpretation methods.
Email: denis0579@gmail.com

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