Seismic Sequence Analysis – Introduction to the Stratigraphy of the NPRA

(National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska)

Introduction

The geological setting of the exercise is the Colville Basin, which is part of the foreland
basin lying to the north of the Brooks Range in Alaska. This basin was initiated in the
Jurassic but fill with siliciclastic sediments really accelerated through the Cretaceous
and Tertiary.

The Cretaceous section (Figure 02) and the associated seismic data set contain very
clear examples of prograding clinoforms that provide a unique opportunity for seismic
analysis. These clinoforms overlie a set of prominent high amplitude "double reflectors"
at around 1.4 to 1.55 seconds (Figure 03).

On the basis of the biostratigraphy, and the earlier work by Palmer (1983) and Bird and
Molenaar (1991), these reflector doublets are interpreted to represent the Barremian
aged Pebble Shale. The slopes of the clinoforms in this northeastern portion of the
basin are recognized as the Torok Formation, while horizontal onlapping reflectors
landward of the crest of the Torok Formation clinoforms are the Nanushuk Group
(Figure 03).
A chronostratigraphic chart of the Lower Cretaceous sedimentary fill of the NPRA
compiled by Palmer (1983) and Bird and Molenaar (1991) interprets the Nanushuk
Group and Torok Formation as lithostratigraphic units that transgressed time (Figure
04).

The biostratigraphic data for the area is poor but, combined with lithostratigraphy, they
suggest that the Nanushuk (a sand prone unit), and the Torok (a silt prone unit) young
towards the north and east so that the eastern portion of the prograding sedimentary
wedge can be assumed to be Cenomanian in age while to the SW they are Aptian.

The second and third order eustatic signals on the Haq et al 1987 chart (Figures 05 and
06) should be evident in the Cretaceous section of the NPRA used in the exercises. In
contrast some of the higher-frequency (4th order?) sequences may be localized and
related to delta migration. Based on observations of the seismic stratigraphy of the area
if the recorded changes of base are the products of eustasy then it should be possible
to use the sea level curve developed by Haq, et al, 1987 to "preliminarily" date some of
the sequences.

The well data and the seismic data suggests that the Nanushuk Group accumulated in
shallow deltaic and fluvial settings, while the Torok Formation collected in delta slope
and basin floor fan settings. Individual sequences are interpreted to contain evidence of
slumping, basin floor fans, slope fans, and onlapping high stand wedges (Figure 07),
and the exercise will examine this. The clinoforms can be mapped and the exercise
should confirm that they become younger to the north and east. The internal geometries
of these clinoforms suggest an absence of small-scale tectonic control on the area. The
exercises outlined below ask that this conclusion be confirmed.
During the Cretaceous, the Colville Basin had a relatively stable tectonic history. There
was a slow and constant rate of subsidence, and a concomitant relatively steady overall
influx of clastic sediments, though there were short-term local variations in these rates
of accumulation. A geological cross section of the NPRA indicates that to the south and
west the Lower Cretaceous sedimentary fill of this foreland basin subsided some 6000
meters while to the north and east, in the vicinity of the Barrow Arch, it has subsided no
more than 2000 meters (Figure 2).
Part of the exercise will be to use the seismic data set to map the position of the
intersection of the Nanushuk Group with the crests of the Torok Formation clinoforms.
This should establish if in fact the paleo-shoreline was oriented northwest southeast.
Another part of the exercise will examine the variation in the thickness and distribution
of the clinoforms in order to establish how variable the rate of sediment supply from the
Aptian through the Cenomanian was?

Variations in the shape and geometries (Figure 10) might be related to delta switching,
and migration tied to the shifting of the source areas from the SW.