Deepwater Depositional Systems of California

Deep-water deposits have proven to be some of the most prolific hydrocarbon reservoirs worldwide. Submarine channel-fills and fans from East and West Africa, the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, the Black Sea and South America have been producing since the 1980s, as well as being the targets for additional exploration and development. Frontier areas, like the northern and southern Atlantic, Indian and Arctic Oceans, as well at the Mediterranean, are also prospective for deep-water reservoirs.

Southern California USA has spectacular outcrops of Cretaceous through Miocene deep-water deposits in coastal exposures and the mountains of the Mojave Desert. These outcrops provide excellent analogs for the subsurface submarine channel-fills and lobes encountered in producing and prospective submarine fan hydrocarbon reservoirs.

Participants will have the opportunity to:

1)    Gain an understanding of the processes of deep-water sediment gravity flows (turbidity currents and debris flows) and submarine fan evolution

2)    Become familiar with deep-water depositional facies, including characteristic textures, fabrics, and architecture

3)    Recognize characteristic facies assemblages, stacking patterns, and depositional elements of channel-fills, lobes, and debris flow deposits in outcrop and vertical successions

4)    Compare the facies diversity and stratal geometry, continuity, and connectivity of different deep-water depositional elements

5)    Develop expertise in predicting deep-water reservoir characteristics using the concepts and methods of process stratigraphy