Oil and Gas
Oil and Gas | Structure and Tectonics
Salt Evolution and Coeval Sedimentation in the Paradox Basin (Utah, USA)
Format and Duration:
5 days
The focus of the course will be on the structural development of salt diapirs and salt walls superbly exposed within the Paradox Basin, and controls on stratigraphic sequences that develop in adjacent minibasins. Salt structure development occurred in a continental depositional environment and thus may be thought of as analogous to the southern North Sea. The course will visit salt structures in the Paradox Basin to examine associated deformation and sedimentary features including the evolution of continental minibasins. Comparisons with subsurface analogues will be made throughout the course, and field days are interspaced with appropriate classroom lectures and seismic interpretation exercises.
Feedback
This was an excellent field course. The instructor was very knowledgeable & I learned a lot about salt tectonics.
Schedule
Duration and Training Method
A field course based in Moab, Utah with field observations and exercises, some classroom lectures and seismic interpretation exercises. The proportion of field to classroom time is approximately 80:20.
Course Overview
Learning Outcomes
Participants will learn to:
- Evaluate the evolutionary models for basin subsidence and evaporite deposition in the northern Paradox Basin.
- Compare different styles of salt geometry and contrast the activation mechanisms for salt evacuation, inflation and extrusion.
- Formulate the depositional geometry, thickness and facies architecture of Carboniferous to Jurassic age stratigraphic sequences and propose how they have been controlled by salt wall growth.
- Evaluate the influence of along-strike variability in salt wall geometry and how growth history influenced stratigraphic architecture.
- Interpret evidence for surface exposure of evaporites within rim-syncline stratigraphic sequences.
- Assess the effects of "Paradox-style" salt tectonics on the migration and trapping of hydrocarbons in regions where similar styles of salt tectonics operate (e.g., the Southern North Sea).
Course Content
Day 0: Participants arrive in Grand Junction.
Day 1: Travel to Moab, Utah with an overview stop at Dead Horse Point en route: Paradox Basin evolution and seismic scale of the salt structures.
Day 2: (Morning) Intro to the salt geometry of the Moab-Spanish Valley salt wall structure: (Afternoon) Salt tectonics theory and diapirism along with seismic exercises.
Day 3: Field excursion along the northern Moab Valley salt wall looking at complex along strike facies variations and faulting associated with a plunging salt wall structure.
Day 4: Upheaval Dome: examination of the evidence for salt diapirism and welding, comparison with sub-surface pinched off salt diapirs.
Afternoon: Exercise.
Day 5: Castle Valley and the Onion Creek Salt diapir: examination of complex minibasin fill in the Triassic, salt-sediment interface geometry, minibasin development associated with the Onion Creek salt diapir, internal diapir deformation.
Return to Grand Junction.
Day 6: Participants Fly Home.
Who Should Attend and Prerequisites
The course is aimed at geologists and geophysicists who are actively engaged in exploration and development in salt provinces and those moving into salt basins. The class may be of particular value to those working in salt basins associated with continental deposition such as the southern North Sea.
Instructors
Bruce Trudgill
Background
Bruce Trudgill has industry experience with Amerada Hess UK Ltd., and has worked on a number of industry funded research projects, both at Imperial College (1992-1994), and the University of Colorado at Boulder (1994-2000). His research interests cover the broad theme of structural controls on depositional systems, and he has published papers on salt tectonics, rift systems and inversion tectonics. His research combines interpreting 3D seismic data with field studies, particularly in the Paradox Basin in SE Utah. He returned to Colorado from teaching at Imperial College (2000-2003), and is currently an Associate Professor at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. He has served as an AAPG Associate Editor (2000-2005) and is co-editor of the AAPG Bulletin Special Issue on the Structure and Stratigraphy of Rift Systems (June, 2002).
Affiliations and Accreditation
PhD Imperial College, London - Basin Inversion
BSc University of Wales, Aberystwyth - Geology
AAPG Associate Editor (2000-2005)
AAPG Bulletin Co editor - Special Issue “Structure and Stratigraphy of Rift Systems” (June 2002)
Courses Taught
N041: Extensional Tectonics & Normal Fault Patterns (Utah, USA)
N163: Salt Evolution and Coeval Sedimentation in the Paradox Basin (Utah, USA)
Accreditation and Certification
CEU: 4 Continuing Education Units
PDH: 40 Professional Development Hours
Certificate: Certificate Issued Upon Completion
RPS is accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and is authorized to issue the IACET CEU. We comply with the ANSI/IACET Standard, which is recognised internationally as a standard of excellence in instructional practices.
We issue a Certificate of Attendance which verifies the number of training hours attended. Our courses are generally accepted by most professional licensing boards/associations towards continuing education credits. Please check with your licensing board to determine if the courses and certificate of attendance meet their specific criteria.