Three-dimensional modeling of an aeolian dune/interdune system: Applications to hydrocarbon production

Conference · Wed Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1993 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States)

OSTI ID:6847307

Pugh, J M; Glennie, K W; Williams, B P.J. ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Aberdeen, Aberdeen (United Kingdom)

The Al Liwa region of the northeast Rub Al Khali, United Arab Emirates, comprises compound crescentic draa and subcircular inland sabkhas that are flanked to their north by a sand sea of smaller dunes extending almost to the coast of the Arabian Gulf. This controlled the supply of sand from the north and influenced water-table positions within interdune areas. The draa, up to 170 m high, comprise both fine and coarse sands with a strong carbonate component, and are migrating very slowly to the south-southeast. The evaporite-encrusted interdune sabkhas often are underlain by foreset dune sands that also indicate transport to the south-southeast. The northern fringe of smaller dunes migrates southward more rapidly than the draa, but their northern supply of sand now has been cut off by flooding of the Gulf, initiating the deflation of coastal areas down to the water table. A deep-penetrating radar survey, coupled with large-scale trenching, provides a three-dimensional model of dune/interdune systems. This fieldwork aids a clearer understanding of dune/interdune heterogeneities and interconnectedness, which in turn is providing more realistic reservoir models for interwell simulation studies within the Permian Rotliegende gas fields of northwest Europe.

• OSTI ID: 6847307
• Report Number(s): CONF-9310237-; CODEN: AABUD2
• Journal Information: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States), Vol. 77:9; Conference: American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) mid-continent section meeting, Amarillo, TX (United States), 10-12 Oct 1993; ISSN 0149-1423
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
DUNES
GEOLOGIC MODELS
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
NATURAL GAS WELLS
SIMULATION
SAND
MIGRATION
EUROPE
HYDROCARBONS
PERMIAN BASIN
RADAR
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
ARAB COUNTRIES
ASIA
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
RANGE FINDERS
WELLS
030200* - Natural Gas- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration