APPLICATION OF ADVANCED STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY IN

HYDROCARBON EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT

BENYAMIN SAPIIE, Ph.D

GEODYNAMIC RESEARCH GROUP - 2018

STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY AND CONTINUUM MECHANICS

• Structural Geology is an essential part of Geology

• Structural Geology is the study of deformed rocks.

Structural Geology:
•Describes
•Analyses
•Interprets

Fossen (2011)
ADVANCED STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY

BASIC CONCEPTS Continuum Mechanics

Stress and Strain

MODERN
TECTONICS STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY

CREATE
AND
DEFORM
BASIN EXPLORATION DEVELOPMENT
• PROSPECTS • IN-SITU STRESS MEASUREMENT
• TRAPS AND PLAYS • FAULT STABILITY
• FLUID FLOWS • RESERVOIR GEOMECHANICS
• KINEMATICS ANALYSIS • FAULT SEAL INTEGRITY
• STRUCTURAL RECONSTRUCTIONS • RESERVOIR COMPARTMENTALIZATION
• FRACTURES ANALYSIS AND CONCEPTS • FRACTURE RESERVOIR MODELING
• TECTONICS AND BASIN DYNAMICS
• RISK ANALYSIS
CONTINUUM MECHANICS

• Continuum Mechanics is similar to Newtonian mechanics in

many ways, but dispenses with the assumption of rigid
(undeformable) bodies in continuum mechanics the goal is to
understand what happens within deformable bodies.

• Continuum Mechanics in structural geology:

• Deal with large amounts of deformation
• The known is final state of deformation; the assumption is
initial states i.e. shape/size, geometry before deformation
• Only little knowledge about intermediate states between
current and initial states
CONTINUUM MECHANICS

• Two elemental concepts of continuum mechanics:

STRAIN and STRESS

• STRAIN quantifies the relative motions among

particles in a body namely Kinematics; this
ultimately is a descriptive way of thinking

• STRESS quantifies the forces within a body namely

dynamics/mechanics; this ultimately is a genetic
way of thinking
CONTINUUM MECHANICS

Study deformation of the rocks

Deformation
Changes in rocks caused by Force

Stress (s) = F/A

Strain (e) = Changes (Place, Length, Volume, Angle)

Extension (e) = (lf – lo)/lo
TERMINOLOGY AND SYMBOLS OF FORCE AND STRESS
DEFORMATION – STRAIN DEFINITION

DEFORMATION=TRANSLATION+ROTATION+DISTORTION+DILATION

a b

a
A. Rigid Body B. Rigid Body
Translation Rotation

f
f c

b
e d

c
a b

d
C. Original Object f c
E. Nonrigid Deformation
by Distortion
e d

a b

f c

e d
D. Nonrigid Deformation
by Dilation

(Davis and Reynolds, 1996)

STRESS AND STRAIN TERM

NOTE: Important distinction between two quantity !!!

MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF ROCKS

• Rheology apply for elastic and viscous materials.

• Rheology is material response that relates stress and strain
• Stress = (material constant) * strain → (Hooke’s Law)
• Elasticity (i.e. spring): instantaneous recoverable (non
permanent) material response
• Elasticity derives from chemical bonds among atoms in rock
• Viscosity: time-dependent, permanent (non-recoverable)
material response
• Most rock behaves with both of these characteristic (elastic
and viscous)
• Crystal plasticity results from the movement of defect within
crystals (micro-deformation)
STRESS – STRAIN DIAGRAM

Yield Strength
400 After Strain
Hardening Ultimate
D Strength
C B E
300 A

Differential Stress (in MPa)

Yield
Strength Rep ture
Strength

200

100

1 2 3 4 5 6
Strain (in %)

Hooke’s Law: s = Ee, E = Modulus Young or elasticity

Newtonian : s = he, h = viscosity, e = strain-rate
NEW CONCEPTS ADVANCED STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY

1. LINKED FAULT AND FOLD SYSTEMS

• Geometric
• Kinematic
• Dynamic
2. PROGRESSIVE DEFORMATION
3. STRUCTURAL INHERITANCE
4. FRACTAL SCALING IN BRITTLE DEFORMATION
 PLATE TECTONIC – THE BIG PICTURE!

• Orogenic belts evolve though the interference of slowly moving rigid plates composed
of lithosphere. Lithosphere is made of continental and / or oceanic crust as well as
uppermost mantle material. It can be thought of as the Earth’s mechanically
competent outer rind, which sluggishly moves on a part of the mantle, known as
asthenosphere, that is capable of flowing continuously.
PLATE TECTONIC – PLATE INTERACTIONS

van der Pluijm and Marshak (2004)

C: CONVERGENT BOUNDARY
D: DIVERGENT BOUNDARY
L: TRANSFORM BOUNDARY
STRESS TYPE AND DISTRIBUTION IN CRUST

Fossen (2011)
EVIDENCE OF DYNAMIC EARTH

• EARTHQUAKES DISTRIBUTIONS
• VOLCANISM (Ring of Fire)
PRESENT-DAY STATE OF STRESS
NATURAL ANALOGUE - OUTCROP
STRUCTURES CATAGORIES

3 Types of Fundamentals Structures:

•Contacts: boundaries that separate one rock body from another (normal
depositional contacts, unconformities, intrusive contacts, fault & shear zone)
•Primary Structures: develop during the formation of a rock body
•Secondary Structures: reflect subsequent deformation or metamorphism
CATAGORIES OF STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

Modified from: van der Pluijm and Marshak (2004)

SCALE OF OBSERVATIONS

(Modified from Means, 1976)

 Scale Term

• Global – Scale of the entire world. 104 – 105 km

• Regional or Provincial – physiographic province or mountain range

• Macroscopic or Map Scale – coverage area 10 – 102 km2

• Mesoscopic – outcrop of hand sample scale. 10-5 – 10-1 km

• Microscopic – visible with an optical microscope 10-8 -10-6 km

• Submicroscopic – only resolvable using TEM, SEM etc, < 10 -8 km

SUBSURFACE DATA – GRAVITY AND MAGNETIC SURVEY

Fossen (2011)
EASTERN INDONESIA ANOMALY GRAVITY MAP

NEW GUINEA TRENCH

BANDA TRENCH
SEISMIC REFLECTION METHOD
2D SEISMIC DATA
SEISMIC INTERPRETATION – 3D Data
• vertical and horizontal slices
• More accurate Geometry
Anderson’s (1951) Dynamic Fault Classification

s1 slip
Principal Stresses s3
s1 > s2 > s3 max planes planes
s2

s1 s1 s3
FAULTS s3

s2 Triaxial Test
Stresses
s3 s1

NORMAL FAULT REVERSE (THRUST) FAULT STRIKE-SLIP FAULT

CORE AND IMAGE LOG DATA
PITFALLS OF ANDERSONIAN FAULTS

• BASED ON WALLACE-BOTT HYPOTHESIS: SLIP ON PLANAR FRACTURES

CAN BE ASSUMED TO OCCUR PARALLEL TO THE GREATEST RESOLVED
SHEAR STRESS
• ISOTROPIC HOMOGENOUS ROCKS
• SINGLE STRESS OR DEFORMATION STAGE

CASE ANDERSONIAN - ISOTROPIC CASE NON ANDESORSONIAN - ORTHOROMBIC

Modified from Fossen (2011)

FAULT - DISCONTINUITY

© Cambridge University Press 2011

FAULT CLASSIFICATION

SEPERATION BLOCK

SLIP DIRECTION

ROTATIONAL BLOCK

SPECIAL GEOMETRY
COMPRESSIVE FRACTURES

© Cambridge University Press 2011

FAULT
MECHANIC OF FRACTURES
Compressive Fractures

The Coulomb Law of Failure

sc = so + tan q (sn)

sc = critical shear stress

so = cohesive strength
q = angle of internal friction
tan q = coefficient
of internal friction (m)
sn = normal stress

(Modified from Davis and Reynolds, 1996)

STRESS MAGNITUDES AND FAULT TYPES

GMI (2001)
STRESS AND FAULT STRENGTH
CLASSIFICATION OF GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES-1

1. Geometry:
• Planar (or subplanar) surface
• Curviplanar surface
• Linear feature

2. Geologic Significance
• Primary: formed as a consequence of the formation process of the rock itself
• Local gravity-driven: formed due to slip down an inclined surface; slumping
at any scale driven by local excess gravitational potential
• Local density-inversion driven: formed due to local lateral variations in rock
density, causing a local buoyancy force
• Fluid-pressure driven: formed by injection of unconsolidated material due to
sudden release of pressure
• Tectonic: formed due to lithospheric plate interactions, due to regional
interaction between the asthenosphere and the lithosphere, due to crustal-
scale or lithosphere-scale gravitational potential energy and the tendency of
crust to achieve isostatic compensation
CLASSIFICATION OF GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES-2

3. Timing of Formation
•Syn-formational: formed at the same time as the material that will ultimately
form the rock
•Penecontemporaneous: formed before full lithification, but after initial
deposition
•Post-formational: formed after the rock has fully formed, as a consequence of
phenomena not related to the immediate environment of rock formation

4. Process of Formation: the Deformation Mechanism

•Fracturing: related to development or coalescence of cracks in rock
•Frictional sliding: related to the slip of one body of rock past another, or of grains
past one another, both of which are resisted by friction
•Plasticity: resulting from deformation by the internal flow of crystals without
loss of cohesion, or by non-frictional sliding of crystals past one another
•Diffusion: resulting from material transport either solid-state or assisted by a
fluid (dissolution)
CLASSIFICATION OF GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES-3

5. The mesoscopic cohesiveness during deformation

•Brittle: formed by loss of cohesion across a mesoscopic discrete surface
•Ductile: formed without loss of cohesion across a mesoscopic discrete surface
•Brittle/ductile: involving both brittle and ductile aspects

6. The strain significance

•Contractional: resulting in shortening of a region
•Extensional: resulting in extension of a region
•Strike-slip: resulting from movement without either shortening or extension

7. The distribution of deformation in a volume of rock

•Continuous: occurs through the rock body at all scales
•Penetrative: occurs throughout the rock body, at the scale of observation; up
close, there may be spaces between the structures
•Localized: continuous or penetrative structure occurs only within a definable
region
•Discrete: structure occurs as an isolated feature
OBSERVATION (OUTCROPS)