Normal fault zones play a fundamental role in the development of sedimentary basins and in the migration and trapping of hydrocarbons. The idealised geometry of an isolated post-sedimentary normal fault (Barnett, 1987, Walsh & Watterson, 1989) existing conceptual models that describe the process of fault growth and linkage in brittle systems (Childs et al, 1995; Cartwright et al, 1996; Childs et al, 1995, 1996b; Huggins et al, 1995), where fault planes composed of many overstepping segments are linked by areas of complex deformation called relay ramps, are generally accepted. Relay zones can trap significant volumes of hydrocarbon or act as leakage points, thus understanding the style of fault linkage, which strongly influences the location of hydrocarbon tops and reservoir compartmentalisation, is vital for any petroleum system.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:491785 |
Date | January 2008 |
Creators | Marsh, Nicola A. |
Publisher | Durham University |
Source Sets | Ethos UK |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
Source | http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1933/ |
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