Salt can be removed by viscous flow and dissolution to form a salt weld. A complete weld forms when salt is completely removed by these processes. Where salt removal is incomplete, a partial weld forms. Though welds are frequently mentioned in the literature, the details of weld formation and the properties of salt welds are poorly understood.
In Chapter 1, I use analytical and numerical models to quantify the role of viscous flow during salt welding. Where salt flow is limited by boundary drag against the salt contacts, evacuation is slow and up to ~50 m of salt will be left behind in a partial weld. Where salt flow is laterally unrestricted, a vanishingly thin (<< 1 m) smear of salt will remain. I conclude that layer-parallel wall rock translation or dissolution must act to remove any remnant salt to create a complete weld.
In Chapter 2, I characterize partial welds containing halite and anhydrite on reflection seismic data by treating welds as thin beds. Below the temporal resolution of reflection seismic data, typically ~25-50 m for modern surveys with peak frequencies of ~10-30 Hz, reflections from the upper and lower evaporite contacts converge and interfere to form a single composite reflection. Thus, partial and complete welds are typically indistinguishable using travel-time differences alone. I then use amplitude information from synthetics and seismic examples to estimate remnant evaporite thickness.
In Chapter 3, I investigate fluid flow near and through salt welds. I conclude dissolution during boundary flow can remove up to a few meters of salt per million years. Though dissolution plays a volumetrically insignificant but important role in weld formation, as runaway dissolution can create pathways for focused cross-weld migration of subsurface fluids. I identify features that influence cross-weld migration of subsurface fluids and then develop an empirical relationship between weld geometry and the tendency seal or leak hydrocarbons. I find that in the Campos Basin, offshore Brazil, salt welds containing remnant evaporites thinner than ~50 m that are broader than ~25 km2 in area are likely to leak. / text
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTEXAS/oai:repositories.lib.utexas.edu:2152/ETD-UT-2010-05-1156 |
| Date | 07 October 2010 |
| Creators | Wagner, Bryce Hedrick |
| Source Sets | University of Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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