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Fig. 4—Excess pore pressure build-up for the two clays in Fig.
2 during undrained shearing with a confining effective stress of
50 MPa.
both u and Sh are the direct result of an undrained increase in SV. The
u/Sh ratio at SV +120 MPa is 0.66, the fracture condition being
u/Sh u1.
Beaufort Sea. The Beaufort Sea abuts the Arctic coast of western Nomenclature
Canada. Tertiary sediments are 10 km deep. The sedimentary se- u+ pore fluid pressure
quences are dominated by shale and sandstone, shale being domi- Du+ change in u
nant at depth offshore (south) and sand being dominant nearshore. SV + total vertical stress
Significant overpressuring is encountered at depths below 2.5 km Sh + total minimum horizontal stress
in the middle to outer shelf area. Pressure gradients exceeding 20 K+ ratio of horizontal to vertical effective stresses
kPa/m have been measured. n+ Poisson’s ratio.
Fig. 6 shows pore pressure and stress magnitude variations with ze + equilibrium depth
depth in a typical middle to outer shelf well, Siulik I-05 (70.141°N,
134.511°W). The pore pressure data here are from mudweights, but
References
the overpressures are verified in the area by drillstem and repeat
formation tests. 1. Anderson, R.A., Ingram, D.S. and Zanier, A.M.: “Fracture Pressure
It is believed that the cause of overpressuring in this area of the Beau- Gradient Determination form Well Logs,” SPE paper 4135 (1972).
2. Hottman, C.E., Smith, J.H. and Purcell, W.R.: “Relationship Among
fort Sea has a strong tectonic component because of the following.
Earth Stresses, Pore Pressure and Drilling Problems Offshore Gulf of
1. The area is active seismically.22
Alaska,” SPE AIME (Nov. 1979), 1477–1484.
2. The Canadian portion of the Beaufort Basin was affected by 3. Fertl, W.: “Abnormal Formation Pressures: implications to exploration,
widespread Tertiary compressive deformation that continued into drilling and production of oil and gas reservoirs,” Development in Petro-
Late Miocene time and, locally, Quaternary folding is docu- leum Science 2 (1976), 382 pp.
mented.23 A regional array of shale-cored, structurally aligned, 4. Rieke, H. and Chilingarian, G.: “Compaction of Argillaceous Sedi-
thrusted anticlines is present beneath outer shelf areas. ments,” Developments in Sedimentology 16 (1974), 424pp.
3. The top of the main overpressured zone exhibits significant relief 5. Mouchet, J.P. and Mitchell, A: “Abnormal pressures while drilling,” Elf
with undulations that mimic the form of the shale-cored anticlines. Aquitaine Manuels Techniques 2 (1989), 264pp.
4. Compaction levels in the area of the well are normal; no density 6. Yassir, N.A.: “Mud volcanoes and the behaviour of overpressured clays
or velocity anomalies are recorded (Fig. 6). and silts,” PhD thesis, University of London, UK, (1989), 249p.
5. The ze at 4 km is approximately 1.5 km. Considering that the 7. Carstens, H and Dypvik, H.: “Abnormal Formation Pressure and Shale
severe overpressures are in thick sandstones, it is difficult to see how porosity,” AAPG Bull. 65 (1981), 334–350.
they can retain high pore pressures before being buried by shales. 8. Yassir, N.A. and Rogers, A.L..“Overpressures, fluid flow and stress re-
As mentioned above, sandstones are susceptible to overpressuring gimes in the Jeanne d’Arc Basin, Canada,” Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci.
& Geomech. Ab. 30 (1993), 1209–1213.
by undrained shear. Evidence for this can be found locally in the
9. Chapman, R.E.: “Petroleum Geology,” (1983), Elsevier.
area, where small pockets of sandstone are overpressured at depths
10. Bowers, G.L.: “Pore Pressure Estimation from Velocity Data: Account-
shallower than 2.5 km. ing for Overpressure Mechanisms Besides Undercompaction,” IADC/
6. The upper two leak-off tests give a fracture gradient slightly SPE 27488 (Feb 1994), 515–523.
less than the vertical stress. In the overpressured zone, however, the 11. Bjorlykke, K.: “Fluid Flow in Sedimentary Basins,” Sed. Geol. 86
fracture pressure rises to coincide with the vertical stress (Fig. 6). (1993), 137–158.
This suggests that either stress isotropy prevails or, more likely, both 12. Yassir, N.A.: “Undrained Shear Characteristics of Clay at High Total
horizontal principal stresses exceed SV, indicative of a thrust fault re- Stresses,” Rock at Great Depth, V. Maury and D. Fourmaintraux, eds.
gime. (1990), 2, 907–913.