Facies analysis

Facies analysis
The meaning of the term facies
(1) Observational facies (2) Interpretive facies

Walthers Law The importance of vertical profiles Depositional processes from wireline logs The principle of the FACIES MODEL

Different types of Facies

Facies: The observable attributes of a sedimentary rock body that reflect the depositional processes or environments that formed it.

Biofacies: Lithofacies:
Characterized by sedimentary attributes, such as grain-size, sedimentary structures, bedding Characterized by fossil content (body fossils or trace fossils)

Ichnofacies:
The assemblage of trace fossils

Seismic facies:
Characterized by seismic reflection amplitude and continuity. (Interpreted in terms of large-scale lithologic characteristics)

The different meanings of Facies as exemplified by lithofacies

Descriptive
Stromatoporoid limestone

Interpretive
Reef limestone
Cairns Fm., a major Devonian reservoir in Alberta

Crossbedded Fluvial gravel-conglomerate conglomerate

Sadlerochit Fm., Yukon, Similar to major reservoir at Prudhoe Bay

Facies criteria
All facies: - bedding - sedimentary structures - trace and body fossils - types of vertical profile (cycle) - facies contacts (erosional, gradational) - colour (with care - this may be a diagenetic product) - map distribution (isopach patterns) PLUS: Siliciclastic facies: - grain size and texture (sorting) - vertical grain-size trends Carbonate facies: - mud/allochem ratio - allochem type

Examples of facies descriptions

(from Cant and Walker, 1976; describing a fluvial succession

Well defined trough crossbedded facies (B): This facies is composed of well-defined sets of trough crossbedding..., with trough depths averaging 15 to 20 cm (range 10 to 45 cm). The troughs are regularly stacked on top of each other, but in some individual occurrences of the facies, trough depths decrease upward... The sets are composed of well-sorted medium sand... A few of the coarser sets have granules and pebbles concentrated at their bases. Rippled sandstone and mudstone Facies (F): This facies includes cross-laminated sandstones..., and alternating cross-laminated sandstones and mudstones. [An example of the latter] is 1.5 m thick and consists of three coarsening-upward sequences, which grade from basal mudstones into trough cross-laminated fine sandstone and finally into granule sandstone. The sandstones capping each coarsening-upward sequence have sharp, bioturbated tops. See application of these standard facies in next slide

Examples of standardized facies classifications

Battery Point Sandstone (braided fluvial), Cant and Walker, 1978

Standard limestone microfacies scheme Wilson, 1975

Advantages and disadvantages of a standardized facies scheme Advantages: -simplifies and standardizes observations -permits rapid logging of field sections and drill core Disadvantages -discourages observations of the rare or unusual -may lead to inappropriate simplifications

Facies variations on larger scales clastic example

If an outcrop is large enough, larger-scale depositional features may be mapped (outcrop of Cretaceous fluvial channels and bars, Book Cliffs, Utah)

Facies variation on a large scale a carbonate example

Transect across a reef margin, Permian, new Mexico

The hierarchy of depositional units

Stratigraphy is concerned mainly with features at the scale of diagram (A) and larger. Facies analysis is concerned primarily with sedimentary features at the scale of diagrams (B) to (E).

Walthers Law and the importance of the vertical profile

(The fluvial point-bar model)

Environments and processes found side-by-side in nature are represented in the same order in vertical profile

The importance of the vertical profile

1. Vertical profiles are the main form of data obtained from drilling into the subsurface. 2. They may readily be documented from wireline logs 3. Their analysis can make use of Walthers Law to interpret depositional processes and environments.

Depositional controls
Autogenic processes: - those arising from natural redistribution of energy and sediment within a depositional system. - e.g., channel migration and switching, beach regression, delta and slope progradation. Allogenic processes: - those imposed on a depositional system from outside the basin. - e.g., sea-level change, tectonic movement, climate change

The use of log shapes to interpret autogenic depositional processes

NOTE: variable vertical scales.

Facies analysis from log shapes 1. Funnel-shaped log

Prograding deltaic Deposits, Tertiary, Ellesmere Is.

Bayfill shale-sand succession, Carb., Kentucky

Facies analysis from log shapes 2. Bell-shaped log

Point bar, Carboniferous, Alabama

Fining-upward Fluvial cycle, Tertiary, Ellesmere Is.

Facies analysis from log shapes 3. other shapes

Fluvial channel. Permian, New Mexico

Distal turbidite, Cretaceous, South pf France

Examples of deltaic processes illustrated by wireline log shapes (from Tertiary of Texas Gulf Coast)

Mapping ribbon sand bodies in the Mannville Group, Alberta. Circle indicates location of log at left. Arrow above points to scoured base of channel

Facies associations and Facies models

Facies Association: -characteristic repeated association or assemblage of a limited suite of lithofacies and/or biofacies -may be characterized by typical cyclic pattern or vertical profile Facies Model: -an interpretive device erected to explain a facies assemblage, e.g., a block-diagram paleogeographic/depositional model

From modern environment to facies model

Milk River, Alberta

From outcrop architecture to facies model

Point bar, Carboniferous, Alabama

From vertical profile to facies model

William River, Saskatchewan

G B C

SS

Stratigraphic section consisting of a uniform facies assemblage

Standardized suite of lithofacies for use in logging sections

Facies model for sandy braided river. Letters correspond to locations where the standardized lithofacies are forming

Walkers classic facies-model diagram

Distilling away the variability to extract the pure essence (or common features) of an environment

Depositional architecture is not necessarily indicated by lithofacies assemblage

These outcrops of glacial outwash (near Banff) were deposited in gravel-bed rivers, but the facies characteristics do not indicate channel size or organization.

The attempt to define a typical submarine fan

Subdivision into -feeder canyon -upper fan, -middle fan, -lower fan, -fan lobes -basin plain

Classification of major facies types Distribution of facies types within the fan Major depositional processes

(diagram from Shanmugam and Moiola)

Types of submarine fan

Can we extract a single, typical fan to serve as the basis for a fan facies model?
Bengal fan shown against the California coast in order to indicate its magnitude

1000 km

Bengal fan

Navy Fan, California

10 km

100 km

100 km

Mississippi fan

Amazon fan

Final thoughts
Facies schemes and facies models - serve to systematize and simplify observation and classification - BUT can also serve to suppress innovation Facies models are not available for all existing sedimentary environments (e.g., very little study of rivers in rain-forest environments). Some ancient environments are not fully replicated by conditions anywhere on Earth today - e.g., large Paleozoic carbonate platforms - huge shelf seas of the Late Cretaceous - Precambrian vegetation-free tropics - large evaporite basins