Introduction to the development, evolution and petroleum geology of the Wessex Basin

Underhill, John R.; Stoneley, R.

doi:10.1144/gsl.sp.1998.133.01.01

Cited by 77 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…The Wessex Basin is a Mesozoic extensional basin formed during post-Carboniferous subsidence of the northwest European continental area (Whittaker, 1985;Karner, Lake & Dewey, 1987;Ziegler, 1990;Bradshaw et al 1992;Underhill & Stoneley, 1998;Hesselbo, 2000). During Kimmeridgian times, the basin occupied a mid-latitudinal position at approximately 32°N (Ziegler, 1990;Smith, Smith & Funnell, 1994).…”

Section: Regional Setting Of the Wessex Basinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated stratigraphy of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation (Upper Jurassic) based on exposures and boreholes in south Dorset, UK

et al. 2001

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For the purposes of a high-resolution multi-disciplinary study of the Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation, two boreholes were drilled at Swanworth Quarry and one at Metherhills, south Dorset, UK. Together, the cores represent the first complete section through the entire formation close to the type section. We present graphic logs that record the stratigraphy of the cores, and outline the complementary geophysical and analytical data sets (gamma ray, magnetic susceptibility, total organic carbon, carbonate, δ13Corg). Of particular note are the new borehole data from the lowermost part of the formation which does not crop out in the type area. Detailed logs are available for download from the Kimmeridge Drilling Project web-site at http://kimmeridge.earth.ox.ac.uk/. Of further interest is a mid-eudoxus Zone positive shift in the δ13Corg record, a feature that is also registered in Tethyan carbonate successions, suggesting that it is a regional event and may therefore be useful for correlation. The lithostratigraphy of the cores has been precisely correlated with the nearby cliff section, which has also been examined and re-described. Magnetic-susceptibility and spectral gamma-ray measurements were made at a regular spacing through the succession, and facilitate core-to-exposure correlation. The strata of the exposure and core have been subdivided into four main mudrock lithological types: (a) medium-dark–dark-grey marl; (b) medium-dark–dark grey–greenish black shale; (c) dark-grey–olive-black laminated shale; (d) greyish-black–brownish-black mudstone. The sections also contain subordinate amounts of siltstone, limestone and dolostone. Comparison of the type section with the cores reveals slight lithological variation and notable thickness differences between the coeval strata. The proximity of the boreholes and different parts of the type section to the Purbeck–Isle of Wight Disturbance is proposed as a likely control on the thickness changes.

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Section: Regional Setting Of the Wessex Basinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated stratigraphy of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation (Upper Jurassic) based on exposures and boreholes in south Dorset, UK

et al. 2001

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“…Thus, in addition to the generic aim stated above, this paper also presents material that complements and extends the educational value of the coastal outcrops for fieldtrip groups visiting the exhumed petroleum systems of the Wessex Basin (e.g. Selley & Stoneley 1987;Underhill & Stoneley 1995).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthesis of time-stratigraphic relationships and their impact on hydrocarbon reservoir distribution and performance, Bridport Sand Formation, Wessex Basin, UK

Hampson

Morris²,

Johnson

2014

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The Lower Jurassic Bridport Sand Formation records net deposition in the Wessex Basin, southern UK of a low-energy, siliciclastic shoreface that was dominated by storm-event beds reworked by bioturbation. Shoreface sandstones dip at 2-38 to define (subaerial?) clinoforms that pass distally into a near-horizontal platform, and then steepen again to form steep (2-38) subaqueous clinoforms in the underlying Down Cliff Clay Member. The overall morphology indicates mud-dominated clinoforms of compound geometry. Compound clinoforms are grouped into progradational sets whose stacking reflects tectonic subsidence and sediment dispersal patterns, and also controls basin-scale reservoir distribution and diachroneity of the formation.Each shoreface clinoform set consists of an upward-shallowing succession that is several tens of metres thick with a laterally continuous mudstone interval at its base. The successions are punctuated by calcite-cemented concretionary layers of varying lateral continuity, which formed along bioclastic lags at the base of storm-event beds. Concretionary layers thus represent short periods of rapid sediment accumulation, while their distribution likely results from variations in stormwave climate, relative sea-level, and/or sediment availability. The distribution of impermeable mudstone intervals that bound each clinoform set and concretionary layers along clinoform surfaces controls oil drainage in the Bridport Sand Formation reservoir.An understanding of time-stratigraphic relationships is important within hydrocarbon-bearing basins, because it facilitates prediction of the distribution of lithological units, including source rocks, reservoirs, and seals (e.g. Van Wagoner et al. 1990). Such understanding is most commonly developed via the application of sequence stratigraphic methods at either relatively large spatial scales (tens to hundreds of kilometres laterally) to define the constituent elements of hydrocarbon plays during exploration, or at smaller scales (hundreds of metres to tens of kilometres laterally) to define flow units within producing hydrocarbon reservoirs. These spatial scales typically translate into temporal scales of 10 5 -10 8 yr for hydrocarbon exploration applications and 10 2 -10 6 yr for hydrocarbon production applications, although there may be considerable uncertainty in these estimated time spans in the absence of appropriate biostratigraphic age control.In this paper, we present a case study of the hydrocarbon exploration and production applications of time-stratigraphic relationships to a shallow-marine siliciclastic sandstone, the Jurassic Bridport Sand Formation of the Wessex Basin, UK. At exploration scale, we focus on using time-stratigraphic relationships to constrain the spatial distribution of reservoir lithologies, particularly via the application of a revised depositional model that relates sedimentological facies to seismically resolved geomorphology (after Morris et al. 2006) (at time spans labeled for 'subaqueous clinoform set' in Fig. 1). These time-...

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“…Similar to other Mesozoic depocentres within the UK, the Wessex Basin has been subjected to marked Alpine deformation and inversion, but it is not the purpose of this paper to discuss the tectonism in any detail. For more detailed descriptions of the tectonic history of this area, see Beeley and Norton (1998), Butler (1998), Chadwick (1986), Chadwick et al (1983), Hamblin et al (1992), Harvey and Stewart (1998), Hawkes et al (1998), Karner et al (1987), Lake and Karner (1987), Law (1998), Smith and Hatton (1998), Underhill and Stonely (1998), Whittaker et al (1985) and Zeigler (1990).…”

Section: Geographical and Structural Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The four smaller (sub) basins comprise the Dorset, Pewsey, Portland-Wight, and the Weald Basins (Fig. 1), separated by several significant exposed or buried tectonic elements (Underhill and Stonely, 1998). The Portland-Wight Basin (the location of the 97/12-1 well) is the most southerly (sub) basin, bound to the north by the Purbeck-Isle of Wight Fault Zone, to the south by the Central Channel High, while thinning eastwards onto the Hampshire-Dieppe High.…”

Section: Geographical and Structural Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Triassic to Middle Jurassic stratigraphy of the Kerr McGee 97/12-1 exploration well, offshore southern England

Ainsworth

Riley

2010

Marine and Petroleum Geology

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Introduction to the development, evolution and petroleum geology of the Wessex Basin

Cited by 77 publications

References 53 publications

Integrated stratigraphy of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation (Upper Jurassic) based on exposures and boreholes in south Dorset, UK

Integrated stratigraphy of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation (Upper Jurassic) based on exposures and boreholes in south Dorset, UK

Synthesis of time-stratigraphic relationships and their impact on hydrocarbon reservoir distribution and performance, Bridport Sand Formation, Wessex Basin, UK

Triassic to Middle Jurassic stratigraphy of the Kerr McGee 97/12-1 exploration well, offshore southern England

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