Publications
139 results found
MITCHELL AJ, ULIČNÝ D, HAMPSON GJ, et al., 2010, Modelling tidal current-induced bed shear stress and palaeocirculation in an epicontinental seaway: the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin, Central Europe, Sedimentology, Vol: 57, Pages: 359-388, ISSN: 0037-0746
TAGGART S, HAMPSON GJ, JACKSON MD, 2010, High-resolution stratigraphic architecture and lithological heterogeneity within marginal aeolian reservoir analogues, Sedimentology, ISSN: 0037-0746
HAMPSON GJ, 2010, Sediment dispersal and quantitative stratigraphic architecture across an ancient shelf, Sedimentology, Vol: 57, Pages: 96-141, ISSN: 0037-0746
Kieft RL, Jackson CA-L, Hampson GJ, et al., 2010, Sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of the Hugin Formation, Quadrant 15, Norwegian sector, South Viking Graben, 7th Petroleum Geology Conference (PGC), Publisher: GEOLOGICAL SOC PUBLISHING HOUSE, Pages: 157-176, ISSN: 2047-9921
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- Citations: 19
Henriksen S, Hampson GJ, HellandHansen W, et al., 2009, Shelf edge and shoreline trajectories, a dynamic approach to stratigraphic analysis, Basin Research, Vol: 21, Pages: 445-453, ISSN: 0950-091X
<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title><jats:p>The Shelf Edge and Shoreline Trajectories Conference, convened in Tromsø, Norway, during the autumn of 2007, was attended by a group of specialists working in the crossover between industry and academia. This paper introduces the concepts of shelf edge‐ and shoreline‐trajectory analysis, and discusses some of the advantages of applying such concepts in contrast to more traditional sequence stratigraphic analysis. This special issue of <jats:italic>Basin Research</jats:italic> focuses on how observations of outcrop and subsurface datasets, particularly three‐dimensional (3D) seismic data, may be used as an aid to identify palaeo‐shelf edges and shorelines. Moreover, the approach shows how linking <jats:italic>the cross‐sectional path of a shoreline as it migrates</jats:italic> (shoreline trajectory) and the <jats:italic>pathway taken by the shelf‐edge during the development of a series of accreting clinoforms</jats:italic> (shelf‐edge trajectory) to the analysis of sedimentological or seismic facies can improve predictions of lithology distribution. The following 15 papers present well‐documented case studies from a variety of shelf and shelf‐margin settings where these concepts have been applied to depositional systems ranging in age from Permian to Recent. A wide spectrum of data types and methods, including two dimensional and 3D seismic data, well logs and core material as well as high‐resolution biostratigraphy, outcrop studies and modern bathymetric data have been applied in the various papers. Despite the considerable age range of the deposits investigated and the data types used for the studies, all of the authors have converged towards the objective approach of trajectory analysis. However, any analytical method has some uncertainty attached to it, and a discussion of possible pitfalls and sources of error is also a part of this introductory paper. Although
HellandHansen W, Hampson GJ, 2009, Trajectory analysis: concepts and applications, Basin Research, Vol: 21, Pages: 454-483, ISSN: 0950-091X
<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title><jats:p>Shoreline and shelf‐edge trajectories describe the migration through time of sedimentary systems, using geomorphological breaks‐in‐slope that are associated with key changes in depositional processes and products. Analysis of these trajectories provides a simple descriptive tool that complements and extends conventional sequence stratigraphic methods and models. Trajectory analysis offers four advantages over a sequence stratigraphic interpretation based on systems tracts: (1) each genetically related advance or retreat of a shoreline or shelf edge is viewed in the context of a continuously evolving depositional system, rather than as several discrete systems tracts; (2) subtle changes in depositional response (e.g. within systems tracts) can be identified and honoured; (3) trajectory analysis does not anticipate the succession of depositional events implied by systems‐tract models; and (4) the descriptive emphasis of trajectory analysis does not involve any <jats:italic>a priori</jats:italic> assumptions about the type or nature of the mechanisms that drive sequence development. These four points allow the level of detail in a trajectory‐based interpretation to be directly tailored to the available data, such that the interpretation may be qualitative or quantitative in two or three dimensions. Four classes of shoreline trajectory are recognized: ascending regressive, descending regressive, transgressive and stationary (i.e. nonmigratory). Ascending regressive and high‐angle (accretionary) transgressive trajectories are associated with expanded facies belt thicknesses, the absence of laterally extensive erosional surfaces, and relatively high preservation of the shoreline depositional system. In contrast, descending regressive and low‐angle (nonaccretionary) transgressive trajectories are associated with foreshortened and/or missing facies belts, the presence of laterally extensive erosional sur
Hampson GJ, Sixsmith PJ, Kieft RL, et al., 2009, Quantitative analysis of net‐transgressive shoreline trajectories and stratigraphic architectures: mid‐to‐late Jurassic of the North Sea rift basin, Basin Research, Vol: 21, Pages: 528-558, ISSN: 0950-091X
<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title><jats:p>This paper outlines the use of the shoreline trajectory concept to understand the controls on net‐transgressive reservoir distribution and architecture in the highly productive Middle and Late Jurassic plays in the North Sea. Two broad groups of regressive–transgressive sandstone tongue are identified, with distinctive geometries, architectures and values of net‐transgressive shoreline trajectory defined by the stacking arrangement of multiple tongues. Shoreface tongues were supplied by longshore‐transported, marine‐reworked sediment and are associated with low‐to‐moderate transgressive trajectories (typically <0.2°). These tongues have variable dip extents that decrease weakly as the angle of shoreline trajectory increases, relatively small thicknesses that increase weakly with the angle of transgressive trajectory, and partial or no overlap with underlying and overlying tongues down depositional dip. Deltaic‐to‐estuarine tongues were supplied directly by fluvial sediment and are associated with moderate‐to‐very high transgressive trajectories (typically >0.1°). These tongues have small dip extents, variable thicknesses that increase weakly with the angle of transgressive trajectory, and partial to full overlap with underlying and overlying tongues down depositional dip, although vertically stacked tongues are separated by thin mudstones over much of their extents. There is some overlap in geometry and stacking arrangement of these two groups of sandstone tongues. The temporal and spatial distribution of shoreface and deltaic‐to‐estuarine sandstone tongues reflects linked variations in tectonic subsidence and sediment routing within the evolving rift basin. Deltaic‐to‐estuarine tongues with moderate‐to‐very high transgressive trajectories were developed in rapidly subsiding fault‐bounded depocentres supplied directly by fluvial sediment, whereas shoreface tongues with low‐to‐mode
Jackson MD, Hampson GJ, Sech RP, 2009, Three-dimensional modeling of a shoreface-shelf parasequence reservoir analog: Part 2. Geologic controls on fluid flow and hydrocarbon recovery, AAPG Bulletin, Vol: 93, Pages: 1183-1208, ISSN: 0149-1423
Sech RP, Jackson MD, Hampson GJ, 2009, Three-dimensional modeling of a shoreface-shelf parasequence reservoir analog: Part 1. Surface-based modeling to capture high-resolution facies architecture, AAPG Bulletin, Vol: 93, Pages: 1155-1181, ISSN: 0149-1423
Charvin K, Hampson GJ, Gallagher K, et al., 2009, A Bayesian approach to inverse modelling of stratigraphy, part 2: Validation tests, Basin Research, Vol: 21, Pages: 27-45, ISSN: 0950-091X
<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title><jats:p>A novel inverse modelling method is applied to the problem of constraining the environmental parameters (e.g. relative sea level, sediment supply) that control stratigraphic architecture. This technique links forward modelling of shallow‐marine wave/storm‐dominated stratigraphy to a combination of inverse methods formulated in a Bayesian framework. We present a number of examples in which relative sea‐level and sediment‐supply curves were inferred from synthetic vertical successions of grain size (e.g. wells) and synthetic thickness curves (e.g. seismically derived isopachs) extracted from a forward model simulation. These examples represent different scenarios that are designed to test the impact of data distribution, quantity and quality on the uncertainty of the inferred parameters. The inverse modelling approach successfully reproduces the gross stratigraphic architectures and relative sea level and sediment‐supply histories of the synthetic forward model simulation, within the constraints of the modelled data quality. The relative importance of the forcing parameters can be evaluated by their sensitivity and impact on the inverted data. Of equal importance, the inverse results allow complete characterisation of the uncertainties inherent to the stratigraphic modelling tool and to the data quality, quantity and distribution. The numerical scheme also successfully deals with the problem of non‐uniqueness of the solution of the inverse problem. These preliminary results suggest that the inverse method is a powerful tool in constraining stratigraphic architecture for hydrocarbon reservoir characterisation and modelling, and it may ultimately provide a process‐based geological complement to standard geostatistical tools.</jats:p>
Charvin K, Gallagher K, Hampson GL, et al., 2009, A Bayesian approach to inverse modelling of stratigraphy, part 1: method, Basin Research, Vol: 21, Pages: 5-25, ISSN: 0950-091X
<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title><jats:p>The inference of ancient environmental conditions from their preserved response in the sedimentary record still remains an outstanding issue in stratigraphy. Since the 1970s, conceptual stratigraphic models (e.g. sequence stratigraphy) based on the underlying assumption that accommodation space is the critical control on stratigraphic architecture have been widely used. Although these methods considered more recently other possible parameters such as sediment supply and transport efficiency, they still lack in taking into account the full range of possible parameters, processes, and their complex interactions that control stratigraphic architecture. In this contribution, we present a new quantitative method for the inference of key environmental parameters (specifically sediment supply and relative sea level) that control stratigraphy. The approach combines a fully non‐linear inversion scheme with a ‘process–response’ forward model of stratigraphy. We formulate the inverse problem using a Bayesian framework in order to sample the full range of possible solutions and explicitly build in prior geological knowledge. Our methodology combines Reversible Jump Markov chain Monte Carlo and Simulated Tempering algorithms which are able to deal with variable‐dimensional inverse problems and multi‐modal posterior probability distributions, respectively. The inverse scheme has been linked to a forward stratigraphic model, BARSIM (developed by Joep Storms, University of Delft), which simulates shallow‐marine wave/storm‐dominated systems over geological timescales. This link requires the construction of a likelihood function to quantify the agreement between simulated and observed data of different types (e.g. sediment age and thickness, grain size distributions). The technique has been tested and validated with synthetic data, in which all the parameters are specified to produce a ‘perfect’
Wells MR, Allison PA, Piggott MD, et al., 2008, Investigating tides in the early Pennsylvanian seaway of northwestern Europe using the Imperial College Ocean Model, Pages: 363-387
In the absence of analogical reasoning, numerical models can provide a quantitative means of investigating tidality in ancient epeiric seas. The Imperial College Ocean Model (ICOM) uses finite-element methods and a tetrahedral unstructured mesh enabling the next advance in paleo-ocean modelling. ICOM is validated using present-day shallow and deep isolated seas (the Baltic and Mediterranean seas, respectively). The results show an improvement from previous models due to the incorporation of Coriolis and bottom drag terms. Minimal differences in maximum predicted tidal range are observed between ICOM and other tidal model results, and ICOM sensitivity tests to half times true depth and twice times true depth. ICOM results for the Early Pennsylvanian northwestern Eurasian Seaway (EPES) predict a microtidal regime, which is supported by geological data. Putative tidal deposits described from rocks of this age in the U.K. are subtle and confined to paleo-estuaries where highly localized amplification effects were important. We propose that many ancient epeiric seas were microtidal due to their relative isolation from the open-ocean tidal bulge. In the absence of tidal mixing, these seas would have been prone to stratification, oxygen depletion, mass mortality and Corg preservation.
Sixsmith PJ, Hampson GJ, Gupta S, et al., 2008, Facies architecture of a net transgressive sandstone reservoir analog: The Cretaceous Hosta Tongue, New Mexico, AAPG Bulletin, Vol: 92, Pages: 513-547, ISSN: 0149-1423
Hampson GJ, Steel RJ, Burgess PM, et al., 2008, RECENT ADVANCES IN MODELS OF SILICICLASTIC SHALLOW-MARINE STRATIGRAPHY: INTRODUCTION AND PERSPECTIVES, Editors: Hampson, Steel, Burgess, Dalrymple, Publisher: S E P M - SOC SEDIMENTARY GEOLOGY, Pages: 3-+, ISBN: 978-1-56576-131-5
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- Citations: 5
Hampson GJ, Procter EJ, Kelly C, 2008, CONTROLS ON ISOLATED SHALLOW-MARINE SANDSTONE DEPOSITION AND SHELF CONSTRUCTION: LATE CRETACEOUS WESTERN INTERIOR SEAWAY, NORTHERN UTAH AND COLORADO, USA, Editors: Hampson, Steel, Burgess, Dalrymple, Publisher: S E P M - SOC SEDIMENTARY GEOLOGY, Pages: 355-389, ISBN: 978-1-56576-131-5
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- Citations: 15
Somme TO, Howell JA, Hampson GJ, et al., 2008, GENESIS, ARCHITECTURE, AND NUMERICAL MODELING OF INTRA-PARASEQUENCE DISCONTINUITY SURFACES IN WAVE-DOMINATED DELTAIC DEPOSITS: UPPER CRETACEOUS SUNNYSIDE MEMBER, BLACKHAWK FORMATION, BOOK CLIFFS, UTAH, USA, Editors: Hampson, Steel, Burgess, Dalrymple, Publisher: S E P M - SOC SEDIMENTARY GEOLOGY, Pages: 421-+, ISBN: 978-1-56576-131-5
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- Citations: 42
Hampson GJ, Rodriguez AB, Storms JEA, et al., 2008, GEOMORPHOLOGY AND HIGH-RESOLUTION STRATIGRAPHY OF PROGRADATIONAL WAVE-DOMINATED SHORELINE DEPOSITS: IMPACT ON RESERVOIR-SCALE FACIES ARCHITECTURE, Editors: Hampson, Steel, Burgess, Dalrymple, Publisher: S E P M - SOC SEDIMENTARY GEOLOGY, Pages: 117-+, ISBN: 978-1-56576-131-5
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- Citations: 60
Jerrett RM, Hampson GJ, 2007, Sequence stratigraphy of the upper Millstone Grit (Yeadonian, Namurian), North Wales, Geological Journal, Vol: 42, Pages: 513-530, ISSN: 0072-1050
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The upper Millstone Grit strata (Yeadonian, Namurian) of North Wales have been studied using sedimentological facies analysis and sequence stratigraphy. These strata comprise two cyclothems, each containing prodelta shales (Holywell Shale) that pass gradationally upwards into delta‐front and delta‐plain deposits (Gwespyr Sandstone Formation). The deltas formed in shallow water (<100 m), were fluvial‐dominated, had elongate and/or sheet geometries and are assigned to highstand systems tracts. Two delta complexes with distinctive sandstone petrographies are identified: (1) a southerly derived, quartzose delta complex sourced locally from the Wales‐Brabant Massif, and (2) a feldspathic delta complex fed by a regional source(s) to the north and/or west. The feldspathic delta complex extended further south in the younger cyclothem. A multistorey braided‐fluvial complex (Aqueduct Grit, c. 25 m thick) is assigned to a lowstand systems tract, and occupies an incised valley that was eroded into the highstand feldspathic delta complex in the younger cyclothem. A candidate incised valley cut into the highstand feldspathic delta complex in the older cyclothem is also tentatively identified. Transgressive systems tracts are thin (<5 m) and contain condensed fossiliferous shales (marine bands). The high‐resolution sequence stratigraphic framework interpreted for North Wales can be readily traced northwards into the Central Province Basin (‘Pennine Basin’), supporting the notion that high‐frequency, high‐magnitude sea‐level changes were the dominant control on stratigraphic architecture. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.</jats:p>
Wells MR, Allison PA, Piggott MD, et al., 2007, Numerical Modeling of Tides in the Late Pennsylvanian Midcontinent Seaway of North America with Implications for Hydrography and Sedimentation, Journal of Sedimentary Research, Vol: 77, Pages: 843-865, ISSN: 1527-1404
Matthews WJ, Hampson GJ, Trudgill BD, et al., 2007, Controls on fluviolacustrine reservoir distribution and architecture in passive salt-diapir provinces: Insights from outcrop analogs, AAPG Bulletin, Vol: 91, Pages: 1367-1403, ISSN: 0149-1423
Sech RP, Jackson MD, Hampson G, 2007, Controls on water cresting in high productivity horizontal gas wells, Pages: 2084-2095
It is widely agreed that gas reservoirs with a component of water drive should be produced at high rates to minimize the volume of gas which is trapped at high pressure by the advancing water (often termed 'outrunning the aquifer'). Yet high production rates are also associated with coning (in vertical wells) or cresting (in horizontal wells) of the encroaching water, leading to early water breakthrough. In vertical wells, the formation of an inverse gas cone means that high gas rates can be maintained post-breakthrough until almost the whole perforated interval is flowing water. However, in horizontal wells, water breakthrough is a serious threat to gas deliverability, because the inverse coning mechanism does not apply and the well rapidly loads with water. Consequently, it is not clear whether producing at high rates is the best strategy to maximize recovery in gas reservoirs developed using horizontal wells. We investigate the risk associated with producing horizontal wells at high rates by simulating gas recovery and aquifer response over a broad range of reservoir properties and production scenarios. We find that high rates always result in lower gas recovery unless the ratio of vertical to horizontal permeability is very low, in which case water cresting is suppressed. However, there are many instances where accelerating production recovers only slightly less gas over much' shorter timescales, so may be economically favorable. Rate sensitivity increases in low permeability reservoirs with thin gas columns, because these conditions increase the tendency for water cresting, and decreases in reservoirs with strong aquifer support, since water breakthrough occurs regardless of the rate at which the well is produced. Our results can be used as a reference framework to rapidly assess gas production behavior and aquifer response within a wide range of field development scenarios. Copyright 2007. Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Sech RP, Jackson MD, Hampson GJ, 2007, Controls on water cresting in high-productivity horizontal gas wells (SPE 107169), SPE Europec/EAGE Annual Conference
Choi K, Jackson MD, Hampson GJ, et al., 2007, Impact of heterogeneity on flow in fluvial-deltaic reservoirs: Implications for the giant ACG Field, south Caspian Basin (SPE 107137), SPE Europec/EAGE Annual Conference, Publisher: Society of Petroleum Engineers paper 107137
MORRIS JE, HAMPSON GJ, JOHNSON HD, 2006, A sequence stratigraphic model for an intensely bioturbated shallow‐marine sandstone: the Bridport Sand Formation, Wessex Basin, UK, Sedimentology, Vol: 53, Pages: 1229-1263, ISSN: 0037-0746
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The Bridport Sand Formation is an intensely bioturbated sandstone that represents part of a mixed siliciclastic‐carbonate shallow‐marine depositional system. At outcrop and in subsurface cores, conventional facies analysis was combined with ichnofabric analysis to identify facies successions bounded by a hierarchy of key stratigraphic surfaces. The geometry of these surfaces and the lateral relationships between the facies successions that they bound have been constrained locally using 3D seismic data. Facies analysis suggests that the Bridport Sand Formation represents progradation of a low‐energy, siliciclastic shoreface dominated by storm‐event beds reworked by bioturbation. The shoreface sandstones form the upper part of a thick (up to 200 m), steep (2–3°), mud‐dominated slope that extends into the underlying Down Cliff Clay. Clinoform surfaces representing the shoreface‐slope system are grouped into progradational sets. Each set contains clinoform surfaces arranged in a downstepping, offlapping manner that indicates forced‐regressive progradation, which was punctuated by flooding surfaces that are expressed in core and well‐log data. In proximal locations, progradational shoreface sandstones (corresponding to a clinoform set) are truncated by conglomerate lags containing clasts of bored, reworked shoreface sandstones, which are interpreted as marking sequence boundaries. In medial locations, progradational clinoform sets are overlain across an erosion surface by thin (<5 m) bioclastic limestones that record siliciclastic‐sediment starvation during transgression. Near the basin margins, these limestones are locally thick (>10 m) and overlie conglomerate lags at sequence boundaries. Sequence boundaries are thus interpreted as being amalgamated with overlying transgressive surfaces, to form composite erosion surfaces. In distal locations, oolitic ironstones that forme
Higgs R, Wells MR, Allison PA, et al., 2006, Discussion on large sea, small tides: the Late Carboniferous seaway of NW Europe, Journal of the Geological Society, Vol: 163, Pages: 893-895, ISSN: 0016-7649
WELLS MR, ALLISON PA, HAMPSON GJ, et al., 2005, Modelling ancient tides: the Upper Carboniferous epi‐continental seaway of Northwest Europe, Sedimentology, Vol: 52, Pages: 715-735, ISSN: 0037-0746
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Due to a lack of modern analogues, debate surrounds the importance of tides in ancient epi‐continental seas. However, numerical modelling can provide a quantitative means of investigating palaeo‐tidality without recourse to analogues. Finite element modelling of the European Upper Carboniferous epi‐continental seaway predicts an exceedingly low Lunar tidal range (<jats:italic>ca</jats:italic> 5 cm in the open water regions of the UK and Southern North Sea). The Imperial College Ocean Model (ICOM) uses finite element methods and an unstructured tetrahedral mesh that is computationally very efficient. The accuracy and sensitivity of ICOM tidal range predictions were tested using bathymetric data from the present‐day Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean Sea is micro‐tidal and varies in depth up to 5·4 km with an average depth of 1–2 km. ICOM accurately predicts the tidal range given both a realistic, but smoothed, bathymetry and a straight sided basin with a uniform depth of 1 km. Variation in uniform depth from 100 to 3000 m with and without islands consistently predicts micro‐tidality, demonstrating that the model is robust and the effect of bathymetric uncertainty on model output is relatively small. The extremely low tidal range predicted for the European Upper Carboniferous is thus deemed robust. Putative Upper Carboniferous tidal deposits have been described in the UK and southern North Sea, but are represented by cyclic rhythmites and are limited to palaeo‐estuaries. Calculations based on an embayed coast model show that the tidal range could have been amplified to <jats:italic>ca</jats:italic> 1 m in estuaries and that this is sufficient to form cyclic rhythmites. Without tidal mixing, the tropical equatorial heat and salinity enhancement would promote stratification in the open water body. The introduction of organic matter probably cau
Hampson GJ, Davies W, Davies SJ, et al., 2005, Use of spectral gamma-ray data to refine subsurface fluvial stratigraphy: late Cretaceous strata in the Book Cliffs, Utah, USA, Journal of the Geological Society, Vol: 162, Pages: 603-621, ISSN: 0016-7649
WELLS MR, ALLISON PA, PIGGOTT MD, et al., 2005, Large sea, small tides: the Late Carboniferous seaway of NW Europe, Journal of the Geological Society, Vol: 162, Pages: 417-420, ISSN: 0016-7649
Storms JEA, Hampson GJ, 2005, Mechanisms for Forming Discontinuity Surfaces Within Shoreface-shelf Parasequences: Sea Level, Sediment Supply, or Wave Regime?, Journal of Sedimentary Research, Vol: 75, Pages: 67-81, ISSN: 1527-1404
Hampson GJ, Howell JA, 2005, Sedimentologic and geomorphic characterization of ancient wave-dominated deltaic shorelines: Upper Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation, Book Cliffs, Utah, U.S.A., River deltas – concepts, models and examples, Editors: Giosan, Bhattacharya, Publisher: SEPM, Pages: 133-154, ISBN: 9781565761131
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