FROM OUTCROP TO SYNTHETIC SEISMIC: AN INTEGRATED STUDY OF BOTNEHEIA, CENTRAL SPITSBERGEN

2018

2019

Geoscientists often work across different scales, from core plugs to basin-scale grav-mag measurements. In exploration and reservoir characterization, the resolution gap between outcrop analogue data and seismic data is particularly important to constrain. Well data provide some constraints but are extremely limited spatially, especially in offshore exploration. Synthetic seismic modelling of “seismic-scale” outcrops can help to close this resolution gap by conducting forward models on selected outcrops to identify the features that should be identifiable on seismic data. The geological features exposed at Botneheia, i.e., igneous intrusions, fault systems, stratigraphic variation, in central Spitsbergen represent a range of seismic and sub-seismic features. Understanding the seismic imaging potential of these features is important both in the context of CO2 storage onshore Svalbard but also for petroleum exploration in volcanic basins.

Isabelle Lecomte (UiB/GEO)