3D seismic interpretation of the depositional morphology of the Middle to Late Triassic fluvial system in Eastern Hammerfest Basin, Barents Sea

Abstract

Integration of seismic, well and outcrop analog data provided realistic definition of the depositional morphology of the Snadd Formation in the Eastern Hammerfest Basin, Barents Sea. In this work the morphology of the depositional system was analyzed by using acoustic impedance seismic attribute on a high-resolution 3D seismic data. Five horizon slices were interpreted between the Snadd and Fruholmen Formation. Information about lithology and environment of deposition was inferred from wireline logs and by correlation to analogs of the De Geerdalen Formation in Spitsbergen and Snadd Formation in the NE Barents Sea. The Middle to Late Triassic sediments in the study area were deposited by a meandering fluvial system characterized by depositional forms such as flood plains, point bars, levees, overbank deposits and crevasse splays. In the southwest and the northeastern part of the seismic cube, the meandering channel is divided into low and high sinuosity channels, respectively. Sinuosity of the channel is related to the paleo topography of the Middle Triassic unit (S2) with sediment source area and flow direction being from the higher areas in the southwest to low areas in the northeast. This work shows that the Middle to Late Triassic sediments in the study area were possibly sourced from the southwestern part of the present-day Barents Sea in regions correlated to the Baltic and Uralian highs.