Highlights

Although stratigraphy is inherently three-dimensional, the vast majority of stratigraphic data is collected normal to bedding; as such, lateral facies dimensions and transitions commonly are poorly contrained. Purkis et al. use Markov chain analysis to describe the quantitative relations between facies transition patterns in vertical and lateral directions.  They reveal that these transition probabilities are statistically similar, and utilize these data to create three-dimensional models of facies heterogeneity.  The results illustrate the how quantitative facies transition metrics can be used to build enhanced reservoir models.

Vertical-To-Lateral Transitions Among Cretaceous Carbonate Facies—A Means To 3-D Framework Construction Via Markov Analysis by Sam Purkis, Brigitte Vlaswinkel, and Nuno Gracias