Outcrops are the most common form of analogues, and SafariDB contains detailed information on over 700 outcrops from around the world, plus an additional 120+ analogues from producing fields, modern depositional environments and seismic studies.
The database makes extensive use of photorealistic virtual outcrop models (VO) and the majority of locations have at least one model, which can be accessed through a purpose built, online 3D web viewer. The outcrops cover a wide spectrum of geology types (clastic, carbonates, structural), depositional environments, basin types and palaeoclimates. The database also contains over 50,000 architectural measurements for populating reservoir models.
Phase 5 of the project, focuses on “Database Maximisation and the Energy Transition” There are four principal research goals:
- Improve links between the subsurface and outcrop analogues for both hydrocarbon and energy transition settings. Provide the ability to generate synthetic well logs from any outcrop as a key tool in training, and finding better analogues is central to understanding subsurface systems.
- Create a library of synthetic reservoir models based upon geostatistics generated from interpreted outcrops to characterise the heterogeneity of facies proportions for different depositional settings and examine how it relates to flow in the subsurface.
- Investigate the application of existing data in SafariDB to the energy transition. Explore the existing dataset to model CCS repositories and modelling of hydrogen storage sites; Expand SafariDB with Glacial Standard to capture glacio-tectonics, applicable to offshore site surveys from glacial and glaciotectonic deposits and igneous deposits for CCS and geothermal energy
- Revolutionise how users of SafariDB interact with outcrop data by making the virtual outcrops central to the experience. A new web viewer provides a more immersive and interactive way of improving the users’ understanding of the outcrop geology and its utility as an analogue.
This work runs over a 4-years period (2023-2027) and new sponsor are welcome to join the consortium at any time.
