Petroleum geology refers to the specific set of geological disciplines that are applied to the search for hydrocarbons (oil exploration).
Petroleum geology is principally concerned with the evaluation of seven key elements in sedimentary basins: Source, reservoir, seal, trap, timing, maturation and migration.
In general, all these elements must be assessed via a limited 'window' into the subsurface world, provided by one (or possibly more) exploration wells.
These wells present only a 1-dimensional segment through the Earth and the skill of inferring 3-dimensional characteristics from them is one of the most fundamental in petroleum geology.
Recently, the availability of cheap and high quality 3D seismic data (from reflection seismology) has greatly aided the accuracy of such interpretation.
Sequence stratigraphy Sequence stratigraphy is a relatively new branch of geology that attempts to link prehistoric sea-level changes to sedimentary deposits.
The ... >
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Hydrocarbon In chemistry, a hydrocarbon is any chemical compound that consists only of the elements carbon (C) and hydrogen (H). They all contain a carbon ... >
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Sedimentary rock Sedimentary rock is one of the three main rock groups (along with igneous and metamorphic rocks) and is formed in four main ways: by the deposition ... >
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Engineering geology Engineering Geology is the application of the science of geology to the understanding of geologic phenomena and the engineering solution of geologic ... >
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Continental crust The continental crust is the layer of granitic, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks which form the continents and the areas of shallow seabed close to ... >
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Groundwater Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of geologic formations. A formation of rock/soil is ... >
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Sandstone Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-size mineral or rock grains. Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because ... >
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Hydrogeology Hydrogeology is the part of hydrology that deals with the distribution and movement of groundwater in the soil and rocks of the Earth's crust ... >
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Geophysics Geophysics, the study of the earth by quantitative physical methods, especially by seismic reflection and refraction, geodesy, gravity, magnetic, ... >
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