Stratigraphy and oil: A review - Part 1: Exploration and seismic stratigraphy: Observation and description

Abstract

This article is the first of a series of two articles which cover all of the author's research activities at IFP since 1972. After four years devoted to the study of the Southwest Pacific margins, he transferred the main focus of his activities to stratigraphy, both seismic and sequence. This series is made up of four chapters summarizing the major results of the work done and emphasizing the studies which had a methodological impact. The chronological order is preserved to underscore the evolution of ideas and methods. This first article has the first three chapters. The first concerns the study of the active margins of the Southwest Pacific with the discovery or clarification of several structural features. This chapter is presented because it addresses the beginnings of seismic stratigraphy. The second deals with the introduction, growth and spread of seismic stratigraphy in France. The third concerns the study of clastic submarine fans with the broad use of seismic-stratigraphic methods, the interactions between the inputs of onshore investigations and those of marine seismic reflection, and the application of flume and tank experiments to the interpretation of gravity deposits. These results were to have a significant impact on the development of sequence stratigraphy. Each of these chapters has an introduction that presents the state of knowledge at the time when the work was undertaken and the challenges faced by the researchers, a section on the work achieved, and another on the main results. The main conclusions are presented at the end of the second article.