ABSTRACT

Geologists' interpretations about the Earth typically involve distinct rock units with contacts between them. In contrast, standard minimum-structure mesh-based inversions recover smooth models inconsistent with such interpretations. We are researching a fundamentally different type of inversion that parameterizes the Earth in terms of contact surfaces between rock units and solves for the geometry of those surfaces. 3D geological Earth models typically comprise wireframe surfaces of tessellated triangles. Our inversions parameterize the wireframe surfaces as the coordinates of the facet vertices. We solve for the vertex locations through global optimization strategies and we perform stochastic sampling to provide likelihood information. We are applying these inversion methods to gravity survey data collected in eastern New Brunswick, Canada. The goal is to improve the structural delineation of the Cocagne Subbasin, an area with the potential to host reserves of oil, natural gas, potash and salt.

Presentation Date: Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Start Time: 3:35:00 PM

Location: 141

Presentation Type: ORAL

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