Unlocking the secrets of the Taranaki Basin (NZ) What happens when you stop slicing seismic data arbitrarily… and start slicing it along geologic time? Working with the Taranaki...
Unlocking the secrets of the Taranaki Basin (NZ)
What happens when you stop slicing seismic data arbitrarily… and start slicing it along geologic time?
Working with the Taranaki Basin dataset (courtesy NZP&M and GNS Science), we pushed beyond conventional interpretation to rapidly screen for prospectivity in a true 3D + time framework. The result: a level of geomorphic and depositional detail that completely transforms how this interval can be understood.
By integrating OpendTect’s HorizonCube with the multi-trace Similarity attribute, we enhanced subtle discontinuities and stratigraphic features that are almost invisible in amplitude alone. But the real power lies in the workflow: • Two bounding horizons define the stratigraphic interval • An inversion-driven flattening algorithm generates 500+ chronostratigraphic surfaces • A dip-steered, structurally consistent framework ensures geologically faithful attribute extraction
Now instead of interpreting static slices, we navigate through deposition itself. As we scroll from base to top, a highly dynamic system emerges beneath a paleo–shelf edge break: → Deeply incised canyons carving the slope → Confined channel–levee complexes evolving through time → Slump scars and glide tracks marking instability → Lateral accretion packages recording sediment routing → Mud volcanoes and pockmarks signaling fluid escape
These features were always there—encoded in the Similarity volume. But without a chronostratigraphic lens, they remain fragmented, ambiguous, and easy to miss.
This is the shift: From interpreting geometry → to interpreting process through time. For those working seismic data, the message is clear:
Attributes don’t unlock insight on their own Workflows that honor stratigraphy do
The HorizonCube isn’t just a visualization tool—it’s a way to think differently about seismic interpretation.
Request a demo license to try this on your own data (commercial users only): requests@dgbes.com
Authors: Hesham Refayee and Uwe Strecker from dGB Earth Sciences
#Geoscience #SeismicInterpretation #Stratigraphy #TaranakiBasin #OpendTect #Subsurface #EnergyExploration
