Abstract
The Upper Permian Zechstein Supergroup has the potential to play an important role in the UK's future energy production and energy transition. However the Supergroup is comparatively poorly understood in the UK, particularly the link between the onshore and offshore geology. In this paper we re-evaluate available data in order to present a consistent regional interpretation of the Z1 to Z3 Zechstein Supergroup cycles. This review is based on an interpretation and re-evaluation of 620 offshore wells located in the UK portion of the SW Southern North Sea and 83 onshore wells located in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire (eastern England). The Zechstein Supergroup was interpreted in each well, and the data was used to compile seven SW-NE oriented correlation panels which show the development of the Supergroup in the study region. Five isopach maps for key formations in the Zechstein Supergroup were created, together with depositional environment maps for each of the main Zechstein carbonate formations. In combination, these regional-scale maps and diagrams have resulted in a consistent interpretation of the Zechstein Supergroup over an area which extends from the onshore outcrop in the west to the UKCS boundary in the Southern North Sea in the east.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 223-256 |
| Number of pages | 34 |
| Journal | Journal of Petroleum Geology |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2023 |
Bibliographical note
The authors thank Shell for sponsoring this research as well as the NAM team for insightful discussions. They thank Rachel Jamieson for her support, for interesting discussions and for initial set-up of the Petrel project. They acknowledge the UK Onshore Geophysical Library (UKOGL) for their assistance in providing well data and 3D seismic data from their archives. IHS Markit are thanked for the provision of, and permission to publish, examples from their onshore well database. The authors are grateful to Schlumberger for the donation of Petrel seismic interpretation software under academic licence to Heriot Watt University. The UK National Data Repository (NDR) is gratefully acknowledged for access to the seismic data volumes and released UK offshore well database, as is the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) for access to their MegaMerge seismic survey. The British Geological Society (BGS) is thanked for use of online open-access datasets such as the geology of Britain viewer, offshore Geoindex and boreholes material database. The authors acknowledge with thanks insightful reviews of the paper by Maurice Tucker and Tadeusz Peryt.Data Availability Statement
The data used within this study are from open access sources unless otherwise stated. Open access source material included in this project has been obtained from the British Geological Society, UK Onshore Geophysical Library, UK National Data Repository and the North Sea Transition Authority. This study contains public sector information, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 and also contains British Geological Survey materials © UKRI 2022. Datasets for 62 onshore wells, which are not in the public domain, were purchased from IHS Markit in order to support this research. This research includes content supplied by IHS Markit; © IHS Markit, 2020. All rights reserved.Keywords
- carbonates
- England
- evaporites
- Permian
- Southern North Sea
- Southern Permian Basin
- Zechstein Supergroup
