Interpretation and mapping of geological features using mobile devices in outcrop geology: A case study of the Saltwick Formation, North Yorkshire, UK

Digital outcrops have seen widespread adoption in geoscience applications for direct interpretation and analysis tasks. Handheld devices are becoming powerful computers capable of displaying outcrop models in 3D, creating new opportunities for interpreting geology directly in the field. This chapter describes such handheld-based digital techniques and their use in field geology. A workflow from the direct outcrop interpretation to a statistical reservoir model via Multiple Point Statistics (MPS) is given in a field study on the Yorkshire coastline in the UK. The workflow allows large parts of formerly office-based tasks to be performed directly in the field. Computationally expensive operations are conducted in the basecamp via laptops, which is facilitated by export options to common outcrop and reservoir modelling packages. The result is a streamlined workflow that enriches the fieldwork. Prevalent handheld limitations demand careful quality control when transferring field results to subsequent modelling stages. The case study of Saltwick Formation in this chapter merits in a static reservoirs model, conditioned to field-documented sedimentary logs, which is analysed in terms of geobody connectivity and lithofacies distribution. The resulting outcrop-based reservoir model can be queried for reservoir quality characteristics for analogous, major Brent Group hydrocarbon fields.