LithoTect® Restoration and Balancing
Overview
Current
Functionality
Geometry Reconstruction
Restoration and Balancing
Depth Conversion
By creating a validated set of interpretations the geological evolution of
those interpretations is also produced. These kinematic models can be
used to animate a structure, monitor deformation variation and potential
fracture densities and distributions, determine fault sealing characteristics,
analyze hydrocarbon migration pathways and accumulation zones, and predict
depositional and lithofacies patterns. In essence, structural interpretation
involves a comprehensive description of a prospect or reservoir, and how
it evolved. LithoTect® provides the critical tools necessary for
building that description.
The same fold reconstruction methods discussed earlier are intrinsically related to the standard kinematic restoration models - the parallel geometries of concentric or angular bend construction define the slip system of flexural slip, where bedding layers are assumed to slide past each other while preserving bedlengths. Parallel geometry is also used for slip line deformation, where a fault defines the curvilinear slip system. In contrast, the linear simple shear of vertical/oblique slip can be though of as sliding pencils, and produces similar geometries. While itās fairly easy to extrapolate vertical/oblique slip to 3D, it still requires 3D similar geometry. The same problems that simple parallel geometries have in 2D are exacerbated in 3D, with the added caveat that standard methods of 3D dip domain construction are exceedingly difficult, and true 3D flexural slip kinematics are strictly limited to developable folds (zero Gaussian curvature).
Complex geometry does not have any of these limitations, and while the first release of LithoTect® is primarily a 2D restoration application, future versions will begin to harness the capabilities of geometry fields for 3D kinematics.
