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===Geological Setting===
 
===Geological Setting===
Construction and fluid-flow simulation of models based on outcrop analogs is an established method for investigating geologic controls on subsurface reservoir performance (e.g., Ciammetti et al.;<ref>Ciammetti, G., P. S. Ringrose, T. R. Good, J. M. L. Lewis, and K. S. Sorbie, 1995, Waterflood recovery and fluid flow upscaling in a shallow marine and fluvial sandstone sequence: SPE Paper 30783, 14 p.</ref> White and Barton;<ref name=WB1999>White, C. D., and M. D. Barton, 1999, Translating outcrop data to flow models, with applications to the Ferron Sandstone: SPE Reservoir Evaluation and Engineering, v. 2, no. 4, p. 341–350, doi: 10.2118/57482-PA.</ref> White et al.;<ref>White, C. D., B. J. Willis, S. P. Dutton, J. P. Bhattacharya, and K. Narayanan, 2004, [http://archives.datapages.com/data/specpubs/memoir80/CHAPTER7/CHAPTER7.HTM Sedimentology, statistics, and flow behaviour for a tide-influenced deltaic sandstone, Frontier Formation, Wyoming, United States], in G. M. Grammer, P. M. Harris, and G. P. Eberli, eds., Integration of outcrop and modern analogs in reservoir modeling: [http://store.aapg.org/detail.aspx?id=658 AAPG Memoir 80], p. 129–152.</ref> Jackson et al.;<ref name=Jckson2009 /> Sech et al.;<ref name=Sch09 /> Enge and Howell<ref name=EH2010 />). Here, the clinoform-modeling algorithm is used to build a reservoir model utilizing a high-resolution outcrop data set from the Ferron Sandstone Member, Utah, at a scale that is comparable to the interwell spacing (750 × 3000 m [2461 × 9843 ft] areally) in a typical hydrocarbon reservoir and captures several tens of clinoforms and their associated heterogeneities. Previously, Forster et al. <ref name=Frstr2004 /> constructed 2-D flow-simulation models of the same outcrop analog via data-intensive, deterministic mapping of clinoforms and facies boundaries in cliff-face exposures. In contrast, our aim is to verify that the clinoform-modeling algorithm can produce realistic 3-D stratigraphic architectures that mimic rich outcrop data sets when conditioned to sparse input data that are typical in the subsurface. The scale of the model fills the gap between detailed but sparse 2-D core and well-log data and low-resolution but extensive 3-D seismic data.
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Construction and fluid-flow simulation of models based on outcrop analogs is an established method for investigating geologic controls on subsurface reservoir performance (e.g., Ciammetti et al.;<ref>Ciammetti, G., P. S. Ringrose, T. R. Good, J. M. L. Lewis, and K. S. Sorbie, 1995, Waterflood recovery and fluid flow upscaling in a shallow marine and fluvial sandstone sequence: SPE Paper 30783, 14 p.</ref> White and Barton;<ref name=WB1999>White, C. D., and M. D. Barton, 1999, Translating outcrop data to flow models, with applications to the Ferron Sandstone: SPE Reservoir Evaluation and Engineering, v. 2, no. 4, p. 341–350, doi: 10.2118/57482-PA.</ref> White et al.;<ref>White, C. D., B. J. Willis, S. P. Dutton, J. P. Bhattacharya, and K. Narayanan, 2004, [http://archives.datapages.com/data/specpubs/memoir80/CHAPTER7/CHAPTER7.HTM Sedimentology, statistics, and flow behaviour for a tide-influenced deltaic sandstone, Frontier Formation, Wyoming, United States], in G. M. Grammer, P. M. Harris, and G. P. Eberli, eds., Integration of outcrop and modern analogs in reservoir modeling: [http://store.aapg.org/detail.aspx?id=658 AAPG Memoir 80], p. 129–152.</ref> Jackson et al.;<ref name=Jckson2009 /> Sech et al.;<ref name=Sch09 /> Enge and Howell<ref name=EH2010 />). Here, the clinoform-modeling algorithm is used to build a reservoir model utilizing a high-resolution outcrop data set from the Ferron Sandstone Member, Utah, at a scale that is comparable to the interwell spacing (750 × 3000 m [2461 × 9843 ft] areally) in a typical [[hydrocarbon reservoir]] and captures several tens of clinoforms and their associated heterogeneities. Previously, Forster et al. <ref name=Frstr2004 /> constructed 2-D flow-simulation models of the same outcrop analog via data-intensive, deterministic mapping of clinoforms and facies boundaries in cliff-face exposures. In contrast, our aim is to verify that the clinoform-modeling algorithm can produce realistic 3-D stratigraphic architectures that mimic rich outcrop data sets when conditioned to sparse input data that are typical in the subsurface. The scale of the model fills the gap between detailed but sparse 2-D core and well-log data and low-resolution but extensive 3-D seismic data.
    
The Ferron Sandstone Member of the Mancos Shale is located in east-central Utah. The unit was deposited during the Late Cretaceous (Turonian–Coniacian) on the western margin of the Western Interior Seaway and, in the study area, records the progradation of the Last Chance delta system from southwest (paleolandward) to northeast (paleoseaward)<ref name=cttr /> ([[:File:BLTN13190fig5.jpg|Figure 5A]]). These deltaic deposits form a basinward-thinning wedge that passes eastward into the offshore deposits of the Mancos Shale. The wedge contains either seven<ref>Ryer, T. A., 1991, Stratigraphy, facies and depositional history of the Ferron Sandstone in the Canyon of Muddy Creek, east-central Utah, inT. C. Chidsey, Jr., ed., Geology of east-central Utah: Utah Geological Association Publication 19, p. 45–54.</ref><ref name=Grdnr>Gardner, M. H., 1993, Sequence stratigraphy and facies architecture of the Upper Cretaceous Ferron Sandstone Member of the Mancos Shale, east-central Utah: Ph.D. dissertation, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, 528 p.</ref><ref>Barton, M. D., E. S. Angle, and N. Tyler, 2004, [http://archives.datapages.com/data/specpubs/study50/sg50ch07/sg50ch07.htm Stratigraphic architecture of fluvial-deltaic sandstones from the Ferron Sandstone outcrop, east-central Utah], in T. C. Chidsey, Jr., R. D. Adams, and T. H. Morris, eds., Regional to wellbore analog for fluvial-deltaic reservoir modeling: The Ferron Sandstone of Utah: [http://store.aapg.org/detail.aspx?id=655 AAPG Studies in Geology 50], p. 193–210.</ref> or eight sandstone tongues,<ref name=AndrsnRyr2004 /><ref name=GvdB2004 /> such that one tongue is equivalent to a parasequence set of Deveugle et al.<ref name=Dvgl2011 /> ([[:File:BLTN13190fig5.jpg|Figure 5B]]). A single delta-lobe deposit within the lowermost sandstone tongue is the focus of the study (bedset Kf-1-Iv[a] of Anderson et al.;<ref name=Andrsn2004>Anderson, P. B., T. C. Chidsey, Jr., T. A. Ryer, R. D. Adams, and K. McClure, 2004, [http://archives.datapages.com/data/specpubs/study50/sg50ch13/sg50ch13.htm Geological framework, facies paleogeography, and reservoir analogs of the Ferron Sandstone in the Ivie Creek area, east-central Utah], in T. C. Chidsey, Jr., R. D. Adams, and T. H. Morris, eds., Regional to wellbore analog for fluvial-deltaic reservoir modeling: The Ferron Sandstone of Utah: [http://store.aapg.org/detail.aspx?id=655 AAPG Studies in Geology 50], p. 331–356.</ref> parasequence 1h of Garrison and Van den Bergh;<ref name=GvdB2004 /> parasequence 1.6 of Deveugle et al.<ref name=Dvgl2011 />) ([[:File:BLTN13190fig5.jpg|Figure 5C, D]]). The delta-lobe deposit is fluvial dominated with low-to-moderate wave influence<ref name=Grdnr /><ref name=GvdB2004 /><ref>Ryer, T. A., and P. B. Anderson, 2004, [http://archives.datapages.com/data/specpubs/study50/sg50ch03/sg50ch03.htm Facies of the Ferron Sandstone, east-central Utah], in T. C. Chidsey, Jr., R. D. Adams, and T. H. Morris, eds., Regional to wellbore analog for fluvial-deltaic reservoir modeling: The Ferron Sandstone of Utah: [http://store.aapg.org/detail.aspx?id=655 AAPG Studies in Geology 50], p. 59–78.</ref> and contains numerous, well-documented clinoforms in the exposures of the Ivie Creek amphitheater<ref>Anderson, P. B., T. C. Chidsey, Jr., K. McClure, A. Mattson, and S. H. Snelgrove, 2002, Ferron Sandstone stratigraphic cross-sections, Ivie Creek area, Emery County, Utah: Utah Geological Survey, Open File Report 390, CD-ROM.</ref><ref>Anderson, P. B., K. McClure, T. C. Chidsey, Jr., T. A. Ryer, T. H. Morris, J. A. Dewey, Jr., and R. D. Adams, 2003, Interpreted regional photomosaics and cross sections, Cretaceous Ferron Sandstone, east-central Utah: Utah Geological Survey, Open File Report 412, CD-ROM.</ref><ref name=Andrsn2004 /><ref name=Frstr2004 /><ref name=EH2010 /> ([[:File:BLTN13190fig5.jpg|Figure 5D]]). Clinoform-related bedding geometries and facies distributions imply that clinoforms mapped by previous workers, and used as input data for the models presented below ([[:File:BLTN13190fig6.jpg|Figure 6A]], after Forster et al. <ref name=Frstr2004 />), bound clinothems equivalent to mouth bars (sensu Bhattacharya<ref name=Bhttchry2006 />). Subtle, apparently cyclic variations in clinoform spacing and dip angle probably define mouth-bar assemblages (sensu Bhattacharya;<ref name=Bhttchry2006 /> “bedsets” sensu Enge et al.<ref name=Eng2010>Enge, H. D., J. A. Howell, and S. Buckley, 2010, The geometry and internal architecture of stream mouth bars in the Panther Tongue and the Ferron Sandstone Members, Utah, U.S.A.: Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 80, no. 11, p. 1018–1031, doi: 10.2110/jsr.2010.088.</ref>). Smaller-scale lithologic variation at the scale of individual beds occurs between the mapped clinoforms and records incremental growth of a mouth bar because of varying water and sediment discharge through the feeder distributary channel. Deveugle et al.<ref name=Dvgl2011 /> used a high-resolution outcrop data set to build a reservoir-scale (7200 × 3800 × 50 m [23622 × 12467 × 164 ft]), surface-based model of the lower two tongues (parasequence sets) of the Ferron Sandstone Member. Clinoforms were not represented in the delta-lobe deposits (cf. parasequences) of the Deveugle et al.<ref name=Dvgl2011 /> model, and their surface-based model is used here as the context in which the clinoform-modeling algorithm should be applied.
 
The Ferron Sandstone Member of the Mancos Shale is located in east-central Utah. The unit was deposited during the Late Cretaceous (Turonian–Coniacian) on the western margin of the Western Interior Seaway and, in the study area, records the progradation of the Last Chance delta system from southwest (paleolandward) to northeast (paleoseaward)<ref name=cttr /> ([[:File:BLTN13190fig5.jpg|Figure 5A]]). These deltaic deposits form a basinward-thinning wedge that passes eastward into the offshore deposits of the Mancos Shale. The wedge contains either seven<ref>Ryer, T. A., 1991, Stratigraphy, facies and depositional history of the Ferron Sandstone in the Canyon of Muddy Creek, east-central Utah, inT. C. Chidsey, Jr., ed., Geology of east-central Utah: Utah Geological Association Publication 19, p. 45–54.</ref><ref name=Grdnr>Gardner, M. H., 1993, Sequence stratigraphy and facies architecture of the Upper Cretaceous Ferron Sandstone Member of the Mancos Shale, east-central Utah: Ph.D. dissertation, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, 528 p.</ref><ref>Barton, M. D., E. S. Angle, and N. Tyler, 2004, [http://archives.datapages.com/data/specpubs/study50/sg50ch07/sg50ch07.htm Stratigraphic architecture of fluvial-deltaic sandstones from the Ferron Sandstone outcrop, east-central Utah], in T. C. Chidsey, Jr., R. D. Adams, and T. H. Morris, eds., Regional to wellbore analog for fluvial-deltaic reservoir modeling: The Ferron Sandstone of Utah: [http://store.aapg.org/detail.aspx?id=655 AAPG Studies in Geology 50], p. 193–210.</ref> or eight sandstone tongues,<ref name=AndrsnRyr2004 /><ref name=GvdB2004 /> such that one tongue is equivalent to a parasequence set of Deveugle et al.<ref name=Dvgl2011 /> ([[:File:BLTN13190fig5.jpg|Figure 5B]]). A single delta-lobe deposit within the lowermost sandstone tongue is the focus of the study (bedset Kf-1-Iv[a] of Anderson et al.;<ref name=Andrsn2004>Anderson, P. B., T. C. Chidsey, Jr., T. A. Ryer, R. D. Adams, and K. McClure, 2004, [http://archives.datapages.com/data/specpubs/study50/sg50ch13/sg50ch13.htm Geological framework, facies paleogeography, and reservoir analogs of the Ferron Sandstone in the Ivie Creek area, east-central Utah], in T. C. Chidsey, Jr., R. D. Adams, and T. H. Morris, eds., Regional to wellbore analog for fluvial-deltaic reservoir modeling: The Ferron Sandstone of Utah: [http://store.aapg.org/detail.aspx?id=655 AAPG Studies in Geology 50], p. 331–356.</ref> parasequence 1h of Garrison and Van den Bergh;<ref name=GvdB2004 /> parasequence 1.6 of Deveugle et al.<ref name=Dvgl2011 />) ([[:File:BLTN13190fig5.jpg|Figure 5C, D]]). The delta-lobe deposit is fluvial dominated with low-to-moderate wave influence<ref name=Grdnr /><ref name=GvdB2004 /><ref>Ryer, T. A., and P. B. Anderson, 2004, [http://archives.datapages.com/data/specpubs/study50/sg50ch03/sg50ch03.htm Facies of the Ferron Sandstone, east-central Utah], in T. C. Chidsey, Jr., R. D. Adams, and T. H. Morris, eds., Regional to wellbore analog for fluvial-deltaic reservoir modeling: The Ferron Sandstone of Utah: [http://store.aapg.org/detail.aspx?id=655 AAPG Studies in Geology 50], p. 59–78.</ref> and contains numerous, well-documented clinoforms in the exposures of the Ivie Creek amphitheater<ref>Anderson, P. B., T. C. Chidsey, Jr., K. McClure, A. Mattson, and S. H. Snelgrove, 2002, Ferron Sandstone stratigraphic cross-sections, Ivie Creek area, Emery County, Utah: Utah Geological Survey, Open File Report 390, CD-ROM.</ref><ref>Anderson, P. B., K. McClure, T. C. Chidsey, Jr., T. A. Ryer, T. H. Morris, J. A. Dewey, Jr., and R. D. Adams, 2003, Interpreted regional photomosaics and cross sections, Cretaceous Ferron Sandstone, east-central Utah: Utah Geological Survey, Open File Report 412, CD-ROM.</ref><ref name=Andrsn2004 /><ref name=Frstr2004 /><ref name=EH2010 /> ([[:File:BLTN13190fig5.jpg|Figure 5D]]). Clinoform-related bedding geometries and facies distributions imply that clinoforms mapped by previous workers, and used as input data for the models presented below ([[:File:BLTN13190fig6.jpg|Figure 6A]], after Forster et al. <ref name=Frstr2004 />), bound clinothems equivalent to mouth bars (sensu Bhattacharya<ref name=Bhttchry2006 />). Subtle, apparently cyclic variations in clinoform spacing and dip angle probably define mouth-bar assemblages (sensu Bhattacharya;<ref name=Bhttchry2006 /> “bedsets” sensu Enge et al.<ref name=Eng2010>Enge, H. D., J. A. Howell, and S. Buckley, 2010, The geometry and internal architecture of stream mouth bars in the Panther Tongue and the Ferron Sandstone Members, Utah, U.S.A.: Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 80, no. 11, p. 1018–1031, doi: 10.2110/jsr.2010.088.</ref>). Smaller-scale lithologic variation at the scale of individual beds occurs between the mapped clinoforms and records incremental growth of a mouth bar because of varying water and sediment discharge through the feeder distributary channel. Deveugle et al.<ref name=Dvgl2011 /> used a high-resolution outcrop data set to build a reservoir-scale (7200 × 3800 × 50 m [23622 × 12467 × 164 ft]), surface-based model of the lower two tongues (parasequence sets) of the Ferron Sandstone Member. Clinoforms were not represented in the delta-lobe deposits (cf. parasequences) of the Deveugle et al.<ref name=Dvgl2011 /> model, and their surface-based model is used here as the context in which the clinoform-modeling algorithm should be applied.

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