Together, these instructional modules are intended to provide essential information about carbonate reservoir characterization that can be applied to carbonate rocks of any age. The hands-on exercises emphasize the dramatic impact that accurate stratigraphic interpretation has on the geologic characterization of subsurface carbonate reservoirs. This course, intended to be practical and applied, emphasizes process over theory. The objective of the course is to provide the participant with an essential knowledge base, including a set of "rules and tools" that can be used to construct advanced stratigraphic reservoir models from subsurface data.

Although there is no single formula for sequence-stratigraphic interpretation, a logical process, or "work flow," will be introduced that can be applied to a variety of depositional and tectonic settings. The process stresses integration, as ultimately it is the integration of all available data that results in a sequence-stratigraphic framework interpretation useful for geologic description at the reservoir scale. The integrated data sets presented in the course result from outcrop and subsurface reservoir studies that the authors have conducted during the past two decades.

The carbonate sequence stratigraphic bundle is designed to illustrate the process of carbonate sequence stratigraphic interpretation from 1-D through 3-D, using outcrop/subsurface paired datasets. Exercises will focus on the Cretaceous Greenhouse system, the Pennsylvanian Icehouse system, and the Permian mixed system. This module will introduce concepts, terminologies and “rules & tools” of 1-D interpretation of log and core datasets. Subsequent modules will apply concepts and tools from this module and introduce students to the process of 2-D and 3-D interpretation of outcrop and subsurface datasets, including logs, core and seismic. Datasets will emphasize the importance of sequence stratigraphy at both the regional and reservoir scale.