Stratigraphic Layering via Pseudo-Wheeler Space Restoration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing stratigraphic layering methods in geoscience struggle to accurately represent complex geological sequences with unconformities, leading to incomplete models due to parallel layering approaches that fail to properly account for gaps in the geological record.
Innovation Solution
The method transforms sequences from area-depth space to restored spaces like Wheeler or Pseudo-Wheeler space, where gaps are restored, allowing for more accurate stratigraphic layering by introducing new boundaries that extend into these gaps, and then transforms back to area-depth space for model refinement, incorporating mass balancing and facies identification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If parallel layering approaches (top-down or bottom-up) are used to simplify stratigraphic layering, then ease of operation is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates because gaps in the geological record are not properly accounted for
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the stratigraphic layering problem from traditional area-depth space to Wheeler space (area-time space), adding a temporal dimension. This transformation allows gaps in the geological record to be properly represented as time intervals, enabling both ease of operation through systematic layering and measurement precision through accurate gap representation. The Wheeler space transformation converts complex curved unconformities into horizontal lines, simplifying the layering process while maintaining geological accuracy.
2Manufacturing precision
If proportional stratigraphic layering is used to vary layer width according to distance between sequence boundaries, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity worsens due to the need for complex calculations and transformations
Solution Approach 1:
By transforming to Wheeler space where the vertical dimension represents time rather than depth, the patent simplifies proportional stratigraphic layering. In this transformed space, sequence boundaries become horizontal lines and the calculation of layer widths becomes more straightforward, reducing computational complexity while maintaining precision in representing the proportional relationships between layers and the gaps they represent.
Data Source
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AI summary
A sequence in the earth, defined by an upper sequence boundary and a lower sequence boundary, where at least one of the boundaries includes an unconformity, is modeled by creating a restored space corresponding to the sequence by reconstructing a portion of the sequence missing because of the unconformity. The sequence in restored space has a restored top boundary having a position and a restored base boundary having a position. Stratigraphic layering is performed within the restored space sequence, using as guides the positions of the restored top boundary and the restored base boundary of the sequence in restored space.