Architecture & Evolution of a Tidally-Influenced Regressive Succession, Drumheller Area

The Campanian, Horseshoe Canyon Formation is exposed in three dimensions along the Red Deer Valley near Drumheller, Alberta. These clastic marginal marine sediments were deposited in mixed-process (wave, tide and fluvial influenced) depositional environments. These deposits are subdivided into six relatively thin (10 m on average; low accommodation) Transgressive-Regressive sequences (A to F). These units are separated by coals, the bases of which pragmatically approximate maximum regressive surfaces. In most cases, the coals are directly overlain by marine flooding surfaces that represent maximum transgression. The overall succession represents a seawards-stepping or regressive system with each stratigraphic unit showing evidence of tidal processes. The presence of 4 cored and 75 wireline logged wells close to the outcrops provide the opportunity to test new architectural and process classification concepts on subsurface data which are calibrated to outcrops. A 3-D geomodel has been constructed from the outcrop and subsurface data. The model has been convolved with a wavelet to generate a synthetic seismic 3-D volume. Participants will be able to compare and contrast outcrop observations with wireline and core data and also visualize the seismic expression of the outcrops. These data will be utilized to explain the 3-D evolution of the deposystems through time.