SLOPE Phase 2: sponsors’ second field workshop, Laingsburg Karoo, South Africa

Outcrops of the Permian ecca Group in the southwestern Karoo basin are outstandingly well exposed and easily accessible. Present day erosion allows viewing of laterally continuous (tens of kilometres) outcrops in the Tanqua and Laingsburg depocentres. Key objectives of this report are: -Discussion of seismically resolvable surfaces, geometries and volumes and uncertainties in estimating facies, net:gross and reservoir quality from seismic alone; -Assesment of the role of depositional topography (related to mass-transport deposits) compared to active growth of topography during episodic deformation of the seabed; -Differentiation of lower slope from basin floor settings and characterisation of lower and middle slope channel-overbank complexes; -development of criteria to recognise and assess bypass processes in slope settings and implications for down-dip sand supply; -Examination of different types of channel, channel complex, and channel complex set, related to different profile positions. Discussion on the relative amounts of lateral spill vs bypass vs in-channel aggradation and the implications for axis to margin to overbank sand connectivity; -Recognition of facies and facies associations, based on depositional processes, vertical succession and geometry, using outcrop, core and wireline logs; -Appreciation of the strong stratigraphic control on distribution of reservoir permeability extremes and their capture in reservoir models; -Discussion of approaches to building reservoir models of deep-water systems.