3D reconstruction of a Pre-Salt reservoir analogue: Geometries, distribution and geobody architecture of the "Lapis Tiburtinus" travertine Basin (Tivoli, Italy)

Virtual models can be used to gain a better understanding of geobody architecture, to facilitate correlation, (i.e. correlating between different quarries) and to model outcrops in 3D. Modern 3D software provide fundamental... [ view full abstract ]

Virtual models can be used to gain a better understanding of geobody architecture, to facilitate correlation, (i.e. correlating between different quarries) and to model outcrops in 3D. Modern 3D software provide fundamental tools that allow geologists to reproduce extensive field data with a high degree of detail. With this software it is now possible to model the topography, process the data collected in the field and define the architecture and volume of the different geobodies reproduced exactly, inside 3D virtual space. In this example we show the advantages of using “Google Sketchup”, developed by Trimble Navigation for Google. This open-source software allows us to handle contemporaneously a large amount of data gathered in the field and to compare such reconstructions (analogues) with the subsurface.
In 2006 the Pre-Salt play was developed in the South Atlantic, with some of the reservoir rocks showing similarities with travertines. It is in this framework that we studied the “Lapis Tiburtinus” travertines of Tivoli, Italy. This is one of the most famous continental carbonates systems, that developed in a small sedimentary basin, confined to the North by the Cornicolani Mountains, to the East by the Lucretili Mountains, and to the South by the Aniene River and the Colli Albani volcanic complex.
These Quaternary travertines are composed of six different lithofacies, developed in three main depositional environments: subaqueous, slope and palustrine. As our analyses were performed in several different quarries, we could reconstruct a geological map of the whole area that shows the distribution of the different lithofacies. This data was used in a preliminary application of the 3D-software to perform a 3-D reconstruction of the local topographic surface and the geobodies. The results show the distribution and architecture of the different lithofacies in virtual space showing the geobodies and their lateral relationships. The 3D depositional model of “Lapis Tiburtinus” travertines can be used as reservoir analogue for some of the South Atlantic Pre-salt reservoir systems.