Reply on RC1

Abstract

<strong class="journal-contentHeaderColor">Abstract.</strong> The quality of geothermal carbonate reservoirs is controlled by numerous factors and processes, such as the depositional environment, lithology, diagenesis, karstification, fracture networks, and tectonic deformation. Carbonatic rock formations are thus often extremely heterogeneous, and reservoir parameters and their spatial distribution are therefore difficult to predict. For the example of a 3D seismic dataset combined with well data from Munich, Germany, we demonstrate, how an advanced analysis can deliver an improved reservoir model concept and help to identify possible exploitation targets within the Upper Jurassic carbonates. To identify possible reservoir sections and to understand their above-mentioned controlling factors, we analyse different seismic single- and multi-attributes. Some of the seismic attributes, together with lithology logs from wells, are then used to identify parameter correlations between the seismic attributes and the different carbonate lithologies to obtain a supervised neural network based 3D lithology model of the geothermal reservoir. Furthermore, we compare the fracture orientations measured in seismic (ant-tracking analysis) and well scale (image log analysis), to address scalability. Our results show that, for example, acoustic impedance is well suited to identify reefs and karst-related dolines. Areas with strong karstification or fault- and fracture-related deformation, which are both associated with high permeabilities, are also indicated by e.g. strong frequency attenuation, variance anomalies, and/or morphological features like bowl-shaped structures derived from the shape index. Furthermore, by using sweetness we can reconstruct the reef development of two exemplary reefs, and regarding the lithology distribution, we show that the upper part of the reservoir is dominated by limestone and dolomitic limestone rather than dolomite. In addition, we observe spatial trends in the degree of dolomitization. With respect to the fracture orientations on seismic- and well scales, we point out that a general scalability is not possible due to a combination of methodological limitations and geological reasons. Nonetheless, we argue that the combination of both methods provides an improved overall impression of the fracture systems, and therefore possible fluid pathways. By taking all the results into account, we are able to improve and adapt recent reservoir concepts to outline the different phases of its structural and diagenetic evolution. Furthermore, our results help to identify high quality reservoir zones in the Munich area.