Sediment transport and dispersal pathways in the Lower Cretaceous sands of the Britannia Field, derived from magnetic anisotropy

Abstract

Sediment transport directions and dispersal patterns in the Lower Cretaceous sands of the Britannia Field have been investigated, using magnetic anisotropy and palaeomagnetic core re-orientation methods, to aid understanding of the geometry and architecture of the reservoir sand units. The results indicate that sands were sourced mainly from the north. This applies both to the massive sand bodies with lobate geometry in the lower reservoir zones in the western part of the field and to the laminated slurried beds with tabular geometry in the upper zones in the eastern part. Thus, sediment in this part of the Outer Moray Firth play appears to have been derived largely from a discrete point source to the north rather than from axial flow along the Witch Ground Graben.