GEOLOGICAL LOG INTERPRETATION TUTORIAL

Text and Figures by Geoff Bohling and John Doveton

The following pages will familiarize you with the basics of the geological

interpretation of common logs as they appear on hard-copy blue-line logs (or

their electronic raster copies). The lithologies considered are those common in

sedimentary successions, with particular emphasis on sandstones, limestones, and

dolomites, which have potential for oil, gas, or water production. However, other

log keys are given of evaporite sequences and coal-bearing clastic successions.

The logs used in interpretation are all measurements of nuclear properties, which

are sensitive to both fluids and gases within the pore space and the mineral

composition of the rock framework. They are the gamma-ray, neutron porosity,

bulk density, and photoelectric index logs. These logs are available for thousands

of wells across Kansas, either as paper copy, raster or digital logs. Mastery of the

principles described in this tutorial and practice with the Oz Machine will give

you a start with the skills to "read the rocks" from these wireline logs.

The Gamma Ray Log

A majority of the elements are found in a variety of isotopic forms. Many of

these isotopes are unstable and decay to a more stable form, while emitting

radiation of several types. Gamma rays have significantly high penetrations and

can be measured by simple devices such as Geiger counters or scintillation

detectors on logging tools. Of the many radioactive isotopes which are known,

only three types occur in any appreciable abundance in nature:

• The uranium series

• The thorium series, and

• The potassium-40 isotope

The measurement scale of the gamma-ray log is in API (American Petroleum

Institute) units, accepted as the international reference standard that allows

consistent comparisons to be made between a wide variety of gamma-ray

counting devices. The API standard is set by the primary calibration test pit at the

University of Houston where a radioactive cement calibrator is assigned a value

of 200 API units and conceived originally so that a typical Midcontinent shale

would register at about 100 API units.

Analyses of the North American Shale Composite (NASC) reference standard

reported values of Th 12.3 ppm, U 2.66 ppm., K 3.2%, which converts to an

equivalent gamma-ray log reading of 121.7 API units. Although higher than the

vague assertion that a typical Midcontinent shale should read about 100 API

units, the hypothetical log value of the NASC standard is a good match with the

gray shales of the Pennsylvanian succession shown in the figure at right. The

black shales, however, are prominent as thin anomalously radioactive zones.

Their markedly different character is produced by a high U content that

supplements radioactive sources in gray shales of 40K contained in illite and other

K-bearing minerals, and Th contained in monazite in the silt and clay fraction

and adsorbed at clay-mineral surfaces.

In the majority of stratigraphic and petroleum geological applications, the gamma

ray log is used as a "shale log", both to differentiate shales and "clean"

formations and to evaluate shale proportions in shaly formations. Typical

sandstones, limestones and dolomites have relatively low concentrations of

radioactive isotopes as contrasted with shales. Most carbonates show very low

levels of radioactivity unless they contain disseminated shale or have been

mineralized by uranium-bearing solutions. Simple orthoquartzites show similarly

low values, although relatively high readings may be introduced by significant

amounts of shale, felspar, mica or heavy minerals such as zircon.

Density and Neutron Log Overlay

The gamma-ray log generally allows a basic distinction of shales from non-shales

but is not usually diagnostic of the rock type in hydrocarbon reservoir or aquifer

formations. Neutron and density logs are used to evaluate porosity in these units

but are also affected by the neutron moderating characteristics and densities of

the formation minerals. By overlaying the two logs on a common reference scale,

a true volumetric porosity can be estimated and the formation lithology

interpreted. A scale of equivalent limestone percentage porosity is the most

commonly used reference because limestone is intermediate in its neutron-

density properties between sandstone and dolomite.

A hypothetical overlay is shown of neutron and density logs for some common

reservoir lithologies and a shale in the figure. Shales show a high gamma-ray

reading, a high neutron reading, and a moderate density reading. Limestones

generally have a low gamma-ray value, and a coincident density and neutron

response, because of common calibration to an assumed limestone porosity scale.

Dolomites have a low gamma-ray value, a relatively low density porosity

(because the grain density of dolomite is higher than calcite) and a relatively high

neutron reading (because the neutron moderating character of dolomite is higher

than calcite). Sandstones have a low gamma-ray value, a relatively high density

porosity (because the grain density of quartz is less than calcite), and a relatively

low neutron reading. The true, effective porosity of shale-free zones in the

reservoir lithologies is approximately midway between the two extremes of the

neutron and density porosities.

The Photoelectric Index

The photoelectric index (Pe) is a supplementary measurement by the latest

generation of density logging tools, and records the absorption of low-energy

gamma rays by the formation in units of barns per electron. The logged value is a

direct function of the aggregate atomic number (Z) of the elements in the

formation, and so is a sensitive indicator of mineralogy. The values are less

sensitive to pore volume changes than either the neutron or density logs, so that

the index is an excellent indicator of mineralogy. The common reservoir mineral

reference values are : quartz 1.81 ; dolomite 3.14 ; calcite 5.08 barns/electron.

The photoelectric index log is commonly scaled on a range between 0 and 10

barns/electron, and a generalized interpretation guide is given in the figure. The

variable compositions of clay minerals means that their position on the scale

should only be taken as a broad indication. The ordering of clay minerals on the

index is almost entirely a function of their likely content of iron.

The photoelectric index log is particularly useful when considered in conjunction

with the neutron/density porosity overlay as an additional input to resolve

mixtures of minerals such as commonly occur in "complex carbonates" as cherty

dolomitic limestones or anhydritic dolomites. Successful interpretation requires

the disposition of the neutron/density porosity traces to be considered

simultaneously with the Pe curve. The photoelectric factor curve should be

watched most carefully, because it has a finer vertical resolution (about half a

foot) than the neutron/density curves (about 2 feet). As a result, the Pe character

can give a better reading on lithology in thin beds, where the averaging effect of

adjacent thick beds may smooth the neutron and density responses adversely

Multiple Log Overlay

The addition of the photoelectric index curve to the gamma ray and neutron-

density log overlay provides both additional validation of simple lithology picks

and the resolution of ambiguities in interpretation of "complex" (multimineral)

lithologies. The generalized expectations of log patterns for shales and

endmember reservoir lithologies of limestone, dolomite, and sandstone are

shown in the figure.

In the examination of the neutron-density log overlay, dolomites and siliceous

rocks (either sandstones or cherts) can be recognized by the curve separations.

However, the close overlay of the two could be caused either by a limestone or a

cherty dolomite (or a cherty dolomitic limestone!). The inclusion of the

photoelectric index can be used to choose between these alternatives. Similarly, a

dolomite reading on the photoelectric index curve could also be caused by a

cherty or sandy limestone. The simultaneous consideration of the neutron-density

log overlay resolves the more likely of these two interpretations. An example of

the log interpretation of simple and "complex" lithologies is described on the

next page.

Example from Central Kansas

The example section has a variety of common rock type mixtures, which makes it

a good demonstration of the interpretive power of the combined photoelectric

index and neutron/density overlay. The Cherokee "Burgess Sandstone" is picked

out by the density/neutron crossover which is shown to be a silica matrix effect

rather than "gas effect" by the Pe value. As with the other log measures, the

photoelectric index does not distinguish whether the silica mineral is quartz sand

or chert. This additional distinction must be made either from drill-cuttings

information or inferred from petrographic experience of correlative units.

The carbonates in the underlying Mississippian have zones with almost every

mixed lithology drawn from the three endmembers of limestones, dolomites and

cherts. Limestones are easily recognized as segments of Pe curve trace which are

about 5 barns/electron, and a close match of the neutron and density porosity

curves. At higher porosities, limestones will show minor drifts in the Pe value

below 5, but these zones could equally represent either dolomitic limestone

(recognized by systematically higher neutron than density porosity, but "clean"

gamma-ray response), shaly limestones (higher neutron than density porosity, but

indications of shale from the gamma-ray logs), or cherty limestones (density

porosity higher than neutron porosity).

Cherty dolomites are sometimes difficult to discern on the neutron/density

overlay alone, and may even look like limestones, because of the conflicting

effects of dolomite and quartz. However, cherty dolomites are marked on the

photoelectric index by distinctive shifts downward from the dolomite towards the

quartz value. As with so many visual processes, the pattern recognition of

lithologies from these logs is easier to do than to describe in words! After some

limited practice, log sequences can be "read" for rocktype very rapidly,

particularly since most zones are simple lithologies

Logging Properties of Evaporites

The geological interpretation of log overlays is easily extended to sedimentary

lithologies other than the common reservoir lithologies of sandstone, limestone,

and dolomite. The common evaporite minerals of gypsum, anhydrite, and halite

(listed in the order of their evaporitic appearance in the Usiglio Sequence) have

highly distinctive logging properties as shown in the table:

Pe neutron porosity density porosity (bulk density)

Halite 4.7 -3 39 (2.04)

Anhydrite 5.1 -2 -16 (2.98)

Gypsum 4.0 60 21 (2.35)

and on the figure. Halite and anhydrite have markedly low and high bulk

densities, respectively, while the very high neutron porosity of gypsum is caused

by hydrogen in its water of crystallization

Logging Properties of Coal Sequences

Clastic successions containing coals were commonly developed in deltaic

environments with clastic deposits of shales, siltstones, and sandstones, as well as

occasional ironstones (typically siderite). The clay mineralogy of the finer-

grained rocks is quite variable and can show elevated contents in kaolinite,

particularly in paleosols. The logging properties of coals vary according to their

rank, but typical figures are:

Pe neutron porosity density porosity (bulk density)

Anthracite 0.16 38 72 (1.47)

Bituminous 0.17 60 86 (1.24)

Lignite 0.20 52 89 (1.19)