Rock Physics Modelling of Compaction and Cementation Effects Using a Hybrid Rock Physics Workflow

Compaction and cementation are two of the most important mechanical and geochemical processes that cause porosity reduction during the deposition and burial of a rock. To understand the resulting petrophysical properties and their corresponding elastic response remains an important and challenging topic for rock physics. We propose a hybrid rock physics model which combines the cement model and the unconsolidated sand model, in order to consider both, compaction and cementation effects. The proposed modelling workflow allows us to understand better the elastic properties of sands and the corresponding seismic signatures during the depositional and burial history. With the guide of geological information about the depositional and burial history, this hybrid model also provides an approach to estimate the seismic response of siliciclastic reservoir rocks away from well control at different physical conditions and different amount of cement. We demonstrate the modelling workflow on well log data, as well as published lab data. The modelling results show accurate agreement with the measured data and good correlation with the burial and diagenetic history of the studied rocks.