Using GPR to image a Turbidite Outcrop in Almada Basin, Brazil

Abstract

Sandy and/or conglomeratic turbidites and shales of Urucutuca Formation outcrops occur in onshore Almada Basin, northeast Brazil. These rocks are
part of an exhumed portion of the filling-section of the Almada Canyon, which is well mapped by seismic studies in offshore part. Such outcrops can be considered as
analogues to some important turbidite reservoirs of Campos Basin, the main Brazilian petroleum basin. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is an electromagnetic method
that can obtain subsurface images with a sub-meter vertical resolution, which is appropriated to study such thin structures usually found in turbidite outcrops. This work
shows the results from a set of georadar (GPR) profiles obtained at one outcrop in Almada Basin. Those data yielded high-resolution images of the outcrop, which aided
by a geological interpretation of the exposed section and radar 2D forward modeling, could assist on the delineation of channels and layering patterns. That information
may prove to be useful in designing more detailed stratigraphical models, which can improve the knowledge of analogues turbidite reservoirs, aiming to enhance the
production of oilfields associated to this kind of reservoirs.