Seeing Beneath the Surface: Exploring Deltaic Reservoirs with Augmented Reality

In the Aínsa Basin of the Spanish Pyrenees, the Mondot-1 well was drilled, cored, and fully logged to capture a detailed record of a long-buried ancient river delta system. Dr. John D. Marshall, Dr. Jürgen Grötsch, and Dr. Michael C. Pöppelreiter with co-workers at Shell International used this core to trace how sediments once flowed across the landscape, and were deposited under shifting tectonic conditions. The team employed augmented reality and interactive virtual displays; these innovative tools offer new ways to explore subsurface depositional systems, and are particularly useful in locations where physical access to the core is difficult, or no longer possible.

Core Insights

Cores are invaluable in examining and measuring rock properties, and essential for subsurface projects—whether for the exploration and production of hydrocarbons, water, and helium, harnessing geothermal energy, and even sequestering carbon dioxide, or storing gases like hydrogen and methane underground.

Coring behind large outcrops creates a vital link between surface geology and the subsurface. Core samples offer detailed insights into rock types, helping to uncover the structure and geological history of how those layers were originally formed. Cores also allow calibration for remote sensing data, like seismic, and wireline logs (measurements of rock characteristics taken from inside a well using special tools lowered by a cable), providing important information about the rock’s physical and chemical properties – that are impossible to determine without direct examination.

Despite its value, core sampling is expensive to carry out, and is typically limited to just a few wells. Therefore, is it crucial to connect the detailed insights gained from core data with more commonly collected datasets, like wireline logs and seismic surveys. Integrating these sources is key to building a reliable and comprehensive picture of the subsurface.

Mondot-1 Core as a Teaching Tool

The authors’ work focused on how core material from well Mondot-1 could be used as part of training programmes for subsurface professionals. They demonstrated how core data can be presented visually, allowing people to examine it from anywhere in the world – without sacrificing the detail needed for meaningful analysis.

Their research detailed how core information is used to match rock types with wireline log data, and interpret ancient depositional environments. This understanding is then used to guide how valuable resources can be found or stored underground, forming the foundation for more realistic 3D reservoir models.

Integrating Logs, Borehole Images, and Core to Map Depositional History

Standard wireline logs alone are not enough to show the finer details of how sediment was laid, or how they may have been disturbed by living creatures – this is where borehole imaging comes in. In the Mondot-1 well, a high-resolution borehole imaging tool was used (Formation Microimager FMI) to capture detailed images of the rock layers. By linking these images to the core rock samples, the team identified features like coarse gravel, disturbed sediments, and fossil-rich layers, which provided a better understanding of the delta system’s past. Their analysis was further supported by the well’s location in the Aínsa Basin of the Spanish Pyrenees—a geologically well-documented region, that serves as a valuable site for both academic study and industry-related research.

Exploring Cores Remotely: The Virtual Display Advantage

Unfortunately, only a few specialists have access to core datasets. To make this resource more widely available, several initiatives have been launched, including the creation of online libraries, where core photos and core data can be browsed and downloaded. DVD’s have also been made available. However, these formats meant the data remained largely static rather than truly interactive.

For sedimentologists, core photos and interpretations are essential, as they often integrate with fossil data in determining stratigraphy and depositional environments. Yet, when comparing data to real-world subsurface reservoirs and stores, other information is needed. Additional research may involve alignment with well logs and seismic data, laboratory analysis, as well as structural information from the core. Dipmeter and borehole imaging logs, also add essential context.

To avoid information overload, users should be able to switch and zoom between the various data types. To support learning and comparison with real-world subsurface systems, the team transformed the Mondot-1 core and wireline log data into dynamic, accessible formats.

Virtual Access to Core Data – Augmented Reality in Action

The physical display from the Mondot-1 core makes use of core slabs embedded in resin and mounted over sensors, further equipped with depth markers and core plug locations. These are combined with mobile touchscreen panels, where live data is overlaid – including well log responses, petrophysical measurements, and geological descriptions.

As users move the panel along the core, the display updates automatically, enabling adjustments to highlight specific core sections, or zooming in on the finer details. A key educational feature is that it allows users to input their own interpretations of facies, and compare them with the one from the full core description.

While the augmented reality display of the Mondot-1 well offers an innovative way to study core, it still requires users to be physically present to interact with it. To allow for a wider audience, Shell’s Digital Geology exhibition was set up using touchscreen carousels. 

However, this setup relies primarily on videos, and does not allow opportunities to explore the core material. In response to the travel restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new solution was developed: a fully virtual core store. An online whiteboard was used to create this store, where core photos, core descriptions, logs, and core analyses could be displayed and easily accessed by users from all around the world.

The Mondot-1 core is brought to life through these two innovative digital teaching tools, which allow users to explore geological interpretations in a dynamic, hands-on way, even when time, cost, or safety prevent access to physical samples.

Making Core Data More Accessible Than Ever

Virtual core displays offer a number of advantages, making geological data accessible to a wider audience than ever before. These digital platforms allow users to zoom between scales—from satellite photos to electron microscope images—and enable collaboration amongst participants from multiple locations. Features like different lighting options help highlight subtle core structures, and access is no longer restricted to specific locations or hours.

However, while these virtual solutions expand accessibility and learning opportunities, they do have limitations. For instance, the core is mainly displayed in 2D, meaning users cannot access full or slabbed cores, nor identify orientation grooves, or hidden features. Resolution limitations from the core photos can also obstruct detailed study. Additionally, other senses, such as touch, cannot be brought into play.

The true potential of virtual core learning has yet to be fully explored, but insights from virtual field trip research highlight how this may be captured. With the right approach, we can begin to measure how these tools can enhance geological education and training.