Working with Palaeoenvironments

Palaeoenvironment Schemes

A palaeoenvironment scheme defines a continuous range of environments between two extreme points, separated into discreet named classes. The schematic below shows a "water depth" scheme which ranges from the continental shelf to the deep ocean; the dialog on the right shows how this could be represented as a palaeoenvironment scheme in StrataBugs.

The right-hand image above shows the Palaeoenvironment Scheme dialog. Change the colours by double-clicking in the colour column. The comment field allows you to add a description for each class. Beware that editing an existing scheme by inserting a new unit will displace existing units so that previously recorded data will be incorrectly assigned.

Palaeoenvironment Data

You can record the interpreted proximal-distal environment range at a given depth point. There are two different ways you can enter this data. A typical workflow might be to interpret the palaeoenvironment at individual analyses (1), display these in the environment panel and then use them as the basis for creating interpreted palaeoenvironment intervals (2).

1. Assign palaeoenvironments to individual analyses

   Edit the analysis in the Analyses table using the Analysis : Edit dialog (press the Edit button to open this dialog). Here you can assign the proximal and distal palaeoenvironment at this analysis. Note that the Analysis suite must be associated with a palaeoenvironment scheme (you can set the scheme using the Analysis Suite dialog, from the Analyses tab in Samples & Interpretations).

   In the palaeoenvironments panel, analyses environments plot as a line at the analysis depth (see below).

2. Add palaeoenvironment intervals to a well version

   From the Interpretations tab, use the Palaeoenvironment : Add dialog to record palaeoenvironment intervals. You can select two samples in the Samples table first to pre-populate the sample top and base fields. These intervals are subject to version, so ensure you have the correct version selected before recording data.

In this example, the left-hand environments panel shows just the environments assigned to the analyses. The centre panel shows the intervals which might be interpreted from those analyses environments. The right-hand panel shows both the types of environments together.

Before recording either type of data, you must define a palaeoenvironment scheme and units (see Working with schemes).

Page last updated: 05-Dec-2014 9:29

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