Integrated outcrop analogue studies for triassic alluvial reservoirs: Examples from Southern Germany

Outcrops of Upper Triassic (Keuper) alluvial sandstones in South Germany, may provide analogues for recently discovered hydrocarbon reservoirs in the North Sea Triassic. Using an integrated approach, reservoir heterogeneities in the outcropping sandstones may be characterized by means of: (1) sequence stratigraphy (including facies and architectural element analysis aided by georadar profiling, and an identification of the hierarchy of sedimentary cycles); and (2) petrophysics (gamma-ray logging, and porosity and permeability measurements). Primary, depositional facies nod the stacking patterns of different fluvial cycles within larger-scale sedimentary cycle play a dominant role in determining the fluid-flow behaviour of the sandstones.