23 - 24 September 2026 09:00 - 17:00 Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BG and virtual
23 - 24 September 2026 | 09:00 - 17:00 | Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BG and virtual
It has been 30 years since the publication of GSL Special Publication No. 94 'Characterisation of Deep Marine Clastic Systems'. At that time the move to explore and develop deepwater reservoirs in present day deepwater settings was beginning to gather pace, but many significant deepwater discoveries were still to be made. Prevailing paradigms about process and product were changing as workers in the field focused on developing an understanding that a wider range of processes beyond classical turbidity currents were responsible for depositing and shaping deepwater sandstone deposits.
Thirty years later depositional models and process understanding has evolved significantly, leading to the successful deployment of concepts that have driven exploration to integrate new ideas including the role of mass-transport complexes and a wider range of particulate sediment gravity flow processes. A much deeper understanding of post-depositional remobilisation and it's role in shaping subsurface architectures and influencing fluid flow and petroleum recovery has also emerged. Vast deep-water discoveries have been developed and now accumulated significant production history, providing a wealth of data sets that have dramatically improved characterisation of deep-water systems. Tertiary reservoirs have been extensively developed, and today the focus has shifted decisively to older Cretaceous systems around the circum Southern Atlantic margins. Continued advances in geophysical technology, seismic data acquisition and processing, including 'AI/ML' driven interpretation tools, have contributed to our ability to visualise, map and characterise these systems in the subsurface.
Thirty years on from this key Society publication new paradigms and frontiers are being explored in the field. This symposium aims to showcase developments, insights and case studies from the last three decades and bring together geoscientists and practitioners working on deepwater sandstones from across academia, industry and government organisations.
Call for abstracts now open
The call for abstracts for this conference is now open until Friday 31 July 2026.
For further information, please contact: energygroup@geolsoc.org.uk
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Deepwater Sandstones Redux - new perspectives on classic concepts (processes, remobilisation, case studies)
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Rejuvenating Established Plays - future potential of mature Tertiary systems
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New Frontiers - Cretaceous systems of the southern Atlantic and ultra-deepwater
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Old Fields, New Insights - lessons from mature basins (e.g. GoM, Brazil, W. Africa)
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Process & Product - advances in sedimentology and depositional models
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Technology & Characterisation - seismic innovation and AI/ML applications
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Beyond Hydrocarbons - subsurface storage and emerging uses
- Nick Lee
- Lisa Fullarton
- Tiago Alves
- Holly-Marie Owen
- James Preston-Bell
Currently in the call for abstracts stage, programme will be available in due course
Alongside the main programme for this conference there will be two optional workshops taking place. Details for these can be found below. Registration will open in due course, however you are welcome to email energygroup@geolsoc.org.uk to express your interest.
Deep water reservoir architecture - a virtual field trip from around the World?
Deep water sedimentary systems form major hydrocarbon reservoirs and potential CO2 stores around the World. They commonly occur in areas where drilling is expensive and subsequent well data are sparse. Depositional architecture, controlled by a variety of factors such as basin topography and position within the deep water system, is the fundamental control on reservoir performance. Given that many of the heterogeneities that impact flow occur at scales that are below the resolution of the available seismic data, the proficient use of outcrop analogues becomes critical to understand reservoir architecture. Virtual Outcrops are 3D representations of cliffs sections with significant geology. They can be used to produce virtual fieldtrips which allow the user/audience to visit multiple outcrop sections from around the world, sampling the best example of the variety of sedimentology in an easy and efficient manner.
This half day virtual fieldtrip will visit over 20 different outcrop locations, following a transect down an idealised deep water depositional system. From canyon deposits in Spain and Mexico, through slope systems in the Pyrenees and New Zealand to basin floor deposits in South Africa and Ireland. We will compare confined systems from the Maritime Alps, look at the effects of salt topography in Basque Cantabria and at the role of drift processes in reworking turbidite deposits.
The Virtual Fieldtrip will be instructor led but participants will be invited to follow along on their own computers if they want.
An earlier version of this VFT can be found at: Force VFS4 DeepMarine.
Advanced Interpretation of Deepwater Sedimentary Systems from 2D and 3D Seismic Data
The main focus on this workshop is on deepwater sedimentary systems for decoding tectonic, sedimentary and (paleo) oceanographic processes based on 2D and 3D Seismic Data. It is being divided into two main parts. One dedicated to decipher mass transport deposits (MTDs), deepwater channels and associated degradation complexes e.g. slides, creep zones, canyon headwalls and salt or tectonically driven collapse features. A second part is dedicated to identify contourites and mixed depositional systems, with special focus on the erosional and depositional elements as well as the secondary features with these systems and sedimentary waves, bedforms, furrows, etc. The recent explosion of examples described in either academic or industry research on the deep-marine sedimentation has no doubt contributed to a better understanding of these systems. New models are being proposed and there is a growing interest in their origins, their deposits and evolution, their relationship with deep-sea ecosystems, geological hazard, and even their economic potential. Nevertheless, we lack some essential knowledge about their genetics, interrelations and evolution over time.
This workshop is intended to in an advance training for decoding deepwater sedimentary systems based on 2D and 3D seismic data summarise the basic (confirmed or proposed) concepts, offering examples from 2D and 3D seismic scales to decode the sedimentary processes, control factors and the sedimentary stacking patterns of deep-water sedimentary successions. So, new perspectives in marine sedimentation and their integration in current models (e.g., source to sink) will be discussed with implications for academia and industry.
Aims:
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MTDs and deepwater channels
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Contourites and Mixed Depositional Systems
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Discriminates these systems from other deepwater sedimentary systems
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Understanding of tectonic, sedimentary and (paleo) oceanographic processes
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Conceptual and economic Implications
Content:
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An update about MTDs, deepwater channels and bottom currents depositional systems
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New concepts and methodologies
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Combination of short practical exercises covering the different systems.
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Final integration and open discussion
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Methods & activities
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Seismic stratigraphy and seismic facies interpretation
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Seismic geomorphology sprint
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Uncertainty & sampling module
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Selected examples at different tectonic setting from: Mauritania-Senegal, SE Crete, South-West and West Iberia, NW Australia (Browse Basin), Argentine and Uruguay.
Expected outcomes:
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To determine criteria for discriminant deepwater sedimentary systems
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To develop a transferable mapping workflow.
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To standardise measurement protocols.
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Learn on decoding tectonic, sedimentary and (paleo) oceanography processes
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Best practice checklist (attributes, sections, measurement recipes) for mapping deepwater sedimentary systems.
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A short methodological guide that links structural setting and sedimentary features evolution.
Delivered by:
Tiago M. Alves (School of Earth & Environmental Sciences Cardiff University, UK)
F. Javier Hernández-Molina (Andalusian Earth Sciences Institute, Spanish Research Council IACT-CSIC, Granada, Spain)
Sponsored by
