School of Petroleum Engineering

T.Y.B.Tech. Petroleum Geology II Laboratory

Practical No: II
Name of Student:
Roll No.:
Date:
Students Signature:

Faculty In-charge: Prof. Amey Dashputre

Calculation of Layer Thickness from Outcrop and subsurface Data

Objective of these exercise is to understand and apply systematic methods for analysis of data and
calculation of attitude and thickness of near surface and subsurface formations.

After completing these exercises, the students will demonstrate an ability to

• Apply subsurface methods to calculate attitude and thickness of beds using borehole data.
• Predict thickness variation of formation in the area of study.

Thickness measurement is straightforward in case of horizontal and vertical beds. Vertical and
stratigraphic thicknesses are identical in these two conditions.
Thickness of horizontal beds is directly measured in vertical section by considering difference
in elevation between upper and lower boundaries of same bed ( case 1), while in case of
vertical beds exposed on a surface of no relief, thickness is measured by simply considering
difference in horizontal distance between both boundaries of same bed ( case 1).

Case I: Horizontal and Vertical Beds

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 School of Petroleum Engineering
T.Y.B.Tech. Petroleum Geology II Laboratory
Practical No: II
Name of Student:
Roll No.:
Date:
Students Signature:

Faculty In-charge: Prof. Amey Dashputre

Thickness in inclined beds is to be measured in vertical section normal to strike direction of

beds. In this, vertical thickness is different from true or stratigraphic thickness (case 2).

Case II: Inclined Beds

The true or stratigraphic thickness of a bed is the distance between its bounding surfaces
measured in a direction perpendicular to these surfaces. The vertical thickness is the elevation
difference between the top and base of a bed at any point. It is the vertical ‘drilled’ thickness,
and is obtained by subtracting the elevation difference between the upper and lower bounding
surfaces.

Total Measured Depth (TMD) or Total Measured Thickness (TMT) is the total thickness
encountered during drilling of deviated wells. This may be measured in down dip or up dip
directions

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 School of Petroleum Engineering
T.Y.B.Tech. Petroleum Geology II Laboratory
Practical No: II
Name of Student:
Roll No.:
Date:
Students Signature:

Faculty In-charge: Prof. Amey Dashputre

Problems:

Problem 1: A sandstone bed dips 350 towards south; width of outcrop of the sandstone bed on
a surface of no relief is 300 m. Find vertical thickness to and true thickness.
Scale 1 cm = 100 m.

Problem 2: A conglomerate bed dips 400 towards west, it is exposed on the western slope of a
hill where slope angle is 50o and its width of outcrop on this slope is 400 m. Find true
Thickness, vertical thickness and strike of bed.

Problem 3: A quartzite is exposed on the western slope of hill, which has gradient 1:6. The
bed dips at angle of 200 towards east and has a true thickness of 200 m. Find the width of
outcrop of western slope and vertical thickness.

Problem 4: A limestone is exposed on the eastern and western slope of hill. Slope angles are
250 and 350 respectively. Top of a limestone is exposed at a distance of 300 m of eastern slope
and 100 m on western slope. True thickness of the limestone bed is 200 m. Calculate the angle
of dip, width of outcrop on the eastern and western slope and vertical thickness.

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 School of Petroleum Engineering
T.Y.B.Tech. Petroleum Geology II Laboratory
Practical No: II
Name of Student:
Roll No.:
Date:
Students Signature:

Faculty In-charge: Prof. Amey Dashputre

Problem 5: A shale bed striking NE - SW is exposed on a southern western slope of a hill.

The slope angle is 450 and dip of shale is 100 towards southeast. Its true thickness is 150 m.
Find vertical thickness and width of outcrop on SE slope. What will be the width on NW slope
if angle is 450?

Problem 6: Determine stratigraphic thickness of a sandstone bed encountered in a deviated

well. The bed strikes NS and dips 260 towards west. Top of the sandstone is exposed at a depth
of 1600 m and bottom is exposed at 2000 m depth. Distance between top and bottom of
sandstone bed measured along the slope is 2450 m. What may be the angle of deviation with
vertical? (Scale: 1 cm = 200 m.)

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