Reservoir prediction and characterization in fluvio-deltaic and shelf-margin depositional environments: A quantitative approach using modern and subsurface analogues

Over the past decade, major advances have transformed the investigation and interpretation of both modern and subsurface depositional systems. High-resolution studies of modern environments now provide unprecedented insights into sedimentary processes, morphological evolution, and the balance between depositional and erosional dynamics across a range of spatial and temporal scales. In parallel, developments in subsurface characterization, driven by the widespread availability of high-quality 3D seismic datasets and full-volume interpretation workflows, allow interpreters to interrogate the subsurface in 3D and to dynamically visualize the evolution of paleo-depositional environments. Together, these approaches enable the description and quantification of depositional architectures with a level of continuity and resolution previously unattainable, significantly refining our understanding of ancient depositional systems.

Despite these advances, a persistent challenge in subsurface analysis is the objective identification and correlation of stratigraphic surfaces and depositional packages across multiple scales of observation. Addressing this challenge is critical for predicting the spatial and temporal variability of depositional systems and their associated reservoir distribution. In this scope, quantitative 3D seismic stratigraphy and seismic geomorphology represent a shift towards data-driven, three-dimensional stratigraphic analysis, offering new opportunities to capture the complexity and variability of depositional architectures.

In this contribution, we present subsurface case studies from the Northwest Shelf of Australia alongside modern dryland river delta examples from the Western Australian coast to demonstrate how reservoir prediction and characterization can be improved through tighter integration of modern and subsurface analogues in fluvio-deltaic and shelf-margin settings. Systematic comparison between modern and ancient examples allows similarities and differences to be explicitly evaluated, providing critical constraints on process interpretation, facies heterogeneity, and stacking patterns. Integrating modern and subsurface analogues in this way strengthens the geological realism of subsurface models and improves predictions of reservoir architecture and connectivity.