Dating sedimentary rock with foraminifer morphology
Description of the Problem
Dating sedimentary rock is an important task in petroleum geology. A quick, reliable way of accomplishing this is through identification of embedded microfossils. Fossil foraminifer and radiolaria are commonly used for this purpose because of their prevalence in sedimentary rock. Using the morphometry of fossil plankton to date sedimentary rock is laborious due to the number of samples that must be examined. Also, expert knowledge is required to make the proper identifications.
The Solution using OPTIMAS
With OPTIMAS and a simple macro, petroleum geologists can automate the process of measuring the morphometry of formaminifers. OPTIMAS reduces the amount of time and labor required to extract measurements. Additionally, OPTIMAS standardizes the measurement and analysis process, thus reducing human error. Using OPTIMAS, geologists are able to determine the age of sedimentary rock more quickly and accurately.
Before collecting data, geologists can prepare for their measurement session by calibrating the system, establishing a data file, selecting the measurements to be made, and recording a macro. This macro, which collects foraminifer boundary, area, perimeter and polar fourier shape descriptors, is created through a process of recording the macro using the macro record mode. Editing to add loops and end user messages results in a completely automated macro procedure. It can be quickly modified to also collect center of mass, circularity, major axis length, breadth, integrated gray value, and more. The data collected can be converted using the Convert utility into ASCII format compatible with mainstream software, such as Microsoft Excel.