Standard Wireline Data Processing



Science operator: Texas A&M University

Hole: U1609A

Expedition: 401

Location: Mediterranean-Atlantic Gateway

Latitude: 37° 22.6259' N

Longitude: 9° 35.9120' W

Logging date: December 23, 2023

Sea floor depth (driller's): 1670.5 m DRF

Sea floor depth (logger's): 1669.0 m WRF

Total penetration: 2280.5 m DRF (610 m DSF)

Total core recovered: 572.2 m (93.8 % of cored section)

Oldest sediment recovered: Mid/Late Miocene (Serravallian/Tortonian)

Lithology: calcareous mud, calcareous silty mud, and clayey calcareous ooze


Data


The logging data were recorded by Schlumberger in DLIS format. Data were processed at the Borehole Research Group of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in December 2023.


Logging Runs


Tool string
Pass
Top depth (m WMSF) Bottom depth (m WMSF) Pipe depth (m WMSF) Notes
1. MSS/HRLA/HLDS/HNGS/EDTC-B
Downlog
0
571.3
56
Caliper closed. Invalid HLDS.
Repeat
506.4
605.9
Recorded open hole

Main
0
605.6
55

2. VSIT/EDTC-B
Downlog
0
609.5
56

Uplog
0
604.4
56

3. DSI/HNGS/EDTC-B
Downlog
0
600.5
57

Repeat
491.5
591.9
Recorded open hole

Main
0
589.2


After the completion of coring operations, the tool strings of MSS/HRLA/HLDS/HNGS/EDTC-B, VSIT/EDTC-B and DSI/HNGS/EDTC-B were run in turn for downlog, repeat and main passes. The Triple Combo downlog was run with the caliper closed and the HLDS radioactive source turned off, which proscribed the HLDS data acquisition.

Sea condition was high with peak-to-peak heave in the 2.7 m range. Due to some technical issues, the Wireline Heave Compensator (WHC) was not used in the open hole interval to counter the ship heave while logging, which led to uncertainties in depth-matching the logs from the three tool strings.

The depths in the table are for the processed logs (after depth matching between passes and depth shift to the sea floor). Discrepancies may exist between the sea floor depths determined from the downhole logs and those determined by the drillers from the pipe length. Typical reasons for the depth discrepancies are ship heave, wireline and pipe stretch, tides, and the difficulty of getting an accurate sea floor from a 'bottom felt' depth in soft sediment.


Processing


Depth match and depth shift to sea floor. The original logs from MSS/HRLA/HLDS/HNGS/EDTC-B, VSIT/EDTC-B, and DSI/HNGS/EDTC-B tool strings were depth-matched using the gamma ray log of the Triple Combo main pass as a reference.


Depth matching is typically done in the following way. One log is chosen as reference (base) log (usually the total gamma ray log from the run with the greatest vertical extent and no sudden changes in cable speed), and then the features in the equivalent logs from the other runs are matched to it in turn. This matching is performed manually. The depth adjustments required to bring the match log in line with the base log are then applied to all the other logs from the same tool string.


The depth-matched logs were then shifted to the sea floor. The sea floor depth was determined by the step in gamma ray values at 1669.0 m WRF from the Triple Combo main pass. This value differs by 1.5 m from the sea floor depth given by the drillers (see above).


Environmental corrections. The HRLA and HLDS logs were corrected for hole size during the recording.


High-resolution data. Bulk density (HLDS) data were recorded at a sampling rate of 2.54 cm, in addition to the standard sampling rate of 15.24 cm. The enhanced bulk density curve is the result of Schlumberger enhanced processing technique performed on the MAXIS system onboard. While in normal processing short-spacing data are smoothed to match the long-spacing one, in enhanced processing this is reversed. In a situation where there is good contact between the HLDS pad and the borehole wall (low-density correction) the results are improved, because the short spacing has better vertical resolution. Gamma ray data from the EDTC-B tool were recorded at sampling rates of 5.08 and 15.24 cm. The HRLA data were also acquired every 5.08 cm; in the database they were resampled at 15.24 cm, for ease of comparison with the other logs.


Acoustic data. The dipole shear sonic imager (DSI) was operated in the following modes: P&S monopole, upper and lower dipole, and Stoneley on all three passes. Due to the poor labeling of the sonic logs, the raw data were reprocessed at LDEO. The sonic velocities were computed from the delay times.



Quality Control


The quality of the data is assessed by checking against reasonable values for the logged lithologies, by repeatability between different passes of the same tool, and by correspondence between logs affected by the same formation property (e.g., the resistivity log should show similar features to the sonic velocity log).


Gamma ray logs recorded through bottom hole assembly (BHA) and drill pipe should be used only qualitatively, because of the attenuation of the incoming signal. The thick-walled BHA attenuates the signal more than the thinner-walled drill pipe.


A wide (>12") and/or irregular borehole affects most recordings, particularly those that require eccentralization and a good contact with the borehole wall (HLDS). Hole diameter was recorded by the hydraulic caliper on the HLDS tool. For U1609A, the hole became quite large around 12-17" between 85 and 492 m WMSF had numerous washouts. As a result, log data such as gamma ray and density from this hole interval should be used with caution.


A Null value of -999.25 may replace invalid log values.


Additional information about the drilling and logging operations can be found in the Operations and Downhole Measurements sections of the expedition report, Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program, Expedition 401.


For any question about the data or about the LogDB database, please contact LogDB support: logdb@ldeo.columbia.edu.