Nuclear well logging techniques for characterizing the subsurface basaltic structure in Southern Syria

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to identify and characterize the subsurface basaltic areas related to Yarmouk basin in Southern east of Syria, by using the available nuclear well logging techniques. The measured nuclear well logging parameters, which are natural gamma ray (GR), the density (σ), and neutron porosity (Ф%) allow the computation of the corresponding of clay content (CC%), heat production (HP), and radioactive content (Y) parameters for different lithological basalts of four drilled boreholes of (Jaba, Jabeit, Kodana, and Al-Asbah), located along N-S profile. Different population ranges of GR, CC, HP, σ, Y and Ф have been isolated in the study region by applying advanced statistical multi-fractal concentration-number (C-N) approach. The vertical and lateral variations of the measured and computed logging parameters have been well determined by analyzing a 2D profile of 32 km long passing by the four studied boreholes. The main finding of this paper is the integration of the different distinguished basaltic ranges of those nuclear well logging parameters for the identification of four lithological basalts in the study region; hard massive basalt, massive basalt, pyroclastic basalt, and alteration product basalt and clay. The nuclear well logging methods applied in this paper demonstrate their efficacy, and can be therefore easily practiced to characterize similar basaltic environments worldwide.