Table of Contents

LAYERING......................................................................................................................................... 2
Exercise steps........................................................................................................................... 2
Comments................................................................................................................................. 2

Petrel Introduction Course

P2002 (v.7/02)

Page 1

Layering
The final step in building the structural framework is to define
the thickness and orientation of the layers between horizons of
the 3D Grid. These layers in conjunction with the pillars define the
cells of the 3D Grid that are assigned attributes during property
modeling.
The Layering process will only make a finer resolution of the grid
and no input data are used for this process. The user can define
the vertical resolution of the grid by setting the cell thickness,
define a number of cells or use a fraction code. When specifying
the cell thickness the zone division can either follow the base or
the top of the zone.
The layers should be defined based on the properties to be modeled. Usually, the layer thickness
should be the thickness of the thinnest facies to be modeled. However, it is important to keep in
mind that the number of cells increases when the layer thickness decreases, so you should not put
in more detail than necessary.

Exercise steps
1.

Make sure that the model that includes the geological zones is active.

2.

Double-click on the Layering process. A dialog will pop up.

3.

For each zone (identified by the name in the left column of the row), define your layering. Use
a variety of Zone Divisions.

4.

Press Apply to see the result in the 3D window.

Comments
Available zone division types in Petrel:

Proportional - Define the number of layers to be created. The same

number of layers will be inserted in the entire interval, independent of thickness variations.
However, if a horizon is being truncated, than the layers will be truncated as well.

Build from top - the layers are the same and defined by a constant
thickness. Based on this thickness, the layers are built downwards and on-lapped when they
meet the horizon below. A depositional surface (Ref.Surface) can be used. In this case the
layers are built from this surface downwards instead of from the top surface. The depositional
surface must exist in the Petrel Explorer Input tab and it can be entered into the table by
selecting it and clicking on the blue arrow.

Petrel Introduction Course

P2002 (v.7/02)

Page 2

Build from base - just as for the Build from top option, except the
layers are built from the base and are truncated by the horizon above.

Fractions - the number of layers are specified as well as the relative

thickness between them. Example: If you want to insert 4 layers into a zone and the second
layer should be twice as thick as the other three layers, then write: 1,2,1,1.

Petrel Introduction Course

P2002 (v.7/02)

Page 3