My area of expertise is clastic sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy with a special interest in the quantitative depositional architecture of both shallow and deep-water sedimentary systems. My main interest is understanding sediment dispersion at large, basin-scale using subsurface (wells, seismic and core) data.
Before joining the Bureau of Economic Geology my research focused mainly on the use of outcrops as analogs to hydrocarbon reservoirs paying attention to architectural elements and depositional environments. The outcrop studies of deltas (Washakie Basin, WY) and shelf tidal deposits (Tremp-Graus Basin, Spain) were linked with subsurface datasets (wire line logs and seismic data) for regional interpretations. I have been using the laser scanning technology and 3-D imaging systems, as well as remote sensing image analysis and processing techniques to investigate architectural elements in outcrops.
At the Bureau of Economic Geology, as part of the STARR team I am involved in stratigraphic studies of the Oligocene Frio Formation and Paleogene Wilcox Group along the Texas Gulf Coast. High-resolution stratigraphy (4th-order) using well logs, cores and seismic data helps to identify regressive/transgressive cycles of sedimentation, depositional environments, sediment fairways and to link the depositional systems from shelf through slope to basin floor in a highly complex structural context. Integration of chemo and bio-stratigraphic analysis with subsurface correlations and core descriptions provides a better chronostratigraphic framework and helps detecting patterns related to paleogeography and climate, but also the subsurface conditions for reservoir and safe storage.
As part of the GCCC group at the Bureau I am engaged in various feasibility projects for CO2 storage resource assessment of the Northern Gulf of Mexico. The projects evaluate the CO2 storage capacity of depleted oil and natural gas reservoirs utilizing existing data (well logs, seismic and core) and identify specific sites with potential to store at least 30 million tons of CO2. Potential storage intervals evaluated onshore and offshore Texas and Louisiana are Paleogene Wilcox Group, Oligocene Frio and Miocene.
Professional History
June 2012- present: Research Associate, Bureau of Economic Geology
2008 –2012: Research Scientist Associate III, University of Texas at Austin
1995 – 2000: Research Scientist, Institute of Educational Sciences, Bucharest, Romania
Selected Publications
Olariu, M. I., 2023, Sedimentology and stratigraphy of the earliest deltaic shorelines of the Paleocene Lower Wilcox Group in the Gulf of Mexico, JSR, v. 93, p.522-540.
Olariu, M. I., and Zeng, H., 2023, Depositional Processes at the Lower Wilcox Shelf–slope Transition Zone, GCAGS Journal, v. 12, p. 33-44.
Olariu, M. I., DeAngelo, M., Dunlap, D. and Treviño, R. H., 2019, High frequency (4th order) sequence stratigraphy of Early Miocene deltaic shorelines, offshore Texas and Louisiana, Marine and Petroleum Geology, v. 110, p.575-586.
Olariu, M. I., and Zeng, H., 2018, Prograding muddy shelves in the Paleogene Wilcox deltas, south Texas Gulf Coast, Marine and Petroleum Geology, v. 91, p.71-88.
Olariu M. I., and Ambrose, W. A., 2016, Process regime variability across growth faults in the Paleogene lower Wilcox Guadalupe delta, South Texas Gulf Coast, Sedimentary Geology, v.341, p. 27-49.
Olariu, M. I., and Olariu C., 2015, Ubiquity of wave-dominated deltas in outer shelf growth-faulted compartments, Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 85, p. 768-779.
Olariu, M. I., U. Hammes, and W. A. Ambrose, 2013, Depositional architecture of growth-fault related wave-dominated shelf edge deltas of the Oligocene Frio Formation in Corpus Christi Bay, Texas, Marine and Petroleum Geology, v. 48, p. 423–440.
Olariu M. I., Carvajal R. C., Olariu C., and Steel J. R, 2012, Deltaic Process and Architectural Evolution during Cross-Shelf Transits, Maastrichtian Fox Hills Formation, Washakie Basin, Wyoming, AAPG Bulletin, v. 96, no. 10, p. 1931-1956
Olariu M. I., Olariu C., Steel J. R., Dalrymple R. W. and Martinius A. W., 2012, Anatomy of a laterally migrating tidal bar: Esdolomada Member, Roda Formation, Graus-Tremp Basin, Spain, Sedimentology, v. 59, no. 2, p. 356-378.
Olariu, M. I., Aiken, C. L. V., Bhattacharya J. P. and Xu, X., 2011, Interpretation of Channelized Architecture Using Three-dimensional Photorealistic Models, Pennsylvanian Deepwater Deposits at Big Rock Quarry, Arkansas, Marine and Petroleum Geology, v. 28, no. 6, p. 1157-1170.
