Abstract

Krishna-Godavari (KG) Basin is one of India's most prolific hydrocarbon provinces. Encompassing both onshore and offshore areas, the basin evolved through complex tectonic phases, transitioning from an intra-cratonic Gondwana setting to a passive continental margin basin following the breakup of Gondwanaland. The depositional framework reflects alternating episodes of tectonic activity, marine and deltaic sedimentation, punctuated by prominent regional and global unconformities. Identifying these unconformities is critical in hydrocarbon exploration, as they often serve as stratigraphic traps or migration conduits. This study employes a fractal-based methodology to detect such stratigraphical discontinuities within the KG basin. By analyzing the power-law relationship between sedimentation intervals and depositional rate, the fractal dimension of western and eastern Godavari sub-basins was calculated as 0.86 and 0.80, respectively, indicating relatively continuous sedimentation during the Cretaceous. These values were used to construct a devil staircase models for each well, where each flat represents an unconformity. The model has yielded a strong correlation with the observed data, with an average error of just 8.06%. This kind of model can lead to understand the thin beds depositions.