Mudstones are the dominant sedimentary rock type and are of considerable scientific and industrial importance. This Joint Industry Research project aims to significantly improve our understanding of the Triassic mudstones in the Central North Sea.

Mudstones are economically significant and consequential to petroleum exploration and production. In exploration mudstones have the ability to act as intra-formational seals to hydrocarbon accumulations; and in production as baffles or barriers to fluid flow. Characterisation of mudstones will provide not only an industrial suite of deliverables but will address key academic questions such as the depositional origin and extent of the fine grained facies and will reveal variations in Triassic palaeoclimate.

Research will be undertaken in three independent but synchronous PhD projects carried out at differing scales of investigation varying from core scale through outcrop to seismic scale. The projects have a degree of overlap which facilitates a collaborative working environment.