Page 30 - Geology and Geochemistry of Oil and Gas

SYSTEMS APPROACH IN PETROLEUM GEOLOGY 9
common development history and a distinguishing set of physical and chemical
properties that manifest themselves both individually and jointly.
An engineering-natural system may be defined as a complex of spatially ordered
and temporally interconnected natural and engineering elements, the emergent
property of which is utilization of natural elements to satisfy needs of human society.
It follows from the above that a geotechnical system may be defined as a complex of
spatially ordered and temporally interconnected natural and engineering elements,
the emergent property of which is the recovery of mineral resources from the sub-
surface.
As opposed to the above statements, ‘‘The Mining Encyclopedia’’ (1986) provides
a narrower definition: ‘‘a geologic system is a natural-engineering aggregation of
interacting natural and artificial objects’’. This definition does not clarify the major
property of such a system.
Thus, a geologic system, as any other system, is distinguished first of all by its
special defining property, which manifests itself in the system’s integrity as a material
entity. The identification of the defining property of a system differs from the simple
superposition of the properties of its elements (that is obtained through techniques of
logical analysis and synthesis), which is a difficult problem.
A variety of viewpoints regarding the substance of the systems approach and a
variety of the system definitions manifests the complexity of the real world, i.e., the
diversity of various systems. System classification is methodologically important in
technical and natural-science disciplines, which include earth sciences with their
practical applications (see Afanasyev, 1980, pp. 48–52).
All known system classifications are in essence classifications of the systems’
properties as well as properties of the elements composing a particular system. That
is the reason why the classification presented in Table 1.1 includes not the classes of
systems, but the classes of major properties of systems used for their identification.
Systems are studied utilizing techniques of formal (mathematical) logic. The ex-
tent of formal and mathematical description form of a specific scientific knowledge
or methodological research depends on the completeness of abstraction of real con-
cepts. It is noteworthy that system studies within the framework of a particular
scientific discipline may be conducted along two distinctive paths similar to the
inductive and deductive avenues of deriving new knowledge and developing scientific
theories. System of types of solutions (deductive, abductive, inductive) shown in
Table 1.2 is based on the variation of well-known syllogism of Aristotle: ‘‘All men
are mortal, Socrates is a man, therefore Socrates is mortal’’. The nature of models
depends on the complexity of the studied objects and the extent of their organization
(Table 1.3). Description of system models involves the use of appropriate mathe-
matical instruments. The most complex objects are ranked as systems and are stud-
ied within the framework of the systems approach.
Currently, three directions are known in the modern geologic sciences for the
system identification: (1) natural-objective, (2) goal-oriented, and (3) system-creating
(see Systems Approach in Geology, 1983).
Proponents of the first direction believe that geologic system exists as the objective
reality within the natural geologic boundaries. The goal of a researcher is to find