Geothermal Exploration and Subsurface Structural Modeling

Emilie Gentry-TEVERRA

Abstract:

Geothermal exploration and subsurface structural modeling are critical processes for identifying and evaluating geothermal resources. This study focuses on the integration of geological, geophysical, and geochemical data to assess geothermal potential and develop accurate subsurface models. Geothermal exploration involves the analysis of surface expressions, temperature gradients, and fluid flow patterns, while subsurface structural modeling utilizes techniques such as seismic surveys, well logging, and 3D modeling to create a detailed representation of underground formations. The objective is to identify key parameters such as reservoir size, permeability, and heat distribution, which are essential for effective resource management and sustainable energy production. By combining advanced modeling tools with comprehensive exploration data, this approach enhances the understanding of geothermal reservoirs and supports informed decision-making in the development of geothermal energy projects.

Bio

Emilie Gentry, Senior Geothermal Geoscientist with TEVERRA providing geological mapping, resource assessment, and geothermal conceptual model development. Her technical expertise is structural and subsurface geology with experience in geologic research and oil and gas development, exploration, reservoir characterization, and regulatory affairs management. Emilie uses her knowledge in faults and structural geology and her experience in oil and gas to address major challenges in the geothermal industry and bring opportunity to the larger energy industry. She earned her B.Sc. in Geological Sciences from the University of Texas at Austin and her M.Sc. in Geology at the Colorado School of Mines.

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3D Basin modeling as a tool for geothermal resource screening in the denver basin

Rand Gardner-USGS

Abstract:

A 3D basin model was developed to evaluate geothermal resources within the Denver-Julesburg Basin. This evaluation utilizes legacy datasets generated by oil and gas developers alongside new paleoenvironmental studies to predict the depth and distribution of potential geothermal resource in the basin. A key benefit of basin modeling is that it provides lithology-based thermal properties, which helps improve temperature-depth profiles for geothermal studies.  Depth and isopach maps were created from formation tops for 24 depositional units across the basin to generate a 3D grid with approximately 800,000 cells. Lithologic properties derived from paleogeographic maps were assigned to each cell. Approximately 20,000 bottom-hole temperature (BHT) measurements were corrected using a Förster-type model. The resulting corrected temperatures ranged from 130°F to 436°F and nearby wells were grouped into equal-area cells to create robust temperature profiles for calibration. The model was simulated every 10mW-m2 from 50 to 80mW-m2 and the heat flow scenario that best matched the corrected temperature profile in each cell was selected and contoured into a heat flow map.  An aeromagnetic map was used to help guide the heat flow map along basement features where data was sparse. Results derived from the calibrated model indicate highly elevated heat flow in the Wattenberg field area. Depth to temperature maps were created for moderate- (≥194°F) and high-temperature (≥302°F) geothermal resource cut-offs. These maps suggest that in some areas, moderate and high-temperature resources may be as shallow as 4,000 and 7,000 feet, respectively. In contrast, geothermal resources in other areas of the basin are generally deeper for both temperature cut-offs. The resulting lithologic and temperature model for the Denver-Julesburg Basin identifies depth ranges where potential geothermal resources are likely to be located, with lithology further informing whether permeability is present. In layers with limited permeability, development strategies such as enhanced or engineered geothermal systems and deep closed-loop technologies may be viable.

Bio

Rand grew up in the oil patch where he learned the ins and outs of the energy industry. He worked for Big Oil as a wildcatter before joining the USGS in 2021 where he now leads a team doing research and resource assessments. He has done fieldwork and/or resource exploration in Suriname, Guyana, French Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Spain, France, Turkey, Mexico, USA, and Canada.

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Using the Relationship Between Geochemical and Pressure Data to Elucidate Produced Oil Sources and Movement in the Subsurface

Dr. Sarah Compton-FractureID

Abstract:

Understanding how and why fluids move in the subsurface is key to characterizing and most efficiently developing an operator’s acreage. In the DJ Basin, oil from the Niobrara and Codell likely has a common source, and their reservoirs are likely in communication with each other. Great Western Petroleum, a pure-play DJ operator, designed the Wilson project in 2019 through a structurally calm area, with one large graben cutting the full section along the toes of the wells, to characterize fluid movement in space and time. In 2020, data from eight parent wells on the nearby Postle pad was added. This pad is characterized by several faults cutting the full section at various spots along the lateral. The case studies show differences in fluid communication despite similar completion methods, perhaps relating to different structural settings.

Bio

Sarah Compton is a geoscientist in Morrison, CO who currently works full-time with FractureID and publishes the weekly AAPG tech and innovation newsletter called Enspired. She completed an NSF iCorps Starting Blocks cohort in spring of ‘23 and was invited to present her business proposition for a SAGE mentorship group, which she was awarded and is currently working with while she actively develops her own software. The target customer is small to medium operators, and she is happy to discuss that in more detail afterwards.

Sarah earned her PhD in geology from the University of Alabama, using linear inversions to focus on the impacts of different model setups of finite element models using Hekla Volcano in Iceland. Her MS and BS in geology were earned at IUPUI focusing on the crustal evolution of southern and southeastern California using igneous petrology.

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Environmental and Microbial Influence on Chemistry and Dolomite Formation in an Ancient Lake, Green River Formation (Eocene), Uinta Basin, Utah

Maxwell Pommer*, J. Frederick Sarg, Forrest McFarlin

Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines

maxwell.pommer@gmail.com

*currently at Premier Corex, University of Colorado Boulder

Abstract:

Integrated stratigraphic, petrographic, and geochemical data allow interpretation of biogeochemical and mineralization processes in paleoenvironmental context of ancient lacustrine environments. These indicate lake chemistry, microbial processes, and organic matter (OM) strongly influenced dolomite formation in near-surface environments throughout deposition of the Green River Formation (Eocene, Uinta basin, Utah).

The lower Green River Formation consists of interbedded fluvio-deltaic siliciclastics, paleosols, carbonate mud, coated-grain carbonates, mollusc and ostracod limestones, and microbialites all landward of profundal OM-bearing illitic mudrocks. Calcite, dolomite, Fe-dolomite, and authigenic feldspars are common. Carbonate δ18O and δ13C are covariant, and positive excursions of carbonate δ13C (up to 6.9‰VPDB) and organic-matter δ15N (up to 13.9‰V-AIR) occur in profundal OM-bearing mudrocks. 

The upper Green River Formation consists mainly of laminated OM-lean and OM-rich dolomitic muds (i.e., “oil-shales”). Zoned dolomite crystals with Mg-calcite centers and Fe-dolomite rims are widespread in addition to authigenic feldspars, and Na-carbonates. Carbonate δ13C-enrichment (up to 15.8‰VPDB), and organic-matter δ15N-enrichment (up to 18.4‰V-AIR) occur in these OM-rich dolomite muds. Organic-matter δ13C is relatively invariable (mean = -29.3‰VPDB) and does not covary with carbonate δ13C.

Trends in mineralogy, organic-matter abundance, and stable isotopes result from changing hydrologic systems, paleoclimate, lake chemistry and microbial processes coincident with the Early Eocene Climate Optimum. The lower Green River Formation paleo-lake was smaller in area and volume, heavily influenced by meteoric fluvial input, variably oxygenated, and ranged from neutral and fresh to alkaline and saline. Especially in littoral environments with abundant microbialites, dolomite formed through recrystallization of precursor carbonate involving both replacement of precursor carbonate and direct precipitation as cements and overgrowths. The upper Green River Formation paleo-lake was more expansive with widespread low-oxygen, nutrient-rich, and alkaline saline environments with increased planktic organic-matter productivity. Microbial decay of organic matter in low-oxygen environments produced alkaline lake waters through methanogenesis, possible denitrification, and microbial sulfate reduction to a limited degree. This favored precipitation of widespread dolomite, as well as Na-carbonates, authigenic feldspars, and analcime from lake water and phreatic pore water. Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) excreted by microbial communities provided favorable nucleation sites for Mg-carbonate, allowing kinetic barriers of low-temperature dolomite formation to be overcome. Cycling of pH due to turnover of organic matter and associated microbial processes potentially bolstered EPS generation and abiotic environmental conditions favorable to dolomite precipitation. It is likely that metastable precursor carbonate was recrystallized to ordered dolomite, but it is possible that direct precipitation occurred. Fe-dolomite overgrowths precipitated after dolomite where microbial Fe reduction occurred in stagnant, oxygen-depleted, alkaline pore waters.

Pommer, M., Sarg J.F., McFarlin, F., Environmental and Microbial Influence on Lake Chemistry and Dolomite Formation in the Green River Formation (Eocene), Uinta Basin, Utah. Journal of Sedimentary Research, v.93, no.4, 2023, p. 213-242.

Biography: Max is a geologist who evaluates fluid-reservoir systems and Earth’s history with integrated stratigraphic, petrologic, and geochemical methods. His research spans a broad range of topics including pore-system evolution, linking diagenesis and sequence stratigraphy, the origin of dolomite, as well as paleoenvironmental and biogeochemical dynamics.

Currently, he is a senior Geological Advisor and Lead Sedimentologist at Premier Corex, as well as a Faculty Lecturer at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he instructs a course in Petroleum and Transitional Reservoir Geology. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado Boulder, a master’s degree from The University of Texas at Austin, and a doctorate from Colorado School of Mines. Previously he was a Postdoctoral Researcher at Colorado School of Mines and has been a consultant in industry since 2011.

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The Niobrara Formation – organic matter enrichment in proximal highstand and distal lowstand deposits

Dr. Kira Timm

USGS Central Energy Resources Science Center

Abstract:

The Late Cretaceous Niobrara Formation represents one of the Western Interior Seaway’s major transgressive-regressive cycles, containing within it four third-order cycles. As a regionally extensive formation, lithology changes laterally and stratigraphically, dependent upon intrabasinal and extrabasinal sediment source. In areas distal to the Sevier highlands, lithologies contain greater intrabasinal input, consisting of peloidal chalks composed of coccolithophores, foraminifera, and other calcareous bioclasts. Proximal lithologies contain greater extrabasinal input and consist of peloidal carbonates in an argillaceous-silicious matrix.

The proximal Sand Wash and Washakie Basins contain Niobrara deposits from the foredeep. Here organic matter (OM) enrichment occurred in calcareous mudstones deposited during highstand conditions with marine OM primarily tied to calcareous peloids and terrestrial OM matter contained within the argillaceous-silicious matrix. Within the Denver Basin’s distal ramp environments, OM enrichment occurred in lowstand marls. Despite different eustatic conditions, the organic-rich formations are mineralogically similar, consisting of mixed carbonate mudstones.

Petrographic analysis indicates transport of OM with mineralogical components prior to deposition and preservation. During highstands, the proximal foredeep received less detrital input, less bottom water oxygenation, and westward transport of calcareous peloids and OM. In the distal ramp, oxic bottom water conditions reduced OM preservation. During lowstands, high detrital input into the foredeep buried but diluted OM. On the distal ramp, OM was transported eastward with hyperpycnal clays into dysoxic to anoxic bottom waters resulting in excellent OM preservation. While pelagic deposition is implicit in intrabasinal deposits, sedimentary structures and OM-mineralogic connection implies reworking and transport within the Niobrara.

Biography:

Kira Timm is a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey working on the National and Global Assessment team in Lakewood, Colorado. Her research focuses on the Cretaceous strata of the Rocky Mountain region, with an emphasis in mudstone geology and petrography. In addition to research and hydrocarbon assessments, Kira runs one the of the USGS microscope labs where she enjoys the little things in life. Though not a Colorado native, she has been a Colorado geologist since moving to Denver in 2012 and obtaining her PhD in petroleum geology at the Colorado School of Mines in 2018.

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Incorporation of detailed lithologic description in heterogenous fine-grained lithologies with DeltaLogR and improved calculations of carbon burial

Dr. Jason Flaum

USGS Central Energy Resources Science Center

Abstract:

Since the discovery of world-class hydrocarbon reservoirs within fine-grained rocks there has been a concerted effort to improve our understanding of the heterogeneity in composition, texture, and structure of these lithologies.  Such improved characterization has led to several paradigm shifts in interpretations of the depositional processes and environments associated with the occurrence of carbon-rich rocks in the geologic past.  These paradigm shifts have resulted in improved exploration and development of both continuous resources and conventional resources via application to the assessment of source rocks. 

Prior to the recent paradigm shifts mentioned above organic-rich fine-grained rocks were interpreted to be homogenous and having been deposited in quiescent oxygen deficient environments.  Such interpretations were the basis of many of the tools developed for the exploration of source rocks.  One such tool is DeltaLogR, a petrophysics based method of calculating organic-richness of mudstones.  Originally developed for assessment of organic-richness in homogenous, argillaceous lithologies, application of DeltaLogR to heterogenous calcareous lithologies that are typically associated with Mesozoic continuous resource plays has proven difficult.  In particular, two primary limiting factors have been identified: 1. Establishing a proper baseline; and 2. False positives associated with resistivity increasing at a greater percentage than sonic in cemented limestones.

In this study we present detailed lithologic and geochemical descriptions of Cenomanian-Turonian aged calcareous mudstones from the Greenhorn Formation of the USGS #1 Portland Core.  These descriptions are then utilized to establish proper recognition criteria for the identification of proper baseline units and false positive DeltaLogR values throughout the study interval.  Utilization of proper baseline units and removal of false positive values in the Greenhorn Formation allowed for accurate determination of organic carbon concentrations throughout the unit when compared to measured values.  The methodology presented in this study demonstrates that the DeltaLogR method can be an essential tool for evaluating organic carbon concentrations over a range of lithologies. 

Bio:

Jason Flaum is a research sedimentologist at the USGS Central Energy Resources Science Center in Lakewood Colorado.  Following completion of his PhD at Northwestern University he spent 11 years in industry at ExxonMobil and TOTAL evaluating continuous resource plays and source rock evaluations around the world.  He has now been at the USGS since September, 2020 where he is part of an integrated research team utilizing inorganic and organic geochemistry, sedimentology, petrography, and petrophysics to evaluate the depositional processes and environments associated with the accumulation of organic and inorganic carbon-rich strata during extreme climate events throughout the Phanerozoic. 

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CO2 storage potential in the DJ Basin: Screening, Reservoir Characterization and Geologic Modeling of the Lyons Sandstone

Presented by Jason Eleson

GeoIntegra Group

Abstract:

The DJ basin holds great potential for CO2 storage, but not all locations or reservoir targets are suitable. This study focuses on the Lyons Sandstone, viewed by many as a suitable target for CCS (CO2 Capture and Storage). Regional data were used to highlight areas with thicker (mostly eolian) sandstones at suitable temperatures and pressures to hold supercritical CO2. A focus area was identified that contained sufficient well control and core data to perform more detailed, reservoir-scale mapping and petrophysical characterization to build a 3D geocellular model. This resulting geologic model was simulated with CO2 injection to evaluate the impact of reservoir quality variations imparted by the eolian depositional setting. Initial results indicate favorable conditions for CO2 storage, but additional structural and stratigraphic characterization plus drilling and completion concepts is recommended to refine most likely outcomes.

Bio: Jason Eleson is the founder of the GeoIntegra Group, a group of senior geoscientists that specialize in tackling tough energy transition projects with a focus on CCS. He is also the chief geoscientist for the EnergyFuse Group, an advisory team provides industry with state-of-the-art integrated project, technical and commercial services required to plan, design, implement, operate and post-appraise energy transition projects in areas encompassing carbon management, enhanced recovery (EOR) and conventional, and unconventional hydrocarbons.  Jason has over 20 years of subsurface experience, and has worked for ExxonMobil, Enverus and Caerus Oil and Gas. He is the current 2nd VP-Elect of RMAG and former president of RMS-SEPM.

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Back to the Future of Wireline Log Normalization using a Geologic Trend-Based Approach: Examples from Western Canada, the US Rocky Mountains, and The Permian Basin of West Texas

Presented by Mark Millard

Rockies Resources LLC.

Abstract:

Evaluation of large-scale resource plays often involves thousands of wells, covering a span of hundreds of miles. Proper characterization requires extremely accurate well logs. For this reasonlog normalization continues to be one of the most important ‘first steps’ in accurate petrophysical evaluation and basin modelling. However, log normalization is often under-appreciated, treated as an enigmatic “black box” workflow, or simply avoided altogether. Even less appreciated or understood is a regional trend-based approach like those pioneered by Doveton and Bornemann (1981) and Kane, et al. (2005).

In this presentation we address the necessity of accurate log normalization, discuss the various methods available, and present a simple workflow for regional trend-based normalization that can be performed on most standard mapping software platforms. The basis of the method is similar to traditional wireline log normalization but takes it a step further by integrating a regionally derived geological trend surface. This novel approach accounts for regional variations in facies, compaction, diagenesis, and man-made variations including log vintage, mud type, and other time-dependent trends.

This specific workflow has been successfully implemented in multiple basins across the United

States and Canada including the Midland, Delaware, San Juan, Powder River, DJ, Uinta, Green River, Paradox, Williston, and Western Canada Sedimentary Basins. In this talk we present the workflow in detail using an example from the Powder River Basin of Wyoming, then present numerous smaller case studies from other basins, highlighting specific challenges and solutions for different rock types, structural and stratigraphic settings, and data vintages. The numerous case studies were not included in the original presentation of the workflow shown at the 2019 RMS-AAPG, and 2020 RMAG luncheon.

This simple approach allows a user to normalize a large set of wells in little time, while accounting for regional geologic variations otherwise ignored by traditional normalization workflows.

References Cited

Doveton J.H., and E. Bornemann, 1981, Log normalization by trend surface analysis: The Log Analyst, v. 22/4, p. 3-8.

Kane, J.A., and J.W. Jennings Jr., 2005, A Method To Normalize Log Data by Calibration to Large-Scale Data Trends: Presented at the SPEAnnual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Dallas, Texas, October 9-12, SPE-96091-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/96091-MS.

Mark Millard’s Bio

Mark Millard is a Geoscience Manager at Rockies Resources LLC. He has over 15 years of experience in nearly every basin in the Rockies and Texas. He has worked in a multitude of roles from frontier exploration through field development for private PE backed and large public companies. Mark is the author of over 30 papers and/or technical presentations. He currently serves on the Geology Advisory Board for BYU-Idaho, and was previously the President of the Montana Geological Society, and Technical Session Chair for the 2017 RMS-AAPG Annual Conference. He received the A.I. Levorson Award from the RMS AAPG, and the Frank Kottlowski Memorial award from the AAPG Energy and Minerals Division in 2014. 

He received his Master’s degree from Baylor University in 2007, and Undergraduate degree from BYU-Idaho in 2005 (Cum Laude). His interests outside of geology include building mandolins, guitars, and violins, playing bluegrass music, and ice hockey.

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Please submit reservations by 10:00 a.m. the Friday before the talk.

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Investigations of the Late Eocene Castle Rock Conglomerate, 1869 to the Present, Including Recent Research on its Diagenesis

Presented by Steve Keller and Mark Longman

Abstract

The Castle Rock Conglomerate (CRC) occurs in the Colorado Piedmont, specifically in Douglas and Elbert Counties, and is the uppermost and youngest Cenozoic unit found in that region. Theformation covers a relatively small, northwest-to-southeast-trending area. It is well exposedand topographically prominent, forming flat mesas, steep cliffs, and narrow canyons. The conglomerate is a fluvial unit deposited by a wide braided-stream system. Depositional features such as large-scale cross bedding, large angular blocks of tuff, a variety of lithologies in other clasts, incised channels, fining-upward sequences, and fossil logs are readily observable. Because the conglomerate is both geologically and scenically striking it has interested geologists since the late 1860s.

Improved access to the unit over the last 60 years (e.g., in Castlewood Canyon State Park and in county and municipal open spaces), has increasingly attracted educators, students, and the public. This talk will present a chronology of geologic investigations (description, nomenclature, mapping, and paleocurrent studies) in the unit, and summarize deposition, geologic history, and age as presented by various investigators over the last 150 years, including recent work.

One puzzle that has long gone unstudied is “Why is the CRC so resistant to weathering that it forms these magnificent buttes and canyons?” Petrographic study of some of the finest-grained sandstones in the unit reveal ubiquitous amorphous silica (opal) cements followed in many places by radial-fibrous length fast chalcedony. The opal cements may be either isopachous (indicating precipitation below the water table) or pendant (above the water table), which indicates very early opal precipitation at very shallow, near-surface conditions. The source of the silica is the slightly older Wall Mountain Tuff into which many CRC channels incised. Despite its relatively young age, the hardness and extent of these silica cements account for the CRC being so well exposed in most areas where it is present.

Steve Keller’s Bio

Steve received a B.A. (1972) and an M.S. degree (1974) in geology from the State University of New York and a Professional Master’s degree (1992) in hydrogeology from the Colorado School of Mines (CSM). From 1975 through 2013 he was employed in geologic mapping, minerals exploration and consulting, the Yucca Mountain Project, environmental site investigations, and long-term groundwater monitoring. This work was in many parts of the U.S. and in several foreign countries. From 2007 to 2013 he was a senior associate with Behre Dolbear Minerals Advisors. His association with the Colorado Geological Survey (CGS) began in 2006. With Matthew Morgan (present CGS Director), Steve completed a comprehensive paleocurrent study of the Castle Rock Conglomerate and, with other CGS personnel, contributed to CGS minerals investigations. Beginning in 2016 he has been the lead geologic mapper for seven 7.5’ quadrangles in the northern Colorado Piedmont (mainly late Quaternary alluvial and eolian deposits). Since 2013 he has given a Van Tuyl lecture at CSM, given two Geological Society of America (GSA) conference talks and been coauthor on two others, led a GSA field trip in the Castle Rock Conglomerate, and served as field trip co-chair for the GSA 2016 conference in Denver.

Biosketch for Mark Longman

Mark received his B.A. degree from Albion College (Michigan) in 1972 followed by a Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1976. He then joined the research lab of Cities Service Company in Tulsa, Oklahoma for 5 years before moving to Denver in 1981 to work for Coastal Oil and Gas Company as an exploration geologist in the Williston Basin. From 1984 to 2006, he was a consulting geologist before joining QEP Resources, where he worked as their “Rock Expert” until 2018. Mark then joined the Denver Museum of Nature and Science as a Research Associate and continues to work on various projects with the Museum including his recent work on the Castle Rock Conglomerate. He specializes in the description of cores, outcrops, and petrographic thin sections with a focus on integrating sedimentology and petrology to interpret depositional environments and diagenesis.

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Sediment budget for the levee-dominated deepwater Danube Fan in the Black Sea

Presented by:

Howard Feldman

11:30 Reception | 11:45 Lunch | 12:00 Talk
Wynkoop Brewing Company-Mercantile Room
1634 18th St, Denver, CO 80202

Abstract:

The Late Pleistocene Danube Fan is an exceptional fan analog because of the large amount of published data, and because it is sufficiently small that single seismic lines can traverse it. Using published and newly released seismic lines a complete architecture of the entire fan is now possible. The seismic facies are calibrated with Ifremer drop cores and cored analogs from other similar fan.

The fan has four depositional facies:

Mass Transport Complex (MTC): A chaotic deposit resting on the sequence boundary.

Channels fills: mostly confined by levees, and likely very sandy.

Levees: Both large and small, ranging from all mud to heterolithic.

Lobes: Lobes are formed by unconfined flow following an avulsion, and unconfined flow at the terminal ends of channels. They are sandy based on analogs and seismic response.

The Late Pleistocene fan, exclusive of the MTC, has three major morphologic zones.

Proximal Zone: Exclusively on the slope consisting dominantly of a single channel flanked by large levees up to 600 meters thick and 40 kilometers wide. Cores through the levees reveal they are composed of finely laminated mud interpreted to be deposited by turbidity currents that overtopped the channel. This zone extends from the shelf edge to the toe of slope at approximately 1,400 meters deep.

Medial Zone: This zone is composed of large channel/levee complexes that formed as the result of a few large-scale avulsions. Levees decrease in size distally along the channel paths from 40 to 5 kilometers wide. Levees also become increasingly sandy distally. This zone extends from approximately 1,400 meters to 2,000 meters of modern water depth.

Distal zone: This zone is dominated by terminal lobes overlain by small channel fills with small heterolithic levees. Many avulsions result in compensationally stacked level/channel/lobe complexes interpreted to form fining upward successions from the sandy lobe to the overlying levee.

Volumes of each of the primary depositional elements (levees, channel fills, and lobes) can be used to develop a mass balance calibrated by the Ifremer cores and sand estimates from other Pleistocene systems.

The Late Pleistocene fan has these proportions of facies. The percent sand is from Danube cores and cores from other analogous facies.

Facies                     % fan vol.    % silt - grvl

Levee                                  51%            5%

Channel fill                          2%            70%

Avulsion lobes                    4%            50%

Terminal lobes                  43%           50%

Total percent grvl, sd, crs silt          28%

Over half the fan volume is composed of levees, which get sandier distally (away from the shelf edge). Terminal lobes, which are very sandy, form an apron around the distal edge of the fan.

Biography:

Howard has over 30 years of experience working on petroleum geology in exploration, production, development, and research. He spent 26 years in a wide range of geoscience positions in ExxonMobil, and before that spent 7 years in the Petroleum Section of the Kansas Geological Survey. He is currently an Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Geosciences, Colorado State University in Fort Collins. He has broad expertise applying the concepts of sequence stratigraphy and facies interpretation to reservoir architecture at a wide range of scales in all clastic settings.

Current interests include deepwater fan architecture and the importance of avulsions in producing predictable stratigraphic architecture, and in fluvial architecture. Howard has published research articles on petroleum geology in the Journal of Sedimentary Research, AAPG Bulletin, and several book chapters, and has co-edited an SEPM book on sequence stratigraphy.

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Registration is open until 10:00 am, Friday prior to Event

This is an in-person and online event!

The cost is $30.00 for current members and $40.00 for non-members. Web only Zoom registration is $10.00 ($5.00 for students). Unemployed individuals may sign up for lunch for just $20.00. Students may sign up for lunch for $20.00. Persons who do not wish to have lunch are welcome for a $20.00 fee. Walk-ins may purchase a lunch for the standard fees ($30.00 or $40.00) although quantities are limited. Walk-ins without a lunch are charged a $15.00 fee.

Please submit reservations by 10:00 a.m. the Friday before the talk.

Reservations may be secured online or by e-mail at information@rmssepm.org

The Application of Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy to Correlation Challenges in the Wall Creek and Turner Sandstones, Powder River Basin

Presented by:

Jeffrey A. May 1

Co-Authors: David J. Richey 2 & Keith W. Shanley 3

1. Geologic Consultant and Colorado School of Mines

2. Vermilion Energy USA

3. Occidental Petroleum

11:30 Reception | 11:45 Lunch | 12:00 Talk
Rock Bottom Brewery-Banquet Room
1001 16th St Mall, Denver, CO 80265

Abstract

The Upper Turonian Wall Creek Member of the Frontier Formation in the western Powder River Basin is generally time equivalent to the Turner Sandstone Member of the Carlile Shale to the east. The Wall Creek is commonly interpreted as a progradational clastic delta. But reconstructions for the Turner vary wildly: brackish valley fills, tide- to wave-dominated delta fronts, shoreline-detached hyperpycnites, and open-shelf shoals. Direction of sediment input likewise is disputed, ranging from the west, east, and/or north. Sedimentologic and sequence stratigraphic analyses from outcrops, cores, and well logs can help decipher the inconsistent interpretations. 

The Wall Creek-Turner package is discontinuously distributed across the basin. In the west, the Wall Creek comprises the reservoir from Snake Charmer Draw to Powell fields. Immediately northeast in the Marys Draw region, this interval is absent. Progressing eastward, productive sandstone then reappears in the Crossbow-Porcupine and Hilight areas, where it is assigned to the Turner. Farther east, the reservoir section disappears again until recurring in Todd, Finn-Shurley, and Boggy Creek fields.  

In the western hydrocarbon fields, the basal Wall Creek sandstone is sharp-based and blocky, with laminated and burrowed middle shoreface facies directly above open-shelf mudstone. The overlying Wall Creek section, in contrast, contains stacked cleaning- and coarsening-upward parasequences. 

In Hilight Field, similar parasequences characterize the Turner. Heavily bioturbated lower shoreface intervals, with large open-marine trace fossils, grade vertically to horizontally to low-angle cross-laminated middle shoreface sandstones.

In contrast, the Turner in the Finn-Shurley area encompasses sandstone with wavy, lenticular, and flaser bedding and mudstone drapes. Three separate “benches” are identified, with diminutive burrows and low bioturbation index indicating stressed conditions in the basal bench.  Each succeeding bench is more clay-rich than the one below, concomitant with an increase in burrow sizes and bioturbation index, signifying an evolution to more open-marine conditions during sea-level rise.

Our model calls upon a sea-level drop first creating a series of falling stage Wall Creek-Turner deltas overlain by a regional unconformity, i.e., sequence boundary, across the western to central Powder River Basin. Eastward prograding, top-truncated deltas were irregularly preserved between areas of sand removal. In contrast, the Turner in the eastern Powder River Basin lies above the sequence boundary and apparently reflects westward backstepping of shelf shoals during the ensuing sea-level rise. This transgression additionally led to coeval retrogradational Wall Creek-Turner shorefaces farther south and west.

Biography:

Jeff received his B.A. in Geology from Earlham College, M.S. in Geology from Duke University, and Ph.D. in Geology from Rice University. He has worked in the oil and gas industry for over 40 years: as a research geologist with Marathon Oil Company (1981-1994); as a geological and geophysical consultant with Enron Oil & Gas (1994-1996) and GeoQuest Reservoir Technologies (1996-1998); as an exploration geoscientist with DDD Energy (1998-2001); and with EOG Resources beginning in 2001, first as Chief Stratigrapher and then as Chief Geologist, until his retirement in 2011. He now is a geologic consultant and an Affiliate Faculty member in the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering at Colorado School of Mines.

Jeff has conducted sedimentologic, sequence stratigraphic, and seismic stratigraphic projects on basins and fields worldwide. Areas of expertise include onshore and offshore Gulf of Mexico; onshore and offshore California; Uinta, Green River, Washakie, Denver, Powder River, Permian, and Williston Basins; northern and eastern Egypt; and Natuna Sea, Indonesia. He also leads a variety of classroom and field seminars on clastic facies, deep-water sandstones, sequence stratigraphy, and mudrock deposition and stratigraphy, most notably for the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Petroleum Technology Transfer Council, Nautilus Worldwide, many oil and gas companies, and universities. His publications encompass numerous papers and abstracts on deep-water sandstones, sequence stratigraphy, geophysical interpretation, and mudrock deposition. Jeff has twice been presented the best luncheon speaker award by the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, was presented the Frank Kottlowski award for best speaker in the Energy Minerals Division at the AAPG annual convention in 2012, completed an AAPG Distinguished Lecture tour, and received the Outstanding Scientist Award from RMAG in 2017. 

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Registration is open until 10:00 am, Friday, December 16th

This is an in-person and online event!

The cost is $30.00 for current members and $40.00 for non-members. Web only Zoom registration is $10.00 ($5.00 for students). Unemployed individuals may sign up for lunch for just $20.00. Students may sign up for lunch for $20.00. Persons who do not wish to have lunch are welcome for a $20.00 fee. Walk-ins may purchase a lunch for the standard fees ($30.00 or $40.00) although quantities are limited. Walk-ins without a lunch are charged a $15.00 fee.

Please submit reservations by 10:00 a.m. the Friday before the talk.

Reservations may be secured online or by e-mail at information@rmssepm.org

Global records of hafnium isotopes in zircon shed light on Earth’s deep past

Presented by:

Kurt E. Sundell

Department of Geosciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID, USA

11:30 Reception | 11:45 Lunch | 12:00 Talk
Rock Bottom Brewery-Banquet Room
1001 16th St Mall, Denver, CO 80265

Abstract

The assembly and dispersion of continental crust exert first-order controls on paleogeography and geochemical cycles. The associated reworking of Earth’s crust can be tracked with zircon initial hafnium (εHfT) through space and time. Here we apply a new method for quantitative analysis of εHfT density estimates based on a compilation of 155,061 εHfT values. Investigation of the global database reveals geographic and temporal bias in the εHfT record associated with sampling and regional tectonic events. Recent research has attempted to address global εHfT bias using resampling methods to augment gaps of low εHfT data density, which in turn obfuscates tectonic signals and artificially weights outliers. Instead, we evaluate εHfT density patterns for both igneous and detrital zircon on eight continental zones demarcated by Paleozoic sutures: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Baltica, North America, Peri-Gondwana, and South America. Pairwise two-dimensional quantitative comparison highlights similarity in timing and εHfT values between zones, all of which can be linked to documented shared regional tectonism. Integration of all pairwise comparisons reveals that peak similarity corresponds to the timing of supercontinent amalgamation, and that the associated εHfT differs depending on the style of supercontinent amalgamation, particularly internal versus external orogenesis. The three most recent supercontinents produced distinctive εHfT signals, shared by the constituent continents. The supercontinents Rodinia and Pangea were constructed through collisions of marginal arc terranes, peripheral to ancient crust, and did not produce highly enriched εHfT values. In contrast, Ediacaran to Cambrian formation of the Gondwana supercontinent was largely the product of internal Pan-African orogens that formed directly after Neoproterozoic Rodinia rifting and arc accretion forming the Arabian Shield. The final assembly of Gondwana was dominated by continent-continent collisions of old radiogenic crust without establishment and accretion of extensive intervening depleted arc terranes, resulting in a more enriched distribution of εHfT values compared to prior and subsequent supercontinent formation. The secular εHfT record is the product of spatiotemporally biased sampling and preservation of specific orogenic belts with predictable εHfT data arrays, modulated by the amalgamation, tenure, and breakup of supercontinents through time.

Biography:

Kurt is an Assistant Professor at Idaho State University and is interested in tectonic processes, interrogated through the lens of the sedimentary record. His research is usually field based, and complemented by a variety of analytical methods including U-Th-Pb geochronology, Lu-Hf and trace element geochemistry, stable isotopic analysis (O and H), and (U-Th)/He thermochronology. Kurt likes to take a quantitative approach to geologic questions, which has led him down a fun path of developing and applying quantitative sediment provenance methods, building on my Ph.D. research. He continues to work closely with the Arizona LaserChron Center at the University of Arizona. Kurt also maintains community involvement by engaging in LA-ICP-MS geochronology-geochemistry workshops, short courses, town halls, and by continuing to develop and maintaining data reduction-visualization-interpretation-archiving software for the LaserChron Center (AgeCalcML).

Registration is open until 10:00 am, Friday, November 11th

This is an in-person and online event!

The cost is $30.00 for current members and $40.00 for non-members. Web only Zoom registration is $10.00 ($5.00 for students). Unemployed individuals may sign up for lunch for just $20.00. Students may sign up for lunch for $20.00. Persons who do not wish to have lunch are welcome for a $20.00 fee. Walk-ins may purchase a lunch for the standard fees ($30.00 or $40.00) although quantities are limited. Walk-ins without a lunch are charged a $15.00 fee.

Please submit reservations by 10:00 a.m. the Friday before the talk.

Reservations may be secured online or by e-mail at information@rmssepm.org

CO2 Sequestration in the Powder River Basin: Wyoming CarbonSAFE Geologic Modeling and Dynamic Reservoir Simulation Results

Presented by:

John Templeton

Geoscientist, University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC)

11:30 Reception | 11:45 Lunch | 12:00 Talk
Rock Bottom Brewery-Banquet Room
1001 16th St Mall, Denver, CO 80265

Abstract

Wyoming CarbonSAFE is a DOE-funded initiative to accelerate CCUS (carbon capture, utilization, and storage) commercialization and deployment at the Dry Fork Power Station near Gillette, Wyoming. Led by the University of Wyoming Center for Economic Geology Research (CEGR), the goal of the project is to finalize site characterization and complete Underground Injection Control (UIC) Class VI permits to inject up to 50 Mt of CO2 over 30 years into deep saline reservoirs, the Minnelusa and Hulett Formations. The Hulett is a nearshore marine sand with facies belts that strike along a paleo shoreline trend. The Minnelusa is a more complicated system of mixed aeolianites and shallow marine carbonates, capped by an angular unconformity. To date, completed work by CEGR and project partner the University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) includes: regional subsurface geologic characterization and static 3D geologic model construction (integrating well log, core and engineering data from two stratigraphic test wells, petrophysics, and seismic data); dynamic reservoir simulation of CO2 injection using CMG software; and determination of the area of review (AOR) and plume stability, based on simulation results. This talk will briefly review the geologic characterization and modeling work and present workflows and results from two different approaches to determining the AOR as well as plume stability analysis, both of which are critical pieces of a Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality UIC Class VI permit application.

Biography:

Dr. John A. Templeton is a Senior Geoscientist at the EERC, where he employs his expertise in well log interpretation, seismic interpretation, geomodel construction and exploration geology workflows as a project integration specialist. In this role, he interfaces with a diverse team of scientists and engineers to assess project uncertainties in oil and gas development and geologic CO2 storage, including developing geologic models of the subsurface and performing regional geological characterization, integrating multiple diverse datasets. Prior to working at the EERC, Dr. Templeton worked for ConocoPhillips in the international and Lower 48 exploration teams, helping develop a new strategy for unconventional (tight reservoir) exploration and leading teams tasked with assessing prospects across the Rocky Mountain and Gulf Coast regions. He also has experience as a development geologist in the Permian basin. Dr. Templeton holds a Ph.D. degree in structural geology and tectonics from Columbia University, an M.Div. degree from Wake Forest University, and a B.S. degree in Geology and Chemistry from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Dr. Templeton’s principal areas of interest and expertise include structural geology, tectonics, sedimentology and stratigraphy, geophysical interpretation, and exploration geology. His research areas include subjects ranging from Basin and Range tectonics in Nevada, to Caledonian tectonics and sedimentology in Scotland and Norway, to advanced geophysical analysis of seismic attribute (frequency decomposition) volumes, and CSS plume stabilization. John also has a passion for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work and serves on the DEI committee at the EERC.

Registration is open until 10:00 am, Friday, October 21st

This is an in-person and online event!

The cost is $30.00 for current members and $40.00 for non-members ($10 of which pays for an annual membership in the RMS-SEPM). Web only registration is $15.00. Unemployed individuals may sign up for lunch for just $20.00. Students may sign up for lunch for $20.00. Persons who do not wish to have lunch are welcome for a $20.00 fee. Walk-ins may purchase a lunch for the standard fees ($35.00 or $40.00) although quantities are limited. Walk-ins without a lunch are charged a $10.00 fee.

Please submit reservations by 10:00 a.m. the Friday before the talk.

Reservations may be secured online or by e-mail at information@rmssepm.org

The dawn of the Cretaceous Interior Seaway: Sedimentological and geochemical insights from the Lower Cretaceous Skull Creek Formation, Colorado

Presented by:

Patrick Sullivan

Ph.D. student in the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines

11:30 Reception | 11:45 Lunch | 12:00 Talk
Rock Bottom Brewery-Banquet Room
1001 16th St Mall, Denver, CO 80265

Abstract

The Skull Creek Formation is a succession of marine mudstones and sandstones within the Lower Cretaceous Dakota Group. The formation contains the earliest record of marine deposition and ocean connection in the Western Interior Seaway (WIS), yet its depositional environments, stratigraphic correlations, and paleogeographic evolution remain poorly understood. This study addresses those uncertainties and presents new sedimentological and geochemical data from four cores and 38 well logs in the central Denver Basin, integrating them into previous outcrop and subsurface studies of the Skull Creek Formation. 

Three regional flooding surfaces divide the Skull Creek Formation into informal lower, middle, and upper units which record the paleogeographic evolution of the early WIS. The lower Skull Creek Formation was deposited in a restricted lobe of the Arctic ocean, contains predominately oxygenated, organic matter (OM)-poor basinal to lower slope facies and includes the Eldorado Springs Member, a northwest to southeast-oriented wave-dominated sandstone. The Eldorado Springs Member is the only documented coeval shoreline of the Skull Creek seaway in the Rocky Mountain Region. The middle Skull Creek Formation exhibits anoxic, OM-rich calcareous basinal facies and is hypothesized to represent the earliest connection between the Arctic and Tethyan lobes of the WIS. A unique bioclastic calcarernite facies in the middle Skull Creek Formation is interpreted to signal the onset of this seaway connection, and an associated increase in bottom current strength and biological productivity. These lithofacies persist into the upper Skull Creek Formation, indicating the WIS remained connected until the deposition of the overlying Muddy Formation. 

Biography:

Patrick Sullivan is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, where he received his M.S. in 2021. He is currently a research assistant working with Dr. Stephen Sonnenberg in the Mudrocks and Tight Oil Characterization (MUDTOC) research consortium. He has worked on the geochemistry and stratigraphy of several deposits of the fascinating Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway and his current thesis research continues this trend, focusing on the regional sedimentology, geochronology and petroleum geology of the Turonian Wall Creek-Turner system in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. His M.S. thesis research on the geochemistry and mudstone sedimentology of the Early Cretaceous Skull Creek Shale culminated in a manuscript accepted into the AAPG Bulletin (2022, in press). Patrick is also a leader of the Rocky Mountain Paleomap Project, an effort to create metadata-rich facies and satellite maps of ancient landscapes of the Rocky Mountain Region.

Registration closed - email information@rmssepm.org to attend

This is an in-person and online event!

The cost is $30.00 for current members and $40.00 for non-members ($10 of which pays for an annual membership in the RMS-SEPM). Web only registration is $15.00. Unemployed individuals may sign up for lunch for just $20.00. Students may sign up for lunch for $20.00. Persons who do not wish to have lunch are welcome for a $20.00 fee. Walk-ins may purchase a lunch for the standard fees ($35.00 or $40.00) although quantities are limited. Walk-ins without a lunch are charged a $10.00 fee.

Please submit reservations by 10:00 a.m. the Friday before the talk.

Reservations may be secured online or by e-mail at information@rmssepm.org