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Publications

Listed below are publication products directly associated with the Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center:

Filter Total Items: 1162

Probabilistic methodology for the assessment of original and recoverable coal resources, illustrated with an application to a coal bed in the Fort Union Formation, Wyoming

Executive SummaryThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been using its Circular 891 for evaluating uncertainty in coal resource assessments for more than 35 years. Calculated cell tonnages are assigned to four qualitative reliability classes depending exclusively on distance to the nearest drill hole. The main appeal of this methodology, simplicity, is also its main drawback. Reliability may depend
Authors
Ricardo A. Olea, Brian N. Shaffer, Jon E. Haacke, James A. Luppens

Age and tectonic setting of the Quinebaug-Marlboro belt and implications for the history of Ganderian crustal fragments in southeastern New England, USA

Crustal fragments underlain by high-grade rocks represent a challenge to plate reconstructions, and integrated mapping, geochronology, and geochemistry enable the unravelling of the temporal and spatial history of exotic crustal blocks. The Quinebaug-Marlboro belt (QMB) is an enigmatic fragment on the trailing edge of the peri-Gondwanan Ganderian margin of southeastern New England. SHRIMP U-Pb geo
Authors
Gregory J. Walsh, John N. Aleinikoff, Robert A. Ayuso, Robert P. Wintsch

A review of sand detachment in modern deep marine environments: Analogues for upslope stratigraphic traps

Isolated, detached sands provide opportunities for large-volume stratigraphic traps in many deepwater petroleum systems. Here we provide a review of the different types of sandbody detachments based on published data from the modern-day seafloor and recent (generally Quaternary-present), shallow-buried strata. Detachment mechanisms can be classified based on their timing of formation relative to d
Authors
John W. Counts, Lawrence Amy, Aggeliki Georgiopoulou, Peter Haughton

Multivariate classification of the crude oil petroleum systems in southeast Texas, USA, using conventional and compositional data analysis of biomarkers

Chemically, petroleum is an extraordinarily complex mixture of different types of hydrocarbons that are now possible to isolate and identify because of advances in geochemistry. Here, we use biomarkers and carbon isotopes to establish genetic differences and similarities among oil samples. Conventional approaches for evaluating biomarker and carbon isotope relative abundances include statistical t
Authors
Ricardo A. Olea, J. A Martin-Fernandez, William H. Craddock

Demographic and potential biological removal models identify raptor species sensitive to current and future wind energy

A central challenge in applied ecology is understanding the effect of anthropogenic fatalities on wildlife populations and predicting which populations may be particularly vulnerable and in greatest need of management attention. We used 3 approaches to investigate potential effects of fatalities from collisions with wind turbines on 14 raptor species for both current (106 GW) and anticipated futur
Authors
James E. Diffendorfer, Jessica C. Stanton, Julie A. Beston, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Scott R. Loss, Todd E. Katzner, Douglas H. Johnson, Richard A. Erickson, Matthew D. Merrill, Margo D. Corum

Relating Tmax and hydrogen index to vitrinite and solid bitumen reflectance in hydrous pyrolysis residues: Comparisons to natural thermal indices

Vitrinite reflectance (VRo; %) generally is considered the most reliable technique to determine the thermal maturity of sedimentary rocks. However, it is a time-consuming process to collect reflectance (Ro; %) measurements and is subjective to the interpretation of each trained technician, who must be able to discern between vitrinite and solid bitumen and other organic matter types. Inadvertent m
Authors
Celeste D. Lohr, Paul C. Hackley

Insights on the characteristics and sources of gas from an underground coal mine using compositional data analysis

Coal mine gas originates from the gas emission zone (GEZ) of the mine, as well as the longwall face and pillars. Gas emissions are controlled directly at the sources using horizontal or vertical boreholes drilled from surface or from the entries in advance of mining, or it is captured from the fractured and caved zones (gob) using ventholes during mining. The rest of the gas, especially that gas t
Authors
C. Özgen Karacan, Josep Antoni Martín-Fernández, Leslie F. Ruppert, Ricardo A. Olea

Single-well production history matching and geostatistical modeling as proxy to multi-well reservoir simulation for evaluating dynamic reservoir properties of coal seams

Reservoir properties of coal seams such as gas and water effective permeabilities and gas content, as well as spatial distributions thereof, affect the success of gas production and CO2-enhanced gas recovery (EGR) with simultaneous CO2 sequestration. These properties change during production and injection operations due to variations in reservoir pressure, matrix shrinkage/swelling, and water satu
Authors
C. Özgen Karacan

An integrated geochemical, spectroscopic, and petrographic approach to examining the producibility of hydrocarbons from liquids-rich unconventional formations

The geochemical and petrophysical complexity of source-rock reservoirs in liquids-rich unconventional (LRU) plays necessitates the implementation of a more expansive analytical protocol for initial play assessment. In this study, original samples from selected source-rock reservoirs in the USA and the UK were analyzed by 22 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (HF-NMR) T1-T2 mapping, followed by hydrous
Authors
Thomas Gentzis, Humberto Carvajal-Ortiz, Z. Harry Xie, Paul C. Hackley, Hallie Fowler

Geophysical insights into Paleoproterozoic tectonics along the southern margin of the Superior Province, central Upper Peninsula, Michigan, USA

The southern margin of the Archean Superior Province in the central Upper Peninsula of Michigan was a nexus for key Paleoproterozoic tectonic events involved in the ~2.1 Ga rifting of proposed Archean supercraton Superia and subsequent assembly of Laurentia. Interpretations of the region’s tectonic history have historically been hampered by extensive Pleistocene glacial and Paleozoic sedimentary c
Authors
Benjamin J. Drenth, William F. Cannon, Klaus J. Schulz, Robert A. Ayuso

Organo-facies and mineral effects on sorption capacity of low-maturity Permian Barakar shales from the Auranga Basin, Jharkhand, India

Shales associated with the Lower Permian (Barakar Formation) sediments of the Auranga Coalfield, India, occur in the immature–early mature stage. The sorption capacity of Barakar shale samples has been studied through high-pressure methane (CH4) adsorption and low-pressure N2 gas adsorption (LPN2GA) methods, supported with proximate analyses, programmed pyrolysis, optical petrography, and with ene
Authors
Divya Kumari Mishra, Atul Kumar Varma, Vinod Atmaram Mendhe, Shailesh Agrawal, Bhagwan Das Singh, Paul C. Hackley

Geochemical data for Illinois Basin coal samples, 2015–2018

Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and their collaborators conducted a study of the geochemical properties of coals currently produced for electric power generation in the Illinois Basin in Illinois and Indiana. The study follows from recommendations by an expert panel for the USGS to investigate the distribution and controls of trace constituents such as mercury (Hg) in Illinois Bas
Authors
Allan Kolker, Clint Scott, Liliana Lefticariu, Maria Mastalerz, Agnieszka Drobniak, Annie Scott