Gulf Coast Geologic Energy Research
USGS Research Drilling Rig in Kinney County, TX, in 2018
Vista of Buda, Eagle Ford, and Austin Formations, Terrell County, TX
The Gulf Coast Geologic Energy Assessments and Research (GEAR) project also conducts research on the properties and processes relevant to the Gulf Coast Jurassic-Cretaceous-Tertiary composite total petroleum system (TPS). This research aims to improve ongoing and future undiscovered, technically recoverable hydrocarbon resources assessments on the onshore and State waters portion of the Gulf Coast basin. Important research avenues include the nature and distribution of source rocks, reservoirs, traps, and seals as well as how the temporal evolution of the TPS affected petroleum migration and accumulations.
Research efforts on the Gulf Coast GEAR project include a focus on Jurassic and Cretaceous petroleum source intervals and charged reservoirs to support the prioritization of hydrocarbon resources assessments in Mesozoic strata. The project also plans to investigate potential energy resources in the Atlantic Coastal Plain provinces and adjacent offshore areas as they are analogous to the Gulf Coast region.
The Gulf Coast GEAR project is also constructing a subsurface geoscience database that will include type logs across the U.S. Gulf Coast basin and contain geophysical logs, interpreted geologic formation top depths, and paleontological data. This effort is a response to the 2018 review of the USGS Energy Resources Program by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which indicated that the program should improve its ability to make petroleum resource data publicly available in a timely manner. Data from the subsurface geoscience and source rock databases are vital for the characterization of hydrocarbon plays by the stakeholder as well as for potential geologic carbon sequestration, subsurface energy store, or paleoclimate reconstruction.
Another research goal is to conduct more robust and interdisciplinary source rock studies on organic-rich mudstones, which can be considered the foundations of petroleum systems. Source rock properties vary both vertically within a stratigraphic unit and geographically across a basin or region. These spatial patterns of source rock composition variability influence the development of hydrocarbon assessment unit boundaries. Increased understanding of controls on source rock formation, compositional variability, and thermal maturity trends can inform the development of geologic models used in USGS petroleum resource assessments. This research on organic-rich mudstone source rocks may also provide insights into paleoclimate, carbon cycling, and oceanic conditions to better understand how conditions in the past varied and changed over time.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Below are publications associated with this project.
Challenge theme 5: Current and future needs of energy and mineral resources in the Borderlands and the effects of their development: Chapter 7 in United States-Mexican Borderlands: Facing tomorrow's challenges through USGS science
U-Pb ages of detrital zircons from the Tertiary Mississippi River delta plain in central Louisiana: Insights into sediment provenance
Distribution of regional pressure in the onshore and offshore Gulf of Mexico basin, USA
Regional map of the 0.70 psi/ft pressure gradient and development of the regional geopressure-gradient model for the onshore and offshore Gulf of Mexico basin, USA
Modeling the mesozoic-cenozoic structural evolution of east texas
Overpressure and hydrocarbon accumulations in Tertiary strata, Gulf Coast of Louisiana
Temperature and petroleum generation history of the Wilcox Formation, Louisiana
Geology and sequence stratigraphy of undiscovered oil and gas resources in conventional and continuous petroleum systems in the Upper Cretaceous Eagle Ford Group and related strata, U.S. Gulf Coast Region
Extended Abstract: Geologic evaluation of regional production trends in the Upper Cretaceous Austin Chalk
Correlation of resource plays and biodiversity patterns: accumulation of organic-rich shale tracks taxonomic turnover
Digital archive of drilling mud weight pressures and wellbore temperatures from 49 regional cross sections of 967 well logs in Louisiana and Texas, onshore Gulf of Mexico basin
Natural gas production and anomalous geothermal gradients of the deep Tuscaloosa Formation
Below are news stories associated with this project.
The Gulf Coast Geologic Energy Assessments and Research (GEAR) project also conducts research on the properties and processes relevant to the Gulf Coast Jurassic-Cretaceous-Tertiary composite total petroleum system (TPS). This research aims to improve ongoing and future undiscovered, technically recoverable hydrocarbon resources assessments on the onshore and State waters portion of the Gulf Coast basin. Important research avenues include the nature and distribution of source rocks, reservoirs, traps, and seals as well as how the temporal evolution of the TPS affected petroleum migration and accumulations.
Research efforts on the Gulf Coast GEAR project include a focus on Jurassic and Cretaceous petroleum source intervals and charged reservoirs to support the prioritization of hydrocarbon resources assessments in Mesozoic strata. The project also plans to investigate potential energy resources in the Atlantic Coastal Plain provinces and adjacent offshore areas as they are analogous to the Gulf Coast region.
The Gulf Coast GEAR project is also constructing a subsurface geoscience database that will include type logs across the U.S. Gulf Coast basin and contain geophysical logs, interpreted geologic formation top depths, and paleontological data. This effort is a response to the 2018 review of the USGS Energy Resources Program by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which indicated that the program should improve its ability to make petroleum resource data publicly available in a timely manner. Data from the subsurface geoscience and source rock databases are vital for the characterization of hydrocarbon plays by the stakeholder as well as for potential geologic carbon sequestration, subsurface energy store, or paleoclimate reconstruction.
Another research goal is to conduct more robust and interdisciplinary source rock studies on organic-rich mudstones, which can be considered the foundations of petroleum systems. Source rock properties vary both vertically within a stratigraphic unit and geographically across a basin or region. These spatial patterns of source rock composition variability influence the development of hydrocarbon assessment unit boundaries. Increased understanding of controls on source rock formation, compositional variability, and thermal maturity trends can inform the development of geologic models used in USGS petroleum resource assessments. This research on organic-rich mudstone source rocks may also provide insights into paleoclimate, carbon cycling, and oceanic conditions to better understand how conditions in the past varied and changed over time.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Below are publications associated with this project.
Challenge theme 5: Current and future needs of energy and mineral resources in the Borderlands and the effects of their development: Chapter 7 in United States-Mexican Borderlands: Facing tomorrow's challenges through USGS science
U-Pb ages of detrital zircons from the Tertiary Mississippi River delta plain in central Louisiana: Insights into sediment provenance
Distribution of regional pressure in the onshore and offshore Gulf of Mexico basin, USA
Regional map of the 0.70 psi/ft pressure gradient and development of the regional geopressure-gradient model for the onshore and offshore Gulf of Mexico basin, USA
Modeling the mesozoic-cenozoic structural evolution of east texas
Overpressure and hydrocarbon accumulations in Tertiary strata, Gulf Coast of Louisiana
Temperature and petroleum generation history of the Wilcox Formation, Louisiana
Geology and sequence stratigraphy of undiscovered oil and gas resources in conventional and continuous petroleum systems in the Upper Cretaceous Eagle Ford Group and related strata, U.S. Gulf Coast Region
Extended Abstract: Geologic evaluation of regional production trends in the Upper Cretaceous Austin Chalk
Correlation of resource plays and biodiversity patterns: accumulation of organic-rich shale tracks taxonomic turnover
Digital archive of drilling mud weight pressures and wellbore temperatures from 49 regional cross sections of 967 well logs in Louisiana and Texas, onshore Gulf of Mexico basin
Natural gas production and anomalous geothermal gradients of the deep Tuscaloosa Formation
Below are news stories associated with this project.