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Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Lower Indus Basin, Pakistan, 2017

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered, technically recoverable resources of 164 million barrels of oil and 24.6 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Lower Indus Basin, Pakistan.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Timothy R. Klett, Thomas M. Finn, Tracey J. Mercier, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra, Phuong A. Le, Sarah J. Hawkins, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller

Mantle and crustal gases of the Colorado Plateau: Geochemistry, sources, and migration pathways

The Colorado Plateau hosts several large accumulations of naturally occurring, non-hydrocarbon gases, including CO2, N2, and the noble gases, making it a good field location to study the fluxes of these gases within the crust and to the atmosphere. In this study, we present a compilation of 1252 published gas-composition measurements. The data reveal at least three natural gas associations in the
Authors
William H. Craddock, Madalyn S. Blondes, Christina A. DeVera, Andrew G. Hunt

East African weathering dynamics controlled by vegetation-climate feedbacks

Tropical weathering has important linkages to global biogeochemistry and landscape evolution in the East African rift. We disentangle the influences of climate and terrestrial vegetation on chemical weathering intensity and erosion at Lake Malawi using a long sediment record. Fossil pollen, microcharcoal, particle size, and mineralogy data affirm that the detrital clays accumulating in deep water
Authors
Sarah J. Ivory, Michael M. McGlue, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Adam Boehlke, Anne-Marie Lézine, Annie Vincens, Andrew S. Cohen

Play-fairway analysis for geothermal resources and exploration risk in the Modoc Plateau region

The region surrounding the Modoc Plateau, encompassing parts of northeastern California, southern Oregon, and northwestern Nevada, lies at an intersection between two tectonic provinces; the Basin and Range province and the Cascade volcanic arc. Both of these provinces have substantial geothermal resource base and resource potential. Geothermal systems with evidence of magmatic heat, associated wi
Authors
Drew Siler, Yingqi Zhang, Nicolas F. Spycher, Patrick Dobson, James S. McClain, Erika Gasperikova, Robert A. Zierenberg, Peter Schiffman, Colin Ferguson, Andrew Fowler, Carolyn Cantwell

Extension of the analytical window for characterizing aromatic compounds in oils using a comprehensive suite of high-resolution mass spectrometry techniques and double bond equivalence versus carbon number plot

In this study, comprehensive two-dimensional (2D) gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometry (MS), and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) were used to study the aromatic fractions of crude oil and oil shale pyrolysates (shale oils). The collected data were compared and combined
Authors
Yunju Cho, Justin E. Birdwell, Manhoi Hur, Joonhee Lee, Byungjoo Kim, Sunghwan Kim

Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources in the Neuquén Basin Province, Argentina, 2016

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey assessed undiscovered, technically recoverable mean continuous resources of 14.4 billion barrels of oil and 38 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Neuquén Basin Province, Argentina.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Timothy R. Klett, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Tracey J. Mercier, Janet K. Pitman, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Thomas M. Finn, Michael E. Brownfield, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Kristen R. Marra

Characterization and origin of brines from the Bakken-Three Forks petroleum system in the Williston Basin, USA

Brine (also referred to as ‘produced water’) samples were collected from 28 wells producing oil from the Late Devonian-Early Mississippian Bakken and Three Forks Formations in the Williston Basin of eastern Montana and western North Dakota. The samples were analyzed for major ions, trace metals, stable isotopes, and strontium isotopes. The brines in these formations are highly saline with total di
Authors
Zell E. Peterman, Joanna N. Thamke, Kiyoto Futa, Thomas A. Oliver

Observed correlation between the depth to base and top of gas hydrate occurrence from review of global drilling data

A global inventory of data from gas hydrate drilling expeditions is used to develop relationships between the base of structure I gas hydrate stability, top of gas hydrate occurrence, sulfate-methane transition depth, pressure (water depth), and geothermal gradients. The motivation of this study is to provide first-order estimates of the top of gas hydrate occurrence and associated thickness of th
Authors
Michael Riedel, Timothy S. Collett

Assessment of undiscovered continuous gas resources in the Amu Darya Basin Province of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, and Afghanistan, 2017

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered, technically recoverable continuous resources of 35.1 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Amu Darya Basin Province of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, and Afghanistan.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Tracey J. Mercier, Sarah J. Hawkins, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra, Timothy R. Klett, Phuong A. Le, Michael E. Brownfield, Cheryl A. Woodall

Utilization of integrated correlative light and electron microscopy (iCLEM) for imaging sedimentary organic matter

We report here a new microscopic technique for imaging and identifying sedimentary organic matter in geologic materials that combines inverted fluorescence microscopy with scanning electron microscopy and allows for sequential imaging of the same region of interest without transferring the sample between instruments. This integrated correlative light and electron microscopy technique is demonstrat
Authors
Paul C. Hackley, Brett J. Valentine, Leonard M. Voortman, Daan van Oosten Slingeland, Javin J. Hatcherian

Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Cuyo Basin Province, Argentina, 2017

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered, technically recoverable resources of 236 million barrels of oil and 112 billion cubic feet of associated gas in the Cuyo Basin Province, Argentina.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Michael E. Brownfield, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Phuong A. Le, Tracey J. Mercier, Thomas M. Finn, Sarah J. Hawkins, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra, Timothy R. Klett, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Cheryl A. Woodall

Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources in the San Jorge Basin Province, Argentina, 2017

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered, technically recoverable resources of 78 million barrels of oil and 8.9 trillion cubic feet of gas in the San Jorge Basin Province, Argentina.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Sarah J. Hawkins, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Kristen R. Marra, Thomas M. Finn, Phuong A. Le, Michael E. Brownfield, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Cheryl A. Woodall