Publications
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Gas hydrate identified in sand-rich inferred sedimentary section using downhole logging and seismic data in Shenhu area, South China Sea
Downhole wireline log (DWL) data was acquired from eight drill sites during China's first gas hydrate drilling expedition (GMGS-1) in 2007. Initial analyses of the acquired well log data suggested that there were no significant gas hydrate occurrences at Site SH4. However, the re-examination of the DWL data from Site SH4 indicated that there are two intervals of high resistivity, which could be in
Authors
Xiujuan Wang, Myung W. Lee, Timothy S. Collett, Shengxiong Yang, Yiqun Guo, Shiguo Wu
Modified expression for bulb-tracer depletion—Effect on argon dating standards
40Ar/39Ar geochronology depends critically on well-calibrated standards, often traceable to first-principles K-Ar age calibrations using bulb-tracer systems. Tracer systems also provide precise standards for noble-gas studies and interlaboratory calibration. The exponential expression long used for calculating isotope tracer concentrations in K-Ar age dating and calibration of 40Ar/39Ar age standa
Authors
Robert J. Fleck, Andrew T. Calvert
The use of solvent extractions and solubility theory to discern hydrocarbon associations in coal, with application to the coal-supercritical CO2 system
Samples of three high volatile bituminous coals were subjected to parallel sets of extractions involving solvents dichloromethane (DCM), carbon disulfide (CS2), and supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) (40 °C, 100 bar) to study processes affecting coal–solvent interactions. Recoveries of perdeuterated surrogate compounds, n-hexadecane-d34 and four polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), added as a
Authors
Jonathan J. Kolak, Robert A. Burruss
Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources: Alaska North Slope and Kandik Basin, Alaska
This report presents fourteen storage assessment units (SAUs) from the Alaska North Slope and two SAUs from the Kandik Basin of Alaska. The Alaska North Slope is a broad, north-dipping coastal plain that is underlain by a thick succession of sedimentary rocks that accumulated steadily throughout much of the Phanerozoic during three major tectonic sequences: the Mississippian through Triassic Elles
Authors
William H. Craddock, Marc L. Buursink, Jacob A. Covault, Sean T. Brennan, Colin A. Doolan, Ronald M. Drake, Matthew D. Merrill, Tina L. Roberts-Ashby, Ernie R. Slucher, Peter D. Warwick, Madalyn S. Blondes, P.A. Freeman, Steven M. Cahan, Christina A. DeVera, Celeste D. Lohr
Compositional and stable carbon isotopic fractionation during non-autocatalytic thermochemical sulfate reduction by gaseous hydrocarbons
The possibility of autocatalysis during thermochemical sulfate reduction (TSR) by gaseous hydrocarbons was investigated by examination of previously reported laboratory and field data. This reaction was found to be a kinetically controlled non-autocatalytic process, and the apparent lack of autocatalysis is thought to be due to the absence of the required intermediate species. Kinetic parameters f
Authors
Xinyu Xia, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Qisheng Ma, Yongchun Tang
Brine contamination to aquatic resources from oil and gas development in the Williston Basin, United States
The Williston Basin, which includes parts of Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota in the United States and the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan in Canada, has been a leading domestic oil and gas producing region for more than one-half a century. Currently, there are renewed efforts to develop oil and gas resources from deep geologic formations, spurred by advances in recovery technologies
Authors
Tara L. Chesley-Preston, James L. Coleman, Robert A. Gleason, Seth S. Haines, Karen E. Jenni, Timothy L. Nieman, Zell E. Peterman, Max Post van der Burg, Todd M. Preston, Bruce D. Smith, Brian A. Tangen, Joanna N. Thamke
Spatial and stratigraphic distribution of water in oil shale of the Green River Formation using Fischer assay, Piceance Basin, northwestern Colorado
The spatial and stratigraphic distribution of water in oil shale of the Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin of northwestern Colorado was studied in detail using some 321,000 Fischer assay analyses in the U.S. Geological Survey oil-shale database. The oil-shale section was subdivided into 17 roughly time-stratigraphic intervals, and the distribution of water in each interval was asse
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, Tracey J. Mercier, Michael E. Brownfield
Benzo[b]naphthothiophenes and alkyl dibenzothiophenes: molecular tracers for oil migration distances
The secondary migration of petroleum is one of the most critical geological processes responsible for the accumulation of hydrocarbons in a sedimentary basin. Pyrrolic nitrogen compounds such as carbazoles and benzocarbazoles are thought to be practical molecular indicators for estimating relative migration distances of oil. In light oils or condensates, however, considerable analytical errors are
Authors
Meijun Li, T.-G. Wang, Shengbao Shi, Keyu Liu, Geoffrey S. Ellis
Effects of smectite on the oil-expulsion efficiency of the Kreyenhagen Shale, San Joaquin Basin, California, based on hydrous-pyrolysis experiments
The amount of oil that maturing source rocks expel is expressed as their expulsion efficiency, which is usually stated in milligrams of expelled oil per gram of original total organic carbon (TOCO). Oil-expulsion efficiency can be determined by heating thermally immature source rocks in the presence of liquid water (i.e., hydrous pyrolysis) at temperatures between 350°C and 365°C for 72 hr. This p
Authors
Michael D. Lewan, Michael P. Dolan, John B. Curtis
Relationships between water and gas chemistry in mature coalbed methane reservoirs of the Black Warrior Basin
Water and gas chemistry in coalbed methane reservoirs of the Black Warrior Basin reflects a complex interplay among burial processes, basin hydrodynamics, thermogenesis, and late-stage microbial methanogenesis. These factors are all important considerations for developing production and water management strategies. Produced water ranges from nearly potable sodium-bicarbonate water to hypersaline s
Authors
Jack C. Pashin, Marcella R. McIntyre-Redden, Steven D. Mann, David C. Kopaska-Merkel, Matthew S. Varonka, William H. Orem
Organic substances in produced and formation water from unconventional natural gas extraction in coal and shale
Organic substances in produced and formation water from coalbed methane (CBM) and gas shale plays from across the USA were examined in this study. Disposal of produced waters from gas extraction in coal and shale is an important environmental issue because of the large volumes of water involved and the variable quality of this water. Organic substances in produced water may be environmentally rele
Authors
William H. Orem, Calin A. Tatu, Matthew S. Varonka, Harry E. Lerch, Anne L. Bates, Mark A. Engle, Lynn M. Crosby, Jennifer McIntosh
Cruise report for P1-13-LA, U.S. Geological Survey gas hydrates research cruise, R/V Pelican April 18 to May 3, 2013, deepwater Gulf of Mexico
The U.S. Geological Survey led a seismic acquisition cruise in the Gulf of Mexico from April 18 to May 3, 2013, with the objectives of (1) achieving improved imaging and characterization at two established gas hydrate study sites, and (2) refining geophysical methods for gas hydrate characterization in other locations. We conducted this acquisition aboard the R/V Pelican, and used a pair of 105/10
Authors
Seth S. Haines, Patrick E. Hart, Carolyn Ruppel, Thomas O'Brien, Wayne Baldwin, Jenny White, Eric Moore, Peter Dal Ferro, Peter Lemmond