Publications
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Geologic characterization and depositional history of the Uteland Butte member, Green River Formation, southwestern Uinta Basin, Utah
The 15- to 65-m-thick informal Uteland Butte member of the Eocene Green River Formation represents the first widespread transgression of Lake Uinta in the Uinta Basin, Utah. This study assesses the spatial and temporal variation of Uteland Butte member deposits along a 40-km transect in the southwestern margin of the Uinta Basin using detailed measured sections, organic and inorganic geochemical d
Authors
Ryan D. Gall, Justin E. Birdwell, Riley Brinkerhoff, Michael D. Vanden Berg
Geochemical studies of the Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin, Colorado: I. Major, minor, and trace elements
The Eocene Green River Formation contains the largest oil shale deposits in the world and is a welldocumented example of a lacustrine depositional system. In addition, mineral resources associated with oil shale in the Piceance Basin nahcolite [NaHCO3] and dawsonite [NaAl(CO3)(OH)2)] are of current and potential economic value, respectively. Detailed geochemical analysis across the basin can aid i
Authors
Jeremy Boak, Tengfei Wu, Justin E. Birdwell
Geological reservoir characterization of a gas hydrate prospect associated with the Hydrate-01 Stratigraphic Test Well, Alaska North Slope
Geological reservoir characterization is essential for accurate evaluation of gas production performance from gas hydrate reservoirs. Particularly, the understanding of reservoir architecture and heterogeneity is of great importance since these are considered as major controls on fluid hydrodynamic and thermodynamic conditions. This study deals with well log and three-dimensional (3-D) vertical se
Authors
Machiko Tamaki, Akira Fujimoto, Ray Boswell, Timothy Collett
Virtual special issue of recent advances on gas hydrates scientific drilling in Alaska
Gas hydrate refers to a non-stoichiometric clathrate that forms spontaneously in the natural environment whenever sufficient quantities of gases of appropriate size (most commonly methane) interact with abundant water under specific conditions of temperature and pressure. (1,2) Such conditions occur wherever the shallow geothermal gradient has been suppressed by either deepwater or thick permafros
Authors
Ray Boswell, Koji Yamamoto, Timothy S. Collett, Norihiro Okinaka
The role of organic matter diversity on the Re-Os systematics of organic-rich sedimentary units: Insights into the controls of isochron age determinations from the lacustrine Green River Formation
The range of 187Re/188Os values measured from samples of five organic-rich lacustrine mudstones units in the Eocene Green River Formation in the easternmost Uinta Basin covaries with organic matter diversity driven by changing water column conditions. A set of samples from the Douglas Creek Member has the highest pristane/phytane ratio and lowest β-carotane/n-C30 ratio compared to overlying units,
Authors
Jeffrey T Pietras, Abby Dennett, David Selby, Justin E. Birdwell
Possible effects of multiphase methane evolution during a glacial cycle on underpressure development in sedimentary basins: An analysis with application to the northeast Michigan Basin
In low-permeability systems, groundwater may be accompanied by separate-phase fluids, and measured pore water pressures may deviate from those expected in steady-state, single-phase systems. These same systems may be of interest for storage of nuclear waste in Deep Geologic Repositories. Therefore, it is important to understand the relationship between the presence of a separate phase and anomalou
Authors
Michelle R. Plampin, Alden M. Provost
Understanding the evolution of groundwater-contaminant plume chemistry emanating from legacy contaminant sources: An example from a long-term crude oil spill
Understanding the evolution of plumes emanating from residual hydrocarbon contaminant sources requires evaluating how changes in source compositions over time cause changes in dissolved plume chemistry as residual sources age. This study investigates such changes at the site of a 1979 crude-oil pipeline spill and is the first comprehensive look at groundwater chemistry associated with a residual h
Authors
Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Mary Jo Baedecker, Adam Mumford, Jeanne B. Jaeschke, Tracey Spencer
Geoenvironmental model for roll-type uranium deposits in the Texas Gulf Coast
Geoenvironmental models were formulated by the U.S. Geological Survey in the 1990s to describe potential environmental effects of extracting different types of ore deposits in different geologic and climatic regions. This paper presents a geoenvironmental model for roll-front (roll-type) uranium deposits in the Texas Coastal Plain. The model reviews descriptive and quantitative information derived
Authors
Katherine Walton-Day, Johanna Blake, Robert R. Seal, Tanya J. Gallegos, Jean Dupree, Kent D Becher
Maturation study of vitrinite in carbonaceous shales and coals: Insights from hydrous pyrolysis
The presence of vitrinite in sedimentary rocks of post-Silurian age allows its reflectance to be used to estimate the thermal maturation of organic matter in petroleum systems. Increasing reflectance of vitrinite, which is primarily driven by aromaticity, depends primarily on the time and temperature attributes of its evolutionary pathway. This study evaluated carbonaceous shales proximal to coal
Authors
Divya K. Mishra, Paul C. Hackley, Aaron M. Jubb, Margaret M. Sanders, Shailesh Agrawal, Atul K. Varma
A novel method for conducting a geoenvironmental assessment of undiscovered ISR-amenable uranium Resources: Proof-of-concept in the Texas Coastal Plain
A geoenvironmental assessment methodology was developed to estimate waste quantities and disturbances that could be associated with the extraction of undiscovered uranium resources and identify areas on the landscape where uranium and other constituents of potential concern (COPCs) that may co-occur with uranium deposits in this region are likely to persist, if introduced into the environment. Pri
Authors
Tanya J. Gallegos, Victoria G. Stengel, Katherine Walton-Day, Johanna Blake, Andrew Teeple, Delbert G Humberson, Steven M. Cahan, Douglas Yager, Kent D Becher
U-Pb and fission-track data from zircon and apatite resolve latest- and post-Alleghanian thermal histories along the Fall Line of the Atlantic margin of the southeastern United States
Although the Atlantic continental margin of the eastern United States is an archetypal passive margin, episodes of rejuvenation following continental breakup are increasingly well documented. To better constrain this history of rejuvenation along the southern portion of this continental margin, we present zircon U-Pb (ZUPb) age, zircon fission-track (ZFT) age, apatite U-Pb (AUPb) age, and apatite
Authors
William H. Craddock, Paul O'Sullivan, Ryan J. McAleer
Dissolved organic matter within oil and gas associated wastewaters from U.S. unconventional petroleum plays: Comparisons and consequences for disposal and reuse
Wastewater generated during petroleum extraction (produced water) may contain high concentrations of dissolved organics due to their intimate association with organic-rich source rocks, expelled petroleum, and organic additives to fluids used for hydraulic fracturing of unconventional (e.g., shale) reservoirs. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) within produced water represents a challenge for treatmen
Authors
Bonnie McDevitt, Aaron M. Jubb, Matthew S. Varonka, Madalyn S. Blondes, Mark A Engle, Tanya J. Gallegos, Jenna L. Shelton