August 2017 Outcrop by The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

Volume 66 • No. 8 • August 2017

OUTCROP | August 2017

Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

910 16th Street • Suite 1214 • Denver, CO 80202 • 303-573-8621 The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists (RMAG) is a nonprofit organization whose purposes are to promote interest in geology and allied sciences and their practical application, to foster scientific research and to encourage fellowship and cooperation among its members. The Outcrop is a monthly publication of the RMAG.

2017 OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENT

TREASURER

Larry Rasmussen larryr@whiting.com

Karen Dean deankaren@comcast.net

PRESIDENT-ELECT

TREASURER-ELECT

Terri Olson tmolson8550@gmail.com

Robin Swank robin.swank@gmail.com

1st VICE PRESIDENT

SECRETARY

Steve Sturm 303petro.images@gmail.com

Jennifer Jones jaseitzjones@gmail.com

2nd VICE PRESIDENT

1st YEAR COUNSELOR

Cat Campbell CCampbell@bayless-cos.com

Jim Emme jim_emme@yahoo.com 2nd YEAR COUNSELOR

Rob Diedrich rdiedrich@sm-energy.com

RMAG STAFF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Barbara Kuzmic bkuzmic@rmag.org MEMBERSHIP & EVENTS MANAGER

Hannah Rogers hrogers@rmag.org ACCOUNTANT

Carol Dalton cdalton@rmag.org PROJECTS SPECIALIST

Kathy Mitchell-Garton kmitchellgarton@rmag.org LEAD EDITOR

Cheryl Fountain cwhitney@alumni.nmt.edu ASSOCIATE EDITORS

ADVERTISING INFORMATION

Rates and sizes can be found on page 3. Advertising rates apply to either black and white or color ads. Submit color ads in RGB color to be compatible with web format. Borders are recommended for advertisements that comprise less than one half page. Digital files must be PC compatible submitted in png, jpg, tif, pdf or eps formats at a minimum of 300 dpi. If you have any questions, please call the RMAG office at 303-573-8621. Ad copy, signed contract and payment must be received before advertising insertion. Contact the RMAG office for details. DEADLINES: Ad submissions are the 1st of every month for the following month’s publication.

Holly Sell holly.sell@yahoo.com Greg Guyer Greg.Guyer@halliburton.com Ron Parker ron@bhigeo.com DESIGN/LAYOUT

Nate Silva www.nate-silva.com

WEDNESDAY NOON LUNCHEON RESERVATIONS

RMAG Office: 303-573-8621 | Fax: 808-389-4090 | staff@rmag.org or www.rmag.org The Outcrop is a monthly publication of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

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Outcrop | August 2017 OUTCROP

Improve Your Skills with PTTC Petroleum Fluids and Source Rocks in E&P Projects

Wed - Thursday, August 9-10, 2017, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm, Location: Colorado School of Mines, Berthoud Hall rm. 403 Fee: $500, includes snacks, class notes, and PDH certificate Instructor: Dr. Alexei Milkov, Colorado School of Mines, Geology Dept. Course Description In this course you will learn how to sample, analyze and interpret petroleum fluids and source rocks to add value to various projects across E&P value chain. We will cover the following topics: - Fundamentals of petroleum composition and properties. - Sampling of rocks and fluids. - Analytical techniques used to evaluate potential of source rocks and composition of petroleum fluids. - Characterization and risking of source rocks and prediction of fluid properties in exploration prospects. - Interpretation of data from drilled exploration wells to assess the value of the discovery. - Use of geochemical data to assess reservoir compartmentalization during appraisal and development. - Geochemical surveillance of oil & gas production. - Use of geochemical data to locate producing intervals and allocate petroleum production. - Identification of oil sources for petroleum spills and leaks. Examples and case studies will be from both conventional and unconventional petroleum systems around the world.

Hydraulic Fracturing in Horizontal Wells

Wednesday-Thursday, September 20-21, 2017, 8:00 am – 5 pm. BP offices, 380 Airport Road, Durango CO Fee: $300, includes lunch, class notes, and PDH certificate Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Miskimins, Colorado School of Mines Course Description This two-day short course focuses on the challenges and issues that arise when hydraulic fracturing operations are conducted in horizontal wells, as compared to vertical systems. The mechanics of completion and diversion techniques and tools, such as plug-n-perf and sliding sleeves, will be discussed, along with the pros and cons of these various horizontal well completion systems. In-situ stress profiles and their effects on transverse and longitudinal fracture growth, both near wellbore and far-field, will be addressed. Stress shadowing and the resulting impacts on cluster and stage spacing will be reviewed. Proppant and fluid selection, proppant transport, and the conductivity requirements will be discussed. The application of diagnostics, such as DFIT’s and geometric measurements (tracers, microseismic, fiberoptics, etc.) will be reviewed, along with how the results can be integrated for enhancing future treatments. Other topics include: perforating, fracture clean-up, flowback, brittleness, enhanced permeability volumes, treatment optimization, and post-treatment analysis. All disciplines are welcome to attend the course; however, a basic understanding of hydraulic fracturing should already be in place prior to enrollment.

Class Descriptions and Registration: www.pttcrockies.org OUTCROP | August 2017

Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

CONTENTS FEATURES

ASSOCIATION NEWS

34 Lead Story: National Ice Core Lab:Secrets in the Ice

2 RMAG 2017 Summit Sponsors

DEPARTMENTS

8 2017 Solar Eclipse Publications Sale!

6 RMAG June 2017 Board of Directors Meeting

11 On The Rocks Field Trips

10 Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Letter

19 RMAG Breakfast Series

18 RMAG Luncheon Programs: David Wavrek

21 Sporting Clay Tournament

20 RMAG Luncheon Programs: James Hagadorn

25 RMAG DWLS Fall Symposium, RMAG Core Workshop

22 Mineral of the Month: Vesuvianite

29 RMAG/DAPL Prospect Fair & Technofest

30 Welcome New RMAG Members!

31 Core Workshop

32 In The Pipeline

33 Save The Date: Rockbusters Bash

41 Calendar

39 RMAG 2017 Short Course

COVER PHOTO Limestone towers of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. Photo by Melissa Savcic.

42 Advertiser Index 42 Outcrop Advertising Rates

Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | August 2017

RMAG JUNE 2017 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING By Jennifer Jones, Secretary jaseitzjones@gmail.com

PETROLEUM

www.sinclairengineering.com

- Well and Field Simulation - Production Data Analysis - Shale, Tight Gas, CBM, Conventional, EOR - Reserve Determinations, Property Valuation - General Reservoir Engineeing

John Sinclair, Ph.D.,P.E. Licensed in CO, UT, MT, & WY

OSCIENCE L GE , LL RE

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is working on short courses, a breakfast series in August, and planning for next year’s events already. The Mountain Geologist has some interesting papers upcoming, and RMAG expects to have a new special publication later this year. Student, mentor, and social events are happening regularly – please be on the lookout for upcoming events. There are remaining exciting summer field trip opportunities - a Leadville bike trip (July 22), Niobrara & Juana Lopez (August 5), ammonite collecting (August 26), and Codell-Niobrara field trip and core workshop (September 10-11). The committee is working to reschedule the May Picketwire trip, which was cancelled due to weather – stay tuned. Please see the Events page on the website for more information or to register. As always, please check the RMAG website often for the exciting events and opportunities coming up soon! We look forward to seeing you.

The June meeting of the RMAG Board of Directors was held June 21, 2017 at 4 PM. All board members except Karen Dean were present. Treasurer-Elect Robin Swank reported that the RMAG financials are continuing as expected, and some adjustments to investments are planned. Executive Director Barbara Kuzmic reported that membership is steady, and that the RMAG member survey has gone out via email and regular mail. We look forward to your input! The Prospect Fair and Techno Fest is in planning; please visit pftfdenver.com for more information. The Fall Symposium is planned for 9/2728, and speakers are lined up. Please visit the RMAG website for more information. The RMAG golf tournament at Arrowhead went well – we hope you enjoyed it! The monthly luncheon program has some exciting talks on induced seismicity and the Great Basin coming up. Please visit the RMAG website to register for these. The Continuing Education committee

Thomas E. Hoak, Ph.D. Consulting Geoscientist Kestrel Geoscience, LLC

Structural Geology Seismic Interpretation Magnetic and Gravity Interpretation Basin Analysis and Restoration Regional Desk Studies Integrated Exploration Prospect Generation Presentation Graphics

307-587-5502 (o) 307-431-6382 (c) Cody, Wyoming

john@sinclairengineering.com

Marty Hall

Program Development Manager Multi-Client Services

Littleton, CO USA

Phone: (303) 933-5805 Cell: (720) 375-3015 kestrelco@comcast.net kestrelgeoscience.com

7765 Windwood Way P.O. Box 549 Parker, CO 80134 USA P: 720.851.6152 C: 303.885.8860

geokinetics.com marty.hall@geokinetics.com

OUTCROP | August 2017

Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | August 2017

50% oﬀ

SALE

RMAG 2017 Solar Eclipse

Publications Sale! Aug. 21 - Sept. 21

Become an RMAG Member and gain the beneﬁts of the sale! staﬀ@rmag.org

OUTCROP | August 2017

(303) 573-8621 8

| www.rmag.org

@rmagdenver

Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

Purchase your favorite RMAG publications several ways: 1. Order your publications online in the RMAG store at www.rmag.org. 2. Or call into 303-573-8621. Tax not included in the below prices.

$25.00 $15.00

Hydrocarbon Source Rocks in Unconventional Plays, Rocky Mountain Region - Digital

$40.00

Tectonic GIS Data from the Geologic Atlas of the Rocky Mountain Region - CD or Digital

$12.50

2003 Piceance Basin Guide Book - CD or Digital

$12.50

2005 Gas in Low Permeability Reservoirs in the Rocky Mountain Region - CD or Digital

$12.50

2008 Hydrocarbon Systems and Production in the Uinta Basin, Utah - CD or Digital

$12.50

2008 Shale Gas in the Rocky Mountains and Beyond - CD or Digital

$15.00

2011 Bakken Guidebook - CD or Digital

$15.00

2011 Revisiting and Revitalizing the Niobrara in the Central Rockies - CD or Digital

$15.00

The Mountain Geologist 2006-2010 - CD or Digital

$25.00

Geologic Atlas of the Rocky Mountain Region - CD or Digital

$12.50

2009 The Paradox Basin Revisited: New Developments in Petroleum Systems and Basin Analysis - CD or Digital

$25.00

The Mountain Geologist 1964-2005 - DVD Set or Digital

$5.00

The RMAG Library 1937-2001 13 CD Set

$50.00

The RMAG Library 1937-2001 - DVD Set or Digital

$6.25

TRAILWALKERS GUIDE to the Dinosaur Ridge, Red Rocks and Green Mountain Area - Book

email: staďŹ&#x20AC;@rmag.org

Oil & Gas Fields of Colorado - CD or Digital

fax: 888.389.4090

phone: 303.573.8621

follow: @rmagdenver

910 16th Street #1214, Denver, CO, 80202 Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

web: www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | August 2017

PRESIDENT’S LETTER By Larry Rasmussen

Honoring the AAPG Award Recipients

Larry Meckel near Moab, Utah, holding The Explorer magazine with an aerial photo of the salt evaporation ponds at Moab on cover.....and in the other hand, a chunk of the evaporated salt collected at edge one of those ponds. Photo: Mark Kirschbaum where he spent the next decade as an exploration geologist and research manager. In 1974, he co-founded Sneider and Meckel Associates, and in 1981 he started his own business, L.D. Meckel & Company, where he focused on developing oil and gas exploration opportunities in Canada, the United States and Mexico. 10

Of all the discoveries he’s made over the past 50 years, the super-giant Elmworth gas field discovered in 1976 is perhaps the most noteworthy. Larry has spent his career educating industry professionals, students and the public, and from 2005-2016 he was an adjunct

OUTCROP | August 2017

I’m taking a break this month from my normal routine to honor several of the geologists who received awards at this year’s AAPG convention in Houston. It was notable that there were many exceptional geoscientists from the Rocky Mountain region who were presented awards, and I think I would be remiss if I were to not mention them here. In fact, two of the highest honors that AAPG presents were bestowed upon very well-known Colorado geologists. The Sidney Powers Memorial Award was presented this year to Larry Meckel, and the Michel T. Halbouty Outstanding Leadership Award was presented to Ed Dolly. According to AAPG, ‘The Sidney Powers Memorial Award is given in recognition of distinguished and outstanding contributions to, or achievements in, petroleum geology. It is AAPG’s most distinguished award.’ With this esteemed award, Larry Meckel finds himself in the company of other Rocky Mountain heavy-hitters including Fred Meissner (2008), Norm Foster (1999), John Haun (1994), Sherman Wengerd (1992), and Bob Weimer (1984). Upon receiving his PhD from Johns Hopkins University in 1964, Larry took a job with Shell Oil Company

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Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

July

Sold out.

Rescheduled from August 5th!

August

2017

Leadville Mining District Tour. Fred Mark will lecture on geology and history while participants bike the 11-mile trail in Leadville, followed by a visit to the Leadville Mining Museum.

Niobrara and Juana Lopez trip. On the west side of Front Range led by Steve Sonnenberg.

Registration closes August 9, 2017.

Ammonite fossil-collecting trip. Near Kremmling, led by Dennis Gertenbach and assisted by Donna Anderson.

August

Registration closes August 23, 2017.

Codell-Niobrara Field trip & Core Workshop 1-day Front Range Cretaceous outcrops paired with a ½ day at the USGS Core Warehouse to examine the same formations. Run by Gus Gustason and Tofer Lewis.

September

10-11

Registration opens August 10, 2017 at 8:00am.

email: staﬀ@rmag.org

phone: 303.573.8621

Vol. 66, No. 8 |Street www.rmag.org 910 16th #1214, Denver, CO, 80202

fax: 888.389.4090 11

web: www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | August 2017 follow: @rmagdenver

Author Book Signing

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

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professor at the Colorado School of Mines. I was fortunate to have taken his excellent Unconventional Petroleum Systems course several years ago. Larry has received other significant honors over the years, including AAPG’s Grover E. Murray Distinguished Educator (2011) award for his outstanding contributions to geological education, and Honorary AAPG Membership for his informed and inspired leadership. These days, Larry continues to consult and teach and lives in Ouray, Colorado with his wife of 50 years, Barbara, who is also a geologist. Congratulations to Larry Meckel for this prestigious and well-deserved award!

August 2nd RMAG Luncheon @ Maggiano’s August 17th Tattered Cover Bookstore 7:00 pm, LoDo, 1628 16th Street

A worldwide adventure; from the Texas oil patch, around the world and back; 2 decades and 20 countries “A World of Culture Oil and Golf” on Amazon

LEADERS IN PETROLEUM GEOCHEMISTRY ROCKY MOUNTAINS

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REGIONAL INTERPRETIVE STUDIES

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ANALYTICAL SERVICES WWW.GEOMARKRESEARCH.COM IN DENVER CONTACT DR. JOHN CURTIS (303) 619-0372

OUTCROP | August 2017

‘The Michel T. Halbouty Outstanding Leadership Award is given in recognition of outstanding and exceptional leadership in the petroleum geosciences. It is AAPG’s second most distinguished award, second to the Sidney Powers Memorial award.’ This year’s recipient, Ed Dolly, completed his PhD at the University of Oklahoma before starting his career in Denver, Colorado with Shell Oil Company. Over the years, Ed has assumed numerous leadership

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Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

PRESIDENT’S LETTER roles with AAPG and RMS-AAPG, and he has served several times on the RMAG Board of Directors (BOD) including 2nd VP (1982), President-Elect (1995), President (1996), and Counselor in (2011). In 1996, Ed Dolly and Jim Mullarkey co-edited the RMAG Guidebook titled, ‘Hydrocarbon production from low contrast, low resistivity reservoirs, Rocky Mountain and Mid-Continent regions, log examples of subtle plays.’ In conjunction with Paul Weimer, Ed has most recently been involved with the creation of 50 GeoLegend videos that capture the important scientific and professional contributions of legendary AAPG members. The Michel T. Halbouty Award is one of several that Ed Dolly has received over the years, including Honorary Membership in RMAG, AAPG and AAPG HOD, as well as RMAG’s Explorer of the Year award.

Several Rockies geologists were presented honorary AAPG membership this year. Steve Goolsby is a common fixture in the Denver oil and gas community, and he is often present at many of the various luncheon talks or continuing education courses. Steve served on the RMAG BOD as 1st VP (1988), 2nd VP (2003), President-Elect (2007) and President (2008). Les Magoon is perhaps best known for co-editing AAPG Memoir 60, The Petroleum System – From Source to Trap. During the early part of his career, Les spent time in Denver working for Shell Oil Co. For over 30 years, Les worked at the USGS studying source rocks and

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Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

The Discovery Group, Inc.

geologists and petrophysicists 6795 E. Tennessee Ave., Ste 500 Denver, CO 80224 303-831-1515

www.discovery-group.com 13

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PRESIDENT’S LETTER

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Jim Rogers

Terry Mather pictured last fall near Devil’s Lake State Park in south central Wisconsin. Rocks are base Cambrian sandstone sitting on pre-Cambrian Baraboo quartzite of the Baraboo Range recognition of a singular achievement in petroleum geoscience research.’ This year, Julie LeFever was honored for her nearly 40year study of source and reservoir rocks in the Williston Basin. Julie became the manager of the Wilson M. Laird Core and Sample 14

Library (NDGS) in 1989 and authored or co-authored more than 50 Bakken papers in the ensuing years, earning her the affectionate name, ‘Miss Bakken.’ Over the course of her career, Julie has published more than 150

OUTCROP | August 2017

Les Magoon

petroleum systems. He is currently a Consulting Professor with Stanford University’s Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences. Jim Rogers is a very active geologist in the local community, and you can often see him out and about at luncheon talks and study group presentations. Jim has written numerous articles over the years, and most recently published ‘Late Paleozoic Yuma Arch, Colorado and Nebraska: Implications for Oil Exploration in Pennsylvanian Carbonate Reservoirs‘ in The Mountain Geologist. Jim has also served on the RMAG BOD, including Secretary (1975), Counselor (1983), President-Elect (1985) and President (1986). ‘The Norman H. Foster Outstanding Explorer Award is given in recognition of distinguished and outstanding achievement in exploration for petroleum and mineral resources, by members who have shown a consistent pattern of exploratory success, with in intended emphasis on recent discovery.’ Terry Mather obtained a Master’s and PhD from the University of Colorado and spent the majority of his career in the Denver area, most recently with Thomasson Partner Associates. Notably, Mather is responsible for the exploration and initial discovery of a hydrocarbon accumulation in the Boise Basin, resulting in the state of Idaho forming its first-ever oil and gas commission. ‘The Robert R. Berg Outstanding Research Award is given in

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Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

Julie LeFever, former director of the Wilson M. Laird Core and Sample Library on the UND campus, stands in the newly expanded area of the library, during last September’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. Photo: Jackie Lorentz, Courtesy: UND Today

Cat Campbell, recently spotted on the summit of Beartooth Pass, Montana. by members of the Association to public affairs and to encourage geologists to take a more active part in such affairs.’ The Friends of Dinosaur Ridge, a non-profit organization established in 1989 has been instrumental in helping to preserve fossil sites within and surrounding the 15

Morrison-Golden Fossil Areas National Landmark including Dinosaur Ridge and Triceratops Trail. Along with a dedicated group of volunteers, the organization has raised money to preserve paleontological resources, build facilities, and create

articles. Sadly, Julie passed away in late 2016 a few weeks after hearing from AAPG President, Paul Britt, that she was winning this award. A memorial Williston Basin session was held in Julie’s honor at the recent RMSAAPG meeting in Billings. Julie’s vast knowledge, generosity and enthusiasm are greatly missed in the Rocky Mountain geological community. ‘Young Professionals Exemplary Service Award is given to members who have promoted growth, awareness, and expanded opportunities within the organization for young professionals. The award will help recognize the importance of AAPG volunteers dedicating themselves to helping inspire, retain and recruit future geoscientists within the Association as well as to the organization and profession in general.’ Most have seen Cat Campbell this year as the MC for RMAG’s luncheon speaker series, updating attendees on upcoming events, honing the art of corny joke telling, and introducing luncheon speakers. Cat currently holds the position of 2nd VP on the RMAG BOD, but she has also been extensively involved with Young Professionals, RMS-AAPG, and AAPG HOD. This year, she was honored with the A.I. Levorsen Award for her 2016 RMS-AAPG talk on ‘Hydrogen index as a maturity proxy – some pitfalls and how to avoid them.’ Cat is a Senior Geologist with Robert Bayless Company in Denver. ‘The Public Service Award is given to recognize contributions

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PRESIDENT’S LETTER

Keith Shanley

John Oty

RMAG and has served several positions on the RMAG BOD, including Treasurer (1975), 1st VP (1977), Counselor (1992-3), President-Elect (1997) and President (1998). John is currently semi-retired living in Green Valley, Arizona. ‘The Wallace E. Pratt Memorial Award is to honor and reward the author(s) of the best AAPG Bulletin article published each calendar year.’ For their paper titled ‘The evolution of porescale fluid-saturation in low-permeability sandstone reservoirs’, Keith Shanley and Bob Cluff are this year’s recipients. This award is significant in that it is the second time that Shanley and Cluff have shared this award. In 2006, along with co-author John

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Thank you,

2017 RMAG Breakfast Series Premier Sponsor!

2017 RMAG Breakfast Series sponsor!

OUTCROP | August 2017

Robinson, Keith and Bob received the Wallace E. Pratt Memorial Award for their AAPG article, ‘Factors controlling prolific production from low-permeability sandstones: Implications for resource assessment, prospect development and risk analysis.’ Keith Shanley, formerly with Tenneco, Shell Development Company, and BP America, is currently a Senior Geologic Advisor with Anadarko Petroleum, and has been active in the Denver oil and gas community for over 30 years. He has written a number of papers on the geology and petroleum reservoirs of the Western Interior, including the Cretaceous of the Kaiparowits Plateau and the tight gas sandstone

publications in an effort to educate the public about the geologic history of the Front Range. ‘The Pioneer Award is given to long-standing members who have contributed to the Association and who have made meaningful and significant contributions to the science of geology.’ A graduate of the University of North Dakota, John Oty began his career as an Exploration Geologist in Casper, Wyoming with Mobil Oil Corporation in 1958. He spent time in Denver, Houston and Amarillo with Anadarko Production Co., Maxus Energy Co., and McMoRan Exploration Co., but moved back to Denver as an independent geologist in 1990. John has been very active in AAPG and

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Bob Cluff

Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

teaching high school earth science for more than 20 years. Julie has a passion for teaching geology and environmental science to her students, allowing them to ‘discover and do science, not just take notes.’ The award, funded by the AAPG Foundation, includes a $6,000 prize, half of which is to be allocated for educational use at Erie High School. She was also provided an all-expenses paid trip for two to the AAPG-ACE meeting last April. Congratulations to Julie Mitchell! Warm congratulations go out to CSU professors, Holly Stein and Judith Hannah, who received the Jules Braunstein Memorial Award for their work with Jenna Dimarzio and Svetoslav Georgiev on the ‘Effect of precipitation of asphaltenes on Re-Os isotopic ratios.’ Congratulations also go out to Randy Ray, who is now an Honorary House of Delegates Member, and Jeanne Harris who is now a Distinguished Member of the House of Delegates. I’d like to give a big Thank You to Jim Rogers who brought these awards to my attention and kindly loaned me his awards booklet. Much of the information in this article was gleaned RMAG Ad-‐-‐-‐prof size 2 to5/8 X 1/1/2; 12 from thepublication official awards citations.card Apologies anyone I may have missed!

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reservoirs of Jonah Field in the Green River Basin. Bob Cluff was the president and co-founder of the Discovery Group in Denver. He contributed greatly to local and national societies including AAPG, SEPM, SPE, DWLS, SPWLA and SIPES. He served for several years Julie Mitchell on the RMAG BOD as 2nd VP (1999), 1st VP (2002), President-Elect (2005) and President (2006). Bob passed away on October 26th, 2016, and his presence and involvement in the local oil and gas community as well as his exuberant passion for our science are sorely missed! ‘The Teacher of the Year Award is given for excellence in the teaching of natural resources in the earth sciences, K-12.’ Julie Mitchell, nominated by the RMAG Awards Committee, is a geology teacher from Erie High School in Erie, Colorado, who has been

Advanced mass spec mud gases while drilling and data analysis for reservoir evaluation and intelligent completion design. Tracy Wicker-‐geologist, account manager tracy@crowngeochemistry.com 580-‐214-‐1271

Thank you,

2017 RMAG Breakfast Series sponsor!

Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | August 2017

RMAG LUNCHEON PROGRAMS Speaker: David Wavrek — August 2, 2017

Organic Facies in Petroleum System Analysis A neglected component with profound implication to conventional and unconventional play economics By David A. Wavrek Petroleum Systems International, Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah 84111

include the position of effective source rock to migration conduits, organic facies assignment for the generated oils, and understanding the molecular methods of thermal stress. Practical application of these seemingly academic themes include expulsion efficiency, top seal integrity, preferential expulsion direction, hydrocarbon retention, in-situ vs. migrated hydrocarbons, quantification of migration vectors (distance and direction), and differential thermal stress (separation of imprint imposed by kerogen kinetics vs. expulsion). Practical examples are used to illustrate the concepts from Greater Rocky Mountain petroleum systems.

Volumes have been written that describe source rock distribution within a sequence stratigraphic framework. These studies have identified key controls on organic richness and source quality as an interplay of primary productivity (terrestrial vs. aquatic), preservation, and sedimentation rate in lacustrine / swamp, marginal marine, and marine (clastic and carbonate) systems. While full blown sequence stratigraphic studies are relatively rare (data availability, cost, etc.), experienced personnel can extract key variables from existing geologic / geochemical studies to integrate into the petroleum system analysis. Some of the most important examples

David Wavrek completed a dual major (Chemistry and Geology) B.S. from Mount Union College (Ohio) in 1982, and a M.S. (Geology) from the University of Toledo (Ohio) in 1985. Following practical engineering experience running the earliest MWD tools in the offshore Gulf of Mexico for Baroid (Lafayette, LA), and then returning to geology with basin analysis/geochemistry with Robertson Research (Houston), he returned to the University of Tulsa for a Ph.D. (1992). During his Ph.D., Dave worked for Amoco Research (Tulsa), as well as consulting opportunities through his company Geochemical Manpower. Following faculty positions at the University of South Carolina and the University of Utah, he founded Petroleum Systems International, Inc. (PSI) in 1999 and that remains his primary focus. He was awarded the “Outstanding Scientist” in 2010 by the RMAG for his contributions to petroleum systems research. His collective petroleum system/geochemistry experience (conventional and unconventional) literally spans the globe by including nearly all productive areas of North and South America, Former Soviet Union, North/Central/West Africa, Middle East, Europe, and parts of Asia. He is currently the AAPG-DPA councilor for the Rocky Mountains and a member of the 2018 AAPG-ACE organizing committee.

OUTCROP | August 2017

Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

R M A G Breakfast Series

August Mike Lewan

Mapping the Extent and Distribution of Oil Formation in the Upper Bakken Formation, Williston Basin Registration closes August 1st.

August Debra Higley

The Marcellus Shale; an Unconventional Perfect Storm

Registration closes August 8th.

Members - $25/class Non-Members - $35/class Student - $15/class Attend all 5 classes Members - $100 Non-Members - $150 Students - $60 Networking 7:30am8:00am Talk 8:00am-9:00am Breakfast included All classes will be held at Denver Place LBA Realty, LLC.

August

Kristen Marra

Updated Resource Assessment of Undiscovered, Technically Recoverable Oil and Gas within the Spraberry Formation, Midland Basin, Texas Registration closes August 15th.

August Nick Jones

Overview of the Wyoming Reservoir Information Tool "WyRIT" Registration closes August 22nd.

August

Ron Johnson

Recent Work on the Development of Green River Formation Total Petroleum System in the Uinta Basin, Utah" by Ronald C. Johnson, Justin E. Birdwell, Tracey J. Mercier, and Michael E. BrownďŹ eld Registration closes August 29th.

email: staďŹ&#x20AC;@rmag.org | phone: 303.573.8621 Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org 910 16th Street #1214, Denver, CO, 80202

fax: 888.348.4090 OUTCROP | web:| www.rmag.org August 2017 follow: @rmagdenver

RMAG LUNCHEON PROGRAMS Speaker: James Hagadorn — September 6, 2017

Colorado’s Paleozoic Mass Extinctions Signals from Slime, Salts, and Fossils By James Hagadorn geochemical, and paleontological work in Dyer and Lykins Formations reveals the signatures of these two events, tracks them across basins, and hints at an untapped record of unusual facies, faunas, and signals across these events.

Colorado’s sedimentary record likely warehouses three of the five mass extinction events, including the end-Devonian, Permian-Triassic, and Cretaceous-Tertiary events. Although the K-T is well known, the end-Devonian and P-T have been more challenging to identify in outcrop and in core, despite their relevance as regional subsurface tiepoints between basins. Recent stratigraphic,

James Hagadorn is the Tim & Kathryn Ryan Curator of Geology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. With interests and 2 man Mudlogging in deep time and soft rocks, he has enjoyed1 getting to know Summit Gas Referencing™ Geosteering Mudlogging Colorado’s spectacularly exposed and little-metamorphosed Services sedimentary geology. An established scientist and steward of collections, James also reaches out to the community whenever Mike Barber Manager possible to help illustrate how science and scientific thinking Serving the Rocky Mountain Region are relevant to everyday Coloradans. Read his syndicated 230 Airport Rd. Ph (435)657-0586 monthly science newspaper column, Just theCell Facts, or follow Unit D (435)640-1382 Heber City, Utah 84032 email: mbarber@summitmudlog.com him on Instagram (jwhagadorn), Twitter (@JamesWHagadorn), www.summitmudlog.com Facebook (JWHagadorn) or at http://www.dmns.org/james . And be sure to check out coloradostratigraphy.org!

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Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org 45

The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

porting lay

Tournament

9 21 17

Kiowa Creek Sporting Club • Prizes for individual high score and team 1st, 2nd and 3rd ﬂights. • Includes one round of 100 sporting clays, lunch, and door prizes. • Does not include ammunition (please bring enough ammo for 100 clays or you may purchase ammo at Kiowa Creek). • You may also rent a gun for $20 onsite.

Registration is open!

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Individual (member): $85 Individual (non-member): $100

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MINERAL OF THE MONTH By Ronald L. Parker, Senior Geologist, Borehole Image Specialists, P. O. Box 221724, Denver CO 80222 ron@bhigeo.com

VESUVIANITE One Complicated Silicate

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Light green gemquality vesuvianite crystal from the Jeffrey Mine, Asbestos, Quebec, Canada. Crystal displays prismatic and pyramidal crystal forms. Photo used with permission from John Betts Fine Minerals.

OUTCROP | August 2017

Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

MINERAL OF THE MONTH: VESUVIANITE

Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

the name “idocrase”, which was formerly a popular name (mindat.org, 2017).

Vesuvianite crystals are often prismatic with a square or rectangular cross-sections. Prisms appear as both elongate and stubby crystals. Vesuvianite also occurs as massive material and encrustations. The unit cell dimensions of Vesuvianite are a=15.504Å and c=11.808Å for an axial ratio of 1:0.7616 (Klein, 2002). Vesuvianite has a hardness of 6.5 and a specific gravity of ~3.4 (Johnson, 2002, Mindat, 2017). Vesuvianite has poor to very poor cleavage developed along {110},

{100} and {001} (Klein, 2002). Vesuvianite displays a vitreous or resinous luster (Johnson, 2002). The composition of vesuvianite is not solidified science. The generalized chemical formula may be written as Ca10Mg2Al4(SiO4)5(Si2O7)2(OH)4 (Webmineral, 2017). Groat et.al. (1992) provide a generalized formula for (boron-free) vesuvianite of X19Y13Z18O68W10, where, X = octahedrally-coordinated cations, Y = hexagonally-coordinated (and “rare-in-nature” pentagonally-coordinated) cations, Z = tetragonally-coordinated cations and W = monovalent and

Vesuvianite, also known as idocrase, is an accessory (sometimes rock-forming) calc-silicate mineral formed in skarns, in garnet-bearing gabbros and associated serpentinites (rodingites) and in altered alkali rocks like nepheline syenites. Vesuvianite forms under a wide range of temperature and pressure conditions that lead to diversity in crystal habit, chemical composition and, to some degree, physical properties. Abundant cationic substitution also leads to a wide range of colors. These characteristics hint that vesuvianite is a complicated mineral. Even more, Groat et. al, 1992, suggest that vesuvianite “…has long been the least understood of all of the rock-forming minerals.” (p. 20). The name vesuvianite derives from occurrences in altered limestone blocks hurled out of Mount Somma in the Somma-Vesuvius Complex, Naples Province, Campania, Italy. Mindat.org has an interesting summary of the name, which is quoted verbatim here. “Originally named “hyacinthus dictus octodecahedricus” by Moritz Anton Cappeler in 1723. Renamed “hyacinte du Vesuve” by Jean-Baptiste Louis Romé de L’Isle in 1772. This was possibly the inspiration for Abraham Gottlob Werner to rename the species “vesuvian” in 1795, after its discovery locality, Mount Vesuvius, Campania, Italy. In 1799, Rene Just Haüy introduced

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Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, QEP is an S&P MidCap 400 Index member company (NYSE: QEP). Learn more at www.qepres.com.

OUTCROP | August 2017

MINERAL OF THE MONTH: VESUVIANITE

Vesuvianite, Sierra de Cruces, Mun. de Sierra Mojada, Coahuila, Mexico, 5 cm x 3 cm x 2.8 cm, Jamison Brizendine Collection #400. Photo by Jamison Brizendine.

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OUTCROP | August 2017

Wiluite (Vesuvianite Group), Vilyui River Basin, Sakha Republic, Eastern-Siberian Region, Russia, 2 cm x 1.4 cm x 1.5 cm, Anne Cook Collection #9224. Photo by Jamison Brizendine. of a pervasively tetragonal character, the “…true symmetry of vesuvianite is under discussion.” (Armbruster and Gnos, 2002, p. 570). Groat et. al. (1994) observed that boron can make up an appreciable

divalent anions. X sites are occupied by divalent cations, which are almost entirely comprised of Ca. The dominant cation occupying Y sites is Al with lesser Mg and Fe, even lesser Ti and very rare occurrences of similar cations (Cr3+, Mn, Cu2+ and Zn) (Groat et. al., 1992). The Z sites, with tetrahedral coordination, are occupied by tetravalent cations, almost completely limited to Si (Fitzgerald et. al, 1992). Thus, the Y sites are unique compared to X and Z sites in that they accept polyvalent substitutions. These include divalent (Mg2+, Fe2+, Mn2+), trivalent (Al3+, Fe3+) and tetravalent (Ti4+) cations. Charge imbalances resulting from variations in cation substitution are addressed by variation in the number of anionic groups - OH- or substituting F- (Groat et. al., 1992). Clearly, this is one complicated mineral. Vesuvianite is (mostly) tetragonal with crystals commonly displaying the 4/m2/m2/m symmetry of the ditetragonal-dipyramidal crystal class. Common forms include [111], [110] and [001], although some crystals with over 30 forms have been noted. In spite

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Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

RMAG DWLS Fall Symposium September 27, 2017

Presenter Lineup

Mike Bingle-Davis - Complexities of the Cane Creek Member of the Paradox Formation – Analysis of Core from the Cane Creek and Three Mile Units, Utah

The American Mountaineering Center

Steve Sonnenberg - Codell-Regional Richard Bottjer - Stratigraphic Control of Reservoir Development, Heath Formation, Central Montana

Speaker Lineup

Rebecca Johnson - Petrographic and Petrophysical Characteristics of the Upper Devonian Three Forks Formation, Southern Nesson Anticline, North Dakota

Zachary Grant Hollon- Mowry Comparison Adam Jackson - Wolfcamp

Michael Nieto - Inorganic Geochemical Record and Relationship to Rock Strength Properties of the Devonian-Mississippian Middle Bakken Formation, Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA Tobi Kosanke - High-resolution Hyperspectral Imaging Technology: Implications for Thin-Bedded Reservoir Characterization Catherine E. Campbell - A Simplistic Workflow to Estimate How Much of OOIP is Producible Michael Dolan - Prediction of organic porosity using wireline and thermal modeling techniques: Examples in the Williston, Anadarko and Permian Basins Jesse Havens - High frequency depositional variability in interbedded carbonates and shales affects mechanical heterogeneity: implications for resource exploitation in the Woflcamp Formation, West Texas, USA. Katie Joe McDonough - Mapping Wolfberry Lithofacies and Geomechanics in 3D: Petrophysics and Stratigraphy Constrain Interpretation of Prestack Inversion, Midland Basin William R. Drake - The Role of Silica Nanospheres in Porosity Preservation in the Upper Devonian Woodford Shale on the Central Basin Platform, West Texas

RMAG Core Workshop September 28, 2017 USGS

Rebekah Simon - Diagenetic controls on the spatial variability of carbonate pore systems within an unconventional chalk-marl reservoir — Testing paradigms of chalk diagenesis in the Cretaceous Niobrara Formation, Denver Julesburg Basin Alan P. Byrnes - Two-phase and three-phase relative permeability of unconventional Niobrara chalk using integrated core and 3D image rock physics

Re gistrati on i s op en! register online at www.rmag.org

Symposium & Core Workshop Registration (Day 1 and Day 2) RMAG Member - $300 Non-Member - $300 Student - $100 email: staﬀ@rmag.org | phone: 303.573.8621 Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

Symposium Registration (Day 1 Only) RMAG Member - $150 Non-Member - $175 Student - $50 |

web: www.rmag.org

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OUTCROP | August 2017

MINERAL OF THE MONTH: VESUVIANITE

Vesuvianite, Jeffrey Mine, Asbestos, Les Sources RCM, Estrie, Quebec, Canada, 1 cm x 2.8 cm x 1 cm, Anne Cook Collection #6506. Photo by Jamison Brizendine.

OUTCROP Vol. 66, No. | 8August | www.rmag.org 2017

Vol. 66, OUTCROP No. 8 | www.rmag.org | August 2017

MINERAL OF THE MONTH: VESUVIANITE

Vesuvianite, Fushan Mine, She Co., Handan Prefecture, Hebei Province, China, 2.5 cm x 2 cm x 1.1 cm, Anne Cook Collection #10828. Photo by Jamison Brizendine

amount of some vesuvianites (up to 4 weight % B2O3) which may make this mineral an important part of the boron geochemical cycle. These authors also note that B-enriched vesuvianites display an optical irregularity: they are slightly biaxial in thin-section, with 2V values of 0 to 5°. (Recall that tetragonal crystals are supposed to be uniaxial). To complicate matters, detailed x-ray study of these same B-rich vesuvianites show no significant departure from tetragonal symmetry (Groat et. al., 1992 and 1994). Allen and Burnham (1992) have described 2 structural forms of vesuvianite that are based on the degree of ordering at the unit cell level. High-symmetry vesuvianite displays long-range disordered structure with P4/nnc average symmetry. Low-symmetry vesuvianite has ordered domains based on P4/n, P4nc or lower symmetry. High vesuvianite forms at higher temperatures (400°-800°C) while low vesuvianite

Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

forms at <300° (Allen and Burnham, 1992). Perplexing, indeed! Vesuvianites occur in a wide range of colors that reflect the complex variability in trace element composition. The list of colors includes green, brown, yellow, blue, pink, purple, orange, maroon, red, black and white (minerals.net, 2017). Cyprine is a blue variety (due to copper) that is more common as an encrustation or a coating. Californite is massive green vesuvianite that is similar in appearance to jade. Wiluite is a rare boron-bearing vesuvianite that is dark brown in color. In thin-section, vesuvianite displays a moderate to high-relief in plane-polarized light and a diagnostic deep indigo blue color - referred to as “Berlin blue”- under crossed polars (National Museum of Wales, 2017). Vesuvianite typically occurs as a constituent of skarns (contact metamorphosed impure limestones),

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MINERAL OF THE MONTH: VESUVIANITE REFERENCES:

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hornfels, rodingites (altered garnetiferous gabbros and associated serpentinites) and altered alkali syenites (Groat et. al., 1992). Other minerals found in association with vesuvianite include many of the typical calc-silicate skarn minerals: grossularite, calcite, wollastonite, epidote, diopside, andradite, zoisite, magnetite and serpentine (Mineral Data Publishing, 2001). Vesuvianite has no robust commercial value, except as an important collector’s mineral (mineral. net, 2017). Recent work, however, has demonstrated the ability of vesuvianite to act as a substrate for sorption of excess phosphate from process wastes and polluted surface water. Vesuvianite works in this situation because it has high chemical stability, and a low density and a specific pore structure that permits it to float on the water surface (Li et. al, 2009). Good vesuvianite crystals are found throughout the world (Mineral Data Publishing, 2001). Localities of note include Italy (Monte Somma, Vesuvius, Campania and Val d’ Ala); Zermatt, Switzerland; Arendal, Norway; the Ural Mountains of Russia and Asbestos and Mont St. Hilaire, Quebec, Canada. In the United States, vesuvianite is found in Magnet Cove, Hot Springs County, Arkansas; Essex County, New York; Belvidere, Vermont; Androscoggin County, Maine and Riverside, County, California (Mineral Data Publishing, 2001). Vesuvianite is a rock-forming mineral that forms primarily in skarns. It exhibits a wide range of compositional variation that leads to a wide variety of physical properties, including slight departure from purely tetragonal symmetry. Vesuvianite is one complicated silicate!

Allen, Fred M. and Charles W. Burnham, 1992, A Comprehensive Structure-Model for Vesuvianite: Symmetry Variations and Crystal Growth, The Canadian Mineralogist, 30:1-18. Armbruster, Thomas and Edwin Gnos, 2000, Tetrahedral Vacancies and Cation Ordering in Low-Temperature Mn-Bearing Vesuvianites: Indication of a Hydrogarnet-Like Substitution, American Mineralogist: 85:570-577. Fitzgerald, S., P. B. Leavens and J. A. Nelen, 1992, Chemical Variation in Vesuvianite, Mineralogy and Petrology, 46(2): 163-178. Groat, Lee A., Frank C. Hawthorne and T. Scott Ercit, 1992, The Chemistry of Vesuvianite, The Canadian Mineralogist 30:19-48. Groat, Lee A., Frank C. Hawthorne and T. Scott Ercit, 1994, The Incorporation of Boron into the Vesuvianite Structure, The Canadian Mineralogist, 32:505-523. Johnsen, Ole, 2002, Minerals of the World: Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J. 439 pp. Klein, Cornelis, 2002, The 22nd Edition of the Manual of Mineral Science: New York, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 641 pp. Li, Heng, Jingyu Ru, Wen Yin, Xiaohai Liu, Jiaqiang Wang and Wudi Zhang, 2009, Removal of Phosphate from Polluted Waters by Lanthanum Doped Vesuvianite, Journal of Hazardous Materials, 168:326.330. Mindat (2017) Vesuvianite, https://www.mindat. org/min-4223.html, accessed 6/22/2017. Mineral Data Publishing, 2005, Vesuvianite, http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/vesuvianite.pdf, accessed 6/23/2017. Minerals.net, 2017, Vesuvianite, http://www.minerals.net/mineral/vesuvianite.aspx, Accessed 6/24/2017. National Museum of Wales, 2017, Mineral Database – Vesuvianite, Mineralogy of Wales website, https://museum.wales/mineralogy-of-wales/database?mineral=378, Accessed 6/10/17. Wikipedia (2017) Vesuvianite, https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Vesuvianite, Accessed 6/23/2017

WEBLINKS:

http://www.minerals.net/mineral/vesuvianite.aspx https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesuvianite https://www.mindat.org/min-4223.html http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/vesuvianite.pdf http://webmineral.com/data/Vesuvianite.shtml#. WTvwEmgrJHY

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Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

October 19, 2017 Registration is open!

Exhibitor Booth registrations and Sponsorship opportunities are available. Register online at www.pftfdenver.com. Vendor Booth Price Early Bird (through 8/19): $850 Regular (August 20th - October 12th): $1000

Prospect Booth Price Early Bird (through 8/19): $550 Regular (August 20th - October 12th): $650

R M A G

D A P L

Prospect Fair & Technofest Keynote Speaker

Tom Petrie General Registration - $30 | Student Registration - $20

Westin Denver Downtown email: staďŹ&#x20AC;@rmag.org

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910 16th Street #1214, Denver, CO, 80202

fax: 888.389.4090 29

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OUTCROP | August 2017

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WELCOME NEW RMAG MEMBERS!

Doug Bellis

is a Senior VP of Geology at Warwick Energy in Norman, Oklahoma.

Alexis Carrillo

is a Student in Glendale, Colorado.

Corey Dimond

is a Geologist at Warwick Energy Group in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Laura Fidler is a Geologist in Houston, Texas.

Edward McClure

works at TRP Energy in Houston, Texas.

Brian Host

Samuel Beckham

is a Geologist at Calco Energy in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

works at the Grand Canyon National Park Research Library in Grand Canyon, Arizona.

Steen Jergensen

Cassidy Miller

is a VP Geoscience at Clear Creek Resource Partners in Denver, Colorado.

is a Geologist at Resolute Energy in Denver, Colorado.

is a Technical Operations Manager at Columbine Logging, Inc. in Morrison, Colorado.

is a PhD Student at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

is a Technical Sales and Support Representative at Diversified Well Logging LLC in Denver, Colorado.

is at the University of Colorado - EMARC in Boulder, Colorado.

Benjamin Katka

Joshua Rosera

Nicole Klibert

John Scherer Scott Snoy

works at the Earth Science Agency in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

IN THE PIPELINE AUGUST 3, 2017

AUGUST 2, 2017 RMAG Luncheon. Speaker: David Wavrek. “Organic Facies in Petroleum System Analysis: A Neglected Component with Profound Implication to Conventional and Unconventional Play Economics.” Maggiano’s Little Italy, Denver. RSVP to staff@rmag.org.

RMAG Breakfast. Mike Lewan AUGUST 9-10, 2017 PTTC Rockies Short Course. “Petroleum Fluids and Source Rocks in E&P Projects.” Colorado School of Mines.

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Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

October 26, 2017

| 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM

USGS Core Research Center

RMAG Core Workshop Selected Rocky Mountain Tight Oil Sandstone Plays: Symposium and Core Workshop Presenters: Rich Bottjer, Coal Creek Resources; Gus Gustason, Enerplus; Kevin Smith, Garnet Ridge Resources Back due to high demand! This is the same Core Workshop that was presented in March 2017.

This workshop will discuss current �ght oil sandstone plays in Cretaceous reservoirs in the Powder River and D-J Basins, Wyoming and Colorado, focusing on the Wall Creek-Turner, Codell, Sussex, and Parkman sandstones. Tight oil sandstone plays have developed where uneconomic ver�cal producers were drilled in the past and/or between exis�ng ver�cal oil fields where higher-permeability facies are present. In contrast to “conven�onal” ver�cal produc�on from sandstones in the same interval, these �ght oil reservoirs are areally extensive and generally contain a high percentage of burrowed or bioturbated lithofacies. Petrophysical evalua�ons of these �ght oil sandstone plays are challenging due to rela�vely high clay content, thinly interbedded sandstones and mudstones, and/or complex pore networks. These sandstones are characterized by moderate porosi�es, ranging up to 18%, but low permeabili�es, ranging from .001 to .1 millidarcies. Oil and gas resources are recoverable due to the development of mul�-stage fracture s�mula�ons in horizontally drilled wells. The reservoir characteris�cs of each play will be demonstrated with approximately 2000 feet of core and core analyses from more than 30 wells and par�cipants will have an opportunity to compare and contrast the different plays. This workshop and symposium will essen�ally be a re-presenta�on of a short course offered at the AAPG-ACE conven�on held in Denver in June, 2015. The format will be modified slightly but many of the cores shown will be the same.

Registration opens September 11th at 8:00am. Members: $175 | Non-members: $200 | Students: $75 email: staﬀ@rmag.org

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Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

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OUTCROP | August 2017

follow: @rmagdenver

IN THE PIPELINE

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 30 AUGUST 10, 2017

Well Site Geology Remote Geosteering Petrographic Analysis Field Geologic Studies

RMAG Breakfast. Debra Higley AUGUST 12, 2017 RMAG On the Rocks Field Trip. Niobrara and Juana Lopez Field Trip. AUGUST 17, 2017 RMAG Breakfast. Kristen Marra AUGUST 21-24, 2017

phone 406. 259. 4124 sunburstconsulting.com

COGA The Energy Summit. Colorado Convention Center. AUGUST 24, 2017 RMAG Breakfast. Nick Jones AUGUST 23, 2017 OCF Denver Chapter Luncheon. RVSP to 303-258-6401. AUGUST 26, 2017 RMAG On the Rocks Field Trip. Ammonite Fossil-Collecting Field Trip. AUGUST 31, 2017 RMAG Breakfast. Ron Johnson

OUTCROP | August 2017

Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

Save the Date

Registration opens September 5th at 8:00am!

RMAG Rockbusters Bash Professional Awards Celebration

November 9, 2017 The Curtis Hotel, Denver, CO email: staďŹ&#x20AC;@rmag.org

phone: 303.573.8621

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OUTCROP | August 2017 follow: @rmagdenver

LEAD STORY

NATIONAL ICE CORE LAB

SECRETS IN THE

ICE By Richard Nunn

Assistant Curator of the United States Polar Region Ice Core Collection There are many ways to escape the heat of the summer. Some people congregate to the nearest swimming pool or water park. Others hide out in their climate controlled homes. For myself, I just go to work. Nothing beats the heat like walking into a box of ice kept at a chilly -38 degrees Celsius (-36 F). While it serves the ever-important purpose of keeping me cool on a hot day, there are actually many beneficial purposes served by the freezer at the National Ice Core Lab in Lakewood, Colorado. It is here that we store the collection of ice cores drilled by the United States from the polar regions of the world, as well as cores from high altitude alpine glaciers. These cylinders of ice come from the farthest reaches of our planet, and in some cases from more than two miles below the surface of one of the three great ice sheets, to our own little corner of the planet. These cores provide some of the clearest insight into the history of the Earth’s climate over the last 420,000 years, and offer important information as to where the future of our planet’s climate may be headed as we hurtle forward into the 21st century.

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Main Storage of the National Ice Core Lab.

Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | August 2017

LEAD STORY

Mr. Freeze watching over the collection

The process of drilling these cores from the most remote places on the surface of the planet and safely getting them back to Colorado is a long and complicated journey that has been refined over the years of ice core science. The first ice cores for scientific studies were drilled in Greenland and Antarctica in the late 1950’s. Since then, the techniques for recovering and transporting these precious samples have evolved tremendously. In the late 1980’s, it was decided that a central repository for US ice cores should be built, providing a safe storage space to preserve the cores, as well as a large work area to allow for processing of samples for analysis. An interagency agreement between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the United States Geologic Survey (USGS) was formed, and construction began. By 1993, the lab was finished and ready to turn on. It took nearly 6 months after the system was turned on to reach the target temperature in the

OUTCROP | August 2017

main storage, a frosty -38 degrees Celsius, and slightly less time to bring the exam room down to its target of -24 degrees Celsius (-11 F). Why so cold, you ask? Well, it turns out that one of the reasons ice cores are so valuable for climate research is the fact that they actually have ancient atmosphere trapped within them, giving us the only source to get a direct sample of what our atmospheric composition was like long before modern humans even walked the earth. That precious atmosphere has stayed locked away in the massive ice sheets for all that time, trapped by the pressure of more and more snow and ice building up at the surface. Once we release these cores from their blissful existence beneath the ice sheet, the only thing keeping that air locked away is the extremely cold temperature slowing molecular movement enough that the air is unable to migrate out of the ice. We have discovered that at temperatures warmer than -15 C, that air does indeed begin

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LEAD STORY

Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

Vostok dating back 850,000 years, the oldest ice core recovered to date. For these incredibly deep cores, years of planning go into drilling before anybody actually sets foot in the field. Once the site location has been determined and the logistics planned, we send a small army of engineers, drillers, scientists, and a myriad of support staff to the very definition of the middle of nowhere. When it comes to Antarctica, there is a limited window to do any work. In a good season, we can expect to get between 3 to 4 months of decent weather for working in the deep field. This is the austral summer, ranging from mid-October

to late January, early February if the weather cooperates. This is the time period of perpetual daylight in Antarctica, where storms are infrequent and short lived, and the temperatures can range from -20 C to -50 C depending on the location and weather. Working under such tight time constraints and in such harsh conditions requires an astounding level of planning and care, and we have only gotten better at the process with each project. Even with the best plans and flawless execution, it is rare to recover more than 500 to 600 meters of ice in a season. It is for this reason that these deep ice core projects can

to migrate out of the cores, potentially ruining any chance at scientific analysis of these ancient gases. So we give ourselves a buffer, and aim to keep the ice below -20 C at all times, the colder the better. As an added benefit, if there were ever some catastrophic failure of the system (which there hasn’t been for 24 years), the extreme cold temperature and thermal mass of the collection would keep things from getting too warm long enough for us to get things up and running again. Now that we had a proper lab to store and process these ice cores, the NSF began collecting cores from Antarctica, and to a lesser extent Greenland and alpine glaciers in North America. Over the years more and more ice was added to the collection, bringing us to a total of 20,000 meters of ice in the collection as of 2017. While much of this ice is consumed in the wide variety of analytic techniques, we strive to maintain an archival sample from top to bottom for each core until everything else has been consumed. As a result of this, those 20,000 meters of ice are represented by a staggering 70,717 individual pieces of ice. Some of these are shallow samples dating back no more than a few decades. Others, such as the Vostok core from Eastern Antarctica, come from over 3,600 meters beneath the ice sheet and date back nearly 420,000 years. While not in our lab, there was a core recovered by the Europeans not too far from

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Data from the Vostok Ice Core.

take years to complete. One of the major projects completed by the NSF was the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide core (WAIS Divide). The drilling of this core began in 2006, and it was completed in 2012, reaching a total depth of 3,404 meters. This was one of the most successful ice coring projects ever undertaken, and has given us an incredibly detailed climate record dating back 70,000 years. In order to extract that climate data though, the cores have to be processed. That is where the National Ice Core Lab comes in. Each summer after we receive a shipment of core, a group of undergrads and graduate students from universities across the country descend on us to participate in perhaps one of the coldest assembly lines in existence. Using precision measuring tools and no less than 7 saws, every meter of ice is measured and subsequently sliced

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into sticks, blocks, and wings. Some of these pieces are packed into insulated shipping boxes to be sent to the various universities for analysis, the rest are packed back into their core tubes to be archived in our main storage where they are watched over by our mascot, a life size cutout of Mr. Freeze from the 1997 abomination that was Batman and Robin. For weeks on end we toil away in the freezer, napping in the 90-degree sun over lunch like lizards on a rock. When all is said and done, thousands of samples get distributed to academic institutions across the country in order to try and tease the secrets out of the ice. When it comes to what the ice can tell us, there are a myriad of stories hidden within these ancient cores. While there are quite literally thousands of little details we can learn from studying them, the main driving force behind ice core research is to recreate

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Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

R M A G

2 0 1 7

Short Course At Liberty Oilﬁeld Services 950 17th St., Denver, CO 80202

Registration opens September 18th at 8:00am at www.rmag.org. Members: $300 Non-Member: $350 Student: $150

Details Lunch is included. Bring colored pencils both days. Emailed material will be provided.

11.15-16.17 Dr. Junaid Sadeque

Since the 1970s, sequence stratigraphy has arguably revolutionized stratigraphic analyses in the oil and gas industry because of its power to predict flow-units in petroleum reservoirs. The same sequence stratigraphic principles are also presently applied to predicting flow-units in groundwater aquifers. However, even after about 50 years since the founding of the concept, many of us are still lost in the labyrinth of terminology and struggle when it comes to applying the concepts into practice. This is particularly true in case of sparse dataset from well-logs and cores, rather than full 3-D seismic data coverage. Our 2-day hands-on workshop aims at addressing that skill-gap in inferring sequence stratigraphic markers and systems tracts for clastic rocks in absence of seismic information. This goal will be achieved through a series of interesting correlation exercises following a brief recap of the fundamental concepts. The curriculum is focused to benefit both new hires and experienced professionals by providing real correlation examples from the industry with particular emphasis on understanding facies architecture in well-logs and cores for recognizing different depositional sequences. At the end of the course, the students will learn how to avoid common correlation pitfalls in developing a sequence stratigraphic framework and how to make valid stratigraphic predictions for petroleum exploration or groundwater remediation.

email:Vol. staﬀ@rmag.org | phone: 303.573.8621 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org 910 16th Street #1214, Denver, CO, 80202

fax: 888.389.4090 | web: www.rmag.org OUTCROP | August 2017 follow: @rmagdenver

LEAD STORY how past climates have changed, what factors are involved with these natural processes, and how quickly these changes occur. In order to really understand what ice cores can tell us about the Earth’s climate system, years of research and a focus on such tiny minutia are required to get the full picture. However, there are a few major factors that when understood can give us a basic insight into our planets climate and how it has changed. The main three components to this understanding are atmospheric composition, specifically looking at how the concentration of greenhouse gases have changed over time, global temperature and how it has changed over time, and of course, time. Without properly dating these cores, none of the other information gleaned from them would mean a whole lot. There are a wide variety of techniques to extract the atmospheric gases from the ice cores, and the results of this research shows us how things like carbon dioxide and methane have fluctuated over the past 850,000 years. Using the ratio of oxygen isotopes within the water molecules that make up the ice cores, an accurate temperature record can be recreated over the same time period, showing us how both temperature and greenhouse gases have moved in lock step with each other during the entirety of the record. By studying the notable chemical and physical differences that exist in winter snowfall compared to summer snowfall, the layers of the ice cores can be counted in a similar fashion to tree rings, giving us an accurate age of the ice from the top to the bottom. These ages can be confirmed from time to time when we run across volcanic ash layers that have been preserved on the ice sheet. With enough material, these volcanic events can be dated using radiometric dating techniques, and those ages are used to verify that we are properly dating the ice cores. So what does all of this information tell us? Well, first and foremost it confirms much of what we already knew. The physics of the greenhouse effect have been well understood for over a century now, but with the ice core data we can now see not only how temperature and greenhouse gases are inextricably linked, but we can apply numbers to those changes. We can see that over the last 850,000 years, earth has gone through periodic cycles of

OUTCROP | August 2017

warming and cooling. These cycles roughly play out as a period of around 100,000 years where temperatures are about 8 degrees Celsius colder than they are now, with carbon dioxide levels bottoming out around 200 parts per million (ppm). These cold periods are followed by a relatively quick warming, seeing temperatures rise by 8 degrees Celsius over the course of 2,000 to 3,000 years, accompanied by a rise in carbon dioxide levels of about 100 ppm, maxing out at 300 ppm. These warm periods last for around 20,000 years before things gradually cool off again. This is yet another example of the ice core data confirming something we already knew about, but giving us numbers and rates to apply to it. These cycles are what geologists refer to as the glacial and interglacial cycles of an ice age. Periodically in Earth’s 4.5 billion year history, situations become just right to allow the planet to descend into an ice age. During these ice ages, Earth becomes cool enough to form polar ice caps. When these ice caps exist, the regular cycle of warming and cooling based on orbital eccentricities suddenly have a much large impact. While 8 degrees doesn’t sound like a whole lot, during the most recent ice age that makes a great deal of difference. During the last glacial maximum around 70,000 years ago, nearly the entirety of Canada was buried under an ice sheet over a mile thick, and it reached far enough south that New York City was completely encased in an ice sheet. The growing and shrinking of these ice sheets leave their mark on the continent, scouring the landscape as they grow and leaving massive debris piles called glacial moraines as they retreat. The evidence of these cycles of advance and retreat have been well studied for many years, and with the information gleaned from ice cores, we now know exactly how fast the cycles occurred and what the temperature and atmosphere was doing during these times. That brings us to modern day. As scientists began to unravel the mysteries of the past, it began to shine a light on what is happening today. We have seen an unprecedented rise in the level of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere due to human activity. During the entirety of the ice core record, carbon dioxide never rose above 300 ppm, but as of today the atmospheric concentration of CO2 is above 400 ppm. Not only is that higher than it should be, but

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Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

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change at such a rapid pace, it puts an enormous amount of strain on natural ecosystems that are used to more gradual changes. In order for humans to truly understand the impact we are having, we need to have a better grasp of how these complex systems react to the balance being shifted in such a dramatic fashion by human activity. The best way to understand the nuances of this system is to look to the past, and currently the ice core record is the clearest window we have into that

the rate at which that happened is faster than anything ever seen in the natural record. The fastest increase of carbon dioxide from the ice core record was an increase of 10 ppm over 100 years. We have seen carbon dioxide rise over 100 ppm in the last century, 10 times faster than anything seen in the ice core record. Because this is an unprecedented rate of change, it makes it difficult to fully understand the impact this will have on temperatures and global climate. When systems as complex as Earth’s climate

CALENDAR | AUGUST 2017 SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

RMAG Luncheon.

RMAG Breakfast.: Mike Lewan

RMAG Breakfast: Debra Higley PTTC Rockies Short Course.

12 On the Rocks Field Trip: Niobrara and Juana Lopez

RMAG Breakfast: Kristen Marra

OCF Denver Chapter Luncheon.

RMAG Breakfast: Nick Jones

COGA The Energy Summit.

26 On the Rocks Field Trip: Ammonite Fossil-Collecting

RMAG Breakfast: Ron Johnson

Vol. 66, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | August 2017

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