OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists
Volume 63 • No. 2
• February 2014
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Vol. 63, No. 2
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February 2014
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The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists 910 16th Street • Suite 1214 • Denver, CO 80202 • 303-476-2241 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.
2014 Officers and Board of Directors RMAG Staff
Executive Director Emily Tompkins etompkins@rmag.org Office & Programs Manager Carrie Veatch, MA cveatch@rmag.org Accountant Carol Dalton cdalton@rmag.org
Co-Editors
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President – Matt Silverman MSilverman@bayless-cos.com
Treasurer – Reed Johnson rdjohnson@resoluteenergy.com
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Treasurer Elect – Paul Lillis plillis@usgs.gov
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RMAG December Board of Directors Meeting
By Jacinda Nettik Brown, Secretary (jacinda@caerusoilandgas.com) The Board of Directors meeting Additionally, a motion was passed to make a Purchase was held on December 18, 2013 The board ended with a Order system a policy. The office at the Downtown Denver Marriott. staff and board members believe Guests included the incoming thank you for Debra Higley’s this will make RMAG more fiscally 2014 RMAG Board of Directors. dedication to the RMAG responsible, fiscal responsibility It’s with pleasure I welcome John was a goal for the 2013 RMAG South as 2014 RMAG Secretary. organization serving as board. I know he’s looking forward to 2013 President. Debra plans I’d also like to thank RMAG giving back to the Denver oil and members for making the first ever gas community by serving on the to serve on committees in NAPE Rockies Cocktail Reception RMAG board. the upcoming year so her in December a success! We had This meeting began with a great turn out. approval of last month’s minutes. It service to the organization The board ended with a thank was followed up with the Financial will continue. you for Debra Higley’s dedication Report, which included a review to the RMAG organization serving of the RMAG UBS Investment as 2013 President. Debra plans account by John Ladd. John made to serve on committees in the upcoming year so her recommendations for the oversight of this account, which service to the organization will continue. lead to passing of a motion to create an Investment Thanks again for allowing me to serve as RMAG Committee to advise the RMAG Investment Account. This secretary and Caerus Oil & Gas for supporting me in committee will be composed of five members including: this endeavor. I will continue to attend RMAG events and Treasurer, Treasurer-elect and three non-board members hope to see you at these. that have an interest in investing. The hope is that an Investment Committee will provide continuity of oversight of the RMAG investment account.
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Vol. 63, No. 2
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February 2014
OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists
CONTENTS Features
7 AAPG/RMS Cracking The Source Call for Papers! 11 Legislative Reception, February 27, 2014 13 Lead Story: Labrador’s Drowned Delta, Its Great Lost River, and the Origin of Grand Canyon 25 Volunteer Needed for Executive Editor of The Mountain Geologist Publication 27 The Mountain Geologist Goes All-Digital Beginning in 2014 31 Mineral of the Month: February 34 The Mountain Geologist needs TWO more ASSISTANT EDITORS
association news
8 3D SEISMIC SYMPOSIUM RESCHEDULED 12 "20/20 3D Vision:" 3D Seismic Symposium Set for February 13th, 2014 15 Early Alert-RMAG Publication: Oil & Gas Fields of Colorado
20 20th Annual 3D Seismic Symposium: New Venue! New Date! 30 Studies in Geology 65 PreSale Form 33 RMAG/PTTC Geosteering Forum Call for Abstracts 35 Editor's Note 36 RMAG/DAPL GeoLand Ski Day 2014 Registration Form 38 We want you back! We need you! 39 2014 RMAG Dues Renewal 40 Authors and Editors Needed: RMAG Oil & Gas Fields of Colorado 41 Connect with RMAG Online! 42 RMAG 2014 Summit Sponsors 44 Submit a Manuscript to The Mountain Geologist
Departments
4 RMAG December Board of Directors Meeting 6 President's Column 24 RMAG Luncheon Programs 41 New Members 43 In the Pipeline
COVER PHOTO J1 and J2 fractures are offset in a Tertiary sill on Archuleta Mesa, Colorado. Photo by Chris Carroll.
43 Check it out! 46 Advertisers Index 46 Calendar of Events
Volume 63 • No. 2 • February 2014
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President’s Column By Matt Silverman
Planning RMAG has a full slate of activities planned for 2014. Attending these is the best way to stay up with your science and the industry, and to stay in touch with your fellow rock-knockers. Let me share the highlights with you. Foremost, of course, are our Wednesday luncheons. A reminder if you have not attended in a while, we meet the first Wednesday of the month at the Marriott City Center, downtown Denver, at about 11:30 a.m. A superb
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Vol. 63, No. 2
group of speakers is lined up for the year. Reservations for lunch can be made online and walk-ins are both welcome, as always. February signals the 20th Annual RMAG/DGS 3D Seismic Symposium, which will take place this year at the Colorado Convention Center on February 13th. Please sign up, if it’s not already full. This alwaysanticipated event is a highlight of RMAG’s year. We’re looking to duplicate this success by creating another great technical program that everyone can count on annually, beginning perhaps in 2015, stay tuned. Our Spring Symposium will be a Geosteering Forum on April 29, also at the Marriott. There’s more OUR COMMITMENT detailed information on page 33 of this Outcrop Outcrop.. You’ll be able to apply ‡ 3URYLGH KLJKHVW TXDOLW\ RI this great group of papers to the JHRORJLFDO ZHOOVLWH VHUYLFHV WR RXU FOLHQWV bottom line of your horizontal plays immediately, so slide on over. ‡ 2IIHU UHDO WLPH LQWHUSUHWDWLYH We have three fabulous sports LQWHJUDWHG VHUYLFHV VXFK events planned. The annual DV JHRVWHHULQJ GEOLANDSKI trip will be March 7th at Copper Mountain. See the ‡ ,QWHJUDWH FRRUGLQDWH ORQJ RMAG website to register. Our WHUP UHVRXUFH SODQQLQJ ZLWK Golf Tournament will be held May FOLHQWV 20th at Arrowhead Golf Course in Littleton. The Sporting Clay ‡ ,QWHURSHUDWH PRUH ZLWK Tournament will be in September. JHRORJ\ DQG GULOOLQJ Look for registration materials for RSHUDWLRQV DQG H[SORUDWLRQ these and for our On-The-Rocks WHDPV summer field trips before long. Info: The Rocky Mountain Section meeting of AAPG is a not-to-beZZZ FROXPELQHORJJLQJ FRP
Continued on page 9 Âť
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February 2014
American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Rocky Mountain Section Annual Meeting Colorado Convention Center, Denver, CO July 20-22, 2014
Call for Papers! To submit an abstract for poster or oral presentations, go to: www.aapgrms.org/2014/conference/technical-program
NEW deadline for abstracts: February 15, 2014
Technical Program themes —
Source Rocks and Petroleum Systems: Have we deciphered the codes?
Technology: Paradigm shifts
Exploration/Exploitation: Looking back; Looking ahead
Legendary Playmakers of the Rockies: A hotbed of notable people
Structure and Tectonics: Nothing less than world-class
Sedimentary Geology: Where the world comes to study
The Annual Meeting is expected to include:
2 days of Technical Presentations Including oral, poster, and core poster presentations
4 Field Trips
3 Short Courses
Student, Young Professional, and Teacher Opportunities
Several Social and Networking Events
Registration opens Spring 2014
Exhibition and Sponsorship opportunities still available
Visit aapgrms.org/2014 for more information
Hosted by the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists
3D SEISMIC SYMPOSIUM RESCHEDULED We have been forced to reschedule the 3D Seismic Symposium with new date and venue as follows:
We are very excited to be working with the Colorado Convention Center on the 20th Anniversary of the 3D Seismic Symposium and hope that the changes in date and location will still enable you to join us. The RMAG, DGS and the 3D Seismic Symposium Committee recognize the difficulty this may create in rescheduling and we are deeply sorry for any inconvenience may cause you. If you are unable to attend as a result of these unfortunate circumstances please provide notice no later January 27th to staff@rmag.org. We look forward to your participation and a very successful symposium, particularly the 20th Anniversary!
Registration Check In and General Session: February 13 Location: Colorado Convention Center, 700 14th St, Denver, CO 80202 This very unfortunate disruption was caused by over-booking of space by the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel and their inability to provide alternative space. We were unequivocally informed of this breach of our fully executed contract with the Sheraton on January 13, 2014, we immediately proceeded to find reasonably suitable space and amenities for our symposium as near as possible to the previously scheduled date and location.
Vol. 63, No. 2
Sincerely, The 3D Seismic Symposium The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists The Denver Geophysical Society
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February 2014
President's Column Continued from page 6
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RMAG has been open with our distress about this, given the partnership we have long shared with AAPG. They responded by expressing concern about the financial impact of URTEC on RMAG and the regional societies. AAPG offered to try to develop and support additional ways to work with us, one of which is a Geosciences Technology Workshop (GTW) for 2014. This won’t begin to make up the financial shortfall, however, which underscores a huge, ongoing challenge for RMAG and RMS. The GTW will provide an in-depth, multidisciplinary look at the Bakken-
Three Forks plays on November 1719 at the Colorado School of Mines. RMAG and AAPG are working together closely on this. The Rockbusters Ball will also be held in November, time/place TBD. The 2013 Ball at the Oxford Hotel sold out, so watch this space for details. NAPE Rockies will be back in Denver December 10-12. While this is not an RMAG event, of course, we’ll plan to have a kickoff cocktail party again. Last year’s was big fun, and you don’t have to be registered for NAPE to attend. Let’s support RMAG by attending these great events. See you there!
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missed event and a consistently important payday for RMAG. Focused on “Cracking the Source,” RMS comes back to Denver on July 20 to 22 at the Colorado Convention Center. The dates were moved up last year from our traditional slot in September, and therein lies a story. R M AG c a n c e l l e d i t s 2 013 Fall Symposium (and suffered a considerable income loss) because of URTEC, a co-production of SPE, AAPG, and SEG that opened last August in Denver. Then URTEC shocked the 2014 RMS meeting organizers and RMAG Board by scheduling their 2014 meeting three weeks before the RMS event, in the same city and with a similar focus, even though our Section meeting had been on the calendar for four years. The only options open to RMS and RMAG, acting as the paid Manager of the meeting, were: absorption by URTEC (with loss of both income and control), cancellation or rescheduling. Changing cities was impossible for us, and they declined to do so. It’s great to have a choice of meetings, of course, and some of our members are the heart of URTEC’s leadership, but unlike many other AAPG events, the local societies have been shut out. Having URTEC in Denver one month after RMS will probably hurt both us and them financially. AAPG is assisting with promoting the RMS meeting to alleviate some of the loss, and both groups are eagerly looking forward to the AAPG Annual Meeting to be held in Denver from May 31 to June 3, 2015.
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February 2014
Legislative Reception, February 27, 2014 ‘trade’ associations (membership which includes businesses and corporations) of the CMA (Colorado Mining Association) has confirmed their presence and the DPC (Denver Petroleum Club) and perhaps another petroleum association or two are still considering. Individual members are being encouraged to contact and personally invite their legislators. To find your legislators, you can use the following website tool: http:// www.one-colorado.org/take-action/ contact-your-legislator/, and follow instructions to find your Zip+4 location (https://tools.usps.com/go/ ZipLookupAction!input.action) . Then transfer the Zip+4 into the appropriate places (http://hq-equalityfederation. salsalabs.com/o/35061/getLocal. jsp?zip=80123&zip4=6884) to find your State Representative & Senator – complete with phone numbers and email address. A nominal, walk-up cover charge of $20/person is requested to cover the event’s cost and can be paid at the door. In addition, individual ($75), Business or Corporate ($150500) sponsorships are available with appropriate acknowledgement and recognition. For more details and to reserve exhibit space please contact Richard Nielsen, CO-AIPG Treasurer, 13741 Braun Dr., Golden, CO 80401, ringeocon@aol.com, 303279-3118 or Larry Cerrillo, CO-AIPG’s Legislative/Regulatory Committee Chair, P.O. Box 728, Evergreen, CO 80437-0728; 303-674-6484 (o), 303-921-1612 (c); cerrillo1@ mindspring.com.
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If RMAG members have not done so already, there is still time to personally invite your State Representative and Senator to the geoscience (and extractive industries) Legislative Reception February 27, from 5:00-7:30 p.m. at the University Club, 1673 Sherman Street, just a few blocks walk from the Capitol Building. The sponsoring professional societies in particular have a combined membership that represent over 5,000 people who are, in general, well educated and participants in the electoral process here in Colorado. Of course, 2014 elections will include all state Representatives and roughly 1/3 of the State Senators. Please come to Meet and/or Greet Your Incumbent – your elected official (regardless of yours or their political party), in a wonderful atmosphere with good food, drink & discussion. The event is non-partisan of course but WILL encourage dialogue and public discussion centered around the theme “The Mineral & Energy Economy in Colorado.” The committed professional societies are (to date and 2 months before the event): RMAG, of course, AIPG (American Institute o f P ro fe s s i o n a l G e o l o g i s t s – Colorado Section), SIPES (Society of Professional Earth Scientists), and with invitations offered and decisions pending from the SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers), S P E E ( S o c i e t y o f P e t ro l e u m Evaluation Engineers), (DAPL) Denver Association of Petroleum Landmen, and the DGS (Denver Geophysical Society). In addition, the
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“20/20 3D Vision:” 3D Seismic Symposium Set for February 13th, 2014 By Steve Jensen, sajensen11@gmail.com Preview: 20th Annual 3D Seismic Symposium Friday, February 13th, 2014 Colorado Convention Center Denver, Colorado The 20 th Annual 3D Seismic Symposium, jointly sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists and the Denver Geophysical Society, will be held Friday, February 13th, 2014 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. This is the same venue as last year, with its expanded social and exhibitor space. This year’s symposium is co-chaired by Jim Thorson and Mary Sue Purcell. This is the 20th anniversary of the 3D Seismic Symposium. We are happy that the Geology/Geophysics community in Denver and the Rockies has supported us all these years. Randy Ray, the long-time past CoChair for the 3D Seismic Symposium will give us a short presentation on looking back at 20 years of the 3D Seismic Symposium. The 3D Symposium will highlight 12 presentations, concentrating on case histories in resource plays using large-scale 3D seismic surveys. Case studies include Rocky Mountain projects in the Niobrara, Bakken, and San Juan Basin, along with other analog plays from the US (Marcellus and Eagle Ford), and several from Western Canadian Basins. Attendees to this year’s Symposium will witness the most up-to-date concepts and workflows in our industry, with many of the talks being presented here in public for the first time. Early Registration is currently available by contacting either DGS or RMAG societies or via the 3D Symposium Vol. 63, No. 2
website www.3dseismicsymposium. com. This year’s Keynote speaker will be Daniel E. Kelly, VP - DJ Basin for Noble Energy. Mr. Kelly will provide an overview of Noble’s significant operations in the DJ Basin and provide examples of the positive impact of 3D seismic on the success of this key Colorado operator. The first presentation of the day will be our Kickoff speaker, Craig Walters, Director – Wattenberg for Anadarko Petroleum. Mr. Walters will share insights into the success of Anadarko’s robust DJ program, illustrate the benefits of 3D seismic, and highlight the importance of being a good community member
in acquiring seismic in congested areas. Steve Natali, Senior Vice President - Exploration for WPX Energy in Denver will give a talk titled “Gallup Sandstone Oil Discovery.” This story involves a multi-disciplined team prospecting for horizontal gas in the San Juan Basin until the price of natural gas dropped. The team quickly switched gears after a significant horizontal oil discovery in a different formation and a different area was found. Four pilot wells plus horizontal were drilled and studied extensively. All four are productive and WPX is engaged in the next phase of commercialization. B i l l G ood way w i t h A p a c h e in Calgary, Canada will present Continued on page 14 »
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Febrary 2014
LEAD STORY
Labrador’s Drowned Delta, Its Great Lost River, and the Origin of Grand Canyon
By James W. Sears, Department of Geosciences, University of Montana, Missoula MT A gigantic delta lies beheaded in the icy depths of the northern Labrador Sea. With sediment more than 8 km thick, the delta comprises the largest Cenozoic depositional center on the Atlantic margin between Florida and Baffin Island, according to the Canadian Geological Survey (Fig. 1). Before it was destroyed by Pleistocene continental glaciation, its drainage was a close match to the Amazon basin. Its tributaries drained the Rocky Mountains, gathered in what is now Hudson Bay, and flowed to sea through what is now Hudson Strait (Fig. 2). The 3800-km long Northwest Atlantic Mid-Ocean Channel, one of the longest submarine turbidity channels in the world, starts at toe of the delta and curves around Newfoundland to the Sohm Abyssal Plain off the Maritime coast. The great paleo-drainage was named the ‘Bell River,’ in honor of its Victorianera discoverer, Robert Bell of the Canadian Geological Survey. Exploration companies drilled a number of wells in the delta in the 1970s. From delta samples, V.E. Williams of the University of British Columbia identified fossil spores that had been recycled from Mesozoic and Paleozoic strata of the western interior. Some of the recyclant spores may have originated in the southern Colorado Plateau, where recent age-dating
shows that deep erosion was taking place while the delta beds were being deposited. Williams identified the recyclants Calamospora, Convolutispora, Densoisporites, Foveotriletes, Matonisporites, and Osmundacidites wellmanii, which the USGS also had identified in the Chinle Formation of Petrified Forest, and a LycosporaTriquitrites-Punctatisporites assemblage, which the USGS had also reported from the Supai Group of Grand Canyon. Continued on page 16 »
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“20/20 3D Vision:” 3D Seismic Symposium Continued from page 12
‘Combined Microseismic and 4D to Calibrate and Confirm Surface 3D Azimuthal AVO/LMR Predictions of Completions and Performance and Well Production in the Horn River Gas Shales of North East British Columbia.” To assist in the optimizing stimulation efforts, seismic data and microseismic are used to estimate and map four parameters that influence hydraulic fracture effectiveness: rock properties, in-situ stress, natural fractures and reservoir geometry. Bob Hardage, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin will speak about “Evaluating Unconventional Reservoirs with Low-Cost Multicomponent Seismic Data.” The Exploration Geophysics Laboratory at UT of A has developed a new S-wave technology that should overcome much of the reluctance to utilize S-wave data in unconventional resource plays. This technology is based on the use of direct-S modes produced by verticalforce sources. Jack Wiener with Halliburton Energy Services will present “The Greeley 3D Seismic Survey: One of the Nation’s Largest Urban Surveys Leads to Niobrara Horizontal Activity.” An oil and gas producer based in Greeley, Colorado put together a plan to acquire subsurface knowledge in the urban area. Halliburton interpreted the data and provided detailed structural analysis and framework modeling of the Niobrara and Codell formations. Angie Southcott with WPX Energy in Denver will talk about “3D Seismic Proves its Value in Bakken Geosteering.” Improved geosteering has been a key driver achieving lower well costs in the Williston Basin. The improvements are in part attributable by using advanced 3D seismic data processing. Using 3D seismic for geosteering requires: 1) resolving the Bakken interval, 2) accurately converting seismic surfaces to depth. Tim Berge with Pangean Resources will present “3D Imaging of Bakken Reservoir Targets, North Dakota." He applies structural attribute methods to a new spec survey to demonstrate how effective full use of 3D seismic data can aid development drilling for these objectives: 1) imaging of natural fractures, 2) estimate fault heave, 3) show stratigraphic details of the Pronghorn sands, 4) predict channel fill, and 5) better well steering to target. Claudia Deunas, a graduate student at the Colorado School of Mines Reservoir Characterization Project will
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Vol. 63, No. 2
present “Understanding Rock Fabric and Reservoir Quality Index Using Combined Multicomponent Seismic Inversion and Well Log Cluster Analysis.” Using multicomponent seismic data from Pouce Coupe Field, North East British Columbia, she predicts rock fabric of the Monteny Shale. The objective is to understand heterogeneity using multi-attribute analysis of wells integrated with multicomponent seismic. Tony Rebec with Geokinetics, Inc. in Houston will talk about “Risk Reduction for Prospecting in the Unconventional Niobrara Play.” A methodology is presented to reduce risk in identifying sweet spots within the local structural framework using the full azimuth 3D seismic and well logs for calibration. Based on azimuthal 3D seismic data processed through OVT migration, elliptical and pre-stack simultaneous elastic inversion with well to seismic correlation, areas of high potential interest can be differentiated. Reinaldo Michelena with iReservoir, Inc in Denver will present “Leveraging Seismic Technology for Unconventional Reservoirs: From Seismic to Flow Simulation.” He will show how seismic data can help in characterization of matrix and fracture information can be used to constrain flow simulation models. His workflow consists of four steps: 1) facies definition, 2) seismic calibration, 3) geologic modeling, and 4) flow simulation. Data examples from the Rockies and offshore South America will be shown. Ross Peebles with Global Geophysical Services will talk about “Production Focused Seismic for the Development of Unconventional Resources – Insights from the Eagle Ford.” Pre-stack and post-stack attributes are derived from a recent high-resolution full-azimuth long-offset 3D seismic dataset. Structural attributes like curvature and incoherence can highlight faults and factures. Frequency attributes like spectral decomposition can relate porosity, TOC and rock properties. Azimuthal anisotropy can indicate fractures, stress, and overpressure. Registration is now open through either RMAG or DGS, or via the 3D Symposium website (www.3dseismicsymposium.com). Sign up now and take advantage of the early registration discount. If you are interested in providing corporate sponsorship for this event, please contact Jim Folcik at Jim_Folcik@ eogresources.com for more information. 14
February 2014
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Lead Story Continued from page 13
Figure 1. Cross-section of drowned delta in Labrador Sea, after Balkwill et al., 1991, DNAG Volume. Stippled layers range in age from Eocene to Pleistocene. Base of stratigraphic section is Early Cretaceous. Sediments onlap basaltic seafloor to east and rifted Labrador continental margin to west.
This essay extends my hypothesis that an early version of the Colorado River may have turned north near present-day Lake Mead and joined a great southern tributary of the Bell River to deliver sediment to the delta. I suggest that the tributary flowed along a Paleogene rift system through Nevada, Idaho, and Montana. For a detailed discussion and complete references, see my 2013 GSA Today paper. The Bell River basin took shape in early Paleogene time, after the Western Interior Seaway had withdrawn from Canada. The combined effects of Yellowstone hotspot tectonics, basin-range faulting, and the opening of the Gulf of California destroyed or diverted segments of the proposed paleo-tributary in Neogene time. The following paragraphs take the reader ‘upstream’ from Canada to Grand Canyon, highlighting evidence for the evolution and extinction of the paleovalley. On the plains of southern Canada, Paleogene and Neogene gravel of the paleovalley escaped Pleistocene glacial erosion on nunatak ridges that stood above the ice sheets. Canadian petroleum geologist Dale Leckie determined that the gravel had filled broad, northeastflowing river channels. The river had carried streamrounded pebbles from distinctive sources in bedrock outcrops of the Montana Rockies, hundreds of kms to the southwest. Other remnants of the paleo-riverbed cap terraces that lead southwest from the Canadian plains to the Montana Rockies. Vol. 63, No. 2
In the Rockies, Paleogene and Neogene sediments, locally greater than 1.5 km thick, fill deep grabens in a regional rift system. According to new data from Hari Mix and colleagues at Stanford University, the rift system propagated from Montana to southeastern Nevada in Eocene through Oligocene time, in concert with southward-migrating volcanism. The grabens chronicled Paleogene collapse and spreading of the Cordilleran highlands. The grabens reached to within 100 km of the western end of Grand Canyon, and were positioned to channel runoff from the early version of the canyon into the great southern tributary of the Bell River. In southwest Montana, the grabens contain fluvial sediments that had likely provenance sources in the Great Basin, south of the modern Continental Divide and Snake River Plain. Volcanic mudstones of the Renova Formation correlate with the Oligocene ash sheets of the southern Great Basin, at the south end of the Paleogene rift system. The unconformably overlying Sixmile Creek Formation records northeast-trending paleocurrents in tephra (Fig. 3) and contains exotic pebble lithologies unique to Great Basin bedrock strata (Fig. 4). These include distinctive rocks of the Late Paleozoic Antler orogenic belt that were exposed on the flanks of the rift system in central Nevada. The hiatus separating the Renova and Sixmile Creek formations embraced the Miocene climatic optimum,
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Lead Story a period of unusually high precipitation and erosion in the reconstructed paleovalley. Recent age-dating shows that eastern Grand Canyon began to be carved during the same interval. The Yellowstone hotspot track crossed the paleovalley in Pliocene time and isolated Montana from its
Great Basin bedrock sources as faulting shifted the Continental Divide eastward to its present trace along the Montana/Idaho border. Detailed mapping of gravel beds on the Continental Divide shows that the paleo-river Continued on page 18 Âť
Figure 2. Reconstruction of pre-ice age (Late Oligocene/Early Miocene) drainage of North America. Bell River basin has mostly been destroyed by continental glaciation. Light dashed line shows glacial front, which diverted drainage into Missouri River from southwestern headwaters of Bell River. Heavy dotted line shows how drainage from early Grand Canyon (GC) may have flowed north down Paleogene rift system to Bell River basin. West shoulder of Rio Grande Rift (RGR) may have established headwaters of Paleogene Colorado River. Modified after McMillan, 1973, Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Memoir 1, p. 473-515. OUTCROP
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Lead Story Continued from page 17
Figure 3. Fluvially reworked Miocene tephra bed in Sixmile Creek Formation. Tephra was derived from eruption of Yellowstone hotspot about 10 million years ago. SW Montana. Photo by J.W. Sears.
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Figure 4. Polymictic Miocene river gravel of Sixmile Creek Formation. Most pebbles are exotic to Montana, derived from Idaho and Nevada. SW Montana. Photo by J.W. Sears.
was first diverted and then defeated as the Tendoy and Centennial fault-block mountains rose across its path. Dozens of active basin-range faults now segment the old paleovalley in Montana and Idaho. Its river gravels are faulted, folded, and internally deformed (Fig. 5). The Continental Divide now forms the headwaters of the upper Missouri River - the truncated descendant of the old Bell River tributary. As the rising mountains beheaded the paleovalley at the Montana/Idaho border, drainage in southern Idaho was diverted into Neogene Lake Idaho. South of the Snake River Plain, in the Great Basin, infaulted remnants of Miocene fluvial deposits occur in isolated patches along the trend of the Paleogene rift system. They have been scattered and isolated by basin-range faulting and buried by Pliocene and Pleistocene alluvium. The OUTCROP
fluvial beds are interlayered with lacustrine and alluvial facies, recording the interruption of river transport by basin-range faulting. Rebecca Flowers and co-workers at Cal Tech developed innovative methods for the radiometric dating of apatite crystals and determined that erosion had carved eastern Grand Canyon to mid-canyon depths between 28 and 18 million years ago. However, Jon Spencer at the Arizona Geological Survey and his research group found that the Colorado River did not flow south to the Gulf of California until 5.3 million years ago. Ivo Lucchita of the USGS and Bill Dickinson of the University of Arizona have suggested that the Colorado River must have flowed north from Grand Canyon before Continued on page 21 Âť
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20th Annual 3D Seismic Symposium 20/20 3D Vision E
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Thursday, February 13, 2014
Sponsored by Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists & Denver Geophysical Society Vol. 63, No. 2
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Lead Story Continued from page 19
Figure 5. Faulted Pliocene river cobble, Sixmile Creek Formation. SW Montana. Photo by J.W. Sears.
it turned south to the Gulf of California. Spencer found that genetic similarities of fish in the upper Snake and upper Colorado rivers indicate that the rivers formerly occupied a common basin. The Paleogene rift system had propagated south from Montana to the latitude of Grand Canyon by 28 million years ago. The east shoulder of the rift mapped by Mix and others coincided with the west shoulder of a broad, north-trending paleovalley that Ernie Anderson and Susan Beard of the USGS mapped on the edge of the Colorado Plateau, adjacent to Grand Canyon. Recent work by Melissa Lamb of the University of St. Thomas indicates that until basin-range faulting began 17 million years ago, most of the sediment in the paleovalley bypassed the system toward the northeast. Thus, the paleovalley could have transported sediment from the
Grand Canyon northward into the adjacent rift system between 28 and 18 million years ago. Dickinson showed that the Middle Miocene floor of the Little Colorado River graded to mid-depths of eastern Grand Canyon, consistent with the erosion depth determined by Flowers and her co-workers. That mid-canyon depth is marked by a prominent bedrock terrace about 5 km wide that transects the entire length of Grand Canyon. In eastern Grand Canyon, it presents a bench at the top of the Mississippian Redwall Limestone on a series of buttes, spurs, and ridges (Fig. 6). In central Grand Canyon it spans the Esplanade surface on top of the Supai Group (Fig. 7), and in western Grand Canyon, it occupies the broad surface of the Hualapai Plateau. The terrace changes stratigraphic level as it transects Laramide folds, consistent with their structural relief. The surface evolved diachronously, with the western part much older than the eastern, but may have been integrated by Late Oligocene/Early Miocene time. The Hualapai Plateau is locally overlain by Eocene sediments, as well as by 20- to 15-million year old basalts. The Rio Grande Rift began to propagate north through New Mexico at about 26 million years ago, according to Steven Cather at New Mexico Tech and others. Its uplifted western shoulder linked with the rising Mogollon Rim of central Arizona to enclose the headwaters of the early Colorado River, which threaded its way west to the old Hualapai Plateau, the lowest gap on the southwestern rim of the Colorado Plateau. The mid-canyon terrace of Grand Canyon is incised by the steep, narrow, 800-m deep Inner Gorge. George Billingsley of the USGS showed that the Inner Gorge was carved after 6 million years ago, because it dissects a basaltic dike swarm of that age. The incision of the Inner Gorge may have been instigated by lowering of erosional base level upon diversion of the Colorado River to the Gulf of California at about 5.3 million years ago. It is thus possible that the Colorado River eroded Grand Canyon to its mid-depth in Late Oligocene/Early Miocene time, turning north in Nevada to flow down the Paleogene rift system to Montana and the Bell River. The erosional period included the Miocene climatic optimum, when deep erosion also dissected the paleovalley from Nevada to Canada. Continued on page 22 Âť
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Lead Story Continued from page 21
Figure 6. Cheops Pyramid, near Phantom Ranch, eastern Grand Canyon. Top of butte may be remnant of Middle Miocene bedrock floor of Grand Canyon, incised by Inner Gorge in Pliocene time. Note Colorado River in upper right. Photo by J.W. Sears.
By 5.3 million years ago, the Colorado River clearly flowed south to the Gulf of California, as has been documented by numerous workers. But what might have happened to the river between 17 and 6 million years ago? Basin-Range faulting began at the western edge of Grand Canyon about 17 million years ago. Years of work by USGS geologists has shown that basin-range grabens next to Grand Canyon filled with locally-derived alluvial fans and playa sediments from 17 to 6 million years ago, with no evidence of a through-going Colorado River. Richard Young of SUNY suggested that basin-range faulting dammed up the Colorado River at western Grand Canyon about 17 million years ago, creating a playa lake basin. At about the same time, the climate shifted from the extremely wet Miocene climatic optimum to
Vol. 63, No. 2
hyper-arid conditions. According to Steven Cather and co-workers, erosion seems to have stagnated on the Colorado Plateau during that same period. Karl Karlstrom’s research group at the University of New Mexico found that the headwaters of the Colorado River had barely reached southern Utah before the upper Colorado River basin was finally integrated in Pliocene time. In that case, the Little Colorado River would likely have been the main stem of Grand Canyon’s drainage basin in Late Miocene time. Even in today’s climate, the Little Colorado River is dry for most of the year above Blue Springs. It would have been even more ephemeral in hyper-arid Late Miocene time, before erosion cut down to the Redwall/Muav aquifer to open Blue Springs. Geologists have spent decades searching the southwest for a route that an early Colorado River could
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Lead Story
Figure 7. View SE of Esplanade erosional surface in Cataract Canyon. Surface may be Middle Miocene, incised by Pliocene inner canyon. Mount Sinyala in lower left. Photo by J.W. Sears.
have taken to the coast from an early Grand Canyon, perhaps the answer lies in an unexpected northern course to the far Labrador Sea. Diversion to the Gulf of California from Labrador would have shortened the distance to sea level by 4500 km, perhaps driving incision of the Inner Gorge through the old Miocene bedrock valley floor. Several key locations could be studied in more detail to verify the hypothesis. Detrital zircon analysis provides a new tool that could test links between proposed source rocks in Nevada and stream pebbles and sand as far away as northern Montana and southern Canada. New geochemical methods could test matches of muds in the Labrador delta and proposed source rocks in the southern Colorado Plateau. Detailed mapping in southeast Nevada could test the proposed fluvial linkage
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between the western Grand Canyon and the southern end of the Paleogene rift system. Field work focused on the fluvial gravels could document the former continuity of the river system in the rift system in Nevada.
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RMAG Luncheon Programs – February 5th
Ordovician-sourced Oils from the Williston Basin, USA: Where did they come from and where have they gone?
By John B. Curtis, Colorado School of Mines and John E. Zumberge, GeoMark Research, Ltd., February 5, 2014 Using multivariate statistics, over 350 Williston Basin oils were grouped into families which share common sources based on genetic-specific biomarkers and stable carbon isotope compositions. Ninety (90) Middle Ordovician-sourced oils were identified by their unique n-paraffin distributions (odd over even carbon number preference around n-C17 and n-C19 and greatly diminished isoprenoids) due to the microorganism G. prisca. These oils are also characterized by relatively high C19 tricyclic terpane and C24 tetracyclic to C23 tricyclic terpane ratios as well as having the most positive (enriched) stable carbon isotope compositions of oils from the Williston Basin. Most of these oils were produced from the Ordovician Red River Formation, and source rock evaluation of Red River cores and cuttings (e.g., TOC and Rock-EvalTM data) suggests that the Red River is also the principal source rock unit. Estimates of oil thermal maturity based on biomarkers show that the most mature oils exist within the basin depocenter while the least mature oils are located along the Cedar Creek Anticline. Furthermore, another smaller set of oils (<10) contain G. prisca biomarkers (albeit diminished) but have very negative (depleted) stable carbon isotopic compositions; these oils may have been generated from shales of the Ordovician Winnipeg Group. Finally, a few oils with predominantly Mississippian carbonate biomarkers (i.e., Lodgepole Formation source) appear to have an Ordovician component as revealed by principal component analysis. These oil data and observations have been integrated with mapped source rock occurrence, quality and thermal maturity to yield new insight into the Ordovician petroleum systems of the US portion of the Williston Basin. Continued on page 26 »
Luncheon Reservations & Information
Luncheon will be held at the Marriott City Center at California and 17th St. Please check the event » listing in the lobby for the room. Check-in/walk-in registration begins at 11:30 a.m., lunch is served at 12:00 noon, and the talk begins at 12:20 p.m. The luncheon price is $30.00. To listen only to the talk, walk-in price is $10.00. If you make a reservation and do not attend the luncheon, you will be billed for the luncheon. Online registration closes at 4:00 p.m. on the Thursday before the luncheon. Cancellations are not guaranteed after that time.
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Your attendance is welcomed and encouraged. Bring a guest or new member!
Call 303-573-8621, email staff@rmag.org, or register online.
February 2014
Volunteer Needed for Executive Editor of The Mountain Geologist Publication
LOCATION we’ll lease it, permit it, gather it and sell it
The RMAG quarterly publication, The Mountain Geologist, is seeking a Volunteer for the position of Executive Editor. If you have an interest in becoming involved in a solid, peer-reviewed, technical publication with a long history in the Rocky Mountain geologic community, please make an inquiry to Joyce Trygstad Nelson, Executive Editor, at jtpetr@aol. com or (303) 526-2180, or Larry Rasmussen, Publications Committee Chairman, at larryR@ whiting.com.
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RMAG Luncheon Program – March 5th
Fluvial megafans in the Uinta Basin, a consequence of extremely bad early Eocene weather?
By Piret Plink-Bjorklund, pplink@mines.edu, Colorado School of Mines
The early Eocene fluvial system exposed along the southern margin of the Uinta basin has received a considerable amount of attention. The peculiar nature of the fluvial succession of the Wasatch and Green River Formations in the Uinta Basin has led to a number of interpretations, including fluvial channels, and deltaic mouth bars. Not surprisingly, as the fluvial succession is dominated by gradational planar laminations, aggradational low-angle convex-up structures, scour-andfill structures and climbing-ripple laminations, common in mouth bars and turbidites. Moreover, architecturally, the channels are, in many places, amalgamated into thick, sharp-based tabular sandstone intervals, and show a stratigraphic large-scale upward increase in sand content. Thus, these fluvial systems are distinctly different from fluvial facies models. Vol. 63, No. 2
Rivers with distinctly flashy water supply, caused by extreme precipitation, are distinct from perennial rivers in terms of sedimentary structures, barforms and architecture. The figure shows three different types of flashy rivers and how they compare to a perennial system. LFR – lower flow regime; MFR – medium flow regime; UFR- upper flow regime; HDR – high deposition rate. Flashy rivers have a significantly higher proportion of upper flow regime and high deposition rate structures, whereas perennial rivers are dominated by medium flow regime structures and lack high deposition rate structures (a, b, c). Barforms in flashy rivers tend to be simple and thick (c, d). The dominance of the above sedimentary structures indicates upper flow regime deposition and very high deposition rates. The extremely
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Fluvial megafans in the Uinta Basin, a consequence of extremely bad early Eocene weather? and channel dimensions, indicate deposition in fluvial megafans. Moreover the channel dimensions indicate a large river system, rather than small rivers draining local uplifts. The fluvial megafan systems are highly aggradational and capture large volumes of sediment. Thus, the volumes of siliciclastic sediment that reached the Lake Uinta are considerably smaller than the volumes captured in the megafans. The available absolute age dates, biostratigraphy and out stable isotope record show that the Wasatch and Green River Formation fluvial systems along the southern basin margin are of early Eocene age. Moreover, the data links the fluvial megafan progradation and retrogradation episodes to early Eocene global warming events (the PaleoceneEocene Thermal Maximum, and the six successive Early
high deposition rates are also shown by the dominant downstream accretion of bars, and unit bar thickness of more than 10 m in places. At unit bar bounding surfaces trace fossils and pedogenic modification occurs, showing that the channels were dry for sustained periods at times. High degree of channel amalgamation in the proximal part of the succession indicates high channel avulsion frequency. Further distally and laterally the avulsions are indicated by splay packages. Collectively these features indicate a flashy river system with very high peak discharge, and intermittent sustained droughts. In fact these sediments are more similar to flash flood and megaflood deposits than fluvial facies models developed for perennial systems. The laterally extensive nature of this system across ca 200 km, together with the vertical trends of upward increasing and decreasing sand content
Continued on page 28 Âť
The Mountain Geologist Goes All-Digital Beginning in 2014 February 2014 Dear Past Non-RMAG Member Subscribers to The Mountain Geologist, We are proud to announce that our journal The Mountain Geologist has gone all-digital beginning in 2014, and the printed issues have been discontinued. We look forward to being a paperless journal! Our members went digital in 2013, and only non-member subscribers received print issues in 2013. This means we will no longer be mailing print issues of our journal, and we will no longer be offering subscriptions to The Mountain Geologist. Subscribers to the 2013 volume 50 were notified of the change in October/November, 2013. It will be possible to receive our digital issues for personal use in one of two ways: either by becoming a member of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists for $41 annually (http://www.rmag.org) which will enable downloading issues from the website, or by pay-per-view from AAPGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s DataPages (http://www.datapages.com). University and corporate subscription options are also available through DataPages. We are currently exploring other subscription options; please let us know directly if you wish to be appraised of developments in this area. Respectfully, Joyce Trygstad Nelson Executive Editor, The Mountain Geologist jtpetr@aol.com
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Emily Tompkins Executive Director, Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists etompkins@rmag.org
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Fluvial megafans in the Uinta Basin, a consequence of extremely bad early Eocene weather? Eocene Climatic Optimum events) that caused extreme precipitation with intermittent droughts. Increase in extreme precipitation and development of fluvial megafans was not unique to early Eocene or the Uinta Basin. Such conditions were wide spread during early Eocene, and also occurred during Cretaceous, Jurassic and Triassic greenhouse conditions. Extreme precipitation has also been predicted to increase in anthropogenic global warming conditions by the International Panel of Climate Change. Yet the extreme early Eocene weather was not the only control on formation of the Uinta Basin fluvial
Continued from page 27
megafans. The uplifted Sevier and Laramide hinterland was also critical in providing the large amounts of sediment and allowing for large discharges, as a function of drainage basin size and gradients.
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RMAG Luncheon Programs – April 2nd
Roving Mars -- An Update on Recent Exploration of the Red Planet
By Ira Pasternack, Comet Ridge Resources, April 2, 2014
The talk will present examples of some of the Martian depositional environments capable of sustaining life including fluvial valley networks and deltaic sediment bodies in lacustrine basins.
Our knowledge of Martian geology has undergone tremendous growth over the last decade due to the highly successful surface rover and orbiter missions that have been surveying and sending data back from the planet since 2004. Much of these data are readily available for free download from various NASA or affiliated organization websites (i.e., http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/). The talk will include some of the author’s favorite downloaded imagery and brief historical review of earlier probes sent to explore Mars, will demonstrate they have not always been so successful. Since American astronomer Percival Lowell popularized Martian “canals” as indications of intelligent life during the early 20th century, the search for signs of life on Mars continues to be a major focus of exploration. Each of the rover landing sites was specifically selected to optimize the potential for finding evidence of past life. The talk will present examples of some of the Martian depositional environments capable of sustaining life including fluvial valley networks and deltaic sediment bodies in lacustrine basins. Mars has a much more complete stratigraphic record than the Earth because of the absence of plate tectonics and lack of crustal recycling. Mars is the location of one of the tallest mountain peaks identified in the Solar System, “Olympus Mons”--3 times the height of Mount Everest--as well as the largest known canyon, the 1900-mile-long “Valles Marineris”. Although the talk is well beyond the normal scope of Rocky Mountain region geology topics presented at RMAG luncheons, there are numerous Colorado connections to the recent Martian missions beyond the similar red color of the rocks. Colorado companies were responsible for the construction of various key components or instruments onboard the rovers and orbiters. There are also Colorado ties to some of the scientists responsible for conducting the Martian research.
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Outcrop Deadlines
for the Outcrop advertising is the 1st of the month, the deadline for other content is the 5th of the month. OUTCROP
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Coming in September! Order your copy today!
—— PRE-SALE FORM ——
Studies in Geology 65
Application of Structural Methods to Rocky Mountain Hydrocarbon Exploration and Development
Edited by: Constance N. Knight, Jerome J. Cuzella, Leland D. Cress Co-published by The American Association of Petroleum Geologists The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists With increasing industry emphasis on developing “unconventional” tight reservoirs and on enhancing recovery from existing fields, geologists are facing new challenges. Identifying fracture characteristics within petroleum systems is essential. Understanding the timing of tectonics and the formation of structures is important, as these factors strongly influence hydrocarbon generation, migration, entrapment, and preservation. The purpose in publishing this collection of key papers is to aid future works in addressing complex interrelationships between structural geology and hydrocarbon exploration and development. The first four chapters of this book focus on structural concepts and techniques. The second part of this book is a collection of Rocky Mountain fault and fracture studies. These well-documented studies are valuable reference materials for all petroleum geologists. I agree to pay the RMAG:
RMAG member—$159 X ___ (# ordering) = _____ + sales tax + shipping* non-member—$249 X ___ (# ordering) = ______ + sales tax + shipping* *shipping is based on UPS rates, therefore we will charge you based on your shipping zip code
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More information is available on the RMAG website under Publications. Questions? Would you like to pay by check? Please call the RMAG office (303) 573-8621 or email staff@rmag.org Vol. 63, No. 2
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February 2014
MINERAL OF THE MONTH: February By Cheryl Whitney
Mineral Name: Fergusonite Chemical Composition: (Y, Er, Ce, Fe)NbO4 Color: Black, Brown Streak: Brown Luster: Sub-metallic Crystal System: Tetragonal Specific Gravity: 5.8 Hardness: 5.5-6 Index of Refraction: 2.05-2.19 Locations: Found in alkalic rocks. Interesting Facts: It is an oxide of niobium tantalum and rare earths. Klein, Cornelis, Cornelius S. Hurlbut, James Dwight Dana, and Cornelis Klein. The 22nd Edition of the Manual of Mineral Science: (after James D. Dana). New York: J. Wiley, 2002. Print. Image from Alchemist, Hp. "Yttrium." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Sept. 2013. Web. 03 Jan. 2014.
...Next Month: Rhodochrosite
Above is an image of the Rare Earth Mineral Yttrium, a component in Fergusonite.
Have a mineral you want to see? E-mail c.whitney@laramidegeo.com.
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Vol. 63, No. 2
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February 2014
RMAG/PTTC GEOSTEERING FORUM IMPACTING THE BOTTOM LINE
Presented by The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists and PTTC TUESDAY, APRIL 29th, 2014
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS Deadline January 31, 2014 Maximize your visibility and work by actively participating in this PREMIER event! RMAG and PTTC are pleased to announce their 1st Geosteering Forum. The objectives are to examine advanced geosteering techniques and applications in horizontal wells among geoscientists and engineers. Topics include software analysis, downhole tools and techniques, and their usefulness in well planning, stratigraphic interpretation, staying in-zone, dealing with hazards, drilling efficiency, and maximizing productivity of horizontal wells. Topics include but are not limited to the following: • Geosteering techniques and applications • Case histories • Pros/cons of software packages • Downhole tools and techniques • Well planning/stratigraphic interpretation • Dealing with hazards and drilling efficiency • Analyzing geosteering data to understand and boost production • The relative merits of remote, on-location and in-house geosteering Target Audience: geoscientists, drilling engineers, and reservoir engineers
Feb 17th, 2014 Registration Opens $200 member, $250 nonmember
Marriott Denver City Center Downtown For EXHIBITOR, SPONSOR, and ABSTRACT info visit WWW.RMAG.ORG or contact the RMAG office staff@rmag.org 303-573-8621
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The Mountain Geologist needs TWO more ASSISTANT EDITORS The Mountain Geologist is looking for two additional, volunteer, Assistant Editors to join the present staff. One editor will have some paleontological background. The other editor will focus on reviewing revised manuscripts and galley proofs. Assistant Editors copy edit submitted and revised manuscripts for adherence to The Mountain Geologist’s “Author Style Guide” and for readability. They help in all phases of manuscript publication. Assistant Editor skills include having excellent command of English and earth-science background, and being detail-oriented. Sometimes fast turn-arounds are required. Please contact Joyce Trygstad Nelson, Executive Editor, jtpetr@ aol.com.
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February 2014
Editor’s Note:
WOLFCAMP & BONE SPRING PROJECT Unlocking the Potential of the Permian Delaware Basin
This month we welcome Greg Guyer as a co-editor for the Outcrop. We want to thank Cat Campbell for her many years of service to the Outcrop and wish her all the best. We will miss her.
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**Ski Downhill - Cross Country – Snowboard** COPPER MOUNTAIN RESORT Friday, March 7, 2014 7:30 am 12:30 pm TBA 3-5:30 pm 7:00 p.m.
Schedule of Events
Buses Depart from Heritage Square in Golden: Coffee/donuts Lunch on your own; Re-group opportunity Solitude Station Mid-mountain Lodge, American Eagle Lift Nastar Race and other events (details provided on bus) Après Ski Party: Kokopelli Trail Room/Jills Deck: Beer/Wine/Dinner Center Village Area (Base of American Flyer Lift) Arrive back to Heritage Square
For Sponsorship Opportunities or Additional Information, Please Call:
RMAG Chairs ♦♦ Chris Gough ♦♦ 303-893-9020 ♦♦ Larry Bennett 720-536-2901 DAPL Chair ♦♦ Patsy Botts 303-925-0696 (x120) DAPL at 303-446-2253, fax 303-595-9701 ♦♦ RMAG at 303-573-8621
REGISTRATION FORM (PLEASE REGISTER EARLY!)
Name: _________________________________________________________________ Company: _________________________________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________________________________ Phone: _________________________________________________________________ E-mail Address: ______________________________________________________________ Please Reserve:
Downhill Lift Tickets, Bus Ride and Apres Ski Party Downhill Lift Tickets and Apres Ski Party (No bus) Bus Ride and Party Only Apres Ski Party Only
# _____ (X $135) = # _____ (x $110) = # _____ (x $ 85) = # _____ (x $ 60) = Total Enclosed
$___________ $___________ $___________ $___________ $___________
Deadline for reservations is Monday, March 3, 2014 No cancellations after Friday, February 28, 2014
Make checks payable & mail to: RMAG/DAPL Ski Day, 535 16th Street, Suite 850, Denver, CO 80202 OR GO ON LINE at www.RMAG.org (click on “ski button”)
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February 2014
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We want you back! We need you! The RMAG is facing a serious membership dilemma. During 2013, over 700 RMAG memberships have lapsed.
Every RMAG member is being requested to keep his/her online membership profile information up to date.
were very concerned that their memberships had lapsed. Every RMAG member is being requested to keep his/ her online membership profile information up to date. We need your help to resolve this problem. If (after reading the profile article of this issue) you require assistance using the online RMAG website and database, please contact the RMAG office.
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T h e r e c e n t l y c r e a te d membership committee, the RMAG board of directors, and the RMAG office staff are working to resolve membership issues. We need your help. Recently Debra Higley, Dudley Bolyard, Matt Silverman, and Connie Knight contacted some of the “lapsed” members by phone and by email. Of the members contacted, most
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February 2014
Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, RMAG 910 16th Street Mall, Suite 1214, Denver, CO 80202 (303) 573-8621 phone (303) 628-0546 fax www.rmag.org staff@rmag.org
2014 RMAG Dues Renewal 2014 RMAG Dues Renewal
Name:____________________________________________________________________________________ Last
First
Please select one: No change in contact information Please update my contact information:
Address: __________________________________________________________________________________ City: ___________________________________ State: ______________ Zip Code: _____________________ Email address: _____________________________________________________________________________ 2014 Dues:
$41.00 (December 1, 2013 - November 30, 2014)
Other Optional Contributions: RMAG Contribution:
$_________
RMAG Foundation General Fund Contribution:
$_________
Total Contribution Payment: All contributions are tax deductible under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS.
$_________
(which supports the calendar of 2014 of RMAG events, including short courses, symposia, social events, monthly luncheons, and more)
(which helps support the following: Norman H. Foster Scholarship, University of Colorado (Bolyard) Scholarship, Colorado School of Mines (CSM) Scholarship, Colorado State University (CSU) Scholarship, Veterans Memorial Scholarship, Stone/Hollberg Graduate Scholarship in Structural Geology, Philip J. McKenna Scholarship, Babcock Scholarship)
Please return this form with payment: Payments may be made by check (payable to RMAG) or credit card (please either fill out the enclosed credit card authorization form or go to www.rmag.org to pay online). Easy steps to update your membership online: 1. Go to RMAG website at www.rmag.org 2. Click on MEMBERSHIP 3. Under MEMBERSHIP, click on Member Log In 4. Under the Member Login box, click where it says “Forgot your information? Click here” 5. Enter your current email address 6. You will then receive an email with your login information If this is unsuccessful, please contact the RMAG office at (303) 573-8621 or by email at staff@rmag.org for further assistance.
PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW SUITE NUMBER – 910 16TH STREET MALL, SUITE 1214, DENVER, CO 80202 OUTCROP
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Authors and Editors Needed: RMAG Oil & Gas Fields of Colorado! RMAG is working toward the publication of a guidebook dedicated to short field studies of a set of selected oil and gas fields in Colorado. In large part the format will be similar to earlier publications of this type: a several page article that will include a one page summary with a small set of maps and cross-sections adequate to give the reader a lot of information in a short amount of time. The RMAG committee working on this publication has selected 85 fields for review. In addition, we expect to have extended discussion around several large â&#x20AC;&#x153;resource playâ&#x20AC;? areas such as the Piceance Basin or the Greater Wattenberg complex including the recent horizontal Niobrara play. The committee is currently looking for authors to do field studies and to put together material for publication. Each author may contribute one or multiple field studies. We will also need a group of editors for both technical and copy (grammatical and graphical) review. Please volunteer! Committee contacts below: Dean DuBois, Committee Chair 720-876-5366 dean.dubois@encana.com James Milne 303-894-2100 x5117 james.milne@state.co.us James Rogers 303-832-2328 jim_rogers1@comcast.net Vol. 63, No. 2
Quality Mudlogging Geologic Interpretation Wellsite Geology | Geo-Steering | Coring Supervision Serving the Williston Basin and Rocky Mountain Region
Horizontal Bakken, Mission Canyon, Red River, Dupero, Three Forks and Ratcliff formations Joseph H. Large President
www.rpmconsultinginc.com 1600 Broadway, Suite 1510, Denver, CO 80202 (Office) 303 595 7625 | (Fax) 303 595 7628
Steve Cumella 720-979-0718 steve.cumella@endeavourcorp.com
Tom Feldkamp 303-228-4146 tfeldkamp@NobleEnergyInc.com
Marshall Deacon 303-228-4215 mdeacon@nobleenergyinc.com
Chris Martin 720-440-6134 CMartin@bonanzacrk.com
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February 2014
New Members
Welcome to new RmaG members... Alena Grechishnikova works at Colorado School of Mines.
Jeff Aldrich is a Vice President at MHA Petroleum Consultants.
Renee Wild works at WPX Energy.
Stephen Hollis lives in Lyons, CO.
Edward Muller works at Tetra Tech.
Michael Walsh is a Geologist at ARCADIS US, Inc.
Stephen Sunnenberg works at Caerus Oil and Gas.
Gary Kleeman works at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Aaron Maestas lives in Canyon, TX.
Reinaldo Michelena is a Director of Geophysics at iReservoir.com, Inc.
Dan Jackson works at US EPA. Jimmy Schloss lives in Littleton, CO.
Markus Thomerson lives in Oklahoma City, OK.
Mark Levorsen is a Principal Hydrogeologist at URS Corporation.
Robert Sare lives in Centennial, CO. Nas Nouilati works at ABUTEC.
William Lyons is a Geologist at Anadarko Petroleum.
Joseph Hatch is a Scientist Emeritus at U.S. Geological Survey. Charles Berg is an Owner at ResDip Systems. Lia Lajoie is a Senior Staff Geologist at Fugro Consultants, Inc.
Connect with RMAG Online!
Angela Pascarella is a Senior Geologist at Schlumberger.
You can now connect to the RMAG on Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook.
Michelle Nesbit lives in Denver, CO. Brad Gabrielse lives in Denver, CO. Âť
CONNECT WITH US ON LINKEDIN! LIKE US ON FACEBOOK! FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!
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www.rmag.org February 2014
In the Pipeline february 4-7, 2014 NAPE Winter Expo. Houston, TX.
february 18-20, 2014 PTTC Course. “Basic Well Log Interpretation.” Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO.
february 5, 2014 RMAG Luncheon. Speaker John Cur tis. “Ordovician-Sourced Oils from the Williston Basin: Where Did They Come from and Where Have They Gone?”
february 24-26, 2014 Hart DUG Canada. Calgary, AB. february 25, 2014 RMS-SEPM Luncheon. Speaker TBA.
february 11, 2014 Desk and Derrick Luncheon. For reservations, please contact RSVP@deskandderrick.org.
february 26, 2014 Oilfield Christian Fellowship Luncheon.
february 13, 2014 RMAG/DGS 3D Seismic Symposium. Sheraton Hotel-Downtown Denver.
february 26, 2014 Legislative Reception. Please see page 11. »
february 18, 2014 DWLS Luncheon. Speaker Tamara Oliver.”The Many Uses of Acoustic Measurements.”
If you have any events that you would like to post in this column, please submit via email to Holly Sell at holly.sell@yahoo.com or to the RMAG office at rmagdenver@aol.com for consideration.
Check it Out! Energy for the 21st Century: Opportunities and Challenges for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Author: Susan L. Sakmar, Visiting Law Professor, University of Houston Law Center LNG is the fastest growing segment of the energy market and its role as the 'glue' linking global gas markets is set to intensify as more and more countries look to LNG to meet growing energy demand with cleaner burning fuels. This timely book provides critical insights into all aspects of the dynamic LNG business, including the LNG value chain, the evolution from regional trade to a more globalized LNG market, LNG pricing, contracts and trade, and emerging issues such as the impact of shale gas on global gas markets and the prospects for U.S. LNG exports. The author is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Houston Law Center where she teaches a seminar on Shale Gas and LNG. Available on Amazon at www.amazon.com/dp/1849804214, $157.48. »
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o t t ip r c s u n a M a Submit viewed , online, peer-re ly er rt a u q a is Geologist eologists The Mountain Association of G in ta n ou M ky ountain by the Roc itors for The M d E journal published . 0 0 6 2 t ou geology culation is ab on or relate to s since 1964. Cir cu fo at th ts p me manuscri Geologist welco environs. ntain region and ou , please M ky oc R . .S ntain Geologist ou of the U M e Th r fo t p manuscri d under When writing a le G u id e ” fo u n ty S r o th u “A te: www. w n lo a d a b le the RMAG websi re fe r to th e d o on ” st gi lo eo G g to this The Mountain uscript accordin “Publications – an m r u yo te ri w d editors. por tant to both authors an rmag.orgg It is im r fo e m ti on si quiries to itigate revi ; please send in style guide to m 3 1 0 2 in ed at d ublished is being up refer to issues p The style guide or om l.c ao r@ ditor at jtpet the Executive E ise. hen questions ar in 2012-2013 w te (1964the RMAG websi Back issues on e bl la ai av is d index .org). See A bibliography an age, www.rmag p eb w st gi lo eo Geologist, Mountain G to The Mountain 2009, see The ex d In d an hy ly 2011, e Bibliograp tain Geologist, Ju n also, “Cumulativ ou M e Th , op h Michele Bis 1999-2010” by Mountain 9-80 . v. 48, no. 3, p. 5 ble on DVD (The la ai av e ar al rn the jou Mountain Back issues of 22, no. 4; The v. , 5 8 9 1 t p ce rough the -2005 ex o. 4) available th Geologist 1964 n , 2 2 v. , 5 8 9 1 te. Some -2010 with the RMAG websi Geologist 2006 on e lin on or , 1 2 3-573-86 RMAG office for e th om fr RMAG office, 30 le b la avai copies are also issues in hard $15.
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Vol. 63, No. 2
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February 2014
Register by 10 February and save up to $105 Ideas and Innovation – Fuel for the Energy Capital
6–9 April » Houston, Texas » George R. Brown Convention Center
Look for the Technical Program and Registration Announcement online at
AAPG.org/ACE
Organized by
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Hosted by
www.rmag.org
Advertisers Index AAPG ........................................ 32, 45
Geosteering ................................ 13
Quantum Water Consulting............23
Bowler Petrophysics ..................... 13
Gustavson, John B...................... 21
RPM Geologic, LLC .........................40
Breckenridge Expl. Inc. ................ 28
Horizontal Solutions Intl........8, 41
Stoner Engineering, LLC.................37
Canadian Discovery ...................... 35
Karo, James C. ........................... 25
Summit Mudlogging Services ........34
Columbine Logging ..........................6
Kestrel Geoscience, LLC ........... 25
TGS ...................................................10
Decollement Consulting, Inc ....... 38
Kluth and Associates ................. 35
Weatherford Laboratories ..... 2, 9, 31
The Discovery Group, Inc. ............. 35
MJ Systems ................................ 34
Weber Law Firm, LLC ......................35
Dolan Integration Group ............... 11
Mazzullo Energy Corp. ............... 40
Whitehead, Neil H. ..........................35
Donovan Brothers Inc. .................. 25
Noble Energy .............................. 12
F EB R UA R Y 2014 anuary MONDAY
SUNDAY
1
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
1
2
3
4
9
10
11
16
17
5
Desk & Derrick Luncheon
18
DWLS Luncheon
RMAG 6 Luncheon Speaker: John Curtis NAPE Winter Expo
12
13
RMAG/DGS 3D Seismic Symposium
19
7
8
14
15
VALENTINE'S DAY
20
21
Christian 27 26 Oilfield Fellowship
28
22
PTTC Course
23
24
Vol. 63, No. 2
25
RMS-SEPM Luncheon Hart DUG Canada
Luncheon
Legislative Reception
46
February 2014