March 2017 Outcrop by The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

Volume 66 • No. 3 • March 2017

OUTCROP | March 2017

Vol. 66, No. 3 | 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 MANAGING EDITOR

Will Duggins will.duggins@i-og.net ASSOCIATE EDITORS

ADVERTISING INFORMATION

Rates and sizes can be found on page 18. 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. WEDNESDAY NOON LUNCHEON RESERVATIONS

RMAG Office: 303-573-8621 | Fax: 303-476-2241 | staff@rmag.org or www.rmag.org

Holly Sell holly.sell@yahoo.com Greg Guyer Greg.Guyer@halliburton.com Cheryl Fountain cwhitney@alumni.nmt.edu Ron Parker ron.parker@taskfronterra.com DESIGN/PRODUCTION

Nate Silva nate@nate-silva.com

The Outcrop is a monthly publication of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

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Outcrop | March 2017 OUTCROP

Sharpen your skills! Carbonate Diagenesis

Monday-Tuesday, March 27-28, 2017, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm Colorado School of Mines, Berthoud Hall room 403 Fee: $500, includes food at breaks, class notes, and PDH certificate, limit 20 Instructor: Dr. Peter A. Scholle, and Dr. Dana Ulmer-Scholle, New Mexico Tech & Scholle Petrographic Synopsis:

Carbonate diagenesis includes any physical or chemical changes that occur in carbonate rocks after their deposition. It can begin on the sea floor and may include early subaerial exposure (syn/eogenetic) continue through possible burial (mesogenetic) and into possible uplift-related (telogenetic) realms. Since diagenesis has profound effects on the porosity and permeability evolution of the carbonate reservoirs, understanding these changes can provide valuable information on both the history of reservoir potential through time as well as the history of fluid flow through the units. Although many reservoirs produce mainly from original or early formed pores, there is a growing understanding that late-stage diagenesis can also form excellent productive porosity. Unlike most courses that consist of only lectures, this course provides participants an opportunity to have hands-on experience using standard petrographic techniques to better understand how diagenesis impacts carbonate reservoirs and how to identify the processes involved and their relative timing. This class is designed for participants who have some fundamental knowledge of geology and some minimal petrographic experience (i.e., can identify common minerals like quartz, calcite, etc. under the microscope).

The course:

Integrating petrography into petrophysical or core studies of carbonate rocks provides unique and important information about their diagenetic history. The information garnered from petrographic analyses can be utilized to better understand reservoir trends, diagenetic effects that impact reservoir quality, and fluid flow through these rocks. This course combines half-day lectures with hands-on petrographic observations of thin sections from a variety of carbonate rocks. Participants are also welcome to bring their own thin section samples to the class.

Course Topics:     

Overview of carbonate rocks and their composition Syndepositional to early burial diagenesis (marine and meteoric processes) Burial diagenesis Uplift-related diagenesis Dolomitization

The Instructors

Dana S. Ulmer-Scholle She received a B.S. degree in 1981 from the University of Cincinnati. Dana completed a M.S. degree (1983) at Southern Methodist University and a Ph.D. (1992). Her dissertation research concentrated on evaporite-related diagenesis in upper Paleozoic carbonate rocks from New Mexico, Wyoming and Greenland. Dana has worked, or consulted, for a number of companies including Amoco Oil and Gas Co., ARCO Exploration, ARCO International, Mobil Research, and Maersk Oil and Gas. Currently, she is the co-owner of Scholle Petrographic, LLC. Dana is also an Associate Research Professor at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. She teaches carbonate-related courses including petrography and depositional/diagenetic models. While at New Mexico Tech, she has also been involved in environmental investigations that include heavymetals bioremediation and fate-and-transport of heavy minerals in the environment. She is the author, coauthor or editor on numerous papers, reports, books and CD-ROMs with AAPG Memoir 77 receiving the Robert H. Dott, Sr., Memorial Award (2005). Peter A. Scholle Peter received his B.S. in geology from Yale University in 1965. After a year at the University of Munich in Germany, and another year at the University of Texas at Austin, he received a Ph.D. in geology from Princeton University in 1970. His dissertation work, on deep-water carbonate turbidites in the Italian Apennines, was supervised by Al Fischer. Peter’s professional employment included state and federal government, the petroleum industry, and academia. He worked for five years for various oil companies (Cities Service, Gulf and Chevron) and consulted for other oil companies for many years. Nine years were spent with the U. S. Geological Survey in Reston (VA) and Denver (CO), including three years as chief of the Oil and Gas Branch. He taught at the University of Texas at Dallas for three years and was Albritton Professor of Geology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas from 1985 to 1999. From 1999-2011, he was the New Mexico State Geologist and director of the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources. He is now the co-owner of Scholle Petrographic, LLC. Peter has devoted much of his time to carbonate research and writing. His major interests are in deepwater carbonates (especially chalks) as well as the diagenesis and petroleum potential of Permian rocks in many areas of the world. He has worked in nearly 30 countries and has written, coauthored, or edited nine books, about 200 papers and abstracts, 23 CD-ROMs, and a number of other computer or audio-visual products. Peter has been a member of AAPG and SEPM since 1976-77. He was an AAPG Distinguished Lecturer (1975-76) and received the AAPG President’s award twice, the Sproule Memorial Award, the AAPG Certificate of Merit and the AGI Ian Campbell Medal for Superlative Service to the Geosciences (2013). He served as president and special publications editor of SEPM and is an honorary member of that society. He was also president of AGI and AASG (the Association of American State Geologists).

Class OUTCROP | March 2017

Descriptions and Register Online: www.pttcrockies.org 4 Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org For more information, contact Mary Carr, 303.273.3107, mcarr@mines.edu

OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

CONTENTS FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

25 Lead Story: Taking in Snow Requires Perspective From Space

6 RMAG December 2016 Board of Directors Meeting

ASSOCIATION NEWS

14 RMAG Luncheon Programs: Richard Rosen

2 RMAG 2017 Summit Sponsors

8 President’s Letter

7 RMS-AAPG Call for Papers

16 RMAG Luncheon Programs: Stephanie B. Gaswirth

11 RMAG Core Workshop

18 In The Pipeline

17 2017 RMAG-DWLS Call For Papers

18 Outcrop Advertising Rates

19 Hydrocarbon Source Rocks in Uncoventional Plays, Rocky Mountain Region: Now Available

20 Welcome New RMAG Members!

COVER PHOTO Seasonal flows on steep Martian slopes, possibly shallow seeps of salty water, the dark streaks on the hillside. This July 21, 2015, image from the orbiter’s HiRISE camera shows examples within Mars’ Valles Marineris. Photo credit: NASA | JPL-Caltech | University of Arizona

29 Advertiser Index 29 Calendar

21 On The Rocks Field Trip: May 14, 2017 28 News From The RMAG Foundation

Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | March 2017

RMAG DECEMBER 2016 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING By Jennifer Jones, Secretary jaseitzjones@gmail.com

and hopes to offer some exciting opportunities in the coming year. The mentorship program will have a kickoff happy hour in February for mentors and mentees to get better acquainted. The membership committee is developing plans for quarterly and student events. The RMAG/DAPL GeoLand Ski Day will be February 24 at Keystone Resort. Please see the RMAG or DAPL website for more details. The RMAG Board is planning to address long range and strategic planning and priorities in the coming months. At the January meeting, the BOD discussed more recognition events for important contributions by industry professionals during their career. In the interest of fairness and organization, a motion was passed to have these efforts voted on and approved by the Board going forward. Please check the RMAG website often for the exciting events and opportunities coming up soon! We look forward to seeing you.

The January meeting of the RMAG Board of Directors was held January 18, 2017 at 4 PM. All members were present, and guest Laura Wray presented a status report for the RMAG Foundation. The RMAG Foundation has a new website coming, as well as two new scholarships, and is doing well. Treasurer Karen Dean reported that the RMAG financials are as expected, and the 2017 goals for the organization. Barbara Kuzmic, Executive Director, reported that the core workshop (March 2 – please join the waitlist if you are still interested) and January luncheon both sold out, as well as strong publication sales. Summit sponsorship commitments and payments for the year are in progress. Planning for the Fall Symposium is in progress. The 3D Seismic Symposium is February 22 and registration is filling up – the event is expected to sell out. Please see the RMAG website for a detailed agenda. The On the Rocks committee will be kicking off soon,

W.W. Little Geological Consulting, LLC William W. Little, Ph.D. Senior Consulting Geologist • Field Studies 20 South 5000 West • Geological Mapping Rexburg, Idaho 83440-3613 • Sequence Stratigraphy Cell: 208/201-6266 RMAG publication Ad-‐-‐-‐prof • cSedimentary ard size 2Petrology 5/8 X 1/1/2; 12 issues @ $144 wwlittle@gmail.com • GIS Services Website: http://littleww.wordpress.com • Training Courses

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

OUTCROP | March 2017

Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

Rocky Mountain Section Annual Meeting

C A L L F O R PA P E R S

RM S - A APG B I L L I N G S M O N TA N A

NG PL I A EW

2017

JUNE 25-28

G RESOU

SUBMISSION DEADLINE FEBRUARY 28, 2017 http://rmsaapg2017.com/ For more information contact: General Chairman Robert Schalla (406) 294-3525 covecreekresources@msn.com

Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

Technical Program Chairs Steve Van Delinder svandelinder@ballardpetroleum.com Mark Millard mmillard@sm-energy.com 7

OUTCROP | March 2017

PRESIDENT’S LETTER By Larry Rasmussen

Love of Learning is the Guide of Life

OUTCROP | March 2017

projects that interest him, and, among other things, he and I are planning to measure some sections in the very fossiliferous Early Cretaceous Kootenai Formation in central Montana this summer. One of the other neat things about geology is we get to meet other geologists with overlapping interests through our work. Often, it starts by reading an article, looking at a geologic map, or hearBetty Skipp, Emeritus Geologist with the USGS ing about someone the majority of her career mapthrough the grapevine. ping the thrust belt in west“You’re working on the Moenern Montana and south-central kopi? Well, you really need to Idaho, publishing over 25 maps talk to this person!” We start for the USGS and Montana Burecognizing certain names over reau of Mines and Geology, as and over through our research, well as authoring a number of and, if we’re lucky, we run into other scientific articles with them and get to strike up a conAAPG, GSA, Montana Geologversation. This year, I intend to ical Society and the Wyoming write about geologists who inGeological Association. She terest me or who have impactis also held in high esteem for ed my work over the years. conducting the first integrated One of these people who and comprehensive biostratiwas brought to my attention regraphic zonation of calcareous cently is Betty Skipp, an emerforaminifera of the Mississippiitus geologist with the Minan. I contacted Betty through a erals Division of the USGS. If friend at the USGS (he found a you’re not familiar with Betphone number in a 1979 USGS ty’s work, head on over to the directory that still worked!), USGS publications website and search on her name. She spent CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

One of the really cool things about being a geologist is that we generally have one of the highest job satisfaction ratings of any profession. It’s almost become cliché to hear “I can’t believe I get paid to do this” from a fellow geologist. We tend to be passionate about our science, and it bleeds over into our non-working hours. We take it home with us. We take it on vacation. We read and write about it in our spare time. And, although some of us have determined effective ways to turn it off when we need to, even that can be difficult. I’ve read that the creative peak in geologists comes later in the career than other sciences, and that’s because we continue to learn and make discoveries throughout our careers. We attend lunch talks, symposia, conventions, continuing education courses, field trips, and we talk passionately with other geologists during these events. Geology is a science that we continue to learn about long after we leave the work force. I know several geologists who are “retired” yet spend a good portion of their retired years continuing down the path to geological discovery. My father, for example, still spends six or seven days a week at his office working on a myriad of

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PRESIDENT’S LETTER

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and she was kind enough to talk to me for over an hour about her career, how she became interested in geology, and what she’s currently working on. Betty grew up in Des Plaines, Illinois, and enrolled in Northwestern University in 1945 on scholarship after attending Maine Township high school. Although she had intended to study mathematics, she had an important freshman advisor and mentor who shifted her attention toward geology. His name was Bob Garrels, a graduate student of geology, who would later author the classic work on aqueous geochemistry titled Solutions, Minerals and Equilibria. Bob encouraged Betty to enroll in some geology courses and she was fortunate to have two excellent and influential professors: William Krumbein and Laurence Sloss. (Geology refresher to anyone who may have forgotten: both made significant contributions to geology, Krumbein developed the phi grain size scale, and Sloss is considered by many to be the father of sequence stratigraphy. Together, they co-authored the ubiquitous text, Stratigraphy and Sedimentation.) Betty graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a minor in geology. While at Northwestern, Betty was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, a prestigious honor society promoting excellence in liberal arts and sciences. Translation of the original acronym is “Love of learning is the guide of life”, a perfectly appropriate slogan for one in pursuit of a lifelong career in geology.

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Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

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OUTCROP | March 2017

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PRESIDENT’S LETTER

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

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Realizing that geology held more appeal than mathematics, Betty applied for and received a scholarship to study geology at the University of Colorado in Boulder in 1949. Her Master’s advisor was John Chronic, and her thesis involved mapping the geology of the Dead Horse Creek area immediately north of the town of Salida. Because she was a woman (and because it was 1949), Professor Warren Thompson would not allow her to take his Field Geology course, so her skills were learned in the field with Chronic. In 1952, Betty accepted a position with the USGS General Geology Division under Jim Gilluly. At that time, only two percent of the geologists working with the Survey were female, and Gilluly had several women working for him. According to Betty, he wasn’t quite sure what to do with them, and he intended for her to be moved into the Water Resources Division. A field geologist named Clyde Polhemus “Hoss” Ross saw potential in Betty, and arranged instead to have her transferred to the Minerals Division of the USGS, where she spent the remainder of her career. According to Betty, Clyde Ross was one of the last great reconnaissance geologists who did most of his field work riding English saddle on horseback (thus, the nickname “Hoss”), and published some of the early geologic maps in Glacier National Park and compiled a geologic map of Idaho in 1947. He was in his 70s when they met, but he quickly became one of her most influential

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Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

March 2, 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 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.

SOLD OUT! If you would like to be placed on the wait list, please email staﬀ@rmag.org.

email: staﬀ@rmag.org

phone: 303.573.8621

Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

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

fax: 303.476.2241

web: www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | March 2017

follow: @rmagdenver

PRESIDENTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LETTER

Cross section and portion of the geologic map of the Sedan quad in SW Montana (Skipp et al, 1999)

OUTCROP | March 2017

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PRESIDENT’S LETTER

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Clyde Polhemus “Hoss” Ross, one of the last great USGS reconnaissance geologists. Betty Skip lives in Boulder, Colorado and maintains an office at the USGS in Lakewood. Her son, Gary Skipp, is also a geologist with the USGS.

geologic mentors, instructing her in field methods that she would use throughout her career. Betty Skipp’s first geologic map, the Maudlow Quadrangle in the Big Belt Mountains north of Bozeman, Montana, was published in 1965. Around this same time, she began to study calcareous forams as a way to differentiate the Carboniferous carbonates that she was mapping near Mackay, Idaho. In 1969, along with fellow USGS geologist, Bernard Mamet, she published a monograph on the international correlation of Mississippian foraminifers in an attempt to place the North American foraminiferal succession into a global context, a numbered biozonation scheme that is still used today worldwide. In 1985, Betty received a PhD in geology from the University of Colorado. Advised by stratigrapher and micropaleontologist, Don Eicher, her dissertation was a mapping project in a remote wilderness area of Idaho where she had to be flown in by helicopter to conduct her field studies. The resulting study was published as USGS Miscellaneous Field Studies Map 1601-B: Geologic map and cross sections of the Italian Peak and Italian Peak Middle Roadless Areas, Beaverhead County, Montana, and Clark and Lemhi counties, Idaho. In 2004, the GSA annual conference in Denver honored Betty with a session celebrating her achievements in field geology and biostratigraphy. Just last year, the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology awarded Betty Skipp with the Uuno Sahinen Silver Medallion, which acknowledges “outstanding contributions in understanding and development of energy, mineral, or groundwater resources in Montana” and is given to an outstanding geologist each year. I asked Betty what it is that keeps her interest in geology, and she responded that she’s still working on a geologic map in southwestern Montana for the Bureau. In fact, she was getting the final version ready to mail off a week after we spoke. When I asked if there was a particular achievement or part of her career that she was proud of, she responded, “All of it. I’m still basking in the glory of all of the opportunities I was given. I loved my career in geology. Mother Earth yielded up some of her secrets – what more can you ask for?”

REFERENCE

Skipp, B., D.R. Lageson and W.J. McMannis, 1999, Geologic map of the Sedan quadrangle, Gallatin and Park Counties, Montana, U.S. Geological Survey Investigations Series I-2634, 1 plate, scale 1:48,000.

OUTCROP | March 2017

RMAG LUNCHEON PROGRAMS Speaker: Richard Rosen — March 1 , 2017

Novel Methods, Concepts and Applications of Geomechanics for Unconventional Exploration and Exploitation By Richard Rosen factor in determining whether a rock exhibits brittle or ductile failure. It has been observed in the lab for some rocks that at low and high confining stress a rock may exhibit ductile failure while at an intermediate stress it can exhibit brittle failure. Confining stress in the subsurface is function of depth and geologic earth forces. It is possible that there is an optimum depth interval where brittle failure will occur and may , therefore, explain (and possibly predict) the occurrence of fractured fairways in monoclonal dip settings. Examples will be shown of how this behavior can be demonstrated in the laboratory and applied to explore for fractured fairways.

Brittleness and low earth confining reservoir stress are two positive reservoir attributes to consider in choosing a landing zone and completion stage intervals for horizontal well design of an unconventional reservoir.

TOPIC 1. SUPER BRITTLENESS AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE WORK OF BORIS TARASOV TO THE OCCURRENCE OF FRACTURED FAIRWAYS IN MONOCLINAL DIP SETTINGS

Fracture failure behavior at the end of a standard triaxial test for Young’s Modulus and Poisson’s ratio can be characterized as either brittle or ductile. Ductile behavior can be thought about to be similar to tearing a rubber sheet where once a break is initiated additional work is required to continue to propagate the tear. Conversely, for brittle breakage of a hammer hitting glass plate, there is enough energy stored at the moment of impact that failure propagates as if spontaneous. As it turns out, the amount of confining stress applied in the experiment is an important

TOPIC 2. THE IMPORTANCE AND USES OF ANISOTROPIC STRESS PROFILES

The way the earth responds to both geologic and induced fracture energy is dominated by geomechanical rock properties. Identification of intervals of relatively low earth stress frack easily, and, if additionally brittle, may provide the largest possible connectivity

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Richard Rosen has 35 years’ experience in the petroleum industry working, primarily, in the petrophysics discipline in both research and operations positions supporting conventional and unconventional plays for sandstones (consolidated and unconsolidated), carbonates and shales. He was leader of Shell Oil’s Petrophysical Sciences Laboratory and Global Principal Technical Expert for core analysis. He now lives and consults in Denver. OUTCROP | March 2017

Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

RMAG LUNCHEON PROGRAMS acoustic transducer has been developed to measure velocity at 45 degrees thus eliminating the 45 degree plug sample. The resulting anisotropic stress profile model is robust and appears to fit a wide range of well data from different formations, fields and basins. Examples of how to apply such concepts to landing zone choice and of stage completion interval definition will be discussed.

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to the reservoir. Areas of high stress may be barriers (especially if ductile, say due to clay rich sediment) which may limit induced frack growth. Unconventional shales are typically laminated at various scales and will have different physical properties in the horizontal and vertical orientations and are, therefore, anisotropic. Properties such as Young’s modulus and velocity are larger in the horizontal then vertical direction. Stress profile models based upon isotropic physics and math, while easy to compute, may fail to identify intervals of low stress and high stress barriers and encumber efforts to define landing zones and stage intervals. Engineering frack models which also utilize isotropic physics may also fail to adequately predict hydraulic fracture results such as break down pressure and propagation length. Anisotropic parameters are difficult to determine in the laboratory because measurements are required on very hard to acquire 45 degree oblique core plug samples. Instead of using such samples, a novel

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Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

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OUTCROP | March 2017

RMAG LUNCHEON PROGRAMS Speaker: Stephanie B. Gaswirth — April 12, 2017

Assessment of Undiscovered Continuous Oil Resources in the Wolfcamp Shale of the Midland Basin, Permian Basin Province, Texas, 2016

By Stephanie B. Gaswirth In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed a geology-based assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable continuous petroleum resources in the Pennsylvanian-Permian Wolfcamp shale in the Midland Basin of the Permian Basin Province of west Texas. This is the first USGS evaluation of continuous resources in the Wolfcamp shale, as it was not assessed as part of the 2007 USGS assessment of the Permian Basin Province. Since the 1980’s, the Wolfcamp shale in the Midland Basin has been part of the “Wolfberry” play; this play has traditionally been developed using vertical wells that are completed and stimulated in multiple productive stratigraphic intervals that include the Wolfcamp

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and overlying Spraberry Formation. More recently, the Wolfcamp shale is being targeted for continuous oil using horizontal wells that are hydraulically fractured. To date, more than 3,500 horizontal wells have been drilled and completed in the Midland Basin Wolfcamp interval. Six continuous assessment units were defined and quantitatively assessed in the Wolfcamp shale in the Midland Basin; assessed mean resources are 20 billion barrels of oil, 16 trillion cubic feet of associated gas, and 1.6 billion barrels of natural gas liquids. This makes the Wolfcamp shale of the Midland Basin the largest continuous oil accumulation assessed by the USGS.

Stephanie Gaswirth has been a Research Geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver, Colorado for over ten years working on petroleum resource assessments of the Williston, Anadarko, and Permian Basins. Prior to joining the USGS, she was employed with ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company in Houston, TX. Stephanie received her B.A. from Franklin & Marshall College, M.S. from Rutgers University, and PhD. from University of Colorado, Boulder.

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OUTCROP | March 2017

307-587-5502 (o) 307-431-6382 (c) john@sinclairengineering.com

Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

2017 RMAG-DWLS Call For Papers of stratigraphy and petrophysics, and new insights into unconventional petroleum systems of Rocky Mountain basins. We welcome abstracts for the technical talks at the symposium with or without an associated core for the core workshop. Send your abstract in today and join us for Unconventional Mudrocks, 2017! Deadline for abstract submission is May 1, 2017. Decisions will be returned by June 1. Speakers of accepted abstracts will be encouraged to submit a short (4-10 pages) technical paper by Aug. 1. We intend to publish separate booklets for the symposium and the workshop with abstracts and/or technical papers for participants. For more information, or to submit an abstract, please contact: David Katz (david.katz@ whiting.com) for the core workshop or Katerina Yared (katerina.yared@qepres.com) for the technical symposium.

The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists and the Denver Well Logging Society are teaming up to present “Geology and Petrophysics of Unconventional Mudrocks, 2017”, September 27-28, 2017. This first-time combination of the two societies will combine the two Fall Technical Symposia on the first day at the American Mountaineering Center in Golden and RMAG’s ‘Hot Plays’ Core Workshop at the USGS in Lakewood on day 2. The proposed technical program will be organized topically and will attempt to provide cross-disciplinary collaboration with DWLS. We welcome abstracts in the following categories: • Unconventional mudrock plays in the Rockies • Stratigraphic analysis of mudrock reservoirs • Petrophysical analysis of carbonate, siliciclastic, and mixed mudrock reservoirs • Applied reservoir modeling in mudrock reservoirs • Fractures vs matrix: are both critical for hydrocarbon storage and flow? • Resource assessments • Case studies • Analysis of abnormally pressured mudrock reservoirs • Techniques for investigating reservoir quality of mudrock reservoirs

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OUTCROP | March 2017

IN THE PIPELINE MARCH 22, 2017

MARCH 1, 2017 RMAG Luncheon. Speaker: Richard L. Rosen. “Novel Methods, Concepts and Applications of Geomechanics for Unconventional Exploration and Exploitation.” Maggiano’s Little Italy, Denver. RSVP to staff@ rmag.org.

OCF Denver Chapter Luncheon. RVSP to 303-258-6401. MARCH 23, 2017 DWLS Spring Workshop. “Petrophysical Workflows in Unconventional Reserviors.” CSM, Golden, CO.

MARCH 2, 2017 RMAG Core Workshop. Leaders: Rich Bottjer, Gus Gustason, Kevin Smith. USGS Core Research Center.

MARCH 27-28, 2017 PTTC Rockies Short Course. Instructors: Dr. Peter Scholle and Dr. Dana Ulmer-Scholle. “Carbonate Diagenesis.” CSM, Golden, CO.

MARCH 21, 2017 DWLS Luncheon. Speaker Ravi Viswanath from SLB. “Techniques to Compute Total Hydrocarbon in Place in the Bakken Using Low and High Field NMR.” Call 303-770-4235.

MARCH 28, 2017 RMS-SEPM Luncheon. Speaker: Sven Egenhoff. “Upper Bakken Shale Facies Architecture, and the Lower to Middle Bakken Member Transition-What You Can See in Core, and Its Applicability to Drilling (and Fracking).” RSVP to Luncheons@rmssepm.org or call 720-272-6697.

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Available now as a digital download! Non-member - $70

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Hydrocarbon Source Rocks in

Unconventional Plays, Rocky Mountain Region Editors: Michael P. Dolan, Debra K. Higley, Paul G. Lillis Stratigraphy and Depositional Origin of Tyler Formation (Pennsylvanian) Source Beds in the Williston Basin, Western North Dakota - TIMOTHY O. NESHEIM and STEPHEN H. NORDENG

Introduction - Michael P. Dolan, Debra K. Higley, and Paul G. Lillis Marine mudstone source rocks in epicontinental basins: Development of a conceptual facies model and application to Cenomanian/Turonian mudstones of the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway - BRUCE S. HART Overpressure development through time using 4D pressure-volume-temperature modeling in the deep Anadarko Basin, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas DEBRA K. HIGLEY

Vitrinite Reﬂectance of Cretaceous Coaly Material and Thermal Maturity of the Niobrara Formation, Denver Basin, Colorado, USA - DANIEL G. HALLAU, RYAN J. SHARMA, and ROBERT M. CLUFF Evolution of the Lower Tertiary Elko Lake Basin, a Potential Hydrocarbon Source Rock in Northeast Nevada - RONALD C. JOHNSON and JUSTIN E. BIRDWELL

The Chuar Petroleum System, Arizona and Utah - PAUL G. LILLIS

Geochemistry of the Green River Formation, Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado - JEREMY BOAK, SHEVEN POOLE, and JUFANG FENG

Insights into the Evolution of an Intracratonic Foreland Basin: A Regional Assessment of the Duvernay Formation - Matthew Davis, Glenn Karlen, Mark Tobey, and David Tivey

Source Rock Characterization of the Green River Oil Shale, Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado - JUFANG FENG, J. F. SARG, AND K. TÄNAVSUU-MILKEVICIENE

Petroleum system model of the Upper Devonian-Lower Mississippian Bakken Formation in the northern Williston Basin, Saskatchewan, southwestern Manitoba, and southeastern Alberta, Canada - DEBRA K. HIGLEY and NICHOLAS J. GIANOUTSOS

Geological, Geochemical, and Reservoir Characterization of the Uteland Butte Member of the Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah - JUSTIN E. BIRDWELL, MICHAEL D. VANDEN BERG, RONALD C. JOHNSON, TRACEY J. MERCIER, ADAM R. BOEHLKE, and MICHAEL E. BROWNFIELD

The Integration of Geochemical, Stratigraphic, and Production Data to Improve Geological Models in the Bakken-Three Forks Petroleum System, Williston Basin, North Dakota - MARK MILLARD and RILEY BRINKERHOFF

Generation and Migration of Bitumen and Oil from the Oil Shale Interval of the Eocene Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah- RONALD C. JOHNSON and JUSTIN E. BIRDWELL Silver Sponsor

Sponsored by:

email: staﬀ@rmag.org

phone: 303.573.8621

Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

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

fax: 303.476.2241

web: www.rmag.org OUTCROP | March 2017

follow: @rmagdenver

WELCOME NEW RMAG MEMBERS!

Aaron Adams

Shawna Gilbertson

is a Geologist at Metro State University in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

is a Senior Geoscientist at Shawna Gilbertson Consulting, LLC in Evergreen, Colorado.

is a President & Sr. Engineer at Senergy Engineering in Phoenix, Arizona.

is a Geologist at EOG Resources in Denver, Colorado.

is a Geologist at Schlumberger in Castle Rock, Colorado.

is a Geotechnician at Independent in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

is a Geophysical Advisor at Anadarko Petroleum Corporation in Denver, Colorado.

is a Geologist at U.S. Department of Interior in Golden, Colorado.

is a Sales Engineer at Weatherford in Denver, Colorado.

is a Geologist at Kimmeridge Energy in Denver, Colorado.

is a Senior Geologist at Schlumberger in Lakewood, Colorado.

is a student at Western State Colorado University in Gunnison, Colorado.

is a Director, Petrophysics at Chesapeake Energy in Edmond, Oklahoma.

is a Geologist (Sed-Strat) at BP Lower 48 in Houston, Texas.

is a Chief Geologist at Occidental Oil and Gas Corp. in Houston, Texas.

is a Senior Geoscience Advisor at Sabinal Energy in The Woodlands, Texas.

is an Operations Geologist at Halcon Resources in Denver, Colorado.

is a Geologist at Range Resources in Fort Worth, Texas.

Gregory Bell

Andrew Graham

Matthew Belobraydic

Allan Hetzel

Scott Bugosh

Nicholas Kernan

Walter Campbell

Blaine Martin

Ashley Castaldo

Mark McClernan

Lesley Evans

Jesse Melick

William Fitchen

John Messa

Alfred Garraffa

OUTCROP | March 2017

Alex Miller

ÂťÂťCONTINUED ON PAGE 22

Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

Aerial photo of a portion of the dinosaur tracksite located on the south side of the Purgatoire River. Photo provided by Dr. Bruce Schumacher.

On The Rocks Field Trip May 14, 2017

Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

involved with numerous Triassic to Cretaceous vertebrate fossil excavations in the area, including the recent discovery of the best preserved specimen of an extremely rare 92-million old suspension feeding fish. Participants are advised to drive (allow about three hours from Denver) to the Picket Wire Canyonlands area the Saturday before the field trip as we will be getting an early Sunday morning start. We are planning to host a social event in La Junta Saturday evening to kick off some geologic discussions. Please refer to the RMAG website for additional details regarding fees, registration, the social event, hotels, restaurants, field trip logistics, etc. Registration opens April 17th and all participants are required to download the RMAG waiver form, sign and return the form to hold a spot for the trip once registered. The trip is limited to 45 participants. Kids are okay.

Mother’s Day on the Rocks at the Picket Wire Canyonlands Dinosaur Tracksite, Southeastern Colorado Please join us on Mother’s Day Sunday, May 14th for a tour of the “Mother” of all dinosaur tracksites at Picket Wire Canyonlands led by two renowned paleontologists, Dr. Martin Lockley and Dr. Bruce Schumacher. The tracksite is the largest continuously mapped dinosaur fossil footprint assemblage known in the Jurassic Morrison Formation and it also contains some of the world’s longest trackways. The tracksite is located along the Purgatoire River in southeastern Colorado and following recent excavation of river alluvium, over 90 new tracks were revealed contributing to the total of roughly 1400 exposed dinosaur prints. Dr. Lockley and his CU Denver students conducted research on the tracksite during the 1980’s and developed important insights into dinosaur gregarious social behavior within the lake-margin depositional setting. Dr. Schumacher has been

OUTCROP | March 2017

WELCOME NEW RMAG MEMBERS!

ÂťÂťCONTINUED FROM PAGE 20 John Morgan

Anne Steptoe

is a Geologist in Golden, Colorado.

lives in Denver, Colorado.

Barbara Tillotson

Piret Plink-Bjorklund

is a Geoscience Manager at RPM Energy Manaement LLC in Katy, Texas.

Mary Purcell

is a VP of Business Development at Fracture ID in Denver, Colorado.

is an Associate Professor at Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado.

Josh Ulla

is a consulting geophysicist at MSRP Geoconsulting LLC in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

Richard Urash

is a Sr. Staff Geologist at Chesapeake Energy in Oklahoma CIty, Oklahoma.

Jeremy Ring

lives in Westminster, Colorado.

Jessica Vahling

Marcel Robisnon

is a Senior Geophysicist at Anadarko in Denver, Colorado.

Joe Rosselli

lives in Denver, Colorado.

is a Geologist at Devon Energy in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Wyatt Wicks

is a Geologist in Glendale, Colorado.

Kevin Wright

Aaron Rothfolk

is a Consultant in Lakewood, Colorado.

is a Geologist in Denver, Colorado.

Terri Wright

Heather Sellers

lives in Westminister, Colorado.

lives in Denver, Colorado.

Richard Yuretich

Christopher Steinhoff

is a Program Director at National Science Foundation in Arlington, Virginia.

Matthew Steitdmann

is the Owner at Zeigler Geologic Consulting in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

is a Geophysicist at Anadarko Petroleum Company in Denver, Colorado. is a new RMAG member.

OUTCROP | March 2017

Kate Zeigler

Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | March 2017

Seasonal flows on steep Martian slopes, possibly shallow seeps of salty water, the dark streaks on the hillside. This July 21, 2015, image from the orbiter’s HiRISE camera shows examples within Mars’ Valles Marineris. Photo credit: NASA | JPL-Caltech | University of Arizona OUTCROP | March 2017

Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

LEAD STORY

Taking in snow requires perspective from space

By William Lagar Originally published by Minnesota Public Radio News on February 20, 2017 @ http://www. mprnews.org/story/2017/02/20/ science-nasa-looks-at-snow-from-space Mention Minnesota — to anyone, anywhere — and mention of snow is not be far behind. Snow is the seasonal bedrock of our cultural identity: We snowshoe, snowmobile, ski and sled. We tromp through it, shovel it, brush it off our cars — and complain about it. But snow serves a vital role beyond our griping: It feeds our crops, keeps the tapwater running, and even gives us clues about distant parts of the universe. Minnesota’s seasonal snows have steadily and predictably replenished our surface and groundwater. But the predictability is changing, as the climate changes. While our warm winters — ahem — are visible reminders of weather’s short-term effects, NASA is taking a long view on the state of snow, and how it can help scientists predict the future. In a combined approach on the ground, Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

in the air and from orbit, the new five-year NASA SnowEx research campaign has gathered more than 50 scientists working together to quantify how much snow is on the ground at any given time — and how much water is in that snow. What’s so special about snow? According to NASA, more than a sixth of the world’s population relies on water from seasonal snow pack and glaciers. Even those who don’t directly rely on those water sources are affected indirectly, through economic forces like agriculture and hydroelectric power. Usually, snow is a stable “water battery,” slowly releasing water as it melts amid rising spring temperatures. The warming climate is setting a trend for weather patterns that change the amount of snow on the ground, when it falls and how it melts. With those answers come a lot of questions: The climate-based changes include many unknowns that NASA scientists are hoping to answer. Dalia Kirschbaum, a NASA scientist on the project, said SnowEx research can also offer a local angle on those cosmic questions. What they find could help model

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 27

OUTCROP | March 2017

LEAD STORY

NASA’s SnowEx research project is testing techniques and technologies for measuring snow’s water content. One of the technologies used collects images of North American snow cover. Photo credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

RENEW! Renew your dues for the 2017 year today! RMAG members make up the heart of the organization, and without our loyal membership, the RMAG would be unable to produce relevant publications, host strong technical talks, and provide great networking events. As a member you’ll enjoy discounted rates on events and publications, as well as access to the 6 most recent The Mountain Geologist issues, and much more.

Well Site Geology Remote Geosteering Petrographic Analysis Field Geologic Studies

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OUTCROP | March 2017

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Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

LEAD STORY

how snowpack in northern Minnesota affects spring flooding on the Red River, for instance, and in other places around the world where monitoring is a bit more sparse.

SNOW OR RAIN? WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Snow is water. But is it better than rain? When scientists consider the power of snow, they note its albedo, which is the amount of solar energy reflected back out into space, instead of being absorbed. Snow has a higher albedo than other precipitation, which means it reflects more solar energy back into space than it absorbs. A high albedo is one of the reasons, for instance, why Venus is so bright in our night sky. The planet’s thick, cloud-covered atmosphere reflects most of the solar energy away. The lower the snow cover, the more solar energy is absorbed. Snow tends to stay put — or, at least, move slowly like a glacier — hitting the pause button on the water cycle. Rain is far more mobile than snow: As soon as it hits the ground, it immediately starts its journey to lakes and rivers and eventually follows those paths to the oceans. The addition of rain and snow to the water cycle changes its balance — and raises the very questions NASA’s SnowEx program is attempting to answer. “The power of these

Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

observations is the ability to look globally and understand that water is finite and we need to know where it’s stored and where it’s going,” Kirschbaum said. Falling snow or rain releases energy in a specific pattern — thunder and lightning, for instance, are among the most noticeable — but there are many other signature patterns that NASA’s sensors can detect and measure. The sensors on orbiting satellites are capable of measuring rain or snowfall, even how much water is coming down, by monitoring those signatures.

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

WATER IS WATER IS WATER

On Earth, on Mars or on distant planets we have yet to discover, water is still water. NASA applies its study of water, snowfall and other precipitation on Earth to the study of the cosmos at large. Upcoming NASA projects like the James Webb space telescope, which is set to launch next year to search for and study exoplanets, take advantage of what NASA can learn about water on Earth and apply it to our exploration of the space around us. This study of the cosmos in the hope of finding water on distant worlds might lead new avenues of discovery, perhaps even to a planet not unlike our own. 27

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News From The RMAG Foundation The RMAG Foundation is pleased to welcome Tanya Inks as a new Trustee. Tanya, an AAPG Certified Petroleum Geophysicist who is the President and Geophysical Consultant of IS Interpretation Services, Inc. joins Donna Anderson (Secretary), Kurt Reisser, • Anson Mark • Elizabeth Roberts • Arthur Butler • Elmo Brown • Bill Donovan • Ennis Geraghty • Bruce Wiley • Eugene Shearer • Carlos Garcia • Forrest Poole • Charles Spencer • Fullerton Exploration, LLC • Clifford Clark • Gavlin Family Foundation • Clyde Moore • Gibbet Hill Foundation • Craig Cormany • Ira Pasternack • David Bardin • J. Todd Stephenson • David Lindsey • J.C. Thompson • David Nelson • James Cole • David Newell • James Lowell • Deborah Sycamore • Jane Crouch • Debra and Ernest Gomez • Jason Burris 1 and 2 man Mudlogging Summit Gas Referencing™ • Debra Higley-Feldman • Jeanne Harris Geosteering Mudlogging • Diamond Operating • Jerry Cuzella Services • Dolores and Albert Erlebacher • John Chatfield • Carol Hembre • John Gillespie Mike Barber Manager • Donald J. McKenna • John Robinson Serving the Rocky Mountain Region • Donna Anderson • John Shallow • 230 Dudley Bolyard • John Stowell Airport Rd. Ph (435)657-0586 D Cell (435)640-1382 • Unit Edward Heath • John Warme Heber City, Utah 84032 email: mbarber@summitmudlog.com • Eileen Griffith • Joseph Kulik www.summitmudlog.com • Elizabeth McKenna • Joyce Babcock

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CALENDAR | MARCH 2017 SUNDAY

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RMAG Luncheon.

RMAG Core Workshop.

DWLS Luncheon.

OCF Denver Chapter Luncheon.

DWLS Spring Workshop.

27 PTTC Rockies Short Course.

Vol. 66, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

RMS-SEPM Luncheon.

OUTCROP | March 2017