OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists
Volume 72 • No. 11 • November 2023
SUMMIT SPONSORS Platinum Sponsor
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
OUTCROP | November 2023
2
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists
730 17th Street, B1, Denver, CO 80202 • 720-672-9898 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.
2023 OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENT
2nd VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT
Ben Burke bburke158@gmail.com
Jason Eleson jasoneleson3@gmail.com
PRESIDENT-ELECT
SECRETARY
Mike Tischer mtischer@gmail.com
Sandra Labrum slabrum@slb.com
1st VICE PRESIDENT
TREASURER
Ronald L. Parker parkero@gmail.com
Anna Phelps aphelps@sm-energy.com
1st VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT
TREASURER ELECT
Lisa Wolff lwolff@bayless-cos.com
Holly Lindsey holly@energyfunders.com
2nd VICE PRESIDENT
COUNSELOR
Matt Bauer matthew.w.bauer.pg@gmail.com
Steve Crouch scrouch@whiteeagleexploration.com
RMAG STAFF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Bridget Crowther bcrowther@rmag.org OPERATIONS ASSISTANT
Kimberly Burke kbure@rmag.org LEAD EDITOR
Nate LaFontaine nlafontaine@sm-energy.com CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Elijah Adeniyi elijahadeniyi@montana.edu Marlee Cloos marlee.cloos@bpx.com Danielle Robinson danielle.robinson@dvn.com
ADVERTISING INFORMATION
Rates and sizes can be found on page 3. Advertising rates apply to either black and white or color ads. Submit color ads in RGB color to be compatible with web format. Borders are recommended for advertisements that comprise less than one half page. Digital files must be PC compatible submitted in png, jpg, tif, pdf or eps formats at a minimum of 300 dpi. If you have any questions, please call the RMAG office at 720-672-9898. 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: 720-672-9898 Fax: 323-352-0046 staff@rmag.org or www.rmag.org
The Outcrop is a monthly publication of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists DESIGN/LAYOUT: Nate Silva | n8silva.com
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
3 3
Outcrop | November 2023 OUTCROP
OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists
CONTENTS FEATURES
ASSOCIATION NEWS
30 Member Corner: Patty Standring
6 2024 RMAG Summit Sponsorship Packet
10 RMAG October 2023 Board of Directors meeting
36 In The Pipeline
14 Lead Story: Steel & Marble– An RMAG Field Trip To Colorado’s Geologic Icons
12 President’s Letter
23 Beulah Marble Deposit: Recent Discoveries Revise The Old Narrative
26 Hybrid Lunch Talk: James Hagadorn 28 Hybrid Lunch Talk: Zane Jobe
36 Welcome New RMAG Members! 38 Outcrop Advertising Rates 39 Advertiser Index 39 Calendar
DEPARTMENTS 2 RMAG Summit Sponsors 4 RMAG Monthly Women’s Group Coffee 11 RMAG Core Workshop 13 Rockbusters Ball 2023 27 RMAG Short Course: Geomechanics Class 34 The RMAG Foundation Announces 2023 Fundraising Drive
COVER PHOTO
Liesegang banding in the Beulah Marble. For a description of this remarkable diagenetic overprint, see the Lead Article and its addendum on pages 14 and 23. Photo by Ronald L. Parker
IN 2023 YOUR SUMMIT SPONSORSHIP DOLLARS SUPPORTED: MEMBERS
1,200
EVENT ATTENDEES
2,000
WEBSITE VISITORS
8,000
OUTCROP READERS
8,500
COMMUNITY CONTACTS
5,000
EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS
3,500
NETWORKING EVENTS
30
CONTINUTING EDUCATION EVENTS
15
FIELD TRIPS
9
OUTCROP | November 2023
6
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
October 20, 2023
Geoscience Community: We greatly appreciate every Summit Sponsor and Event Sponsor that has contributed to RMAG over the last year. We could not exist without your support. The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists celebrated a year of remarkable achievements, bringing together a global community of over 300 geologists for the Helium Conference for one of the first events exploring Helium production from exploration to processing. Monthly Women's Coffee, Membership Happy Hours, and thematic luncheons provided a supportive networking environment. In these gatherings, experts delved into diverse subjects, with topics that spanned from landslides to the intricate geology of the Permian Basin. RMAG also offered classes on oil and gas property valuation, enriching the skill set of members. A core workshop facilitated hands-on learning, and field trips to quarries, crater impacts and other geologic marvels ignited the spirit of exploration. Notably, the association extended its community impact through outreach at community festivals and classrooms across the Denver Metro area, emphasizing our dedication to advancing geological understanding and appreciation. 2024 brings new opportunities for RMAG. Your sponsorship dollars will help RMAG bring to fruition an extensive calendar of continuing education opportunities, an exciting Field Trips season, and a dynamic list of luncheon speakers on topics ranging from the state of the industry to hydrogen and more. These dollars will allow RMAG Members impact the next generation at outreach events throughout the community and provide opportunities for the geoscience community to connect and build their network. Your sponsorship dollars will also support our excellent publications including the monthly Outcrop newsletter and the quarterly Mountain Geologist journal. We recognize your financial commitment with inperson signage, and website and publication advertising, as well as through social media before each online event. With a LinkedIn group of almost 3000 members, we make our sponsors visible to the geoscience community for both virtual and in person events. Thank you to those who are already a Summit Sponsor, we look forward to your continued support in 2024. If you are not already a sponsor, please look at the many complementary benefits included with the sponsorship levels. If our annual sponsorships don't make sense for your company, or you want to sponsor something specific, ask about our single event sponsorship opportunities. Please feel free to contact our staff with questions about sponsorship by email: bcrowther@rmag.org or by phone at 720-672-9898 ext. 102. We and the staff of RMAG thank you all for your continued support and look forward to seeing you in 2024. Michael Tischer 2024 RMAG President
Bridget Crowther RMAG Executive Director
P: (720)672-9898 staff@rmag.org www.rmag.org Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
730 17th Street, B1 Denver, CO 80202
7
OUTCROP | November 2023
RMAG ANNUAL
SUMMIT SPONSORSHIP PLATINUM, GOLD, & SILVER SPONSORSHIP LEVEL
PLATINUM
GOLD
SILVER
$10,000
$5,000
$2,500
$835
$417
$208
$10,000
$5,000
$3,000
4
2
1
Contribution Level Monthly Cost
Benefits Value
RMAG MEMBERSHIP Active or Associate Membership in the Association for employees
RMAG WEBSITE BENEFITS Company Logo on Summit Sponsor Page of www.rmag.org
Large Logo & Link
Articles and Ads on special Advertisers web page
4 articles & 4 large ads
Medium Logo and Link 2 articles & 2 medium ads
Small Logo and Link 2 small ads
PUBLICATION ADVERTISING 12 months of Outcrop advertising: To receive 12 full months, company logos and ad art must be received no later than the 20th of the month in which you register. The Outcrop (receive benefits for 12 issues, monthly online publication
Full page ad
2/3 page ad
1/2 page ad
Company Logo listed as an annual Sponsor in The Outcrop
Large Logo
Medium Logo
Small Logo
EVENT ADVERTISING Sponsorship will be acknowledged as part the summit sponsors at all RMAG Events. Additional Sponsorship Opportunities will be available for all RMAG Events. Company Logo Looping in Slide Decks
Large logo individual Slide
Medium logo
Small Logo
Company Logo on Summit Sponsor Signage at all events
Large logo
Medium Logo
Small logo
RMAG EDUCATION EVENTS Registration points are cumulative and can be used for Symposiums or Short Courses. For example a Platinum Sponsor can send 4 people to the 2023 North American Helium Symposium, and register for 4 short courses. Total Educational Tickets
6
3
1
RMAG SOCIAL EVENTS Registration Points are cumulative and can be used for any social event. For example, 1 point means 1 golfer, or 1 registration for Rockbusters. *2 points can be used for a golf hole if that makes more sense for your company. Total Social Event Tickets
8
4
2
3
2
RMAG LUNCHEONS & FIELD TRIP TICKETS Registration Points are cumulative for luncheons or one day field trips. Total Luncheon & Field Trip Tickets
5
For all event tickets please contact the RMAG office at staff@rmag.org to use your spots.
OUTCROP | November 2023
8
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
RMAG 2024 SUMMIT SPONSORSHIP Payment Options
All sponsor benefits event tickets follow RMAG event registration deadlines. All benefits end 12 months after registration. RMAG 2024 ANNUAL SUMMIT SPONSOR OPPORTUNITIES Platinum Sponsor Gold Sponsor Silver Sponsor
Summit Sponsorship benefit term is for 12 months! Specify type of payment on signed form, and send logo and advertisements to staff@rmag.org Company: Company Representative: Address: City:
State:
Phone:
Zip Code: Email:
Payment Method:
Credit Card
Credit Card Information: Select Card: AMEX
ACH
Check
Mastercard
VISA
Discover
Name as it appears on Credit Card: Credit Card #: Expiration Date:
Security Code:
Signature: ACH: contact the RMAG office at staff@rmag.or for directions. Mail Checks payable to RMAG: Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists (RMAG) 730 17th Street, B1 Denver, CO 80202
RMAG events are subject to change. Cancellation or rescheduling of events does not give the sponsor the right to refund. Summit Sponsors will receive benefits at any new events added into the RMAG schedule.
Thank you for your generous support! P: (720)672-9898 staff@rmag.org www.rmag.org Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
730 17th Street, B1 Denver, CO 80202 9
OUTCROP | November 2023
RMAG OCTOBER 2023 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING By Sandra Labrum, Secretary slabrum@slb.com
OUTCROP | November 2023
Fryberger of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science talk “The Lyons Sandstone.” The Membership committee is continuing to host monthly events. November women’s coffee will be on November 9th at Blue Sparrow Coffee, this will be the last one of the year, so don’t miss out! Rockbusters is also back this year on December 1st, get your tickets today! The Publications Committee is still hard at work making sure there is high quality content for both the Outcrop and the Mountain Geologist. The Educational Outreach is forming a steering committee to decide the future of the committee to determine the most effective use of their time. On the Rocks, is most of the way through the great field trips planned this year. If you have a great idea for a trip next year, please let us know. Finally, Diversity and Inclusion committee has been hard at work bringing you member corners in each Outcrop as well as cohosting the women’s group coffee. I hope you all have a fantastic November and Happy Holidays! Until next time!
Hi everyone! Happy start to the holiday season craziness! Hope everyone had a very spooky Halloween. As always November marks election season for the RMAG board, please make sure that you check out the bios for the candidates for the board and vote for the leadership you want for the next year! The October Board of Directors meeting took place October 18th, 2023, at 4:00pm online. All board members were present except two. We also had 6 new members join in October. Welcome! We are happy to have you! The Finance committee started off the meeting with an overview of the financial standing in September. The finances in September saw a net operating loss but fortunately we have started receiving membership renewals as well as Summit sponsorships. Other good news is that our operating expenses are continuing to flatten which is great. The Continuing Education Committee is continuing to host hybrid lunches at our new home, DERL. Please join us in November for James Hagadorn and Steve
10
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
CORE WORKSHOP DOLOMITE AND ASSOCIATED PORE SYSTEMS THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION – EXAMPLES FROM THE MARINE PHOSPHORIA ROCK COMPLEX (PERMIAN) AND THE LACUSTRINE GREEN RIVER FORMATION (EOCENE) Instructors: Maxwell Pommer, CSM/Premier Corex & Rick Sarg, CSM
NOVEMBER 16-17 USGS CORE RESEARCH CENTER
$400 for Members $500 for Non-Members
REGISTER @ RMAG.ORG
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
This two-day core workshop hosted at the USGS Core Research Center examines and discusses examples of dolomite and associated pore systems that formed in major late Paleozoic marine and early Tertiary lacustrine sedimentary systems in the Rocky 11 OUTCROP | November 2023 Mountain Region.
PRESIDENT’S LETTER By Ben Burke
Looking Ahead
OUTCROP | November 2023
Permian periods, is a sedimentary rock formation reflecting geological processes over millions of years. While the Lyons has the reputation as being an aeolian dune deposits, Dr. Hagadorn and Fryberger discussed the varied paleoenvironments visible in outcrops around the Front Range and in core. Artistic renderings of the Lyons also have to take into account interdune environments like vegetated areas, small shale intervals, and sabkha-like environments with salt. They also pointed out the sequence stratigraphic nature of the Fountain through Lykins formations. The Lyons Formation is a good example of a formation that has interest from a number of geoscience-involved disciplines: oil and gas; geothermal; carbon capture, utilization, and storage; water disposal; and academia. The Lyons has been a target for oil and gas exploration and production since at least 1952, the year in which the discovery well was drilled at Pierce Field, Colorado. Subsequent finds at Black Hollow, Keota, Tom Cat, and various wildcat fields cemented the Lyons as a conventional field where all the risk and uncertainty of petroleum system elements are on display. Recently, the geothermal industry has taken note of the reservoir temperatures in the deeper basin portion of the Lyons estimated to be in excess of 260° F. The carbon capture industry sees in the Lyons the same thing that the water disposal industry has known for a while: that the aeolian facies of the Lyons have excellent porosity and permeability for fluid storage, both water and carbon. Finally, academia is interested in the Lyons Formation, as well as the other Paleozoic formation, because much of the stratigraphic work on the formations is thirty to forty years old. Have a great Thanksgiving!
This month, our calendar is marked not by bustling events, but by the quiet anticipation of what lies ahead—a moment to reflect on the journey we’ve undertaken and the milestones we’ve achieved as a community of geoscientists. In this lull before the storm of activity that is the holiday season, I find it fitting to remind you all of the upcoming highlight on the RMAG calendar—the Rockbuster’s Ball, slated for December 1st. It’s an evening where the camaraderie among our members sparkles as brightly as the minerals in the rock formations we study and as brightly as the epic specimens present at the host location, the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum. Save the date, because it promises to be an unforgettable celebration of our shared passion and commitment to the science that binds us. On November 1st, our Monthly Lunch was a talk by Dr. James Hagadorn and Steve Fryberger, both from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, on the stratigraphy and paleoenvironments of the Fountain, Ingleside, Owl Canyon, Lyons, and Lykins Formations. The Lyons Sandstone Formation in Colorado, originating during the Pennsylvanian and
12
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
13
OUTCROP | November 2023
LEAD STORY
STEEL & MARBLE An RMAG Field Trip To Colorado’s Geologic Icons
AVE YOU EVER DRIVEN THROUGH PUEBLO, CO
on Interstate 25 and noticed the huge steel mill and industrial complex located just east of the highway? Have you wondered how long those buildings have been there or if the plant is still active? Or during a visit to the Colorado State Capitol, have you ever contemplated the source of the striking pink and white banded stone seen throughout the buildings’ interior? Answers to these questions and other Colorado historical and geological gems were shared with 18 RMAG members on Saturday September 9th, participating in the Colorado Icons - The Beulah Marble and Colorado Fuel and Ironworks Tour, a two-part field trip hosted by the On the Rocks Committee.
PART I: THE STEELWORKS CENTER OF THE WEST
Our journey began at the Steelworks Center of the West, a museum located just to the west of OUTCROP | November 2023
Pueblo’s massive steel plant and on the grounds of what was originally the corporate headquarters of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I). RMAG member Jon Stone arranged a guided tour for our participants, allowing us to enter the museum an hour before the scheduled opening. Here museum personnel gave us a briefing on the history of CF&I and its important role in the economic development of the Rocky Mountain West (Figure 1). In 1872, Pueblo was chosen as the location for the region’s first steel mill due to the local availability of the natural resources used in making steel. Coal, iron ore and limestone were readily accessible in Southern Colorado and the Arkansas River provided the water essential for mill operations. Before long, CF&I became the largest steel manufacturer in the American West. All railroad lines constructed throughout the developing western territories and states were manufactured at the Pueblo steel plant (Figure 2). Many of the original CF&I buildings and steelwork structures still stand today. Beginning in 1901, the building that now houses the Steelworks Center
H
Article and photos by Rob Diedrich RMAG On the Rocks Committee Member
14
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
FIGURE 1:
A monument to the steelworker seen just outside the Steelworks Center of the West in Pueblo, CO. A part of the historic steel mill is seen in the background. Portions of the mill are still active today, employing 1200 workers. Photo courtesy of Jeff Aldrich.
FIGURE 2: A B&W photo of a rail pictured at the Steelworks
Center of the West. In the 1920’s rails manufactured at the CF&I mill were sold almost exclusively to railroads operating west of the Mississippi River. Rails have historically been one of the most important products and are still manufactured at the Pueblo mill today. Photographed from a display inside the Steelworks Center of the West Museum.
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
15
OUTCROP | November 2023
LEAD STORY
FIGURE 3:
Rich Fantel (left) and Jon Stone (right) stand in front of a huge ladle that held up to 130 tons of molten pig iron. Pig iron is a mixture of iron ore and limestone. Jon Stone organized our RMAG visit to the Steelworks Center of the West.
OUTCROP | November 2023
Steel manufacturing from raw materials ended at the Pueblo mill in the 1980’s. However, the mill continued operations and pivoted to producing steel from recycled iron. Today the mill is owned and operated by EVRAZ, a Russian-owned company traded on the London Stock Exchange. 1200 mill employees still assist in the production of over one million tons of steel annually, specializing in the making of rail, seamless tube, rod and bar products. After the introductory briefing, our field trip participants went on a self-guided tour of the museum which included depictions of the history of steel-making processes and details on the various iron and coal mines operated by CF&I. Then we headed outside to view the larger exhibits in Steelworks Park. Massive ladles used in melting pig iron (Figure 3), ore cars (Figure 4) and a beautifully restored mine rescue rail car (Figure 5) were some of the items on display. After a few hours in the Steelworks Center, we gathered for a talk by Ken Balleweg, the leader for the second leg of our field trip. Ken explained an interesting tie he has to the Pueblo area and to CF&I.
Museum served as the medical dispensary, with a medical staff employed to provide healthcare for CF&I workers, many of whom were immigrants. In fact, by 1916, there were 42 different languages spoken by CF&I mill employees. To facilitate communication at the medical dispensary, lines of specific colors were painted on the floor of the medical offices to direct patients to rooms for their doctor visits. Medical services were provided in this building until 1998. At its peak in the 1920’s, the CF&I Pueblo steel plant employed 12,000 workers and was the largest industrial corporation in Colorado. By the 1950’s, CF&I had over 22,000 workers on the payroll employed from coast to coast. CF&I also employed geologists to search for and develop natural resources in the Mountain West. The company owned 62 mines throughout the mountain states and built company towns at many mine sites, providing workers with housing and access to daily living needs. Geologists were employed to monitor rock quality at the mines and to explore for new deposits.
16
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
LEAD STORY
FIGURE 4: An ore
cart such as this displayed at the Steelworks Center, was an essential way to transport ore and raw materials from CF&I’s 62 mines and quarries located in the Rocky Mountain states.
FIGURE 5: CF&I
Mine Rescue Train Car #1. Designed in the early 20th century for training purposes, these cars became important mobile emergency resources for mining disasters. The railroad car has been beautifully restored and is displayed at the Steelworks Center Park.
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
17
OUTCROP | November 2023
LEAD STORY He was born and raised in Beulah, located about 20 miles SW of Pueblo just over the Front Range hogback. After Ken graduated from Colorado School of Mines, his first job was with CF&I in Pueblo, working as a geologist in the company’s coal division. Ken shared stories of taking lunch breaks outside his office while watching the blast furnaces at the CF&I mill.
PART II: THE ROAD TO THE BEULAH QUARRY
Ken was the ideal guide for Part II of our field trip as he owns the quarry where the distinctive pink and white banded building stone in the Colorado Capitol was extracted. This rock, called the Beulah Marble, is unique to the Beulah, Colorado area, where it was quarried exclusively for construction of state Capitol. Our car caravan drive to Beulah took us along Colorado Highway 78. Driving southwest, we passed over the Upper Cretaceous Niobrara Formation, including the Ft. Hays Member, and the Codell Sandstone which outcrops along the highway about 10 miles west of Pueblo. FIGURE 6: A large block of Beulah Marble rests near the original loading area Just past the Codell outcrop we entered on the canyon rim above one of the quarries. The striking Liesegang banding the Rock Creek Graben, where upper made this an attractive rock for the construction of the Colorado State Capitol. Cretaceous beds are downthrown and Photo courtesy of Jeff Aldrich. form an N-S trending valley. After crossing the graben, we continued cutting was changed to Beulah in the late 1800’s with the down-section into the Lower Cretaceous, reaching a town eventually becoming a bedroom community for Dakota hogback at the beginning of the Front Range. those working in Pueblo. Winding through the gap cut in the hogback by the St. Charles River we entered the idyllic Beulah Valley, STATE CAPITOL BUILDING STONE LEGACY formed from the eroded Fountain Formation in the core of a small structure called the Beulah Anticline. Our caravan wound our way through the town Originally part of Mexico, the valley was inhabited by of Beulah and ascended the hills to the west, passing fur traders and trappers in the early 1800’s. Just afthrough a secure gate and eventually arriving on a ter the Civil War the settlement was named Mace’s ridge formed by the Mississippian Leadville FormaHole after infamous rustler Juan Mace, who used the tion. Here is where the story of the Beulah Marble valley to hide stolen cattle, benefiting from the abilbegins. In the early 1890’s construction of the Coloity to post lookouts along the hogback. The name rado State Capitol in Denver was underway, and the OUTCROP | November 2023
18
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
LEAD STORY
FIGURE 7:
One of the original Beulah Marble Quarry sites. The wall to the right was cut with a steam-powered channeler, a machine developed in the late 1800s to cut quarry stone. The grooves on the floor were cut with handhammered drills. Quarry owner, Ken Balleweg, has excavated this abandoned quarry over the last few years, revealing evidence of the historic quarry operations.
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
Marble still remain, resting in an arcuate pattern around the mast (Figure 6). From here we scrambled down a steep slope to one of the larger quarry sites, acquired by Ken in 2017. The quarry had been backfilled with waste rock and Ken has been painstakingly excavating spoil piles to reveal the original quarry floor and walls. This has led to some fascinating discoveries including vertical grooves cut by a steam-powered channeler cutting machine (Figure 7). Also uncovered were drill holes that were hand-hammered by the quarrymen to break away large stone blocks.
State Legislature mandated that all construction materials be sourced from the state. For the buildings’ interior, the capitol management committee selected the unique reddish pink and white banded rock from the Leadville ridges above Beulah. This striking rock was labeled the ‘Beulah Marble.’ Quarry operations began in 1894 and continued until 1900 with large blocks painstakingly cut and extracted, mostly with hand tools. These blocks were cut into panels, polished and fitted along the walls and columns throughout the Capitol’s interior, including the stairwells and legislative chambers. Our group gathered for a short hike to the edge of a canyon overlooking one of the original quarry sites. The area, overgrown with evergreen trees and scrub oak, does not look like a place where major quarry operations occurred. However, Ken led us to a vestige of the original quarry operation, a mast that was part of the original derrick used to hoist blocks out of the quarry and onto wagons for a mule-team driven trip to the railroad station in Pueblo. Large, abandoned blocks of the beautifully banded Beulah
GEOLOGIC ORIGIN
19
So how did this spectacular, banded Beulah Marble form? Ken explained that the quarry sites are located along a paleokarst surface in the Leadville Limestone dating back to 300 million years. Dissolution features typical of karst surfaces formed here including fissures, sinkholes and caves. Later this unconformable surface was overlain by the redbeds of the Pennsylvanian-aged Fountain Formation.
OUTCROP | November 2023
LEAD STORY
FIGURE 8: Depositional
model for the creation of the Beulah Marble. The unique Liesegang banding was formed through groundwater dissolution of carbonate forming karst dissolution features, followed by deposition of the overlying Fountain Formation, leaching of Fountain Formation iron, and repeated hematite precipitation in the limestone proximal to karst features. Figure and caption provided courtesy of Ken Balleweg.
Hematite-rich sediments from the Fountain filled in the cracks, crevices and sinkholes (Figure 8). Through repeated groundwater dissolution and reprecipitation of the carbonate, along with leaching and deposition of hematite, Liesegang bands (colored bands or rings of cement observed in sedimentary rocks that typically cut across bedding) formed in the limestone. Ken states that the best banding and most stunning Beulah Marble samples come from locations around sinkholes and infilled caverns (Figure 9). Consequently, the marble deposits FIGURE 9: Trip Leader Ken Balleweg pointing to an infilled cavern at a were small, discontinuous and difficult paleokarst sinkhole margin. The gray rock to the right is the Leadville Limestone to quarry. which has been heavily karsted. The paleocavern and sinkhole are filled with dark Since no metamorphism processred hematite-rich sediments of the Fountain Formation. The best ‘banded’ Beulah es are associated with this rock, why Marble is found proximate to these sinkhole features in the Leadville Limestone. is this called the Beulah Marble rather Photo courtesy of Jeff Aldrich. than the Beulah Limestone? Ken explained that the Beulah rock is indeed a limestone in geological terms. But panels of the Beulah Marble used as the wainscoting the word ‘marble’ is used commercially as ‘any limeof the interior walls of Colorado’s Capitol, it would stone that will take a polish’ and that is the term that stretch two miles long. Some of the most dramatic has been applied to this unique stone. Amazingly, it is estimated that if one laid down, end-to-end, all the examples of the Beulah in the Capitol are seen in the OUTCROP | November 2023
20
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
LEAD STORY
10
10A FIGURE 10: A stunning Beulah Marble paneled column in the main lobby of the Colorado State Capitol. FIGURE 10A: Wainscoting showcasing the Beulah Marble seen on the first floor of the Colorado Capitol
Building. Building stone craftsmen often juxtaposed mirrored-image panels such as these for a dramatic effect. Leadville Formation either in Colorado, or in equivalent Mississippian strata in other Rocky Mountain states. Ken stated that he has hiked all the Leadville Limestone ridges in the Beulah area and has not found similar deposits. Nor is he aware of any other such sites in the Mountain West. Perhaps the combination of this ‘clean’ Leadville carbonate bed, susceptible to dissolution, overlain by a hematite-rich Fountain Formation, provided the ideal ingredients for the creation of this true geologic icon of Colorado.
main lobby areas (Figures 10 and 10A). After leaving the main quarry we navigated our way along the top of the canyon wall to a second quarry site. Here some of the original quarry walls are well exposed. In fact, Ken has identified a quarry wall face that matches the banding pattern to a specific panel on the Capitol’s second floor (Figure 11).
MARBLE MYTHS AND MYSTERIES
It is commonly stated that the Beulah Marble was ‘quarried out’ after construction of the Colorado State Capitol. Ken feels that this is not true, there is plenty of good quality marble remaining. However, given the discontinuous nature of the marble deposit and the fact that fractures are abundant along the karst surfaces, it is likely that the high cost associated with quarrying was the main factor attributed to ceased operations. Our field trip participants wondered if similar Liesegang banded rock exists elsewhere in the Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
WRAP-UP
21
Field trip participants were allowed to collect rocks samples from spoil piles and happily brought home stunning samples of one of Colorado’s most unique rocks (Figure 12). Ken has located six quarry sites in this canyon and currently owns two of them. He passionately feels that these sites represent a very special time in Colorado’s past and should be preserved. Our day ended with a delicious catered
OUTCROP | November 2023
LEAD STORY For more on the history of the Beulah Quarry, please see the accompanying Outcrop article, Beulah Marble Deposit: Recent Discoveries Revise on Old Narrative, written by Ken and reprinted with permission from The Beulah Newspaper. For a ‘virtual’ Beulah Quarry tour, check out this YouTube video hosted by Ken. Beulah Marble Quarry with Ken Balleweg YouTube
BBQ on the grounds of the Beulah Historical Center. A special thanks to Jon Stone, who organized the Steelworks Center of the West leg of our trip. Please see the attached link for information about visits to the Center and links to more historical information. Steelworks Center of the West. We are most grateful to Ken Balleweg for sharing his ‘little piece of heaven’ in the Beulah Valley.
FIGURE 11:
Trip leader Ken Balleweg standing in front of a Beulah Marble wall at our second quarry stop. Ken has identified a quarry wall face that can be matched directly to a panel in the Colorado State Capitol.
11A
FIGURE 11A:
Ken holds a photo of a polished Beulah Marble panel from the second floor of the Colorado State Capitol that matches the quarry face.
11
FIGURE 12:
Our group photo in the historic Beulah Marble Quarry. The mast seen to the upper right is the remains of a derrick used to hoist blocks out of the quarry. A spoil pile is seen to the lower right.
12 OUTCROP | November 2023
22
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
LEAD STORY 0
$2.0
OCTOBER 2019
Fresh & Local from Beulah, Colorado
Beulah Marble Deposit: Recent Discoveries Revise the Old Narrative by Ken J. Balleweg, Exploration Geologist and Beulah Marble Quarry Owner
P
erhaps Beulah’s most prominent historical claim to fame is the Beulah Marble Quarry, which was the source for the spectacular marble wainscoting lining the interior of the Colorado State Capitol. Recent research into newspaper articles from 1890 through the 1900’s together with discoveries at the quarry have revealed a much more extensive quarry history than previously documented, including the presence of six quarries, two of which were run simultaneously by different companies, the utilization of steam cutting equipment, and litigation that eventually made it to the Colorado Supreme Court. New geologic studies have also determined the origin of the marble, which is much more rare and unique than most marble deposits. The quarries are located 1.5 miles west of Beulah at the edge of a small canyon, and are largely invisible until reaching the quarry edge. Three main quarries supplied most of the production, but three smaller quarries with limited production have also been identified. The quarries are remarkably small when considering the amount of marble in the capitol and the large amount of waste rock generated. The Beulah Marble story starts and ends with the Colorado State Capitol. “Fine quality marble” at Beulah was first mentioned in the print in 1890, but was not of commercial interest until January of 1894 when the exterior work on the capitol was completed and work began on the interior. HIGHLIGHTS ~ OCTOBER 2019 ISSUE:
In addition to Rob's article from the recent
Practical Skills Coming to Beulah School...................4 field trip, RMAG is happy to include a special Tips for Putting Your Garden to Bed for Winter..........5 addendum sourced with permission from & 7 Community Activity Calendar..............................6 the October 2019Surgery issue ........................................8 of Beulah’s monthly Rescued Pup Needs Give and Take ofHere, Freecycle .........................................9 newspaper. leader of the recent field Spanish Squash Casserole Recipeand ............................10 trip—exploration geologist owner of the Mountain Park Ride of the Summer ..........................11 quarry—Ken Ballewag, provides a detailed Monthly Pot Lucks Draw Crowd...............................12 historical account of the quarry. Enjoy! Real Estate ................................................................12
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
Workers hand drilling in the central quarry with steam channeler and derrick located above them. Photo courtesy Beulah Historical Society
The Colorado legislature mandated that all capitol construction materials come from within the state, and the capitol management committee invited interested bidders to submit polished samples of Colorado marble in competition for a $300,000 (roughly $22 million today) contract for the interior marble. Samples were submitted from Beulah, Canon City, Cotopaxi, and Marble. Two quarries were opened in Beulah, one owned by David Kelley from Denver, the other by Benjamin Mattice of Pueblo. Bids were opened in early February 1894, but Colorado marble suppliers had the highest, with significantly lower bids from out-of-state firms. The capitol managers insisted on using the higher priced Colorado marble as the state was hit hard economically by the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and the Panic of 1893, with many of the state’s silver mines closing and leaving many miners unemployed. They deferred from a decision on which firm to award
23
OUTCROP | November 2023
LEAD STORY
LOCAL PERSPECTIVE
Beulah Marble... the contract until their quarries could be examined. However, D.J. Kelly of the Denver Onyx and Marble company was given the contract for the lavatory wainscoting so that plumbing installation could begin, and several additional contracts for interior work were awarded to him before the quarry evaluations were undertaken. In March of 1894, Kelley incorporated the Beulah Marble Company. In April Governor Routt, the first and seventh governor of Colorado, and Otto Mears, the famed Colorado toll and railroad builder, visited the Beulah quarries, and were impressed. The interior marble contract was then awarded to the Beulah Marble Company, and commercial production followed.
Mules hauling 3-5 ton trimmed Beulah marble blocks to the rail head in Pueblo. Photo courtesy C. W. Donley Family/Beulah Historical Society/P.R.L.C.
ever been used until a recent photo was found by the Beulah Historical Society, showing the channeler in place next to the quarry derrick. A detailed search was made at the quarry for any evidence of the channeler’s use, resulting in the disMost of the marble was quarried by covery of a channeler cut that has been hand using hand-drilling methods, blastexcavated to reveal other cuts, the longing powder, and lifted out by winches and est of which is 17’+ long and five-foot derricks. A 1894 Pueblo Chieftain article deep. Perpendicular channel cuts were describing early quarry development also discovered that form 3.5’ square mentioned a ‘channeler’—a steamblocks. The channeler was capable of powered cutting machine—had been cutting 18-ton blocks, but they were too purchased for use at the quarry. Howbig for wagon transport. ever, no evidence existed that it had Statements and opinions in The Beulah Newspaper articles are checked for accuracy, but not guaranteed, because everyone is human. Publication of advertising does not imply endorsement of products or services or statements made about them, we err to common sense. All advertising copy is subject to approval by the editor-in-chief and managing editor, who has the right to reject advertising. Any editorial or article copy accepted is subject to such revision as is deemed proper in the discretion of the editor-in-chief and manager editor.
Laura Amman Editor-In-Chief Greta Hanson Maurer Managing Editor/Publisher Graphic & Layout Design
ADVERTISING Contact us for ad size and cost, we can build your ad! NEXT AD & ARTICLE DEADLINE Oct. 23 for November Issue ~ High Noon! SUBSCRIPTIONS $38/year, 12 issues available: Online: www.thebeulahnewspaper.com Mail: P.O. Box 72, Beulah, CO 81023 thebeulahnewspaper@gmail.com
©2019 The Beulah Newspaper is a monthly publication for Beulah, CO. THE BEULAH NEWSPAPER ~ OCTOBER 2019
OUTCROP | November 2023
Tragedy struck the quarry shortly after commercial production began in March of 1894 when raising a 7-ton block of marble caused the derrick to fall over on to a quarry worker, killing him instantly. The victim, Merritt Alva Arledge, left behind a pregnant wife and five children. He is buried in the Beulah cemetery. Indirect evidence suggests the accident occurred at the eastern quarry and not at the site where the derrick currently remains. The quarries produced steadily from 1894-1900. Owner Kelly ran into production problems at both his Beulah and Crystal River/Yule quarries, significantly delaying capital completion by years. He was also subject to a scandal accusing him of substituting out of state marble in the capitol but charging the higher prices for Colorado-produced marble. A major part of the production problem was transport, as all quarried stone had to be hauled by wagon 25 miles to the railhead in Pueblo for shipment to Denver for processing, which was done at a plant at 6th and Wynkoop (currently the parking lot for Elitch’s and the Pepsi Center). Marble was cut and/or trimmed into rectangular blocks on site, but the wagon transport limited the size and number of blocks that could be shipped. Getting the marble out of the valley was a major obstacle due to the steep
2
24
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
LEAD STORY
LOCAL PERSPECTIVE grades of Beulah Hill, with teams consisting of up to twelve mules required to make it up the grade. The quarry did not escape the litigation common to mining operations once the value of the product is realized, and the court case provides additional insight into early quarry history and the possible marble discoverers. Benjamin Mattice, owner of one of the quarries, sued the other quarry owner, David Kelley and the Beulah Marble Company, on behalf of the reported original discoverers Betts and Collins. Betts and Collins obtained a lease option to purchase the land containing the marble from owner George S. Draper for $1000 (roughly $75,000 today) and took marble samples to Kelley in Denver, most likely because they lacked the resources to complete the option deal as well as to develop the marble resource. Kelley made a deal with them to pay the option price for the land, give them each $500 cash, and the four would share equal interests in the property. Draper later realized the value of the property and insisted on more money as well as an interest in the property, and a new agreement was made, but this time in Kelley’s name only. Kelley later refused to recognize Collins’ and Betts’ interest in the property, and excluded them from any future financial gain on the property. Mattice purchased Collins’ interest, sued Kelley and the Beulah Marble Company, and won in a contentious case in Pueblo District court. The case was appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court, where it was overturned for unknown reasons, but one would suspect Kelley’s political influence. Mattice disappears from history at that point, with future reference to all quarry operations exclusively Kelley and the Beulah Marble Company. The Beulah Marble Company and the Denver Onyx and Marble company were merged in 1897, all under control of Kelley, his brother, and brother-in-law.
Twenty-two men found their way to Beulah, employed for back-breaking hand-drilling work, circa 1895-1900; East Quarry. Photo courtesy Herrick Family/Beulah Historical Society/P.R.L.C.
The Chieftain announced that the Beulah quarry would close in May of 1900, and no other reference to quarry production occurs after that date. Permanent closure most likely was due to the high production and transportation costs, the poor performance of Kelley’s company, and the depletion of easily mineable marble. Attempts to market the marble continued, including exhibition of Beulah Marble at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis where it won a bronze medal and was reported to attract the attention of German marble dealers. Kelley unsuccessfully tried to promote a railroad to Beulah and the quarries in 1899 shortly before they closed.
as an ornamental stone. Beulah marble is geologically a liesegang-banded limestone with the multi-stage banding formed by repeated groundwater deposition of hematite. The paleokarst process involved limestone erosion and dissolution prior to deposition of the overlying strata, sinkhole and cavern formation followed by infilling with iron-rich sediment, followed by iron leaching out into the surrounding limestone to form the marble. The marble only occurs around the infilled caverns and sinkholes, explaining why the deposits were small, discontinuous, and difficult to mine. Because of the complexity of the formation process, no other similar occurrence is known outside of Beulah, although paleokarst hosts numerous mineral deposits in Colorado and throughout the country. Each quarry produced a slightly different type of marble, and polished slabs in the capitol can be matched to the corresponding quarry.
The quarry geology is more complex than most marble deposits, forming from a paleokarst process that occurred over 300 million years ago. In geologic terms, the Beulah Marble is not technically a marble, which is a limestone that has been recrystallized by heat and pressure but fits the commercial term of marble of being any limestone The capitol interior marble work was that will take a polish and can be used finally finished years behind schedule at
Ken Balleweg will be speaking at the Beulah Historical Society’s October meeting on Thursday, October 17 at 7:00pm at Beulah’s Fire Station No. 1. Open to all.
the end of 1900, with frustrated capitol managers calling the performance of the Denver Onyx and Marble Co. “completely unsatisfactory.” Two miles of elaborately finished Beulah Marble wainscoting five-feet high were reportedly installed in the state capitol.
3
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
The quarries have been idle since 1900, and the only equipment remaining is one derrick used to lift the marble out of the quarry. The property was purchased in 2017 with the desire to preserve it from future development and maintain it as an v undisturbed historical site.
OCTOBER 2019 ~ THE BEULAH NEWSPAPER
25
OUTCROP | November 2023
HYBRID LUNCH TALK Speaker: James Hagadorn Date: November 1, 2023 | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
The Lyons Sandstone Presenter: James Hagadorn, DMNS and Steve Fryberger, DMNS the unit was part of a well-mixed eolian system that received sediment from as far away as the Appalachians. Yet many of the sandstones in the Lyons are feldspathic to arkosic, are intercalated with minor conglomerate and thin mudstone intervals, and locally are capped by paleosols. These observations and interpretations are internally consistent with the Lyons Sandstone having been deposited in eolian, fluvial, lacustrine and sandflat-playa settings. These settings are also common in the units that underlie and overlay the Lyons (Fountain, Ingleside, Owl Canyon, and Lykins formations). For example, there are thin intervals in the Fountain that were produced by eolian dunes and sand sheets, the Ingleside Formation contains thick sandstones produced by large dunes and interdunes, and the Lykins Formation is dominated by red siltstones thought to reflect loess. These occurrences lend support to the interpretation that along the Front Range and western portions of the Denver Basin, the Lyons was deposited as one of several eolian systems, that during the Late Pennsylvanian-Permian arid event in Western Pangea, lapped up onto and mixed with streams carrying sediment from the foothills of the Ancestral Rockies. This entire system was likely surrounded by sediments of a vast, midcontinent redbed/playa system.
The Permian Lyons Sandstone of Colorado is predominantly a highly permeable quartz-cemented sandstone that is an important hydrocarbon, helium, and building stone resource. The unit is also a destination for produced waters. More significantly, the Lyons is a lynchpin for our evolving understanding of ancient eolian systems. The Lyons is exposed along the Front Range of Colorado and extends throughout the Denver Basin, where its sandstones are dominated by fine to very fine well-rounded quartz and subordinate feldspar grains. Its sandstone strata are often characterized by sweeping cross-bedding and planar lamination, and are characterized by thin intervals where carbonate cements and evidence of desiccation and meteoric diagenesis are pervasive. Sandstone bedding and bedforms in the unit, exemplified by outcrops in Lory State Park and vicinity, record southwardly directed winds with subordinate flow from the east and south. In addition to facies produced by dunes, the Lory State Park Lyons outcrops also contain facies that were produced in interdune (or interdraa?) areas populated by small dunes, sand sheets and sabkha facies. Assemblages of detrital zircon grains from the Lyons are heterogeneous in their origins and compare well with eolian-dominated strata from other parts of Colorado and the American West, suggesting that
DR. JAMES HAGADORN, Tim & Kathryn Ryan Curator of Geology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, is a detective in deep time, seeking to understand how our planet has changed. With a combination of field- and laboratory-based geology, his research informs us about how Earth’s outer membrane has functioned in the past and how it responds to perturbations—today, millions of years ago, and potentially in the future.
OUTCROP | November 2023
26
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
27
OUTCROP | November 2023
HYBRID LUNCH TALK Speaker: Zane Jobe Date: December 6, 2023 | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Lateral Heterogeneity of BasinPlain Turbidites of the Cloridorme Formation, Quebec, Canada Implications for Horizontal Well Prediction Presenter: Zane Jobe, Colorado School of Mines Formation utilizes drone photogrammetry, centimeter-scale graphic logs, and handheld gamma-ray scintillometry data to better understand the detailed turbidite and hybrid-event-bed architecture in a basin-plain setting. While most beds in this outcrop study can be traced for 500 meters or more in a down-current direction, our results indicate significant intra- and inter-bed lateral complexity, including changes in bed thickness, grainsize distribution, and mud content. The quantification of these lateral changes and comparison with other well-constrained outcrop analogs refines the environment of the Cloridorme Formation and aids in the prediction of subsurface heterogeneity in conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon reservoir systems through reservoir model parameterization as well as characterization of lateral heterogeneity important for horizontal-well geosteering and completion strategies.
Facies models for basin-plain turbidite systems often depict very simplistic event-bed geometries that are tabular at the kilometer scale. However, recent studies have demonstrated more complex facies architectures, including rapid changes in eventbed thickness and facies composition. This lateral event-bed heterogeneity can have a significant impact on reservoir heterogeneity prediction in basin-plain turbidite systems developed for hydrocarbon production, carbon sequestration, or geothermal energy. Coastal outcrops on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec expose the Middle Ordovician Cloridorme Formation, a synorogenic ‘flysch’ turbidite system developed in the Taconic foreland basin. The formation is interpreted to occupy a basin-floor position due to long-distance (10s of kilometers) correlations of bedsets in the direction of paleocurrent. This outcrop-based study of the Cloridorme
DR. ZANE JOBE is a research professor at Colorado School of Mines and the Director of the Geology Center of Research Excellence (CoRE). Dr. Jobe completed his Ph.D. at Stanford University (2010) and his B.S. at the University of Texas at Arlington (2004). Dr. Jobe also spent 6 years at Shell Oil Company. His research interests aim to better understand the stratigraphic architecture, scaling relationships, and sediment budgets for clastic depositional systems, with an emphasis on submarine environments. He also enjoys cycling and hunting, and thinks that copious amounts of yard work can be cathartic. OUTCROP | November 2023
28
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
29
OUTCROP | November 2023
MEMBER CORNER
Meet Patty Standring PhD Student, University of Texas, Austin, and Recipient of the 2023 RMAG Foundation Veterans’ Memorial Scholarship I have a non-traditional path to the geosciences. Before going to the University of Texas at Austin (UT) for my bachelor’s degree, I spent ten years in the Air Force as a Dari Language Analyst (Dari is one of the primary languages spoken in Afghanistan). At first, I really enjoyed the work, and felt like I was doing something good by contributing to Operation Enduring Freedom. As the war in Afghanistan progressed, and especially during my deployment, I began to feel there was something better, and less morally confusing, I could do that would impact humanity in a positive way. While deployed to Bagram Airfield, northern Afghanistan experienced a moderate magnitude earthquake. I grew up in Southern California, so was familiar with earthquakes and the damage they could cause. What I dealt with as a child was nowhere near the damage to this one village in northern Afghanistan. The building construction style and limited (or lack of) emergency services compounded the devastation, and many lives were lost. The recent earthquakes in Herat, western Afghanistan, are an even worse representation of what that country goes through when an earthquake happens. I remember thinking that these people had seen and been through enough, and I no longer felt what I was doing was helping make their lives better. After that, I began to look for other opportunities to contribute to society in a more positive way. When my second enlistment ended, I decided I would pursue science, and my interest in the outdoors and earthquakes led me to geology. OUTCROP | November 2023
HOW DID YOU END UP INVOLVED IN THE GEOSCIENCES?
RMAG’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee is featuring a monthly Member Corner. We hope you’ll enjoy learning about the diverse community of Earth scientists and wide variety of geoscience disciplines that comprise our membership. If you would like to appear in an upcoming column, or if there is someone you would like to nominate, please contact staff@rmag.org.
WHERE DID YOU GROW UP? I grew up in San Bernardino, California, which is east of Los Angeles, and part of what is generally called the “Inland Empire.”
WHAT JOBS HAVE YOU HAD DURING YOUR CAREER?
30
In the military, I was a Dari Language Analyst, which entailed translating information considered either tactically or strategically important to Operation Enduring Freedom. Prior to the Air Force, I had a lot of service-based jobs in retail and fast food. For part of my UT undergraduate degree, I worked at the Austin Public Library as a Page – my responsibilities were shelving books and customer service – which I really loved and sometimes miss. I even considered changing my focus to get a Master of Information Science or Library Science, but I couldn’t leave geology because I loved it so much. While at UT, I was offered opportunities to work as an Undergraduate Research Assistant in two different labs: the Geochronology Lab with Dr. Daniel
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
Stockli and the Micropaleo Lab with Dr. Chris Lowery. I ended up working in both for the rest of my bachelor’s degree, and the experience solidified my interest to continue in geoscience as my future career. I am now working with Dr. Lowery for my PhD using foraminifera to study paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic change in Earth’s history.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE ENTERING INTO THE GEOSCIENCES?
Don’t be afraid to try out different types of undergraduate research projects. When I first started at UT, I thought I wanted to study earthquakes. As I took geoscience classes, my interests evolved. Eventually I realized I didn’t have to stick to my original goal because it’s possible for you to grow and change as you learn, and your interests can change with you. It actually started at Austin Community College, where I was taking prerequisite courses to apply for transfer to UT. I took an Oceanography course out of general curiosity and realized there were a lot more avenues of research than I originally envisioned. When I took the Marine Geology and Geophysics Field Course at UT, I was introduced to foraminifera in marine sediments, which completely changed my career interests. I began working with Dr. Lowery after that, and he is now my PhD advisor. Additionally, working in the Geochron Lab with Dr. Stockli helped me understand how paleoenvironments change over long timescales and has really helped me build my own research project. All of these experiences contributed to my current interests. I would recommend to new students to just try things out. See if working on a particular project or problem interests you. If it doesn’t, that’s okay because at least you’ll have a better idea of what you might want to do for your career.
for college. This actually is a common story among military members. If they don’t join for college, they join to leave a town where they do not see a future for themselves. Although my military career meant I could get my bachelor’s degree without any student loan debt, I wish it hadn’t been necessary to spend so much time in that career before finding what I’m truly passionate about. Whereas I don’t feel they have been significant obstacles for me, my age and military experiences make me feel out of place at times, and it can be difficult to make connections with people. Despite all of these barriers, I don’t regret my decisions to join the Air Force or leave after my second enlistment. I’m grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had and that now I am working towards a future I want.
WHAT BARRIERS HAVE YOU HAD TO OVERCOME ON YOUR PATH TO BECOMING A GEOSCIENTIST?
I originally joined the Air Force because I couldn’t afford college. I tried taking some community college classes after high school, but the schedule did not fit with a job that would allow me to afford the classes. I applied for financial aid but didn’t qualify because my parents made just enough money at that point in their lives, but not enough prior, to save
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
WHO INSPIRES YOU?
My mom inspires me. When I was growing up, she worked as a Cosmetologist until she broke her shoulder. It never healed quite right, and it became 31
OUTCROP | November 2023
MEMBER CORNER
too difficult for her physically to do the work. She tried other jobs but was never satisfied with her options. So, she went back to school and changed her career. She now works in marriage and family counseling as a licensed psychologist and loves her work, especially since she spends her time helping people. She also makes more money now and is able to live more comfortably. I’m very proud of all her hard work; she inspires me to keep trying at this new career path.
WHERE WAS YOUR FAVORITE FIELD TRIP IN SCHOOL?
During the Oceanography course at Austin Community College, we went on a field trip to the Gulf Coast Repository for the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). While there I learned about scientific ocean drilling and sediment cores. I had no idea this type of research existed, and it opened my eyes to different geoscience career paths. I am now fortunate to work on IODP cores from the Gulf of Mexico and western South Atlantic for my dissertation research and have since gone back to the Gulf Coast Repository to scan cores for X-ray fluorescence. This winter, I will be sailing on IODP Expedition 401 in the western Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean to collect more sediment cores for my dissertation. I am continually amazed at the wonderful things I get to do as a geoscientist, and I’m grateful to have these incredible opportunities.
WHAT IS THE MOST MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE YOU HAD WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE? One Christmas, my dad bought a telescope for my sister and me. I remember taking it outside on a clear night to look at the moon or find planets, and just feeling awe at how the moon looked so different in the telescope compared to what we normally see in the sky. I couldn’t believe how rocky and bumpy it was with all the craters. This experience sparked my interest in science and helped me decide on geology
Well Log Digitizing • Petrophysics Petra® Projects • Mud Log Evaluation Bill Donovan
Geologist • Petroleum Engineer • PE
(720) 351-7470 donovan@petroleum-eng.com OUTCROP | November 2023
32
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
MEMBER CORNER
as a career path later in life.
DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS? I have one dog named Sparkle. She is a 13-yearold Dachshund/Chihuahua mixed breed called a Chiweenie. I’ve had her since she was 6 weeks old, and she is my favorite in the whole world. I didn’t intend to get a dog when she was born, but was at a friend’s house after they had this unintentional litter of puppies from their two Chiweenie dogs. I was standing in the kitchen talking and I felt this tugging on my shoelaces. I looked down, and Sparkle was playing with my shoelaces. She was so small and adorable, and won me over instantly. We’ve been inseparable ever since.
WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ?
I am currently reading Tiamat’s Wrath by James S.A. Corey. It’s part of a space opera called the Expanse Series, and this is the second-to-last book. You may have seen the show they made based on the series on Amazon Prime. If you’re interested in science fiction, and the moral dilemmas of humanity, I highly recommend the series. When I started my PhD, I tried limiting the amount of non-academic reading I was doing, because I always felt I should be catching up on literature related to my dissertation. I now recognize the mistake in that thinking. Reading non-academic books (fiction and non-fiction) helps relax my brain and I think makes me a better and more creative thinking scientist.
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
33
OUTCROP | November 2023
The RMAG Foundation Announces 2023 Fundraising Drive ‘Recharging our efforts to support new energy education!’ Giving Tuesday, November 28 through December 31, 2023 The RMAG Foundation recognizes that geoscience education is in transition from traditional topics (structure, stratigraphy) to new ones (machine learning, hydraulic stimulation of geothermal reservoirs, or seismic monitoring of permafrost degradation, for example). This year’s theme reflects this broadened perspective. We encourage younger members of the geoscience community to become donors and help pay it forward. Last year’s campaign was successful and resulted in increased donations over previous years. The Foundation is grateful to the donors who contributed to this success (see the March 2023 Outcrop for a list). We will fund $40,000 spread over ten different scholarships to support diverse graduate and undergraduate research and support for undergraduates attending summer field camps at four Colorado colleges and universities. Solar lamp to be awarded to a lucky winner! Historically, academic scholarships have been the most significant way the Foundation supports the Geosciences. The Foundalucky winner drawn from our donors. tion is making a concerted effort for pubThe Foundation encourages those that lic outreach, funding programs at Dinosaur knew the late Don Stone to make a meRidge, the Denver Museum of Nature and morial contribution in his honor. Don and Science (Girls & Science), and supporting John Hollberg made the initial contribution RMAG outreach programs in the Front Range to establish the Foundation’s Stone/Hollarea (for example, booths at Juneteenth and Scan to donate now! berg Scholarship. PrideFest). The programs help demonstrate All donations to the RMAG Foundation the impact of our physical world on all of us. are tax deductible (consult your tax advisor). Please Although historically related to RMAG, the Foundanote: If you employer has a matching donation protion is a separate organization and receives no funding gram, we are eligible for matches! support from RMAG. All of our assets are from generous To learn more about the RMAG Foundation and donors and investment returns. To encourage first-time ways you can give, visit our website at www.RMAGdonors, benefactors will match your donations 3:1, up Foundation.org or scan the QR code to go directly to our to a maximum of $500. As further encouragement, the PayPal page. No contribution is too small! Be sure to Foundation is offering a decorative solar lantern to a follow us on LinkedIn! OUTCROP | November 2023
34
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
35
OUTCROP | November 2023
WELCOME NEW RMAG MEMBERS!
Rachael Czechowskyj
Troy Johnson,
from Lakewood, CO
Owasso, OK works for Javelin Energy Partners
Denver, CO works for Ovintiv
Golden, CO is a student at Colorado School of Mines
Maher Elasmar,
Luthfi Saifudin,
Leora Wilson
Richard Haymaker III,
from Baton Rouge, LA
Denver, CO, works at R.B. Haymaker & Company
Cristian Puentes
Alex McCord
from Denver, CO
from Phoenix, CO
Zac Moore,
Arvada, CO works for Anschutz Exploration
IN THE PIPELINE
COGA Oil and Gas Electrification Symposium. 10:00 AM-4:00 PM. Occidental Petroleum Corp., 1099 18th Street, Denver, CO.
RMAG and Dinosaur Ridge at Parker Science Night.
NOVEMBER 16, 2023
RMAG Luncheon. Speaker: James Hagadorn and Steve Fryberger, Talk Title: “The Lyons Sandstone” In Person or Online. Denver Earth Resources Library, 730 17th Street, B1, Denver.
NOVEMBER 5, 2023
NOVEMBER 1, 2023
DPC Speakers Series. Brendan McCracken, Ovintiv CEO.
NOVEMBER 8, 2023 COGA 39th Annual Meeting. NOVEMBER 9, 2023 RMAG Women’s Group Coffee. Blue Sparrow Coffee, 1015 Platte Street. 10 AM-11 AM.
NOVEMBER 16-17, 2023 RMAG Core Workshop. Instructors: Maxwell Pommer and Rick Sarg. “Dolomite and Assoc. Pore Systems in the Rocky Mountain Region” DECEMBER 1, 2023 2023 Rockbusters Ball
OUTCROP | November 2023
36
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
Gain valuable interwell insights Premature breakthrough of injected water, steam, gas or CO2 can limit oil production. At minimal cost, chemical tracers can rapidly detect and quantify reservoir flow heterogeneities so remediation or flood rebalance can be made to maximize well productivity.
Start reducing your costs @tracerco tracerco@tracerco.com tracerco.com
Confluence Resources is an upstream exploration and production company Confluence Resources is an confluenceresources.com upstream exploration and production company confluenceresources.com Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
37
OUTCROP | November 2023
OUTCROP ADVERTISING RATES 1 Time
2 Times
6 Times
12 Times
Full page (7-1/2” x 9-1/4”)
$350
$650
$1,800
$3,400
2/3 page (4-7/8” x 9-1/4”)
$250
$465
$1,290
$2,430
1/2 page (7-1/2” x 4-5/8”)
$200
$370
$1,030
$1,950
1/3 page horizontal (4-7/8” x 4-7/8”)
$175
$325
$900
$1,700
1/3 page vertical (2-3/8” x 9-1/4”)
$175
$325
$900
$1,700
1/6 page (2-3/8” x 4-7/8”)
$100
$185
$520
$970
Professional Card (2-5/8” x 1-1/2”)
$30
$55
$155
$290
Publish with… Why contribute? • Reach a broad industry and academic audience • Quarterly peer-reviewed journal • Permanent archiving includes AAPG Datapages • Quick turn-around time • Every subdiscipline in the geosciences Expanded geologic focus: • Entire greater Rocky Mountain area of North America • West Texas and New Mexico to northern British Columbia • Great Plains and Mid-Continent region
Email: mgeditor@rmag.org https://www.rmag.org/publications/the-mountain-geologist/
OUTCROP | November 2023
38
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
ADVERTISER INDEX
•Confluence Resources ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 37 •Daub & Associates �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 12 •Donovan Brothers ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 32 •EDCON-PRJ ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 29 •Larson Geoscience �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 32 •Lewan GeoConsulting ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 10 •LMKR Gverse Geographix ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 35 •Sproule �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 35 •Tracerco ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 37 CALENDAR – NOVEMBER 2023 SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
1
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
2
3
4
8
9
10
11
COGA 39th Annual Meeting.
RMAG Women’s Group Coffee.
17
18
RMAG Luncheon. COGA Oil and Gas Electrification Symposium.
5
6
7
RMAG and Dinosaur Ridge at Parker Science Night.
12
13
14
15
16 DPC Speakers Series. RMAG Core Workshop.
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
1
2
2023 Rockbusters Ball
Vol. 72, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
39
OUTCROP | November 2023