OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists
Volume 61 • No. 6 • June 2012
L WEL
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Vol. 61, No. 6
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OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists
CONTENTS Features
6 Lead Story: Catastrophic Ice Age Floods in Colorado
33 The Outcrop Needs YOU!
12 Check it out!
35 On-the-Rocks Field Trips
13 Earthquakes Triggered by Humans in Colorado
37 RMAG and PTTC Present Summer Short Course
20 Congratulations to the Neil Harr Pick Award Recipients
39 Help Wanted!
32 Quartzite Cliffs and Surrounding Ridges of the Medicine Bow Mountains
association news 19 Membership Notice 22 Call for Papers: The Mountain Geologist 23 2012 Summit Sponsorship 24 Geoland Ski Day 2012 32 Earth Scientists – Publish Your Paper in The Mountain Geologist!
41 2012 RMAG Golf Tournament Call for Sponsors!
Departments 4 RMAG April Board of Directors Meeting 18 President's Column 20 In Memoriam: Robert Samuel Klipping 30 New Members
COVER PHOTOS Glacial impact scars, or whamouts, from Clear Creek and Pine Creek glaciers that took “bites” out of the obstructing granite walls. Bottom photo is Pine Creek whamout. See pages 6 and 36 for more information. Photo courtesy of Keenan Lee.
31 In the Pipeline 31 Determine Future Guidebooks 42 Advertisers Index 42 Calendar of Events
Volume 61 • No. 6 • June 2012 OUTCROP
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RMAG April Board of Directors Meeting
By Kimberley Alanis, Secretary (Kimberley.Alanis@qepres.com) The Board of Directors meeting was held on April 18, 2012 in the RMAG office boardroom. The meeting began with a review of RMAG’s first quarter income and expenses. I am again happy to report that we are continuing to increase our income considerably from the same time last year. Our expenses are still down from last year, as well. We plan to continue the year with a positive financial report. The 2012 Board of Director’s biographies have been uploaded to the RMAG website (www.rmag.or www.rmag.orgg). If you have not done so, please check them out to see what we are all about. The Continuing Education Committee reported that it has lunch talks scheduled through July. As a reminder, RMAG has decided to move the luncheon talks from the Marriott City Center to the Sheraton Hotel starting in June. The Niobrara Symposium is planned for July 24th. If you have not done so, please sign up. Be on the lookout for information about the summer speaker series, the Prospect Fair set for September 12th, and a Frac short course on October 22nd. The Publications Committee has held the kick-
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off meeting for the “Oil and Gas Fields of Colorado” publication that is set to be completed near the middle of next year. Several ideas for future publication have been discussed including a DJ Basin Guidebook, a “New Exploration Tools” volume, and “Cross Sections of Rocky Mountain Basins.” Please let us know if you have any ideas of other publications that you would like to see. The BOD has approved the digitizing of the structural components in the Geologic Atlas of the Rocky Mountain Region, a.k.a “The Big Red Book.” The meeting included the approval of some motions, one of which was the approval of the AAPG award nominations presented by Tricia Beaver from the Professional Awards Committee. The RMAG Golf Tournament will be well attended, as it has already sold out. We look forward to seeing you on June 28th at Fossil Trace. The May Board of Director’s meeting was held on Wednesday, May 16th, at the University Building conference room on the 11th floor. The June meeting will be held June 18th at the same location.
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The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists 910 16th Street • Suite 1125 • 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.
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Secretary – Kimberly Alanis Kimberley.alanis@qepres.com
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LEAD STORY Catastrophic Ice Age Floods in Colorado
Glacial Outburst Floods Scoured the Upper Arkansas Valley by Keenan Lee During the Pleistocene, three glaciers from the Sawatch Range flowed down contiguous tributary val leys to the Arkansas River near Granite, Colorado. The Lake Creek glacier probably pushed the river out of its channel, and the Clear Creek and Pine Creek glaciers crossed the river and rammed into granite walls on the far side of the valley. These glaciers formed an ice dam about 670 ft high that blocked the Arkansas River and created a large lake about 600 ft deep that extended 12 miles upstream. When the ice dam broke, the lake drained catastrophically. The outburst flood tore out the ends of the moraines and carried the detritus down the valley in a torrent of dirty water that deposited a sheet of flood boulders 60 ft thick in a matter of hours. Many flood boulders are tens of feet in diameter, and some can be found 150 ft up the valley wall. At l e a s t fo u r c a tastrophic floods swept t h e Up p e r A rka n s a s Valley, together called the Three Glaciers Floods. Field evidence provides a pretty clear picture of the Figure 1. Upper Arkansas Valley. last two such floods, but only patches of older flood boulders attest to two earlier floods. The most recent, or fourth, flood is from Pinedale glaciers that reached their peak 16-22 ka (Young et al., 2011). The first flood was older than 760 ka, and the second flood was older than 640 ka. The third flood is tentatively assigned a Bull Lake age, 130 – 150 ka. Vol. 61, No. 6
The Upper Arkansas Valley drains the Sawatch Range on the west and the Mosquito Range on the east (Fig. 1). Bounding walls of the valley are mostly Precambrian granite, and the valley floor consists of thick Neogene Dry Union Formation sediments with a veneer of Quaternary alluvium. Glenn Scott (1975) first recognized huge flood boulders in outwash he considered Pinedale age, and he attributed them to a flood from a glacial dam at Pine Creek (Scott, 1984). McCalpin et al. (in press) mapped lacustrine sediments and shoreline gravels from the glacial lake. Three Glaciers Damsite Lake Creek glaciers did not dam the Arkansas River. The map view in Figure 2 shows fairly complete end moraine loops without truncation, and the east side of the Arkansas Valley lacks evidence of glacial impact. Each advance of the glacier may have forced the river to the east, however, because the channel of the modern Arkansas River here is in granite, even though extensive and thick deposits of Neogene Dry Union Formation sand and gravel are only a few hundred feet to the west of the river. Clear Creek glaciers in both Bull Lake and Pinedale times built fairly equal, large, symmetrical lateral 6
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Lead Story moraines and dammed the Arkansas River (Fig. 2). Both sets of moraines are clearly truncated at their lower ends. A distinctive, unusual landform was created by the glaciers of Clear Creek, herein called a glacial impact scar (or whamout). It is a clearly defined, very steep, concave cliff of unweathered granite cut into the wall on the opposite side of the Arkansas Valley (Fig. 3). The tremendous ice contact pressures may have induced fracturing and glacial plucking, and when the glacier dam failed, torrential discharges of dammed waters would have further scoured the wall, probably by kolk action. The crest of the Bull Lake left lateral moraine projects to an elevation of about 9,350 ft, or 470 ft above the river, and the Pinedale moraine similarly projects to about 9,360 ft. Pine Creek glaciers were equally effective in damming the Arkansas River; both Pinedale and Bull Lake glaciers dammed the river. The Bull Lake moraines indicate pronounced flaring of the glacier consistent with impact against the far wall, both are truncated, and a well defined glacial impact scar formed (Figs. 2, 3). The Bull Lake glacier in Pine Creek merged with the glacier in Clear Creek, essentially buttressing a common ice dam, with the lake elevation determined by the Clear Creek glacier. At least two pre-Bull Lake glaciers dammed the Arkansas River, probably here at the Three Glaciers damsite. No evidence of these glacial dams remains, but no other locality in the Upper Arkansas Valley presents evidence of a glacial dam, no other locality is as favorable for a glacial dam as this site, and it is demonstrated that the last two glacial dams formed here. Three Glaciers Lake The dammed Arkansas River backed up to the north behind the glacial dam and created Three Glaciers Lake, which was about 600 ft deep at the dam and extended about 12 mi up the Arkansas Valley to the Malta Substation (Fig. 4). Although the lake probably filled and emptied at least four times, the two most recent lakes were at about the same elevation, and information about the two earlier ones is lacking. There are no prominent shorelines, as at Lakes Missoula and Bonneville, probably because there was no spillway from Three Glaciers Lake to maintain a constant lake elevation, and the very limited reach available to prevailing westerlies inhibited formation of energetic waves that would have formed beaches. Indirect evidence of the lake is provided by two large landslides along the shore of Three Glaciers Lake (Fig. 4). These likely occurred when the dam failed and the Continued on page 8 Âť
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Figure 2. Distribution of moraines at the Three Glaciers damsite shows the southern two glaciers dammed the Arkansas River in both Bull Lake and Pinedale times, whereas the Lake Creek glacier apparently did not. www.rmag.org
Lead Story lake surface dropped catastrophically, trapping high hydrostatic pressures in saturated sediments that led to slope failure. This is analogous to the 1976 Teton Dam failure where the rapid drawdown in the 17-mi-long reservoir caused more than 200 landslides (Randle et al., 2000). The Lake Creek glacier flowed into Three Glaciers Lake and calved off icebergs, which contained boulders. One iceberg grounded in shallow water along the eastern shore, at about 9,358 ft, leaving a cluster of ice-rafted boulder erratics (IRBEs)(Fig. 4). Two other IRBE clusters just north of Lake Creek are at about 9,384 ft and 9,402 ft. McCalpin et al. (in press) mapped lacustrine sediments mantling slopes in the Box Creek embayment (Fig. 4) between about 9,340 ft and 9,480 ft elevation, which is the basis for estimating the Three Glaciers Lake elevation. They describe the sediments as “sand, silt, clay, and minor gravel deposited in shallow water below the shorelines of Three Glaciers Lake”. McCalpin et al. (in press) also mapped shoreline gravels on numerous flat hilltops planed off by wave action along the east shore of the lake between about 9,400 ft and 9,480 ft elevation.
Continued from page 7
Figure 3. Glacial impact scars, or whamouts, from Clear Creek and Pine Creek glaciers that took “bites” out of the obstructing granite walls. Bottom photo is Pine Creek whamout.
Dam Failure and Catastrophic Floods The mechanism of dam failure is unknown, but huge boulders extending for miles downstream make it clear that the floods resulted from catastrophic failure and rapid dumping of the lake. The most common failure mechanism for an alpine glacial dam with this configuration is outflow through a marginal breach along the ice - bedrock wall contact (Walder and Costa, 1996). As the level in Three Glaciers lake rose, subglacial leakage would most likely have occurred there, where the ice was thinnest. Enlargement leading to a subaerial breach would result from thermal erosion and ice calving (Walder and Fountain, 1997). Another possible mechanism for dam failure is flotation; when water depth reached about 90 percent of the thickness of the ice, the ice dam became buoyant, and when high-pressure water got under the ice dam, it would have destroyed the dam rapidly. Peak discharge for the most recent flood has been estimated at 1.62 million cfs (Brugger et al., 2011), using conservative parameters. This is some 600 times greater than the historic average annual peak flood of 2750 cfs at the damsite (USGS, 2012). Three Glaciers Vol. 61, No. 6
Lake would have emptied in less than a day (Brugger et al., 2011). The broad, flat floor of the Arkansas Valley below Pine Creek likely saw a wall of dirty water deflect off the Pine Creek whamout and tear down the valley. As the valley widens to the south, depth of the floodwater would have diminished, but 2 mi below Pine Creek the flood waters dropped a 4 ft boulder 150 ft up on the side of the valley. Erosion was severe in the damsite area; floodwaters tore out the lower ends of moraines, and at Pine Creek they undercut the downstream lateral moraines enough to cause the large Pine Creek School landslide. Floodwa ters ripped out parts of the granite river bottom, causing an extremely steep gradient at Pine Creek, where the Arkansas River today drops 50 ft in a distance of 1300 ft, or more than 200 ft per mile. This created the notorious Pine Creek Rapid, Class V-VI (Staub, 1988), challenged only by expert kayakers and avoided by rafters. Below the damsite where the valley widens, catastrophic aggradation occurred.
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Lead Story Flood Landforms and Deposits The floor of the Arkansas River Valley below Pine Creek consists of two flat surfaces, which are here called Terrace 1, the higher, and about 30 ft lower, Terrace 2 (Fig. 5). There is no significant difference between the two terraces other than elevation. The Terrace 1 surface has a median height of 49 ft above the modern Arkansas River. The gravels are more than 59 ft thick 2 mi below Pine Creek and thin to about 15 ft about 7 mi farther downstream. Where the base is seen, flood gravels lie on Dry Union Formation. The terrace is composed of flood gravels -- that is, gravels that show no internal structure or stratification and that contain flood boulders. Flood boulders are boulders not transported by ordinary floods, and here they range from about 5 ft to 45 ft in diameter (Fig. 6). Flood boulders are at the very base, where exposed, and they sit at the surface (Figs. 5, 6). In short, the terrace consists of a sheet of flood gravel, probably representing the traction bedload of the floodwaters. It is important to recognize that this is not alluvium deposited over a span of time; rather it represents a catastrophic flood event that deposited a sheet of flood gravels as a single event, likely in a matter of hours. The terrace landform results from subsequent erosion. Lack of internal stratification, however, allows the possibility that the
Figure 4. Three Glaciers Lake at about 9480 ft elevation. Squared dots show locations of ice-rafted boulder erratics.
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Lead Story
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Figure 5. Two terraces composed of flood gravels. Boulders in foreground are at the surface of Terrace 2. Exposed flood gravels of Terrace 1 are 59 ft thick, capped by post-flood fan alluvium; large flood boulder at top is 28 ft by 21 ft by 11+ ft.
deposit was produced by more than one catastrophic flood. The Terrace 2 surface has a median height of 20 ft above the modern Arkansas River. Terrace 2 consists of a sheet of flood gravels, whose apparent thickness varies from about 30 ft just below the damsite to about 20 ft downstream (the base is not exposed). As noted, no significant differences between the two flood gravels are apparent, other than elevation. Flood boulders of a unique class are herein called flood-transported boulder erratics (FTBEs). These are boulders from the Twin Lakes pluton deposited by floodwaters on the Pine Creek School landslide (see Fig. 2). Such boulders were necessarily deposited by flood waters, because the landslide deposit contains none of this material. The highest FTBE found is at a GPS elevation of 8,740 ft, about 150 ft above the modern Vol. 61, No. 6
Arkansas River. These were probably deposited by the youngest flood. The age of Terrace 1 flood gravels is not clear. Because more than 60 ft of down-cutting occurred after deposition of Terrace 1 flood gravels, and because Bull Lake glaciers dammed the Arkansas River, they are considered Bull Lake age. Scott (1975) mapped them as Older Pinedale age. The age of the Terrace 2 flood gravels is also unknown. They are considered Pinedale because at least 60 ft of down-cutting had taken place between the two floods, only 20 ft of down-cutting has since occurred, and because Pinedale glaciers dammed the Arkansas River. Scott (1975) mapped them as Younger Pinedale age. Cosmogenic 10Be exposure ages were determined for flood boulders on both of these terraces that vary only from 17.2 to 20.9 ka (Briner et al., 2010). Four 10
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Lead Story boulders from Terrace 1 give an age of approximately 19 ka and four boulders from Terrace 2 are approximately 18 ka (Briner et al., 2010). It is unclear whether these dates actually represent the true ages of the two flood events, however, as it can be (and is) argued that the younger flood might have deposited flood boulders on top of Terrace 1, or at least might have moved the older flood boulders at the surface, effectively “resetting” the exposure-age clock. The image at the front of this article shows the scoured surface of Terrace 1 (LIDAR imagery from USGS). Remnants of the two oldest floods are found in discontinuous strath terraces that can be traced down the Arkansas Valley. The oldest flood gravels, about 300 ft above the modern Arkansas River, are about 30 ft thick, on Dry Union Formation, overlain by about 5 ft of fluvial cobble-pebble gravel. They contain clasts of Twin Lakes porphyry, indicating that the glacial dam was at, or above, Clear Creek. These deposits represent the first catastrophic glacial outburst flood. Correlative gravels 11 mi south of Buena Vista, although not flood gravels there, are capped by the Bishop Ash, dated at 759 ka (Sarna-Wojcicki et al., 2000). Flood gravels from the second flood likewise are found in discontinuous strath terrace remnants, generally about 50 feet below the oldest flood deposits. Along the west side of the valley, about 35 ft of flood boulders lie on Dry Union Formation, overlain by about 20 ft of fluvial gravels without flood boulders, whereas in the east the flood deposits lie on Precambrian plutonic rocks. These gravels also contain Twin Lakes porphyry, indicating the damsite was at Clear Creek or above. At one locality flood boulders appear to be overlain by Lava Creek Ash, dated at 639 ka (Lanphere et al., 2002).
Figure 6. Flood boulder on lower terrace (from Young et al., 2011).
When lake level rose to about 9,480 ft elevation, the ice dam failed, and the lake emptied catastrophically. The outburst flood tore out the end moraines and deposited the detritus as an extensive sheet of flood gravels at least 59 ft thick below the dam. Subsequently, the Arkansas River cut down more than 60 ft, leaving the flood gravels as Terrace 1. Renewed glaciation in Pinedale time essentially repeated the damming. The glacier in Clear Creek again dammed the Arkansas River, creating a lake about 650 ft deep that would have been of similar elevation and extent as that of Bull Lake time. Dam failure led to another catastrophic flood, which similarly tore out the moraines and deposited flood gravels on a valley bottom now consisting of two levels differing by about 60 ft. Floodwaters deposited boulders as high as 150 ft above the modern Arkansas River and probably also deposited boulders on Terrace 1. Since that flood, the Arkansas River has cut down into the Pinedale flood gravels about 20 ft, leaving the surface as Terrace 2.
Recap Glaciers dammed the Arkansas River twice in pre-Bull Lake time, probably at the Three Glaciers damsite. When these ice dams failed, catastrophic floods deposited flood boulders downstream, where only isolated patches now remain. The first flood was older than 759 ka, and the second was older than 639 ka. In Bull Lake time, glaciers advanced down the three contiguous tributary valleys, and the Lake Creek glacier probably forced the Arkansas River onto Precambrian granite to the east. The Pine Creek and Clear Creek glaciers merged to form an ice dam about 670 ft high on the upstream face. The dammed Arkansas River created Three Glaciers Lake, about 600 ft deep and 12 mi long. OUTCROP
References
Briner, J.P., Young, N.E., Leonard, E.M., and Lee, Keenan, 2010, A new 10Be chronology of late Pleistocene moraines and glacial outburst flood terraces in the Upper Arkansas River Valley, Colorado [abst.]: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 42, no.5, p. 309. Brugger, K.A., Leonard, E.M., Lee, Keenan, and Bush, M.A., 2011, Discharge estimates for a glacial outburst paleoflood on the Upper Arkansas River, Colorado, from an ice-dam failure model: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 43, no. 4, p. 10. Lanphere, M.A., Champion, D.E., Christiansen, R.L., Izett, G.A., and Obradovich, J.D., 2002, Revised ages for tuffs of the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field: assignment of the Huckleberry Ridge Continued on page 12 »
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Lead Story
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Tuff to a new geomagnetic polarity event: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 114, p. 559-568. McCalpin, J.P., Funk, Jonathan, and Mendel, David, in press, Leadville South quadrangle geologic map, Lake County, Colorado: Colorado Geological Survey, 1:24,000 scale. Randle, T.J., J.A. Bountry, R. Klinger, and A. Lockhart, 2000, Geomorphology and river hydraulics of the Teton River upstream of Teton Dam, Teton River, Idaho: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Technical Service Center, Denver, Colorado, 48 p. Sarna-Wojcicki, A.M., Pringle, M.S., and Wijbrans, Jan, 2000, New 40Ar/39Ar age of the Bishop Tuff from multiple sites and sedimentation rate calibration of the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 105, p. 21 431 – 21 443. Scott, G. R., 1975, Reconnaissance geologic map of the Buena Vista quadrangle, Chaffee and Park Counties, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Map MF-657, 1:62,500 scale. Scott, G. R., 1984, Part III Pleistocene floods along the Arkansas River, Chaffee County, Colorado, in Nelson, A.R., Shroba,
R.R., and Scott, G.R., eds., Quaternary deposits of the Upper Arkansas River Valley, Colorado: Boulder, Colorado, American Quaternary Association, 8th Biennial Meeting, August 16-17, 1984, unpublished guide for Field Trip No. 7, p. 51-57. Staub, Frank, 1988, The Upper Arkansas River, rapids, history, and nature, mile by mile: Golden, Colorado, Fulcrum, 265 p. Walder, J.S., and Costa, J.E., 1996, Outburst floods from glacier dammed lakes: the effect of mode of lake drainage on flood magnitude: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, v. 21, no. 8, p. 701-723. Walder, J.S., and Fountain, A.G., 1997, Glacier generated floods, in Destructive Water: Water-caused natural disasters, their abatement and control, IAHS Publication No. 239, p. 107-113. USGS, 2012, http://nwis.waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/peak?site_ no=07087050&agency Young, N.E., Briner, J.P., Leonard, E.M., Licciardi, J.M., and Lee, Keenan, 2011, Assessing climatic and nonclimatic forcing of Pinedale glaciation and deglaciation in the Western United States: Geology, v. 39, no. 2, p. 171-174.
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ChECk iT OuT! Vermont Bans Fracking http://www.vpirg.org/news/2471 Hydraulic Fracturing of Oil and Gas Wells in Kansas Great intro to fracture treatments for the public, good pictures. http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/PIC/pic32.html Vol. 61, No. 6
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Earthquakes Triggered by humans in Colorado Earthquakes Triggered by Humans in Colorado — a background paper by the Colorado Geological Survey
TABLE OF CONTENTS Natural Earthquakes and Earthquakes Triggered by Humans in Colorado Hydraulic Fracturing (Hydro-fracs) and Earthquakes Waste Fluid Disposal from Oil & Gas Operations and Earthquakes The Trinidad Earthquakes The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and the Potential for Triggering Earthquakes Resources on Colorado Earthquakes
Natural Earthquakes and Earthquakes Triggered by Humans in Colorado Colorado has experienced numerous natural earthquakes, including a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in 1882. However, the state is world famous for its triggered (induced) earthquakes. A variety of human activities in Colorado have triggered earthquakes during the past half century: x x
x x x
x
During the 1960s, the triggering of earthquakes from injection of waste fluids at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal near Denver made news around the world. In the 1970s, an experiment involving a waterflood at the Rangely oil field in northwest Colorado was the first time in human history that earthquakes were intentionally turned off and on, by varying the injection pressures of water underground. Two earthquakes greater than magnitude 5.0 were created in 1969 and 1973 by underground nuclear explosions that were part of an experiment to increase extraction of natural gas. A seven-fold increase in earthquakes was recorded during filling of the Ridgeway reservoir in 1986. Beginning in the 1990s, injection of brine water beneath the Paradox Valley of western Colorado triggered thousands of earthquakes that increased in magnitude up to 4.2, but decreased in magnitude after the injection protocol was modified. Nearly 200 earthquakes with magnitude 2.8 to 3.4 were recorded in a two-year period (20072009) in the Paonia area, and are attributed to underground coal mining activity.
With this background in human-caused seismicity in Colorado, it is normal to ask whether any new earthquake activity occurring in the state is triggered by some human activity. It is important in this discussion to remember that Colorado is an active tectonic province that is essentially being pulled apart where the Rio Grande Rift cuts north/south across the mountainous, central part of the state. The high Continued on page 14 Âť
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Continued from page 13
mountains in the state are a result of uplift on faults (with associated earthquakes) that are part of the rift system. Three faults in the state have received sufficient study to be included in the USGS National Seismic (Earthquake) Hazard Map, and are listed as being capable of generating earthquakes of 7.0 magnitude, or greater. There are many more faults in the state that could probably generate significant earthquakes, but have not received sufficient study, or documentation, to be included in the hazard map. With our current state of knowledge, it is not possible to predict when or where, the next large earthquake might occur in Colorado. Hydraulic Fracturing (Hydro-fracs) and Earthquakes Using water to artificially fracture rock layers below ground in order to increase oil and gas production has been conducted in the United States since 1947. Before that, nitro glycerin was used to artificially fracture the rock. Nearly all of the oil and gas wells drilled in Colorado today require hydro-fracing in order to produce economic quantities of oil and gas. There are only two instances in the world where hydro-fracing near faults has been interpreted to cause earthquakes, one in Oklahoma and one in Great Britain. Both of these were less than magnitude 3.0, which causes a shaking intensity that most people would not notice. The USGS states, “Fracking causes small earthquakes, but they are almost always too small to be a safety concern.” Scientists at both the state and federal level have been frustrated by the widespread misrepresentation in the media that “fracking causes earthquakes”. Waste Fluid Disposal from Oil & Gas Operations and Earthquakes Oil and natural gas operations commonly produce water that must be handled within strict state and federal regulations. x x x
Small amounts of water are produced with normal, natural-gas wells and oil wells. Larger amounts of water can be produced from coalbed methane wells, from water-flooding of an oil field, and from very old oil wells. After a well is hydro-frac’ced, not all of the water stays in the formation, but some of the water is recovered and flows back to the surface (~ 9% of all oil & gas waste fluids in Colorado).
Any water brought to the surface during oil and gas operations, must be disposed of properly. There are several common ways to deal with the water depending on its chemical properties. x x x
Putting it into lined ponds and evaporating the water, Disposing of it directly into streams or applying it to the surface (must meet water-quality standards), Treating it to water-quality standards before putting into streams or rivers,
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Earthquakes Triggered by Humans x
Re-injecting it into the ground in a Class II UIC well under guidelines promulgated by the US EPA and administered by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC). There are approximately 145,000 of these wells in the U.S., and 309 in Colorado.
Several recent earthquake swarms across the U.S. have generated questions as to whether they were triggered by oil and gas operations. Indeed, the USGS created a recent flurry of publicity and controversy by claiming that an increase in earthquake activity throughout the midcontinent (including Colorado), is “almost certainly manmade”. The directors of the Oklahoma and Colorado Geological Surveys independently characterized these conclusions for their states as premature. A number of earthquakes in several states are currently being investigated in order to determine whether it is plausible that water injection may have triggered them. x
x x x
The Center for Earthquake Research at the University of Memphis and the Arkansas Geological Survey jointly concluded that water disposal from oil and gas operations was the most probable cause of more than 1200 micro-earthquakes on a fault near Guy, Arkansas. Ohio experienced a 4.0 magnitude earthquake near several injection wells. Scientists are investigating whether there is a plausible connection between the quakes and the wells. Oklahoma experienced a 5.6 magnitude earthquake near some injection wells. Scientists are investigating whether there is a causal link between the two. Earthquakes in the Raton Basin of Colorado and New Mexico are currently being re-studied to evaluate whether there is a link between injection of water from coalbed methane production and earthquakes in that area.
The Trinidad Earthquakes The Raton Basin of Colorado and New Mexico has more than 3,000 wells producing natural gas from coal beds (coalbed methane or CBM). Trinidad, Colorado is located near the eastern apex of the basin. The earthquakes occurring in the basin are commonly referred to as the “Trinidad earthquakes”; although the earthquakes extend out more than 30 miles to the southwest, west, northeast, and northwest from Trinidad. The Colorado portion of the Raton Basin has 22 Class II UIC wells disposing of produced water. Most of these wells are not using pressure to inject the water, but are simply flowing into the underground layers 4,000 to 5,000 feet deep under gravity. Other produced water in the basin is disposed of on the surface. The Trinidad area has a history of natural earthquakes: x x x x x
In 1966, a 4.5 magnitude earthquake was reported northeast of Trinidad. In 1973, a swarm of four earthquakes ч4.2 magnitude was reported west of Trinidad, decades before water injection began. In 1983, a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was reported northeast of Trinidad. In 1996, a series of three earthquakes ш3.2 magnitude hit northeast of Trinidad. During this era, detection and location of earthquakes in Colorado was significantly inadequate. Continued on page 16 »
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Earthquakes Triggered by Humans
Continued from page 15
In 2001, a swarm of earthquakes culminating in a magnitude 4.6 occurred west of Trinidad. x x x
x x x
Initial location of the earthquakes showed the epicenters scattered over 75 square miles with a random pattern. USGS deployed 12 portable seismometers. Several lines of data and studies demonstrated that the earthquakes were actually occurring along a previously unrecognized, normal fault that trends northeast-southwest, and is inclined ~75 degrees toward the southeast. Two water-disposal wells are located within 7,400 feet of the fault. Separate, and different, analyses conducted by CGS and USGS both concluded the data was equivocal as to whether the earthquakes were triggered by fluid injection. The earthquakes on the fault mapped in 2001 stopped, even though injection in the wells continued at the same rate.
For the next decade, no earthquakes were reported on the fault by the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC). However, small earthquakes (most too small to feel) occurred fairly regularly throughout the rest of the Raton Basin. These earthquakes appeared to follow no pattern, but seemed fairly random. It should be remembered that seismograph coverage in Colorado was inadequate to pinpoint the epicenters of earthquakes. Errors of plus or minus ten miles, or more, could be experienced. During this decade, the Earthscope Transportable Array moved across Colorado providing better data for locating earthquakes during the two years that those seismographs were in place. The Earthscope data showed several clusters of earthquakes (rather than the random patterns seen before), with the largest cluster in the New Mexico portion of the basin. CGS purchased one of those stations east of Trinidad in an effort to improve the accuracy of locating earthquakes. Researchers have recently studied the Earthscope data and attempted to retroactively improve the NEIC locations. A damaging, magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck the Trinidad area in August 2011. This event renewed interest in whether the earthquakes were triggered by underground disposal of produced water. Several seismographs were deployed by the USGS in the area immediately after the 5.3 M earthquake. In December, the oil and gas industry deployed additional seismographs deep underground to complement the USGS instruments. Excellent data is now being obtained on the location, number, and size of the earthquakes; most of which are too small to feel. This new data will provide researchers with information to perhaps finally understand the cause(s) of the earthquakes in the Raton Basin. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) and the Potential for Triggering Earthquakes In 2011, the COGCC took a proactive stance toward the possibility of injection wells causing earthquakes and asked the Colorado Geological Survey (CGS) to review all new permit applications for water disposal wells. CGS has been reviewing those applications since October 2011 and is making recommendations to COGCC. CGS is also working with COGCC to understand the origin of the Trinidad earthquakes.
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Earthquakes Triggered by Humans Resources on Colorado Earthquakes Earthquake Reference Collection This CGS collection consists of more than 500 publications relevant to Colorado earthquakes, including many that are hard to find. A large number of these are available online as PDFs. Earthquake and Fault Map Server This CGS online resource shows earthquakes and young faults in Colorado. Mousing over an earthquake will show the date and magnitude/intensity. Double-clicking on an earthquake will bring up an information sheet on the event. Mousing over a fault will show the name of the fault. Double-clicking on a fault will bring up an information sheet on the event. The sheet will include a variety of information including applicable literature references. Induced Earthquake Bibliography This is an excellent online resource for publications relevant to the triggering of earthquakes by a variety of means. We Don’t Have Earthquakes in Colorado, Do We? This 2002 RockTalk publication by CGS is a primer on earthquakes in Colorado. It also has a summary of the USGS and CGS investigations of the 2001 Trinidad earthquake swarm. Earthquake Hazards Brochure This map and information brochure contains locations of earthquakes and Quaternary faults in Colorado. It was produced by the Colorado Earthquake Hazard Mitigation Council in 2008. You can obtain free hard copies from the Colorado Geological Survey, or view it online.
For Independents and Small Companies • •
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President’s Column By Pete Varney
June President's Communication the firebox to make the round trip from Durango – five tons plus. That’s tons, as in 2000 pounds per ton. But behind all this there is another factor. How did industry manufacture the machined parts, pipes and boilers that drove ships, trains and electrical generators? Coal, easily available coal, was the energy source. Indeed, the industrial revolution was made possible by steam power and much of what we take for granted today had its origins before oil and gas were readily available. We forget, because we didn’t live it, the time when petroleum was a smelly, sticky, hard-to get-rid-of oddity. Suppose we didn’t have oil and gas now and had no knowledge of the benefits they provide – how would life be different? Without petroleum much of what we do would be electrically powered. High efficiency, closed combustion steam engines would generate electrical power for traction motors that would be the motive force for locomotives and other large transporters – mind you, I’m not an engineer, but my reading supports the conclusion. Our homes would be electrically driven and maybe coal heated, although I expect by now that electrical heating would be common. Our vehicles would be electrically powered. Inventiveness of the human spirit would result in many of the conveniences we now take for granted. In short, we could do it, but is there a down side? I suppose that depends upon how you look at things. We’d be wearing a lot of wool and clothing made of other natural fibers such as cotton, our shoes would be made of leather, bottles would be glass or metal, common household items would be made of metal, wood or glass, phones and many other useful items, would be made of bakelite, a phenolic resin. No big deal, you say. Much of what we use in daily life still uses those materials. The list goes on. It was not until the end of World War II that
As a continuation of this series, let’s consider another fossil fuel and how it might compare with petroleum. Imagine, just for the sake of argument, that oil and gas were not available and that Drake’s well did not begin the “petroleum era.” The first question we must ask is could our society run at all without petroleum in its different forms? Of course it could, but things might be a bit different! Before the turn of the last century, the predominant energy driver for industry was coal and from that was derived space heating and steam power. Steam moved people and industry and eventually provided electrical power. Was it efficient? That depends upon who you ask and how it was used. The great ship Titanic used coal fired steam to power its props and here in Colorado, steampowered locomotives pulled people and products many a mile. Ships were as efficient as technology allowed, locomotives less so. When I was last in Silverton, I asked a locomotive fireman how much coal he shoveled into Vol. 61, No. 6
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President's Column
unless, you convert coal to liquid fuel as the Germans did in WWII. In fact, the German army ran on liquid fuels that they, in part, made from coal. The important part of all this is that it is liquid fuels that make the difference. The other thing that’s missing is petrochemicals: plastics, fibers and other things. Yes, you can make some of them with coal products, but not as cheaply. Can you imagine a world without cell phones? Hmmm, there’s an upside to that one. The ultimate downside is the amount of atmospheric pollution caused by burning all that coal. Early in the 20th century, the Platte Valley was polluted with coal smoke. On brown cloud days it’s still polluted, but not with acrid
Membership Notice
smoke from burning coal. Still, we could and, to a certain extent, do live in a time where coal is an important energy source that is cheap, dirty and . . . abundant. Is it a viable alternative energy source? Yes. Is it renewable? No. Coal could still drive the world but I expect the population would be smaller, demand for energy would be less and the way we travel from place to place would be different. We have come to depend upon, indeed we have developed a feeling of entitlement for, the ease with which petroleum in its different forms empowers life. Life will go on after the “Petroleocene” because there is abundant energy available in other forms – we just might not like the options.
»
petrochemicals produced a paradigm change in the nature of manufactured items Daniel Yergen, in his book The Prize, points out that the shift from coal to oil-fired ship boilers was an important factor in US strategic success during WWII. Oil was easier to store, weighed less and increased the distance naval vessels could go before refueling. Of course, automobiles with internal combustion engines became a way of life early in the 1900s – but many of them were produced in factories driven by coal power. Isn’t it interesting that the Stanley Steamer used kerosene to fire its, external combustion, boiler. What’s missing? It’s hard to fly an aircraft with coal – as a power source, that is,
LOCATION we’ll lease it, permit it, gather it and sell it
The office was notified that many of our members are still sending time sensitive material, such as registrations, to the rmagdenver@aol.com email address. This email address is no longer valid. Here is a list of the contact information as of December 1, 2011. General Email: staff@rmag.org Office: 303-573-8621 All Accounting: Carol Dalton Custom Accounting Solutions, LLC cdalton@rmag.org or cdalton@custom-accountingsolutions.com 202-573-8621 ext. 2
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Please update your contact information accordingly. Thank you for your continued support!
303-279-0789
The RMAG Staff
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In Memoriam: Robert Samuel Klipping December 5, 1928 to April 25, 2012
Robert Samuel Klipping passed away with quiet dignity and courage in the home that he designed, viewing Pikes Peak, surrounded by loving family members. He was born in Glasston, North Dakota in 1928 and grew up in Elk River, Minnesota. He served in the military in California and relocated to Colorado Springs where he fell in love with and married Gayle Swanson. He graduated from Colorado College with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geology in 1953. He went on to work as a successful geophysicist with a passion for his work for over 60 years. Early in his career his job took his family to many locations in the Rocky Mountain region where he shared his passion for the beauty of the outdoors with his wife and three daughters. In 1966 his job took him to Denver, where he worked for Pennzoil as their Exploration Manager for the Rocky Mountain Region. In 1979 Robert formed his own Consulting and Exploration Company, which he operated for 33 years. He was a member of the Denver Geophysical Society, The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, The American Association of Petroleum Geologists, and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. Robert had passionate interests in astronomy, history, architecture and archeology.
He collected antique cars and was an unparalleled woodworker, gardener and landscaper. He never missed an opportunity to laugh and tell a joke over good food, good drink and with good people. Robert instilled in his family an extraordinary passion for life, reverence for nature, and awe-inspiring dedication to his family, which will be carried on in our hearts forever. Robert was preceded in his death by his parents, Roy Klipping and Marie Klipping and his siblings, Lona Sage, Wayne Klipping, Marian Klipping, Jeanne Klipping, Phyllis Hefner, Inez Klipping Elliott, Doris Eggleston, Rochelle Thomson and Richard Klipping. Robert Klipping is survived by his wife Gayle, their three daughters, Barbara Schwartz, Sharon Klipping and Joan Klipping, his brother Vernon Klipping, and brothers in law, Myron and Edward Swanson, Barbara's husband, Dr. Michael Schwartz, and Joan's fiance, Christopher Findlater. He is survived by his grandchildren, Jeremy Schwartz, Chris Schwartz, Matt Bodenchuk and Julie Bodenchuk. Robert Klipping is also survived by his nephews and nieces including his nephew Robert Elliott and his wife.
Âť
Congratulations to the Neil Harr Pick Award Recipients
Left to right: Evan King, Jake Brown, and Scott Schindelar.
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Recipient
Institution
Evan King
Adams State College
Anne Hanson
Colorado College
Rebekah Simon
Colorado School of Mines
Mick Wrolson
Colorado State University
Shannon Boesch
Ft. Lewis College
Scott Schindelar
Mesa State College
Michael Berger
University of Colorado, Boulder
Jacob D. Brown
University of Northern Colorado
Jesse Pisel
Western State College
June 2012
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CALL FOR PAPERS:
ThE MOuNTAiN GEOLOGiST ATTENTION Geologists, Earth and Science Professors Students ATTENTION Geologists, EarthGraduate Science Professors and Graduate Students ATTENTION Geologists, Earth Science Professors Graduate Students and Publish your Paper in The Mountain Geologist! Publish your Paper in The Mountain Geologist! Publish your Paper in The Mountain Geologist! Mountain Geologist is RMAG’s peer-reviewed, quarterly journal. It focuses on The Mountain Geologist is RMAG’s peer-reviewed,The quarterly journal. It focuses on
Geologist RMAG’s peer-reviewed, quarterly journal. It focuses on the geologyThe of theMountain Rocky Mountain area of the is United States and related topics from outside the Rocky Mountain area. We accept manuscripts from almost every subgeology ofarea. the Rocky Mountain area ofalmost the United States and related topics from outside the the Rocky Mountain We accept manuscripts from every subdiscipline in the geosciences, from authors in academia and industry. discipline inoutside the geosciences, from authors in academia and industry. the Rocky Mountain area. We accept manuscripts from almost every sub-
the geology of the Rocky Mountain area of the United States and related topics from
Share your experience andindustry. wisdom! The Mountain Geologist circulates to over discipline in the geosciences, from authors inideas, academia and
Share your ideas, experience and wisdom! The Mountain Geologist over 2200 memberscirculates and aboutto 200 university libraries and industrial associates. It has been publishedassociates. by RMAG It since 2200 members and about 200 university libraries and industrial has1964. been Share your ideas, published by RMAG since 1964. experience and wisdom! The Mountain Geologist circulates to over Pleaselibraries email manuscripts or suitabilityassociates. questions to Joyce Trygstad 2200 members and about 200 university and industrial It has beenNelson at
jtpetr@aol.com or MelatKlinger mel.klinger@fidelityepco.com . Manuscripts must be Please email manuscripts suitabilitysince questions to Joyce Trygstad Nelson published byorRMAG 1964. written in accordance with The Mountain Geologist Authors Style Guide, available online jtpetr@aol.com or Mel Klinger mel.klinger@fidelityepco.com . Manuscripts must be at www.rmag.org. written in accordance with The Mountain Geologist Authors Style Guide, available online Please email manuscripts or suitability questions to Joyce Trygstad Nelson at at www.rmag.org.
jtpetr@aol.com or Mel Klinger mel.klinger@fidelityepco.com . Manuscripts must be written in accordance with The Mountain Geologist Authors Style Guide, available online at www.rmag.org.
Vol. 61, No. 6
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June 2012
2012 Summit Sponsorship !"#!$%&''()$%*+,-+.-/(*$ Platinum
Gold
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North Ranch Resources
Bronze
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Geoland Ski Day 2012 By Chris Gough
“Please pass the sunscreen” apply your sunscreen which was was the phrase of the day. It provided by Burleson, LLP on the began with a warm welcome at bus ride up – you got burned. The Heritage Square parking lot The mountain slopes were with Petroleum Field Services in good shape, from the well (PFS) serving coffee, donuts and groomed corduroy trails for carving gifts to the geologists, landmen those big G.S. turns on trails like and the many industry friends Bonanza and Colombia on Peak 9 that joined in for a fun time in our to the steep and slippery runs of beautiful Colorado Mountains. Bill’s Thrills and Stampede in the Breckenridge Resort hosted Horseshoe Bowl off Peak 8. our event this year with a It was a day full of fun and Doug Potter and friends hit the deck at Vista Haus. wonderful day on the slopes for friendly competition with over 50 the 140 members and friends participants racing the NASTAR of the RMAG and DAPL. The ski area greeted us with a course. All were vying for a spot on the winner’s podium beautiful warm sunny day on Friday March 9th. The snow and the choice of some great awards for to the top conditions were really rather good considering the big finishers, not to mention bragging rights at the Après Ski lack of snow this year. We had a 62” base with clear blue Continued on page 26 » skies and temps. in the 60 degree range. If you forgot to
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Geoland Ski Day 2012
Birgit Roesink-Miller wins new Salomon board.
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The Beckers and Goughs.
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Geoland Ski Day 2012
party and on the bus ride back. The women’s group saw a blistering time of 24.23 sec. by Birgit Roesink-Miller in first place. Meg “the magnificent” Gibson took second place with a time of 24.55 followed by Tammy “to wild to be tamed” Anderson at 28.78. The men’s competition was won by Justin “Be good” Cammon finishing at 24.15, in second place was Chris Gough in at 24.25 followed by Jacques “one time” Newey crossing the line at 25.39. Congratulations to all those
Continued from page 24
who braved the course this year. . It was great to see many new participants as well as those who have enjoyed this event for many years like Pat Irwin who gets a special mention for winning a silver medal and taking fourth place in the ladies division on the NASTAR course. Taddeos Ristorante Italiano in the Base Village Area hosted a fabulous Après ski party with a wonderful spread of Italian food and a variety of beverages from the local Breckenridge
Brewery. Awards and door prizes were announced and given out to many lucky winners at the party. This year we had two special top prize winners with a pair of new Rossignol skis to Steve Cumella and Salomon boards to Birgit Roesink-Miller. At 5:30 PM the buses departed for a smooth and relaxing ride back to Denver with Warren Miller extreme skiing films playing on the video screens and a special drawing for a dinner for four sponsored by Marlowe’s restaurant. This year’s trip was hosted by both the RMAG and DAPL. Chris Gough and Larry Bennett were Chairmen for the RMAG and Patsy Botts was chairman for the DAPL. Special thanks go out to the sponsors listed below who make this annual event possible. If you weren’t able to join us this year, consider joining in with us next year. Those who did attend, thank you for your participation and we hope to see you on the slopes with us again next year. Continued on page 28 »
Steve Cumella wins new Fat Boy Rossi skis.
John South with friends Sarah Heger and Astrid Markowitz.
Vol. 61, No. 6
Pat Irwin wins Silver at Nastar – Go Pat Go!
Clyde "Too Cool" Becker, Ginger Dodson and company on the chair.
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June 2012
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Geoland Ski Day 2012 Continued from page 26
SPECIAL THANKS
go out to the sponsors listed below who make this annual event possible. EXTREME TERRAIN Burleson, LLP Calfrac Lathrop & Gage, LLP
DOUBLE DIAMOND SPONSORS
Pam Becker and Cindy Gough "Hit the Slopes."
Baseline Minerals, Inc. Bjork, Lindley, Little, P.C. James C. Karo Associates Land Services Mesa Energy Partners, LLC Noble Energy, Inc. Wellborn, Sullivan, Meck & Tooley
Black Diamond Sponsors
AB Production Company Becker Oil Corporation Chaco Energy Company Colorado Ski & Golf Enerplus Resources (USA) Corporation EOG Resources, Inc. Exterra Resources, LLC Marlowe’s Meagher Energy Advisors Petroleum Field Services
Lunch break at the Vista Haus.
Blue Sponsors
Beatty & Wozniak, PC Caerus Drilling Info, Inc. Flagg Diamond Corporation Fronterra Geosciences Laramie Energy II, LLC Norstar Petroleum Rampart Energy Company T.S. Dudley Land Company Vista Geoscience WPX Energy Rocky Mountain, LLC
Clyde Becker "Hits the Terrain Park."
If you weren’t able to join us this year, consider joining in with us next year!
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Green Sponsors
Dodson Exploration Company, LLC J.L. Obourn & Company 28
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New Members
Welcome to New Active Members... William Spears William currently resides in Frisco, TX
Neal Dannemiller Neil is a Senior Geologist at Pioneer Natural Resources located in Denver, CO.
Scott Smith Scott is a Senior Staff Geologist at Penn West Exploration located in Calgary, AB.
David Pyles David is a Professor at the Colorado School of Mines located in Golden, CO.
Burt Gowdy Burt is the Operations Manager at Allied Wireline Services located in Oklahoma City, OK.
Sara Hoovestol Sara is a Geologist at Weaver Boos located in Colorado City, CO.
G. Keller G. Keller is a Professor at University of Oklahoma located in Norman, OK.
Ward Taylor Ward is a Geologist at Expo Energy, LLC located in Houston, TX.
Paul Crevello Paul is the President at Discovery Petroleum LTD located in Boulder, CO.
Jennifer Eoff Jennifer is a Research Geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey located in Denver, CO.
»
Nathan Johnson Nathan is a Seismic Processing Engineer at WesternGeco located in Wheatridge, CO.
CONTACTÊUS
#BLLFO 5ISFF 'PSLT /JPCSBSB &BHMFGPSE (SBOJUF 8BTI 8PPECJOF 1FSNJBO )BZOFTWJMMF #BSOFUU 8PPEGPSE FUD
Vol. 61, No. 6
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June 2012
in the Pipeline June 5, 2012 DWLS Summer Social. Katie Mullen’s Irish Pub.
information. June 16-20, 2012 SPWLA Annual Symposium. Car tegena, Colombia.
June 8, 2012 DIPS Luncheon. “An Oil Geologist Abroad-Exploration with Family, Bolivia, Spain and Nigeria 1956-1966.” Speaker Eric Ericson. For reservations contact Anders Elgerd: aeglerd@directpetroleum.com or 303-2859136.
June 27, 2012 Oilfield Christian Fellowship Luncheon. To RSVP call Barb Burrell at 303-675-2602 or e-mail OCFDenverChapter@pxd.com.
June 9, 2012 On-the-Rocks Field Trip – Mudrocks of the Southern Denver Basin, Pueblo, CO. Graneros, Greenhorn, Carlile, and Niobrara Formations. See page 35 for more information.
June 28, 2012 RMAG Golf Tournament. Fossil Trace Golf Course. July 21, 2012 On-the-Rocks Field Trip – Catastrophic Glacial Outburst Floods on the Upper Arkansas Valley. See page 36 for more information.
June 12, 2012 Desk and Derrick Luncheon. For reservations, please contact RSVP@deskandderrick.org.
July 24, 2012 RMAG/PTTC Summer Short Course. Speaker Monte Swan and Stan Keith. See page 37 for more information.
June 13, 2012 RMAG Summer Speaker Series. “What Is the Current Potential Shale and Gas Production in the US?” Speaker Dick Bishop. See page 34 for more
August 25, 2012 On-the-Rocks Field Trip – Geology of the Medicine Bow Mountains, Wyoming.
North America’s Next Big Light Oil Resource Play
September 15, 2012 On-the-Rocks Field Trip – Geology of Glenwood Canyon Bicycle Trip.
»
Sanish/Three Forks Canadian Discovery’s Three Forks Project confirms the excellent development potential of this impressive unconventional reservoir.
5 oil play types ranging from unconventional resource plays to more conventional subcrop plays are identified. Contact Cheryl Wright to Subscribe 403.269.3644 | info@canadiandiscovery.com
www.canadiandiscovery.com
Saskatchewan
Bakken Studies
If you have any events that you would like to post in this column, please submit via email to Holly Sell at hsell@ nobleenergyinc.com or to the RMAG office at rmagdenver@ aol.com for consideration. Manitoba
STUDY AREA
Did you know it takes eighteen months from conception to sales to produce a RMAG guidebook? What topics interest you for future publications? Are you willing to review papers or help edit a future guidebook? The Publications Committee would like to hear from you. Please contact Dean DuBois at Dean.Dubois@ encana.com or Paul Lillis at plillis@usgs.gov.
Montana North Dakota
Wyoming
South Dakota
Canadian Discovery Ltd.
»
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Earth Scientists Publish Your Paper in The Mountain Geologist! The Mountain Geologist is RMAG’s peer-reviewed, quarterly journal. It focuses on the geology of the Rocky Mountain area of the United States and related topics from outside the Rocky Mountain area. We accept manuscripts from almost every sub-discipline in the geosciences, from authors in academia and industry. Share your ideas, experience and wisdom! The Mountain Geologist circulates to over 3000 members and
about 200 university libraries and industrial associates. It has been published by RMAG since 1964. Our review/ revision process averages about 10 months. Please email manuscripts or suitability questions to Joyce Trygstad Nelson at jtpetr@aol.com . Manuscripts must be written in accordance with The Mountain Geologist Authors Style Guide, available online at www. rmag.org.
»
Quartzite Cliffs of the Medicine Bow Mountains
» The spectacular white quartzite cliffs and surrounding ridges of the Medicine Bow Mountains hold a complex geologic story exposing more than 2.5 billion years of history. From recent glaciation, Laramide uplift and the Cheyenne belt shear zone to the stromatolites of ancient
»
Vol. 61, No. 6
seas, these mountains hold a wealth of pristine outcrops just waiting for the On the Rocks group to explore in August. Find out more details about the geologic story of the Medicine Bow Mountains in the July Outcrop, and plan for an amazing field experience. 32
June 2012
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On-the-Rocks Field Trips Mudrocks of the Southern Denver Basin, Pueblo, CO: Graneros, Greenhorn, Carlile, and Niobrara Formations Trip Leaders: Jeffrey A. May, Geologic Consultant, and Edmund (Gus) R. Gustason, Enerplus Resources, Saturday, June 9, 2012 used this high-resolution chronostratigraphy to confirm Milankovich-driven cyclicity of the limestone-shale bundles, recognize systematic changes in organic geochemistry, refine the micro and macro biostratigraphy, and even established a link between limestone-shale couplets and higher frequency shoreline parasequences. During our trip, we will examine yet another significant feature: the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary. This horizon occurs within the Bridge Creek Limestone Member of the Greenhorn Formation. The Cenomanian-Turonian GSSP is defined here by widespread bentonites with radiometric ages of 93 to 93.5 Ma and a positive excursion in C-13 isotopes corresponding to a global oceanic anoxic event (OAE II). Thus, this field excursion provides an opportunity to examine geologically significant and wellexposed mudrock outcrops from the Graneros, Greenhorn, Carlile, and Niobrara formations. We will compare and contrast stratigraphic cycles and depositional events in argillaceous, siliceous, and calcareous successions. Ultimately, these rocks allow us to relate parameters important when evaluating shale plays – such as lithology, organic-carbon content, chronostratigraphic framework, and mechanical stratigraphy - to the underlying controls of sea-level change, orbital and climatic cycles, and oceanic oxygenation and circulation. To register, please contact Denis Foley (303-9163736, denis_foley@hotmail.com). We will leave from the Mineral light rail station parking lot (NE corner of Santa Fe and Mineral) at 7:00 am; it is a 2-hour drive to our first stop at Lake Pueblo State Park. We will arrange car pools at the parking lot, with each car required to pay the park entrance fee. The group is limited to 30 people. Plan for moderate hiking, including a slow climb up a fairly steep hillside. The day may be hot, so please consider your physical condition prior to registration. Participants should bring their own lunches and abundant beverages, especially water. We plan to leave the Pueblo area, heading back to Denver, between 4:00 and 5:00 pm. The RMAG link for registration is: http://www.rmag. org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3290.
West of Pueblo, Colorado, down-cutting by the Arkansas River across the broad Rock Canyon Anticline has revealed approximately 4000 feet of Middle to Upper Cretaceous strata. Excellent exposures, as well as abundant macro- and micro-fossils plus bentonites, make this a classic area for defining the physical, bio-, and chronostratigraphy of the Cenomanian to Campanian stages (99.6 to 77.6 Ma). Both small-scale depositional cycles as well as high-energy event beds are superimposed on large-scale transgressive-regressive successions. Of special note are exceptional mudrock outcrops of the Graneros, Greenhorn, Carlile, and Niobrara formations, the focus of this field trip. Currently of great interest for oil and gas exploration, G.K. Gilbert first described many of these mudrocks in the late 1800s. He observed rhythmic alternations of argillaceous shale, calcareous shale, and limestone in the Greenhorn and Niobrara sections, postulating that intermittent transport of terrestrial clay into the ocean diluted biogenic carbonate sedimentation. Gilbert believed these patterns likely reflected periodic variations in the Earth’s orbit, now known as Milankovitch cycles. Thorough mapping of lithostratigraphically-defined formations in the Pueblo area took place during the 1960’s to early 1970s, led by Glenn Scott of the USGS. Concurrently, William Cobban collected extensive ammonite and inoceramid assemblages from these units, leading to seminal findings on time-stratigraphy, paleogeography, and macrofaunal evolution of the Western Interior Cretaceous Seaway. In the 1970s, Erle Kauffman defined a series of third-order transgressive-regressive cycles for the Cretaceous, including two emphasized on this field trip: the Cenomanian through Middle Turonian Greenhorn Cycle (Graneros, Greenhorn, and lower Carlile formations) and Late Turonian through earliest Campanian Niobrara Cycle (upper Carlile, Niobrara, and Pierre formations). Then during the late 1970s through 1980’s, Kauffman supervised a team of students who studied the lithostratigraphy, chemostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and chronostratigraphy of the Greenhorn and Niobrara cyclothems in the Pueblo area. He and his students OUTCROP
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On-the-Rocks Field Trips
Continued from page 35
Catastrophic Glacial Outburst Floods on the upper Arkansas River Field Trip from Leadville to Buena Vista Trip Leader: Keenan Lee, Colorado School of Mines, klee@mines.edu, July 21, 2012 The Floods During the Pleistocene, glaciers from the Sawatch Range flowed down three contiguous tributary valleys to the Arkansas River near Granite, Colorado. The Lake Creek glacier probably pushed the Arkansas River out of its channel, and the Clear Creek and Pine Creek glaciers crossed the river and rammed into granite walls on the far side of the valley. These glaciers formed an ice dam about 670 ft high that blocked the Arkansas River and created a large lake about 600 ft deep that extended 12 miles upstream to the Malta Substation below Leadville. When the ice dam broke, the lake drained catastrophically. The outburst flood tore out the ends of the moraines and carried the detritus down the valley in a torrent of dirty water that deposited a sheet of flood boulders 60 ft thick in less than a day. Many flood
boulders are tens of feet in diameter, and some can be found 150 ft up on the valley wall. At least four catastrophic floods swept the Upper Arkansas Valley, together called the Three Glaciers Floods. Field evidence documents well the last two floods, but only patches of older flood boulders attest to two earlier floods. The most recent flood dates to the Last Glacial Maximum, or Pinedale age, with a cosmogenic age of 17Â19 ka. The oldest flood is older than 760 ka, and the second flood is older than 640 ka. The age of the third, or penultimate, flood is currently under debate. Perhaps field trip participants can judge the field evidence and contribute to a solution. The Field Trip The trip will begin in Leadville and cover 50 miles with 10 stops, ending in Buena Vista. Stops will include overviews of the three glacial systems, a view of the glacial damsite from atop a lateral moraine, a cluster of ice-rafted boulders at the shoreline of Three Glaciers Lake [the paleolake], flood boulder deposits, flood boulders 150 ft above the modern Arkansas River, remnants of the two oldest floods, and the granddaddy flood boulder 61 ft long. The Particulars Meet: Leadville at 9:00 a.m.: National Mining Museum, North Parking Lot End: Buena Vista, approximately 4:00 p.m. Limit: 20 participants To sign up: Go to the RMAG website: www.rmag.org Considerations: Bring your lunch for lunch-with-a-view on a lateral moraine after a half-hour hike (0.7 miles, 450 vertical ft). One optional, short side-trip requires 4WD; we can carpool from road. There is only one outhouse along the route; trees are abundant. The trip will take place at high altitude; consider your physical ability to hike in such an environment. Bring plenty of water. For logistical questions contact: Sandra Mark, smark@wispertel.net, 303.810.7827.
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PTTC Workshops Petroleum Geology for Non-Geologists
Tuesday June 26, 2012, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm Colorado School of Mines, Berthoud Hall room 241 Fee: $225 (includes food at breaks, workbook, and PDH certificate) Instructor: Dr. Stephen Sonnenberg (Colorado School of Mines) Course is for petroleum industry personnel in need of basic geological training. Course participants include: engineering, geophysical, technical support, and administrative personnel. Topics covered include: plate tectonics and sedimentary basins, geologic time; the petroleum system; depositional systems; porosity and permeability; conventional reservoirs; unconventional reservoirs; well log correlation and analysis; contour maps and cross sections; source rocks and seals.
Petroleum Engineering for Non-Engineers
Wednesday June 27, 2012, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm Colorado School of Mines, Berthoud Hall room 241 Fee: $225 (includes food at breaks, workbook, and PDH certificate) Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Miskimins (Colorado School of Mines) This one-day short course provides a broad, basic understanding of various petroleum engineering topics for non-engineers. The focus of the course is placed on the design, construction, stimulation, and production of wells. Specific topics discussed include the drilling of wells, rig types, wellbore integrity and design, completion types, casing and tubing definitions, downhole tools such as packers, formation damage, and stimulation including hydraulic fracturing. As the title implies, the course is designed for those who work in the oil and gas industry but do not have a technical background in subsurface topics. Previous attendees that have found the course useful include landmen, technicians, accountants, financiers, and field personnel. Class Descriptions and Register Online: www.pttcrockies.org For more information, contact Mary Carr, 303.273.3107, mcarr@mines.edu
Neil H. Whitehead, III
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Advertisers index AAPG ................................... 4, 44
Geosteering ............................ 30
Neuralog ................................. 27
Applied Geophysics................ 22
Hoppe, William F. ................... 38
PTTC ........................................ 38
Bakken Tight Oil .................... 33
Horizontal Solutions Intl........ 40
RBC Wealth Management .... 40
Banko Petroleum ................... 36
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Rockware Inc. ........................ 43
Bowler Petrophysics ...............17
Innovative GeoTech................ 30
Rose and Associates ............. 21
Breckenridge Expl. Co., Inc... 12
Karo, James C. ....................... 19
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Canadian Discovery ............... 31
MJ Systems ............................ 33
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Discovery Group ..................... 40
Mazzullo Energy Corp. ............17
Wyotex Oil Company .............. 21
JUNE 2012 SUNDAY
MONDAY
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DWLS Summer Social
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Desk & Derrick Luncheon
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WEDNESDAY
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13 RMAG
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14
FRIDAY
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1
2
8
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DIPS Luncheon
15
On-the-Rocks Field Trip
16 SPWLA Annual Symposium
20
21
22
23
27 Oilfield
28
29
30
SPWLA Annual Symposium
24
25
Vol. 61, No. 6
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Christian Fellowship Luncheon
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RMAG Golf Tournament
June 2012
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