Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Pore Characterizations And Distributions Within Niagaran – Lower Salina Reef Complex Reservoirs In The Silurian Northern Niagaran Pinnacle Reef Trend, Michigan Basin, Agam Arief Suhaimi

Masters Theses

The Northern Niagaran Pinnacle Reef Trend (NNPRT) has generated significant oil and gas production in Michigan. The best reservoir rock in the Reef Trend reservoirs are from porous and permeable dolomite of the Guelph Dolomite. Low-to-non reservoir limestone occurs interstratified with reservoir dolomite in many locations. This study utilizes available cores data, thin section Petrographic Image Analysis (PIA), Mercury Injection Capillary Pressure (MICP) and a newly developed Niagaran Reef depositional model (Rine, 2015) to characterize the distribution of pore geometry within each dolomitized Niagaran Reef Complex (Brown Niagaran – Lower Salina Group) reservoir facies and lithofacies. This study shows that …

Depositional Facies And Sequence Stratigraphy Of Niagaran-Lower Salina Reef Complex Reservoirs Of The Guelph Formation, Michigan Basin, Matthew J. Rine

Masters Theses

Hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Niagara-Lower Salina Reef Complex in the Michigan Basin have been extensively studied since the early 1960’s. These reservoirs host an immense hydrocarbon resource, existing as closely-spaced, highly-compartmentalized reservoirs that have produced >500 million barrels of oil and 2.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Previous studies depict these “pinnacle reefs” as tall, symmetrical towers with a random distribution of facies. This study utilizes abundant core data (32 cores, 20-acre spacing), thin-section petrography, and petrophysical wire-line logs to reconstruct the geometry, facies distributions, depositional history, and sequence stratigraphy of the Columbus III Reef Complex within the Southern …

Testing For The Effects Of Sediment Sorting On Detrital-Zircon Age Spectra By Sampling Multiple Bedforms In Single Fluvial Channels: Case Studies From The Wood Canyon Formation (Terreneuvian) And Stirling Quartzite (Ediacaran), Southeastern Ca, Jason Gerhard Muhlbauer

Masters Theses

Multiple bedforms were sampled from single fluvial channels in the Neoproterozoic (Ediacaran) upper member of the Stirling Quartzite and the Cambrian (Terreneuvian) middle member of the Wood Canyon Formation, southeastern California. Sampling strategy was designed to determine if sorting of detrital zircon populations by their textural properties can affect detrital-zircon age spectra in fluvial sandstones. Four samples derive from the middle member Wood Canyon Formation and two samples come from the upper member Stirling Quartzite. Sandstone samples vary in textural characteristics: grain sizes sampled range from fine to coarse sand, sorting ranges from moderately well to poorly sorted, and sampled …

Geological Controls On Stratigraphy And Sedimentation Of The Mississippian Marshall Formation, Michigan Basin, U.S.A., Joseph G. Adducci

Masters Theses

An understanding of regional orogenic, climatic, and eustatic processes is critical to the interbasinal correlation of Paleozoic strata in eastern North America. Tectonic activity associated with the culmination of Appalachian Orogenic events has been shown to have regional influence on paleostructure and sediment dispersal in the Appalachian foreland basin and adjacent intracratonic Illinois and Michigan basins. The culmination of the Acadian Orogeny at the end of the Devonian represents the beginning of a period of general tectonic quiescence extending throughout the early and middle Mississippian in eastern North America. Early Mississippian strata in the Michigan basin is distinctive and marks …

Analysis Of Depositional Facies And Geological Controls On Reservoir Quality In Lower-Middle Devonian Sylvania Sandstone, Midland County, Michigan, Katherine A. Pollard

Masters Theses

The early-Middle Devonian Sylvania “Sandstone” is considered a target for potential CO₂ geosequestration. In order to develop geostatic models for CO₂ injection simulations, controls on reservoir properties must be addressed. The three objectives of this study involve: 1) develop an overview of depositional lithofacies and their vertical stacking relationships, 2) determine fluid sources and controls of diagenesis (dolomitization and silicification), and 3) examine geological controls on the distribution and character of reservoir facies.

The grossly transgressive Sylvania-Bois Blanc interval is a complex lithologic assemblage. Sylvania “Sandstone” strata transition from high energy, subtidal to lower-intertidal mixed carbonate-siliciclastic facies to …

Late Mississippian (Chesterian) Through Early Pennsylvanian (Atokan) Strata, Michigan Basin, U.S.A., Shannon M. Towne

Masters Theses

Over 2,000 linear feet of core material was analyzed to evaluate the stratigraphy and basin evolution of Carboniferous strata in the Michigan basin. Rock units were evaluated on the basis of lithofacies type, contact relationships, and existing regional geologic interpretations. The recovery of three distinct pollen and spore assemblages from core confirms the timing of deposition during the Late Mississippian Chesterian and Early-Middle Pennsylvanian Morrowan and Atokan regional stages within the Michigan basin.

The deposition of a marine carbonate succession with significant interstratified quartz sandstone occurred during the Chesterian regional stage. The Bayport interval (Bayport Limestone) is composed of seven …

Evaluating The Effects Of Lithofacies And Thin Shales On The Lateral Distribution Of Hydrothermal Dolomite Reservoirs In The Michigan Basin, Peter J. Feutz

Masters Theses

The southern Michigan Basin contains numerous hydrothermal dolomite hydrocarbon fields, including the giant Albion-Scipio Field. The fields typically encompass narrow zones of faulting and fracturing which have been altered from a tight host limestone into a more porous and permeable dolomite by upward-moving hydrothermal fluids. Alternating layers of dolomite that spread laterally away from the main vertical fault conduits imply that structure alone may not define the resulting reservoir architectures within the region. A detailed analysis of primary depositional facies and thin shale seams suggests that secondary stratigraphic controls play a significant role in the development of reservoir rock within …

Late Pleistocene And Holocene Hydroclimate Change In The Southeastern United States: Sedimentary, Pedogenic, And Stable Carbon Isotope Evidence In Tennessee River Floodplain Paleosols, James Joseph Kocis

Masters Theses

In order to understand hydroclimate variability of future climate change, it is important to know the timing and range of natural climate change in the past. The Southeastern United States (SE) is situated along the poleward extent of projected subtropical drying, where the expression of past hydrological balances remains unclear. The lack of high-resolution paleohydroclimate records in the SE forces climate modelers to base interpretations on better-understood regions of North America. The SE likely experienced significant changes in precipitation regimes resulting from its position at the convergence of several oceanic and continental air masses. To reconstruct precipitation variability, this study …

Constraining Martian Sedimentation Via Analysis Of Stratal Packaging, Intracrater Layered Deposits, Arabia Terra, Mars, Sarah Beth Cadieux

Masters Theses

Craters within Arabia Terra, Mars, contain hundreds of meters of layered strata

showing systematic alternation between slope- and cliff-forming units, suggesting either

rhythmic deposition of distinct lithologies or lithologies that experienced differential

cementation. Hypothesized origins of these intercrater layered deposits include

lacustrine, aeolian, volcanic airfall, and impact surge deposition. On Earth, rhythmically

deposited strata can be examined in terms of stratal packaging, wherein the interplay of

tectonics, sediment deposition, and change in base level results in predictable patterns

with respect to changes in the amount of space available for sediment accumulation.

Fundamental differences between tectonic regimes of Earth and Mars …