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Drilling Faqs, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Fact sheet about geological research drilling. Cylindrical rock samples, called cores, and geologic data will be collected from an exploratory hole drilled in McKenzie County, North Dakota.

Laboratory Simulations Of H2s Generation In The Bakken Petroleum System, Alexander V. Chakhmakhchev, Bethany A. Kurz, Timothy O. Nesheim, David J. Miller, Carol B. Grabanski, Saptashati Biswas, Marc D. Kurz, Nicholas A. Azzolina, James A. Sorensen

EERC Publications, Papers, & Presentations

This work focuses on quantifying the H₂S generation potential of the Madison Group and Bakken Formation source rocks during the maturation process.

Impact Of Co2 Storage On The Geomechanical And Geophysical Properties Of Bakken Formation, Ogochukwu Ozotta

Theses and Dissertations

The world is currently experiencing a higher demand for low-carbon technologies, and carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) is an important CO₂ emissions reduction technology. Studies have shown the potential for CCUS in shale formations either as a caprock or as a reservoir storage unit. However, there is limited knowledge of the changes in shale reservoirs after long-term exposure to CO₂, and the resulting impacts on storage permanence. This study coupled experimental and numerical modeling methods to investigate how long-term CO₂ storage in shale formations might alter pore structure and minerals, which might cause a resultant …

Geology Study – Drilling Down At Red Trail Energy, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Fact sheet about a 2019–2020 geophysical survey near Richardton, North Dakota. The survey investigated the area’s feasibility as a CO₂ storage site, as part of the Red Trail Energy carbon capture and storage (CCS) research effort. Summarizes survey process and results. [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices.]

Geologic Study In Central North Dakota, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Fact sheet explaining the process of drilling a test hole to collect data for the North Dakota CarbonSAFE project. North Dakota CarbonSAFE is an Energy & Environmental Research Center project, conducted in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy. [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices.]

Fracture Detection And Prediction In Unconventional Reservoirs For Finding Sweet Spot, Sofiane Djezzar

Theses and Dissertations

The Cambro-Ordovician in the Algerian Saharan platform is characterized by tight sandstone formations with very low petrophysical characteristics where the natural fractures play an important role in their productivity. The Mouydir basin is the less explored basin in Algeria where no 3D seismic data exist and only low quality of seismic 2D surveys are available. In addition, few wells were drilled in the fifties exist in this basin. They were drilled based on the field observations, gravity data, geological maps, and seismic refraction data. Unfortunately, these wells were all negative. The Mouydir basin is limited in the west by the …

The Impacts Of Climate, Land Use, Economics, And Conservation Policies On The Hydrology Of The Devils Lake Basin, Gehendra Kharel

Theses and Dissertations

Devils Lake (DL), a closed-basin lake in northeastern North Dakota of the USA, has risen 10 m since 1991 exhibiting a costly, lengthy and litigious water management wicked problem in the region. With nearly US $1.5 billion already spent in flood mitigation, DL is less than 2 m from its uncontrolled overspill to the nearby Sheyenne River, a tributary of the Red River of the North that connects to Lake Winnipeg in Canada. In this study, three important concerns related to DL water management are being addressed: (1) Are currently implemented outlets capable of mitigating potential risks posed by climate …

Volume 52, Number 14: November 19, 2014, University Of North Dakota

University Letter Archive

No abstract provided.

Geomechanics And Elastic Anisotropy Of The Bakken Formation, Williston Basin, Mehdi Ostadhassan

Theses and Dissertations

Many of the earth’s rocks exhibit anisotropic characteristics. Anisotropy is particularly common in many sedimentary rocks, such as shales. Anisotropy is defined as the spatial alignment of mineral grains, layers, fractures and stresses which causes elastic wave velocity and other elastic properties to vary with direction. There are two types of anisotropy: intrinsic and stress-induced. Intrinsic anisotropy is caused by beddings, microstructures or aligned fractures formed during deposition. Stress-induced anisotropy is caused by strain associated with external stresses. Intrinsic anisotropy originates in the absence of external stresses, while stress-induced anisotropy results from tectonic and overburden stresses. The style of earth …

Systematics, Diversity, And Origins Of Upper Cretaceous Continental Molluscan Fauna In The Infra- And Intertrappean Strata Of The Deccan Plateau, Central India, Marron J. Bingle-Davis

Theses and Dissertations

The Deccan Plateau in western and central India has been a major area of interest for researchers since the 1800s. In 1840, James Sowerby described the molluscan collection sent to him by John Malcolmson. In 1860, Stephen Hislop identified new molluscan species and redescribed based on better preserved material. Although this seminal work was comprehensive, interpretations have changed since the mid 1800s. Species need to be reassigned to current and/or accurate taxa, as well as revalidated statistically. Seventeen character traits were measured on over 600 specimens from five eastern Deccan Plateau localities representing a stratigraphic and temporal sequence. Cluster analysis …

History Of Humanities And Integrated Studies Program: 1983-2008, Tami S. Carmichael

UND Departmental Histories

This departmental history was written on the occasion of the UND Quasquicentennial in 2008.

A Synoptic Approach To Evaluating The Origin Of The Medusae Fossae Formation, Mars, Kathleen Mandt

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Correspondence With Eia Administrator, The Honorable Guy F. Caruso, David J. Bardin

Leigh Price Papers

Correspondence with the EIA Administrator, The Honorable Guy F. Caruso, on the subject of "How Will EIA Capture and Report Information as to Bakken Crude Oil?"

Letter To Secretary Of Energy O’Leary And Enclosure A, David J. Bardin

Leigh Price Papers

Letter to Secretary of Energy Hazel O’Leary from March 6, 1993, regarding the significance of Dr. Leigh Price and North Dakota Geologist Julie LeFever's work. Includes three enclosures.

• Have We a Vast in Place U.S.A. Oil Resource? (February 1993)
• Does Bakken Horizontal Drilling Imply a Huge Oil-Resource Base in Fractured Shales? (1992) – A seminal, peer-reviewed Price-LeFever paper.
• Leigh Price C.V. – This is much more than a list of articles published or papers presented. In a number of instances, Dr. Price expressed his views of the significance of completed and ongoing work, including but not limited to work on …

Space Science Education In North Dakota Elementary And Secondary Schools, Laura Munski

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Stratigraphy And Sedimentology Of The Sentinel Butte Formation (Paleocene) In South-Central Williams County, North Dakota, Wesley D. Peck

Theses and Dissertations

Approximately 163 meters (535 feet) of the Paleocene Sentinel Butte Formation crop out in southcentral Williams county, North Dakota. To determine their mode of deposition and stratigraphic position within the formation, twelve stratigraphic sections were measured. These strata were deposited in alternating fluvial and lacustrine environments as determined by sedimentary structures, lithology, lithologic sequences, and fossil occurrences. A fining upward trend in grain size of the tabular sandstones, and the identification of epsilon cross-stratification in the tabular sandstones support a fluvial origin for some of the strata. The strongest evidence for the interpretation of lacustrine deposition is the presence of …

Late Quaternary Environmental And Climatic History Of The Southern Chilean Lake Region Interpreted From Coleopteran (Beetle) Assemblages, John W. Hoganson

Theses and Dissertations

A diverse Coleoptera fauna of 462 species in 48 families was collected from 41 locations in the Parque Nacional de Puyehue and adjacent parts of the Lake Region of southern Chile. The sample locations ranged from rain forest habitats at sea-level to Andean tundra habitats at 1500 m msl. Cluster analysis of a Dice similarity coefficient matrix revealed a broad pattern of bioassociations within the large data base, Boundaries between the bioassociations correspond largely with those of the major vegetation zones implying that the distribution of the fauna is strongly influenced by the distribution of plants. Evidence from fossils indicates …

Petrology Of The Beulah-Zap Lignite Bed, Sentinel Butte Formation (Paleocene), Mercer County, North Dakota, David R. Kleesattel

Theses and Dissertations

The Beulah-Zap lignite bed is one of several economically important lignites in the Sentinel Butte Formation (Paleocene). This lignite occurs as a subsurface unit in the Knife River Basin of Mercer and I Oliver counties of North Dakota. The Beulah-Zap lignite is a heterogeneous carbonaceous rock unit composed of megascopic and microscopic I components, which are lithotypes and macerals, respectively. Relationships between the maceral contents of the lithotypes follow patterns similar to those of bituminous coals. Coal petrology, the study of maceral and lithotype occurrence and I distribution, was applied to determine: 1) mode of coalification, and 2) depositional environment …

Groundwater-Lake Interactions, Wood Lake, Benson County, North Dakota, Lori J. Ferguson

Theses and Dissertations

Wood Lake is a kettle lake within the McHenry end moraine (late Wisconsinan) in eastern Benson County, North Dakota. It is part of the Devils Lake interior basin, near the drainage divide between the Devils Lake basin and the Big Coulee - Sheyenne River drainage. The moraine deposits, part of the Coleharbor Group, are composed of complexly interfingering lenses of gravel, sand, silt, and clay within the till.

Water levels in piezometers around Wood Lake indicate groundwater flows from the southwest into the west side of the lake and out of the lake along the east shore, toward the northeast. …

Paleohydraulics Of Pleistocene Drainage Development Of The Souris, Des Lacs, And Moose Mountain Spillways, Saskatchewan And North Dakota, Mark L. Lord

Theses and Dissertations

Recent recognition of the rapid draining of numerous glacial lakes, including some in the Northern Plains, has revealed 'a need for further research concerning this process. Geomorphic interpretation of the Souris, Des Lacs, and Moose Mountain Valleys, and the gravel deposits in them, has resulted in the recognition of five phases in the development of the drainageways. Textural analyses and paleohydraulic methods were applied to the sediments associated with each phase to distinguish and characterize the discharges. Four of the five phases of development involved short-lived, high velocity (>4 m/s) discharges resulting from the rapid draining of glacial lakes; …

Tertiary Alkalic Igneous Activity, Potassic Fenitization, Carbonatitic Magmatism, And Hydrothermal Activity In The Central And Southeastern Bear Lodge Mountains, Crook County, Wyoming, Gordon A. Jenner

Theses and Dissertations

The Bear Lodge Mountains are located in Crook County in north eastern Wyoming. The core of the uplift consists of alkalic igneous rocks that range from Early to Late Eocene in age. A petrologic and geochemical study of surface and subsurface samples from the southeastern and central portions of the core reveals a complex history of multiple alkalic igneous events, potassic metasomatism, carbonatitic magmatism, and hydrothermal alteration.

An early episode of alkalic igneous activity is represented by latite and trachyte porphyries, phonolite and trachyte porphyries, and natrolite-garnet syenites and malignites. Throughout much of the complex, the composition of these older …

Applied Geology In The Beulah-Hazen Area, Mercer County, West-Central North Dakota, Gary N. Meyer

Theses and Dissertations

Increased lignite development around the small towns of Beulah and Hazen, North Dakota, will cause rapid growth and necessitate the develop ment of new subdivisions and expansion of present sewage disposal facili ties. A detailed geologic study of a 9 0-square mile area surrounding the two towns was undertaken to provide information valuable to those concerned with proper management of this growth. A surface and near-surface materials map was prepared at a scale of 1:24, 000 showing relative depths and thicknesses of a maximum of three earth materials to a depth of 9 m. Eleven units were mapped at the …

The Geology And Geohydrology Of The Sunny Slide Area Mandan, North Dakota, Edward C. Murphy

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

The Sunny Slide area is in east-central Morton County, 4.6 road miles west of Mandan, North Dakota. The area of study measures 1900 feet by 800 feet and includes U.S. Highway 10 and the Burlington Northern Railway ' s central line, both threatened by continuing slope failure. The present episode of local instability dates back to the Spring of 1953.

Field reconnaissance of the surface, including thirty-two shallow test holes, provided data on surface lithology as well as basic groundwater information. Seven subsurface holes were correlated with inclinometer data to enable lithologic descriptions of the zone of shear.

The Cannonball …

Pleistocene Geology Of The Comstock-Sebeka Area, West-Central Minnesota, Curtis A. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

This study is a reconnaissance of the surficial geology and a reconstruction of the late Cenozoic history of an area in westcentral Minnesota. The study area extends eastward from the Comstock area (14 miles south of Moorhead, Minnesota) in the Red River Valley to the Sebeka area (13 miles north of Wadena, Minnesota). The area is about 27 kilometres wide and 140 kilometres long.

Surface materials include Pleistocene glacial sediment and Pleistocene and Holocene fluvial, lacustrine, eolian, and bog sediment.

Four geomorphic districts are recognized. The flat Lake-Plain District is underlain by sand, silt, and clay that was deposited as …

Stratigraphy Of The Upper Part Of The Fort Union Group In Southwestern Mclean County, North Dakota, Leroy A. Hemish

Theses and Dissertations

Southwestern McLean County is an area characterized by glacial topography and glacially-modified bedrock topography, with limited exposures of bedrock. Outcropping bedrock formations include the Cannonball, Tongue River, and Sentinel Butte Formations, all in the Fort Union Group of Paleocene age.

The Cannonball Formation crops out only in the southeastern part of the area studied (at Washburn), where 18 feet of laminated, gray-brown sandy mudstone is exposed. A yellow-brown, cross-bedded sand unit directly overlies the mudstone. I have tentatively selected the base of this sand unit, which is present in the subsurface throughout southwestern McLean County and reaches thicknesses of more …

Petrology And Geochemistry Of The Killdeer Carbonates, John J. Delimata

Theses and Dissertations

The strata of the proposed Killdeer Formation (Stone, W. J., 1972) in the Killdeer Mountains of Dunn County, North Dakota is composed of a sequence of tuffaceous, calcareous, dolomitized and silicified flat lying sedimentary rocks of Tertiary age. It is the purpose of this report to describe and integrate the petrology and geochemistry of these sediments.

Fieldwork was conducted during the summer of 1972. Forty-three stratigraphic sections were measured and representative samples of each were collected for further analysis. Seven section were selected as representative of the area, and samples from these were studied in thin section with the petrographic …

The Keller Plan In College Introductory Physical Geology : A Comparison With The Conventional Teaching Method, Robert G. Walsh Sr.

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to compare the learning and attitudinal changes that took place in a college introductory physical geology class between a self-paced method of instruction called the Keller Plan and the conventional lecture-laboratory method.

The sample population was 56 students enrolled in Earth Science 120, an introductory physical geology course at Minot State College ·~ during the fall quarter, 1973. An experimental section of 20 students experienced the Keller Plan treatment and two control groups consisting of 18 students each received the conventional method of instruction.

Four specific areas of investigation were tested: (1) knowledge of …

The Stratigraphy And Economic Potential Of Permo-Pennsylvanian Strata In Southwestern North Dakota, Harold C. Ziebarth

Theses and Dissertations

This study of the Fermo-Pennsylvanian Minnelusa Group in North Dakota was designed to clarify the stratigraphy, illustrate association of depositional environments, and to relate the geologic history and economic potential of these strata.

The Minnelusa Group is defined here to include strata above the unconformity on the Madison and Big Snowy Groups and below the Opeche Formation. The Minnelusa Group in North Dakota contains the Tyler, Alaska Bench, Amsden and Broom Creek Formations. The Amsden has been divided into three marker defined lithozones designated, in ascending order, Medora, Dickinson, and Bismarck.

Drill and core samples were examined and described interpretively …

Groundwater Flow In Part Of The Little Missouri River Basin, North Dakota, Thomas M. Hamilton

Theses and Dissertations

The Little Missouri valley in western North Dakota is deeply incised into slightly permeable Mesozoic and Cenozoic sediments. An evaluation of the groundwater flow in part of this valley was 'based on the present groundwater flow-system models. Abrupt changes in the hydrochemical facies have been explained relative to a continuous flow system.

The Little Missouri valley ls the discharge area of a regional groundwater flow system; it affects the potential distribution of the flow system for a minimum of 1.000 feet below the valley floor. The discharge area is approximately the same width as the valley floor and has a …

A Stratigraphic And Sedimentologic Analysis Of The Tongue River And Sentinel Butte Formations (Paleocene), Western North Dakota, Chester F. Royse Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The Tongue River-Sentirel Butte contact has been regarded by many workers as a vague color boundary of minor extent within a relatively homogeneous sequence of Paleocene strata. Consequently, the Sentinel Butte has come to be regarded as a subordinate unit of the ”Tongue River Formation. As defined in report, the contact is a distinctive horizon between two discrete lithogenetic units. It characterized by three criteria: a horizon (HT Butte bad) &t the top of the Tongue River sequence; a. basal sandy unit in the Sentinel Butte sequence, and a marked change in color between buff yellow Tongue River sediments below …