Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Major Lower Paleozoic Horizons Of The Southern Illinois Basin, John B. Hickman

Report of Investigations--KGS

The geology exposed at the surface in the southern Illinois Basin has been mapped in great detail by countless workers over the past century. With the exception of limited and scattered exposures in incised river valleys, the oldest rocks exposed outside of the Jessamine, Nashville, and Ozark Domes surrounding the Illinois Basin are Mississippian in age. Extensive deposits of Cambrian–Devonian sediments occur in the subsurface above crystalline basement in this region, however. All available data for the region were analyzed to produce a single, comprehensive set of interpretations. The data used in this study include 1:24,000-scale geologic quadrangle maps, oil …

Co2-Enhanced Gas Recovery In Shale: Lessons Learned In The Devonian Ohio Shale Of Eastern Kentucky, Brandon C. Nuttall

Report of Investigations--KGS

The Kentucky Geological Survey tested CO₂-enhanced gas recovery in the Devonian shale in Johnson County, in response to a directive from the Kentucky General Assembly in 2007; the study site included a fracture-stimulated shale-gas well. To supplement a standard suite of open-hole logs acquired when the well was drilled, a well-logging program was designed to identify open perforations, construct a flow profile, and acquire pre-injection baseline data to characterize the Devonian Ohio Shale for a pressure falloff test. Tubing and packer were installed, with gel and brine filling the annulus between the tubing and packer to block flow-through …

Mineralogy And Chemistry Of Rare Earth Elements In Alkaline Ultramafic Rocks And Fluorite In The Western Kentucky Fluorspar District, Warren H. Anderson

Report of Investigations--KGS

Rare earth elements, or REE, are used in modern society in televisions, computers, cellphones, military equipment, and smart weapons systems. These metals are also used by the medical industry in magnetic resonance imaging and in medical products.

The igneous rocks in the Western Kentucky Fluorspar District of the New Madrid Rift System are considered alkaline ultramafic rocks that are slightly enriched in REE. These rocks are rare and only occur in several hundred locations in the world. They have a complex history of emplacement, fractionation, metasomatism, and alteration, and are overprinted with Mississippi Valley-type mineralization. They are classified as lamprophyres …

Using Watershed Pour-Point Elevations To Evaluate The Base Of Fresh Groundwater In The Cumberland Plateau Of Eastern Kentucky, Ethan S. L. Davis, Thomas M. Parris, Jerrad Grider

Report of Investigations--KGS

Horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing at shallow depths (less than 2,200 ft) in the Devonian Berea Sandstone oil and gas play, along with the potential for high-volume hydraulic fracturing in the nascent Cambrian Rogersville Shale gas play, have generated a renewed interest in protecting groundwater quality in eastern Kentucky. A critical component of protection is an accurate understanding of the distribution of fresh water in the subsurface. The “Fresh-Saline Water Interface Map of Kentucky” by H.T. Hopkins, published by the U.S. Geological Survey and Kentucky Geological Survey in 1966, has been a critical reference for assessing the maximum depth of …