Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Implications For The North American Lower Crustal 7.Xx Km/S Layer From An Exhumed Crustal Root, Western Canadian Shield, Calvin Everette Johnson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Studies of the Thorsby magnetic low, the southern extent of the 2,800 km-long Snowbird

Tectonic Zone (STZ) in Alberta, Canada, show pronounced lower crustal seismic reflectivity and preservation of a crustal root. These features may be correlative to the well-exposed central STZ, where two lower crustal tectonic events have been identified at 2.6-2.55 Ga and 1.92-1.89 Ga. High-resolution cross-sections of the central STZ reveal the late-stage interaction of Paleoproterozoic intracontinental thrust and strike-slip shear zones responsible for juxtaposing ca. >20,000 km2 of lower continental crust (0.9-1.5 GPa) with middle continental crust (0.5 GPa) (Mahan and Williams, 2005; Dumond et al., …

3d Seismic Interpretation Of Paleokarst Sinkholes, Boone Limestone, Lower Mississippian: Subsurface Eastern Arkoma Basin, Conway County, Arkansas, Daniel James Moser

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Unconventional natural gas discoveries in the Fayetteville Shale of the eastern Arkoma Basin have led to improved understanding of subsurface geology in central Arkansas. This study interprets 3D seismic data for evidence of paleokarst within the Mississippian formations in a portion of the subsurface of Conway County, Arkansas. Quantitative data interpretation suggests that sinkholes developed during the Mississippian portion of the eastern Arkoma Basin record.

In a nine square mile area, 3D seismic mapping of Mississippian formations show 14 closed depressions interpreted as karst sinkholes. Time and depth structure maps were created and utilized to estimate the timing of dissolution …

Stratigraphic Interpretation And Reservoir Implications Of The Arbuckle Group (Cambrian-Ordovician) Using 3d Seismic, Osage County, Oklahoma, Ryan Marc Keeling

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Arbuckle Group in northeastern Oklahoma consists of multiple carbonate formations, along with several relatively thin sandstone units. The group is a part of the “Great American Carbonate Bank” of the mid-continent and can be found regionally as far east as the Arkoma Basin in Arkansas, and as far west as the Anadarko Basin in Oklahoma. The Arbuckle is part of the craton-wide Sauk sequence, which is both underlain and overlain by regional unconformities.

Arbuckle is not deposited directly on top of a source rock. In order for reservoirs within the Arbuckle to become charged with hydrocarbons, they must be …

The Structural Analysis Of Enola And Greenbrier, Arkansas Earthquake Swarms: Cause And Effect?, Minella Majenu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Almost 20 years after the remarkable earthquake swarm of 1982, near the town of Enola, Arkansas, with more than 40,000 micro-earthquakes, another event revisited the same North-Central Arkansas region in 2001. Nine years later, in 2010, a huge swarm event shook the northern part of Faulkner County, around the city of Guy. The following year, this seismic swarm event apparently migrated southward towards the city of Greenbrier, with an increase in the number of yearly recorded events. A 13km previously unrecognized, NE trending Guy-Greenbrier basement fault was revealed as a result of these swarm events.

Within the vicinity of the …

An Investigation Of 3d Seismic Deep Basement Events In Osage County, Oklahoma, Kevin Matthew Liner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Deep basement events seen in 3D seismic surveys located in Osage County, Oklahoma can be observed and may have affect overlying sedimentary formations. The 3D surveys used in this study are on the Chautauqua platform about fifty miles northwest of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Stratigraphy of the work area spans base of the Permian to Precambrian formations, with basement depth averaging around 5000 ft in the area of the 3D seismic surveys. Cores spanning Precambrian to Pennsylvanian were examined in the area of the 3D seismic surveys. Hydrothermal minerals were observed in Mississippian age cores. The basement events where tracked using OpendTect …

Pennsylvanian Subsurface Sequence Stratigraphy Based On 3d Seismic And Wireline Data In Western Osage County, Oklahoma, Alexander West

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Pennsylvanian System in the Mid-Continent United States has been studied for nearly a century. In north central Oklahoma, the Pennsylvanian is primarily composed of cyclothems. These cyclothems are sequences of alternating carbonate, clastic, and shale members. Because of this, these zones can be difficult to differentiate. This project provides valuable insight into better understanding the Pennsylvanian System in western Osage County, Oklahoma. The scope of this project is to perform a subsurface study to produce a detailed interpretation of the depositional history and stratigraphy of Pennsylvanian sequences in western Osage County.

This study features 3D seismic and well log …

Analysis Of Paleokarst Sinkholes In The Arkoma Basin Using 3-D Seismic, Michael Kumbalek

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Paleokarst features are important to understand, both with regards to research geologists and to the petroleum industry. In terms of geology, understanding paleokarst features can yield more information about the depositional and surface environments of past times, and how diagenetic alteration affected the environment during the formation of karst features. In the petroleum industry, paleokarst features can have positive or negative consequence resulting in a potential reservoir with enhanced porosity due to the paleokarst features, or as a geo-hazard to prepare for or avoid when drilling.

Inspired by issues faced when drilling in the Ft. Worth basin, this study utilizes …

Interpretation Of Late Cretaceous Volcanic Mounds And Surrounding Gulfian Series Formations Using 3d Seismic Data In Zavala County, Texas, Laura Claire Bennett

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Late Cretaceous Gulfian series is a prominent and important series across the State of Texas that has been extensively studied since the nineteenth century. It is composed of series of southeast-dipping shelf carbonates and clastics deposited on the northwest margin of the Gulf of Mexico Basin. In south Texas, the Gulfian series was deposited in the Rio Grande Embayment and Maverick Basin and is comprised of the Eagle Ford Group, Austin Group, Anacacho Limestone, San Miguel Formation, Olmos Formation, and Escondido Formation that crop out and continue basinward in the subsurface. Late Cretaceous volcanism formed volcanic mounds composed of …

Seeing Below The Surface With Electrical Resistivity Tomography: Exploring The Deepest Reaches Of Arkansas' Tallest Prehistoric Mounds, James Robert Zimmer-Dauphinee

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite decades of research and over a century of public interest, the most prominent features at Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park, Mound A and Mound B, remain virtually unexamined by modern archaeological techniques, and poorly understood. The tremendous scale and importance of these mounds makes most standard research methods difficult if not impossible. Electrical Resistivity Tomography, a geophysical technique rarely used in North America, was employed to survey both Mound A and Mound B, resulting in models of the subsurface that provide insights into the construction, modification and condition of the mounds.

Field-Obtained Soil Water Characteristic Curves And Hydraulic Conductivity Functions, Elvis Ishimwe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A compacted clay liner (test pad) was constructed and instrumented with volumetric water content and soil matric potential sensors to determine soil water characteristic curves (SWCC) and hydraulic conductivity (k) functions. Specifically, the compacted clay liner was subjected to an infiltration cycle during a sealed double ring infiltrometer (SDRI) test followed by a drying cycle. After the drying cycle, Shelby tube samples were collected from the compacted clay liner and flexible wall permeability (FWP) tests were conducted on sub-samples to determine the saturated hydraulic conductivity. Moreover, two computer programs (RETC and UNSAT-H) were utilized to model the SWCCs and k-functions …

Mechanical Stratigraphy Of The Mississippian In Osage County, Oklahoma, Caleb James Jennings

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Mississippian formation of Oklahoma and Kansas has recently developed as a world class unconventional reservoir with wells producing up to 800 bbl/day. The Mississippian is composed of multiple distinct lithologic zones including limestone, hard chert, and soft tripolitic chert. These zones are difficult to discern with traditional log correlation, but mechanical stratigraphy has the potential to improve previous correlations of the Mississippian.

This study uses full wave sonic logs from Osage County, OK to analyze the elastic properties of the Mississippian. Our work computes isotropic elastic parameters in an effort to partition the Mississippian section into units that may …

3d Seismic Mapping Of Probable Tripolitic Chert Bodies In Osage County, Oklahoma, Richard Craddock Benson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Mississippi Lime play is an important recent oil and gas development in the mid-continent of the United States. In April of 2007, Chesapeake Energy Corporation used horizontal drilling and tracing to bring the Howell 1-33H well online. This well revitalized the Mississippi Lime play, expanding exploration with potential Mississippian reservoirs.

The Mississippian section is a complex carbonate reservoir containing several distinct lithologies. An important Mississippian lithology known from outcrops in Arkansas and Missouri is tripolitic chert, or tripolite; a bleach, highly diagenetically altered, silica rock with high porosity, low density, and high permeability. Tripolite is an important reservoir target …

A Geomechanical Study Of The Mississippian Boone Formation, Karen Nicole Mason Buckland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Boone Formation in northwest Arkansas is a chert-limestone sequence analogous to the subsurface Mississippi Lime reservoir in parts of Oklahoma and Kansas. It has low permeability and produces via horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. The response to stimulation by fracturing is dependent on the quantity of chert in the area. Chert nodules and laterally extensive chert layers in the sequence are variable. Locally, cm- to dm-scale chert bedding is continuous and comprises up to 50% of the outcrop. Elsewhere, the chert is nodular and intermittent.

Samples collected from representative outcrops spanning the thickness and aerial extent of the formation …

Geophysical Surveys And Archaeological Insights At Fort Pierre Chouteau A Frontier Trading Post On The Middle Missouri, Margaret Maurine Patton

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fort Pierre Chouteau in present day South Dakota was the most important fur trading post of the American Fur Company in the 1830s, serving as a regional hub for the fur trade. The Fort was sold to the U.S. Military in 1855 for use as a base in the Sioux Wars but was abandoned in 1856. Geophysical surveys and previous excavations indicate evidence of both occupations. Geophysics is an important tool for determining the extent of archaeological sites, yet the relationships between geophysical anomalies and excavation features may not be readily evident. Initial geophysical surveys (Kvamme 2007) were completed to …

Stratigraphic Variations In The Carboniferous Section Across The Arkansas-Oklahoma State Line Arch, Tyler Dean Engelhardt

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The State Line Arch is represented by a structural high that trends through the study area in a loose alignment with the Arkansas-Oklahoma state line. Evidence of the arch extending further to the north includes a structural high and stratigraphic variation at an outcrop on Highway 59 near Evansville Mountain in Crawford County, Arkansas. The exact timing of the formation of the arch remains undetermined, but upper Devonian thinning at the top of the arch indicates the structure is pre-Mississippian. The reason for the development of the arch is poorly understood, but evidence linking Mississippian-aged Waulsortian mounds to Precambrian Spavinaw …

Subsurface Planetary Investigation Techniques And Their Role For Assessing Subsurface Planetary Composition, Ahmed Elshafie

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Subsurface planetary investigation techniques are of high interest and importance for the scientific community. Not only they can enhance our knowledge of the history of planetary formation but also can lead to information about its future. Whether the investigation is being conducted remotely using imagers, radars or physically using penetrometers or drills, a pre-existed knowledge of the mechanical and electrical properties of the subsurface regolith should be acquired for better data interpretation and analysis. Therefore, the main objective of this work is to investigate the mechanical and electrical properties of planetary analogs, understand their role for assessing the subsurface structure …