Earth Sciences Commons^™

Overpumping Leads To California Groundwater Arsenic Threat, Ryan G. Smith, Rosemary Knight, Scott Fendorf

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Water resources are being challenged to meet domestic, agricultural, and industrial needs. To complement finite surface water supplies that are being stressed by changes in precipitation and increased demand, groundwater is increasingly being used. Sustaining groundwater use requires considering both water quantity and quality. A unique challenge for groundwater use, as compared with surface water, is the presence of naturally occurring contaminants within aquifer sediments, which can enter the water supply. Here we find that recent groundwater pumping, observed through land subsidence, results in an increase in aquifer arsenic concentrations in the San Joaquin Valley of California. By comparison, historic …

Characteristics Of The Mantle Flow System Beneath The Indochina Peninsula Revealed By Teleseismic Shear Wave Splitting Analysis, Youqiang Yu, Stephen S. Gao, Kelly H. Liu, Ting Yang, Mei Xue, Khanh Phon Le, Jinyao Gao

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Numerous geoscientific investigations have been conducted on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau and adjacent areas for understanding crustal and mantle deformation associated with the indentation of the Indian Plate into Eurasia. A number of key issues, such as the causes of a sudden change of fast polarization orientations from N-S to almost E-W at approximately 26°N revealed by shear wave splitting (SWS) studies, and the geodynamic implications of the transition still remain enigmatic, partially due to the lack of sufficient SWS measurements on the Indochina Peninsula. Here we employ the SWS technique to systematically illuminate upper mantle anisotropy beneath the Indochina …

Spectral Analysis Of Surface Waves To Detect Subsurface Voids, Payman Hajiani, Neil Lennart Anderson, J. David Rogers

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Systems and methods for detecting a subsurface cavity. A source applies a force to ground under inspection and a plurality of sensors coupled to the ground detect resulting surface waves. A processor is configured to extract phase and frequency components of the acquired seismic data, identify a phase shift in surface waves in the ground under inspection based on the extracted phase and frequency components, and determine one or more physical characteristics of a subsurface cavity based on the identified phase shift

Improving The Total Organic Carbon Estimation Of The Eagle Ford Shale With Density Logs By Considering The Effect Of Pyrite, Shuxian Jiang, Mehdi Mokhtari, David M. Borrok, Jim Lee

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Pyrite is a common mineral with a higher density than most other minerals in the Eagle Ford Shale formation. Hence, if pyrite is not considered in the total organic carbon (TOC) estimation, based on density logs, it may lead to errors. In order to improve the accuracy of the TOC estimation, we propose an updated TOC estimation method that incorporates the concentration of pyrite and organic porosity. More than 15 m of Eagle Ford Shale samples were analyzed using Rock-Eval pyrolysis, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). TOC, elemental concentration, and mineralogical data were analyzed for a better understanding …

Platy Galena From The Viburnum Trend, Southeast Missouri: Character, Mine Distribution, Paragenetic Position, Trace Element Content, Nature Of Twinning, And Conditions Of Formation, Richard D. Hagni

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Viburnum Trend of southeast Missouri is one of the world’s largest producers of lead. The lead occurs as galena, predominantly in two crystallographic forms, octahedrons and cubes. Many studies have shown that octahedral galena is paragentically early, the more abundant of the two crystal forms, and is commonly modified in the cube. Those studies also have shown that the cubic form is paragenetically later, less abundant than the octahedrons, and may exhibit minor octahedral modifications. Viburnum Trend galena crystals that exhibit a platy form have received almost no study. The reason for their lack of study is the rarity …

Failure Of The Alexander Dam Embankment And Reconstruction Using Drainage Mitigation On Kauai, Hawaii, 1930-1932, Kerry D. Cato, J. David Rogers

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Alexander Dam is a hydraulic fill earth dam and the second-highest embankment dam in Hawaii, having been built in 1929-1932 on the south side of the Hawaiian island of Kauai to provide irrigation for McBryde Sugar Company Ltd. It was constructed across Wahiawa Stream mauka (Hawaiian for "stream that comes from the mountains," literally "toward the mountains"), upstream of Kalaheo, to store 800 million gallons (5 million m3) of water to irrigate sugarcane fields. The embankment dam was intended to have a maximum height of 125 ft (38 m), a crest length of 620 ft (189 m), and a maximum …

3d Seismic Attribute Analysis And Machine Learning For Reservoir Characterization In Taranaki Basin, New Zealand, Aamer Alhakeem

Doctoral Dissertations

"The Kapuni group within the Taranaki Basin in New Zealand is a potential petroleum reservoir. The objective of the study includes building a sequential approach to identify different geological features and facies sequences within the strata, through visualizing the targeted formations by interpreting and correlating the regional geological data, 3D seismic, and well data by following a sequential workflow. First, seismic interpretation is performed targeting the Kapuni group formations, mainly, the Mangahewa C-sand and Kaimiro D-sand. Synthetic seismograms and well ties are conducted for structural maps, horizon slices, isopach, and velocity maps. Well log and morphological analyses are performed for …

The Utility Of Geophysical Techniques To Image The Shallow Subsurface In Karst Areas In Missouri, Nathainail Bashir

Doctoral Dissertations

"This dissertation is composed of three papers, which are focused on the utility of geophysical techniques to imaging the shallow subsurface in karst areas in Missouri.

In the first paper, ground penetrating radar (GPR) and time domain electromagnetic metal detector (TDEM-MD) methods were effectively deployed in an investigation of the cemetery with the intent of locating unmarked graves. The outcome of this study is to expand the knowledge of GPR and TDEM-MD methods, to locate unmarked graves in cemeteries. The study concluded that the GPR method is superior than TDEM-MD to locate buried caskets in cemetery investigations.

In the second …

Lithospheric Layering And Thickness Beneath The Contiguous United States, Lin Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

"The Upper Mississippi Embayment (UME), where the seismically active New Madrid Seismic Zone resides, experienced two phases of subsidence commencing in the Late Precambrian and Cretaceous, respectively. To provide new constraints on models proposed for the mechanisms responsible for the subsidence, we computed and stacked P-to-S receiver functions recorded by 49 USArray and other seismic stations located in the UME and the adjacent Ozark Uplift and modeled Bouguer gravity anomaly data. The inferred thickness, density, and Vp/Vs of the upper and lower crustal layers suggest that the UME is characterized by a mafic and high-density upper crustal layer of ∼30 …

Seismic Anisotropy And The Mantle Dynamics Beneath The Arabian Plate, Saleh Ismail Hassan Qaysi

Doctoral Dissertations

"We investigate mantle seismic azimuthal anisotropy and deformation beneath the Arabian Plate and adjacent areas using data from 182 broadband seismic stations which include 157 stations managed by the Saudi Geological Survey. A total of about 4000 pairs of shear wave splitting parameters are obtained using the transverse minimization technique. The individual XKS (including PKS, SKS, and SKKS) splitting measurements were manually checked to ensure the quality. The well-defined parameters show dominantly N-S fast orientations at the majority of the stations, and NW-SE fast orientations along the Zagras Mountain front. No clear systematic variations of the splitting parameters as a …

John Frank Stevens: Panama Canal Mastermind And Pioneering Railroad Pathfinder, J. David Rogers, Lawrence M. Magura

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

John Frank Stevens began his civil engineering career as a rodman on a survey crew in Maine in 1872. He soon moved to Minneapolis, where he apprenticed himself, eventually becoming Assistant City Engineer. In 1876 he began working for railroads in the western United States. In 1882 Stevens began working for a contractor laying tracks for the Canadian Pacific Railroad in Saskatchewan. The next spring he became assistant engineer of location for the Canadian Pacific, completing the first transcontinental line linking Montreal with Vancouver in 1888. In 1889 James Jerome Hill retained Stevens as chief pathfinder for the new Great …

An Integrated Method For Forecasting Well Deliverability In Gas Condensate Reservoirs With Bottom Aquifer Drive, Abdulaziz Ellafi, Ralph E. Flori, Shari Dunn-Norman

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Gas condensate reservoirs constitute a significant portion of global hydrocarbon reserves. In these reservoirs, liquids develop in the pore space once bottomhole pressure falls below dew point. This results in the formation of a liquid bank near the wellbore region which decreases gas mobility, which then reduces gas inflow. In such complex reservoirs, it is important to correctly describe PVT impacts, adjustments to well test analysis and inflow performance, and then combine all effects in the reservoir analysis. The literature contains many references to individual adjustments of PVT analysis, well testing, or inflow performance for gas condensate reservoirs, but few …

Learning From Experience: An Automatic Ph Neutralization System Using Hybrid Fuzzy System And Neural Network, Ethar H.K. Alkamil, Seaar Al-Dabooni, Ahmed K. Abbas, Ralph Flori, Donald C. Wunsch

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In oil and gas industry, the pH level is one of the most important indicators of mud contamination while drilling. Although the process has simple components, the pH neutralization process is complicated in the mud circulation system. This difficulty is due to the high nonlinearity of the process. In this paper, the fuzzy neural network (FNN) is integrated to the fuzzy logic controller (FLC) to create a system which identifies pH fluctuation into a drilling mud system, assesses and signals its severity. And then, it automatically actuates a chemical treating fluids valve (CTFV), such as Caustic Soda (CS), for neutralizing …

Computational Modeling Of Heat Transport And Volatile Extraction From Asteroid Materials, Joel C. Sercel, Mark A. Crawford, Christopher Dreyer, Egboche Unobe, Robert Jedicke, Stanley Love, Leslie S. Gertsch

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents the results of a program of computational modeling focused on elucidating the physics and chemical processes associated with the extraction of volatile materials from asteroid feedstocks with an eye toward use of the extracted materials for propulsion, radiation shielding, and replenishment of mission consumables. We present a math model of conductive heat transport, chemical processes, and gas escape by Darcian diffusion. Chemical processes in the model include pyrolysis of organic chemical constituents and thermal dehydration and decarbonization of hydrates and carbonates. The model is implemented in a spherical finite difference computational engine that predicts time histories of …

Reprocessing Of The 2 Hz P-P Data From The Blackfoot 3c-2d Survey With Special Reference To Multicomponent Seismic Processing, Onur Akturk

Masters Theses

"The 3C-2D multicomponent seismic survey was acquired in the Blackfoot Field, which is located 15 km southeast of Strathmore, Alberta. The 2 Hz vertical component data were reprocessed to better image the target reservoir, the Glauconitic sand formation at approximately 1150 ms. The zone of the major reflector at about 1550 ms was also taken into consideration to determine the better seismic section for further processing. The main characteristics of the converted wave processing, such as common conversion point (CCP), asymptotic binning, gamma ratios, receiver statics, rotation of the data, positive/negative offsets, and anisotropy, were also summarized in this study. …

Miscible Gases Based Eor In Unconventional Liquids Rich Reservoirs: What We Can Learn, Dheiaa Alfarge, Mortadha Alsaba, Mingzhen Wei, Baojun Bai

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Over the last decade, Unconventional Liquids Rich Reservoirs (ULR) have become the main target for oil and gas investors as conventional formations started to deplete and diminish in numbers. These unconventional plays have a huge oil reserve; however, the primary oil recovery factor is predicted to be less than 10%. Unconventional Improved Oil Recovery (UIOR) techniques are still a new concept in the oil industry since there is no commercial project reported for any IOR technique yet. Miscible gas based EOR technique might be the most potential strategy to improve oil recovery in such complex plays. In this study, a …

Advanced Ion Management To Improve Oil Recovery In Oil-Wet Carbonate-Sandstone Composite Reservoirs, Ali K. Alhuraishawy, Baojun Bai, Mingzhen Wei, Waleed H. Al-Bazzaz

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Waterflooding with different ionic composition called advanced ion management which play a role with ionic composition of injected water to enhance the oil production. In the last decade, many studies pointed out that the composition of injected water could changes rock wettability during waterflooding. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of SO4 and low salinity water on improving oil recovery in oil-wet carbonate reservoirs. Sulfate ion concentration, low salinity water, rock composition, porosity, and permeability were examined using a designed model. Typical seawater, increase SO₄, two and three times in the seawater, and …

New Insights Of Low Salinity Water Flooding In Low Permeability-Low Porosity Clay Rich Sandstone Reservoir, Ali K. Alhuraishawy, Baojun Bai, Mingzhen Wei, Waleed H. Al-Bazzaz

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

One of the EOR technologies is low-salinity water flooding (LSWF) is an EOR method that operates at a lower cost than other EOR methods, which makes it a preferred area of interest for oil industry economists, who continue to call for EOR costs to come down. The aim is to minimize the possible cost to recover as much oil as possible. The performance of low salinity waterflooding in decreasing residual oil saturation in low permeability-porosity clay-rich sandstone reservoir. Porosity test, core flooding test, XRD and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) tests were achieved in this study. Salinity effect on the porosity, …

Application Of Integrated Reservoir Geomechanics For Well Planning Of High-Angled Wells In A Mature Oil Field, Ahmed K. Abbas, Ralph E. Flori, Yousif M.B. Al-Asadi, Mortadha Alsaba, Nasser A. Al-Hamad

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Zubair oil reservoir has a significant potential to contribute to the petroleum supply in Iraq. Drilling highly deviated wells is a commonly used approach to enhance the production in mature fields. Drilling these wells in the Zubair Formation has been a challenge due to severe wellbore instability issues. This study presents how integrated reservoir geomechanics was used for efficient well planning and safe drilling of nearly horizontal wells (75° Inclination) through Zubair depleted sandstone oil reservoir. In this study, an integrated workflow was implemented mainly to build a geomechanical model using offset well data. The in-situ principal stresses and their …

Using Managed Pressure Drilling To Reduce Stuck Pipe Problem, Ethar H.K. Alkamil, Husam R. Abbood, Ralph E. Flori, George Medley, Sagar Nauduri, Mortadha Alsaba

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Differences between mud pressure in a wellbore and pore pressure in high permeability rocks can lead to differential sticking, particularly when drilling deviated wells and encountering mud losses. Several solutions, all challenging, can be used to address this problem, where the conventional mitigation method of managing the mud weight (MW) is often used. However, managed pressure drilling (MPD) offers a promising solution with a positive risk-adjusted cost and other benefits. Wells in the E oilfield in southern Iraq are typically drilled overbalanced and therefore often experience a high percentage of non-productive time (NPT) due to differential sticking. This study evaluates …

A Novel Ultra-Low Interfacial Tension Nanofluid For Enhanced Oil Recovery In Super-Low Permeability Reservoirs, Derong Xu, Baojun Bai, Ziyu Meng, Qiong Zhou, Zhe Li, Yao Lu, Hairong Wu, Jirui Hou, Wanli Kang

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The exploration and development of super-low permeability reservoirs have become a global focus in recent years. However, conventional flooding systems commonly face problems of high injection pressure and poor displacement efficiency in super-low permeability reservoirs. Thus, it is imperative to find new flooding agents that tackle such problems. In this study, a novel ultra-low interfacial tension (IFT) nanofluid was formulated, consisting of surfactants to achieve ultra-low IFT and silica nanoparticles to reduce injection pressure. The compatibility test between the surfactants and silica nanoparticles in 10,000 mg/L NaCl solution at 90 °C was conducted to ensure their adaption to harsh reservoir …

Testing And Evaluation Of Shale Stability For Zubair Shale Formation, Ahmed K. Abbas, Ralph E. Flori, Ahmed Al-Anssari, Mortadha Alsaba

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Zubair Formation consists of approximately 55% shale, which causes almost 70% of wellbore problems due to incompatibilities of drilling fluids and shale formations. The most common and effective solution to shale instability is through the design and selection of drilling fluids. Understanding the interaction between drilling fluids and shale has been a challenge due to the complexity of both physical and chemical variations in shale formations. This paper presents some of the important laboratory and well-site testing techniques that are often used by mud engineers for characterizing and remediating drilling fluids and shale interaction. Well-preserved shale samples were analyzed to …

Reprocessing Of 3c-2d Seismic Reflection Data From The Spring Coulee Field, Alberta, Yasin Demir

Masters Theses

"The 3C-2D seismic datasets were acquired in 2008 in the Spring Coulee Field, Alberta, which is located in Township 4, Range 23, and west of the 4th Meridian in the Alberta Basin. Line 2008-SC-01 was reprocessed to obtain better image of the formation targeted at between 1300 ms and 1400 ms. The depositional settings of the Madison Formation consist of shallow and carbonate shelf deposits. The processing workflow was designed by testing several methods, algorithms, and parameters, and finding the optimal processing solution. The processing steps included elevation statics, noise suppression, deconvolution operator, and 2D Kirchhoff poststack time migration. In …

Paleogene-Early Neogene Palynomorphs From The Eastern Equatorial Atlantic And Southeastern Florida, Usa: Biostratigraphy And Paleoenvironmental Implications, Walaa K. Awad

Doctoral Dissertations

"The transition from greenhouse conditions (Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, PETM) to icehouse conditions (Early Oligocene) is not well documented in tropical-subtropical regions. One hundred and five samples from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 959 (Hole 959A and Hole 959D) in the Cote d'Ivoire-Ghana Transform Margin, Alo-1 Well in the northern Niger Delta (Anambra) Basin, Nigeria, and W-17001 in southeastern Florida were studied for their palynological contents. Dinoflagellate cysts were mainly utilized for age refinement and to detect subtle changes in paleoenvironment and paleoclimate during the Paleocene-Early Eocene (ODP Hole 959D and Alo-1 Well) and Late Eocene-Early Miocene (ODP Hole 959A and …

Delineation Of A Coal Combustion Residue Landfill And Underlying Karst Subsurface In Southwest Missouri Using Ert And Masw Surveys, Ruobai Zhao

Doctoral Dissertations

"The safe containment of coal combustion residual (CCR) in landfills was addressed by the U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) CCR rule published in 2015. The new rule affects new and existing U.S. based CCR landfills in terms of implementing safeguard systems for safe disposal and contamination control. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) data were acquired across and in proximity to a CCR landfill in southwest Missouri, USA, with the intent to identify potential karst features and seepage pathways.

Electrical resistivity tomography data were acquired using an automated 8-channel resistivity meter and multichannel analysis of …

3d Seismic Imaging Of Submarine Stratovolcanic And Salt Structures Beneath The Taranaki Basin, New Zealand And The Gulf Of Mexico, Ersin Erdem Unkaracalar

Masters Theses

"The relationship of submarine stratovolcanic and salt structures with overlying sediments creates a significant role in the petroleum system due to the emplacement and burial of volcano and salt. This study characterizes the spatial and temporal distribution of structural and stratigraphic features associated with submarine stratovolcano and salt body to provide insights for elements and processes of petroleum geology related to regional tectonics.

The stratovolcanic and salt structures are clearly identified on seismic sections. However, distortion of ray paths passing through the salt and turning seismic waves prevents accurate identification of steep flanks of salt. The seismic response to a …

Bridge Deck Assessment Using Visual Inspection, Ground Penetrating Radar, Portable Seismic Property Analyzer-Ultrasonic Surface Wave, Hammer Sounding And Chain Drag, Abdullah Hadi Zaid Alhaj

Masters Theses

"Integrated non-destructive techniques were utilized to assess the condition of a reinforced concrete bridge deck. There were two main objectives accomplished.

The first objective was to assess the integrity of the reinforced concrete bridge deck using four non-destructive techniques, namely visual inspection, ground penetrating radar, portable seismic property analyzer-ultrasonic surface wave, and hammer sounding and chain drag. Visual inspection data were used to identify signs of deterioration on surface of the bridge deck such as cracking, concrete leaching, and reinforcement corrosion. Ground penetrating radar data were used to determine the relative condition of the bridge deck. However, due to the …

Application Of Seismic Attributes For 3-D Seismic Visualization Contributed In Structural And Stratigraphic Interpretation Of The Tangahoe And Farewell Formations In The Kupe Field, Taranaki Basin, New Zealand, Housam Hussein Grabeel

Masters Theses

"Taranaki Basin is a mainly offshore basin covering an area of approximately 100,000 km², elongated across the western margin of New Zealand's north island. However, the modern limit of the basin is extended toward the deep water to cover about 330,000 km². The basin is divided by tectonic activities into northern and southern grabens. The southern region has become the most extensively researched district in recent years as its prime lithology and structural trap distributions provide numerous hydrocarbon fields. One such field is the Kupe Field (256 km²), which lies on a northerly-plunging, reverse-faulted, …

Imaging The Subsurface In Eastern Part Of Lake Chesterfield Using A Combination Of Geophysical Tools, Jiawei Li

Masters Theses

"The Lake Chesterfield North Dam in Wildwood city, Missouri has been leaking, more or less continuously since the dam was constructed in 1986 despite mitigation efforts in 1988, 1994, 1995, 2004, and 2005. Neither the grouting efforts in 1988, 1994, 1995, 2004 or 2005, nor the placement and rehabilitation of an impervious clay liner in 2005 has solved the problem. Indeed, in June of 2017, the water level in Lake Chesterfield dropped at an alarmingly rapid rate.

Prior to authorizing additional mitigation work, the Lake Chesterfield Home Owners Association (LCHOA) decided to acquire geophysical data across the dry lake bed. …

Conical Folds -- An Artifact Of Using Simple Geometric Shapes To Describe A Complex Geologic Structure, Avery Joseph Welker

Masters Theses

"Accurate representation of the 3D shapes of natural folds is essential to characterization of the dynamic models for fold formation. Geometrical analysis of folds commonly relies upon analyzing patterns defined by the variation in the orientation of poles to planar surfaces deformed by a shortening event when plotted using graphical calculators (e.g., stereogram, polar tangent diagrams) to interpret the shape of folds. Stereograms for which orientation data define small circles are classified as non-cylindrical regular folds and are interpreted as "conical folds," where the shape of the fold is represented by a cone that terminates at a point. Utilizing similar …