Geology Commons^™

Sporomorphs And Palynological Interpretations Of Lower Oligocene Strata From The Eastern Gulf Coast, U.S.A., Lisa M. Reeves

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The Vicksburg Group in the eastern Gulf Coast of the United States belongs to one of the most complete and continuous Paleogene strata in the world. Previous studies in this region have neglected the rich palynomorph assemblages of the Lower Oligocene units of the Vicksburg Group. Four samples from Wayne County Mississippi were analyzed for palynological information on the Vicksburg Group. The initial objective of the study was to understand the principles of palynology and the basis for sporomorph identification. A minimum of 300 specimens were counted per slide to determine the distribution of sporomorphs in the sediments. Two hundred …

An Integrated Surface Seismic/Seismic Profile Case Study: Simonette Area, Alberta, Ronald C. Hinds, Neil Lennart Anderson, Richard Kuzmiski

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

On the basis of conventional surface seismic data, the 13-15-63-25W5M exploratory well was drilled into a low-relief Leduc Formation reef (Devonian Wood-bend Group) in the Simonette area, west-central Alberta, Canada. The well was expected to intersect the crest of the reef and encounter about 50-60 m of pay; unfortunately it was drilled into a flank position and abandoned. The decision to abandon the well, as opposed to whipstocking in the direction of the reef crest, was made after the acquisition and interpretive processing of both near-and far-offset (252 and 524 m, respectively) vertical seismic profile (VSP) data, and after the …

An Integrated Surface And Borehole Seismic Case Study: Fort St. John Graben Area, Alberta, Canada, Ronald C. Hinds, Richard Kuzmiski, Neil Lennart Anderson, Barry R. Richards

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The deltaic sandstones of the basal Kiskatinaw Formation (Stoddard Group, upper Mississippian) were preferentially deposited within structural lows in a regime characterized by faulting and structural subsidence. In the Fort St. John Graben area, northwest Alberta, Canada, these sandstone facies can form reservoirs where they are laterally sealed against the flanks of upthrown fault blocks. Exploration for basal Kiskatinaw reservoirs generally entails the acquisition and interpretation of surface seismic data prior to drilling. These data are used to map the grabens in which these sandstones were deposited, and the horst blocks which act as lateral seals. Subsequent to drilling, vertical …

An Overview Of Some Of The Large Scale Mechanisms Of Salt Dissolution In Western Canada, Neil Lennart Anderson, Ralph W. Knapp

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Well log and seismic data indicate that the bedded rock salts of the Devonian Prairie Formation were widely distributed and uniformly deposited in the Lloydminster area, Western Canada; however, as a result of extensive leaching, the distribution of these salts is not now what it once was. The Lloydminster area is now bisected by the north-south trending main dissolutional edge of the Prairie salt. Thick salt (up to 150 m) is preserved to the west of this edge; to the east the salt is mostly absent. The paper presents an overview of the envisioned principal mechanisms of salt dissolution. The …

Westhazel General Petroleums Pool: Case History Of A Salt- Dissolution Trap In West-Central Saskatchewan, Canada, Neil Lennart Anderson, Dale A. Cederwall

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Westhazel General Petroleums (GP) Pool of west-central Saskatchewan, Canada, produces from the GP member of the Lower Cretaceous Mannville Group. This reservoir is structurally closed across the updip, eastern dissolutional edge of the underlying Middle Devonian rock salt of the Leofnard Member, Prairie Formation. The leaching of these salts occurred in post-Mannville time in the Westhazel area and caused the regional southwest dip of the General Petroleums member to be locally reversed.The Westhazel GP Pool, from a geophysical perspective, is characteristic of many of the shallow Lower Cretaceous pools situated along the dissolutional edge of the Prairie salt. The …

Dolomite Cement Stratigraphy Of The Reelfoot Rift And The Relationship Of These Cements To Dolomite Cements Found In Southeast Missouri, Timothy James Keller

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The formation of the southeast Missouri Mississippi Valley-type Pb, Zn, Cu ore districts have been a subject of controversy. Using petrology and geochemistry, earlier studies have attempted to reveal fluid flow, composition, and origin of the ore forming fluids. In this study, the potential role of the Reelfoot rift (New Madrid seismic zone) as a source and/or conduit for ore forming fluids is addressed. By observing cuttings and cores from four oil test wells within the Reelfoot rift using cathodluminescence, four cement types were described: 1) A multiple generation cement type similar to that observed associated with mineralization in southeastern …

Depositional Facies Analysis And Sea Level Curve Determination From The Soth Western St. Francois Mts. To The Western Margin Of The Reelfoot Rift, Missouri, Aaron Ramon Rezendez

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

Knowledge of the relative influence of eustatic and tectonic controls on sedimentation in basins is important to developing a regional facies model. The Reelfoot Rift basin is located on the southern margin of the North American Craton. The tectonic and sedimentary history of the rift began during Middle Cambrian time and extended through the Early Ordovician. Oil test well cuttings and cores were used to construct a stratigraphic fence extending from the Cambro- Ordovician platform west of the St. Francois Mts. southeastward info the rifted basin. Three major transgressive-regressive sequences and numerous minor transgressive-regressive sequences were observed in Cambro-Ordovician rocks …

Influence Of The Mcdowell Sanitary Landfill On Groundwater Quality, Phelps County, Missouri, Christine E. Bough

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

This is a case study of the groundwater quality near the McDowell Sanitary Landfill in Phelps County, Missouri. The landfill is located in section 21 of T37N R8W off of Missouri State Highway CC. This landfill is a near surface solid waste disposal facility above the groundwater table located in an abandoned area of a rock quarry. The thickness, lithology, and structure of the material beneath the landfill, and the design of the landfill itself, will influence the time of contaminant transport and degree of modification in the event that leachate escapes the landfill. Among the more important topographic features …

A Seismic Analysis Of Black Creek And Wabumun Salt Collapse Features, Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, Neil Lennart Anderson, Robert James Sidford Brown

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

These salt remnants and their associated collapse features are often associated with structural or stratigraphic traps. As a result of the relationships between dissolution and hydrocarbon entrapment, the distribution (areal extent and thickness) of these salt remnants is of significant interest to the explorationist. Seismic information about the thickness and the extent of these salts should be used together with well log control to generate subsurface distribution maps. These maps will facilitate both the delineation of prospective structural and stratigraphic play fairways and the determination of the timing of salt dissolution. In addition, an appreciation of regional salt distribution will …

Differential Compaction Of Winnipegosis Reefs: A Seismic Perspective, Neil Lennart Anderson, Evan K. Franseen

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Winnipegosis Formation reefs in southern Saskatchewan are typically encased in the thick, apparently incompressible salts of the Prairie Evaporite. Illustrates the usefulness of seismic data to separate postdepositional compaction features from primary features to determine the primary morphology of a reef better and to determine the relative amounts of postdepositional compaction with the different reef environments.

Low- And High-Relief Leduc Formation Reefs: A Seismic Analysis, Neil Lennart Anderson, Robert James Sidford Brown, Ronald C. Hinds

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Leduc reefs have grown to widely varying heights and aereal extents along the Rimbey-Meadowbrook trend of central Alberta, resulting in significantly different seismic signatures. Three examples considered in this paper include two high-relief or full reefs from the Leduc-Woodbend field, an atoll and a pinnacle, each around 200 m in height but differing greatly in areal extent, about 100 km² for the atoll and 1 km² for the pinnacle. The third example, a low-relief or basalt reef from the Morinville field, is about 100 m high and 1 km² in areal extent.

The Leduc-Woodbend and Morinville reefs …

Seismic Signature Of A Swan Hills (Frasnian) Reef Reservoir, Snipe Lake, Alberta, Neil Lennart Anderson, Robert James Sidford Brown, Ronald C. Hinds, L. V. Hills

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Swan Hills formation (Frasnian stage) carbonate buildups of the Beaverhill Lake group are generally of low relief and considerable areal extent and are overlain by and encased within the relatively high-velocity shale of the Waterways formation, which thins but does not drape across the reefs. Consistent with this picture, prereef seismic events are not significantly pulled up beneath the reefs nor are postreef events draped across them. Indeed, the seismic images of these reefs are effectively masked by the high-amplitude reflections from the overlying top of the Beaverhill Lake group and underlying Gilwood member and cannot be distinguished from those …

Geology And Petrochemistry Of The Mount Chase Massive Sulfide Prospect, Penobscot County, Maine, Michael V. Scully

Masters Theses

"The Mount Chase massive sulfide prospect of northern Penobscot County, Maine was discovered in 1979 by Getty Mining Company. The deposit occurs within a sequence of lower paleozoic metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks. The footwall units consist of rhyolitic flows, quartz-feldspar crystal tuff, and altered tuffaceous volcanic breccias. These rocks lie unconformably upon intensely folded sediments which are tentatively correlated with the Grand Pitch Formation of probable Cambrian age. The footwall volcanoclastic rocks exhibit a narrow zone of intense chloritic alteration immediately below the massive sulfide horizon, and a broader zone of sericitic alteration below that. A zone of stringer mineralization …

An Economical Field Datalogger, Norbert H. Maerz, M. B. Dusseault, R. W. Gillham

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Data acquisition is important in geotechnical and hydrological field investigations. Commercially available data acquisitions systems are often not well suited to field use, and can be costly. An alternative to buying a data acquisition system is to build one, and recent advances in computer micro-chip technology have made it easy to understand, design and build simple data acquisition devices.

The design of a data acquisition system developed at the University of Waterloo, along with an example of its use, is discussed in the paper. The intent was to sample 16 channels at 12 bit resolution for prolonged periods under adverse …

Microcomputer Image Analysis Of Rock Fabric, Norbert H. Maerz, C. P. Bennettt, B. A. Dony

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The behavior of many types of rock is largely dependent on the fabric of the rock mass. Current methods of manually measuring the discontinuity networks in rock masses are slow, tedious and error prone. The alternative is to make automated measurements of rock jointing parameters on digital images of rock faces in mines, tunnels, and surface excavations.

Photoanalysis techniques are being developed to measure various rock fabric parameters. Techniques presented here include the generation of a joint trace map from a photograph, and the measurement of simple statistics on the joint trace map. Methods are also presented for the determination …

Lithofacies Analysis Of The Lamotte Sandstone In South Central Missouri, Michael Gerard Kraenzle

Masters Theses

"Based on the analysis of thirty-one cores obtained from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in Rolla, the upper Cambrian Lamotte Sandstone in South Central Missouri has been divided into six sedimentary facies ranging from alluvial fan and braided stream to open marine.

The Lamotte Sandstone is the basal Cambrian sandstone found throughout most of the state of Missouri. It directly overlies late Precambrian (1.4 to 1.5 billion year old) granites and metasediments. The Lamotte and overlying Bonneterre Formations are generally considered to have been deposited by a transgression which occurred during the Late Cambrian Period (Croixian Epoch).

The Lamotte …

A Gravity And Magnetic Study Of The Crooked Creek Cryptoexplosion Structure, Crawford County, Missouri, Charles Edward Woodbury

Masters Theses

"The pre-Pennsylvanian structure at Crooked Creek consists of a complex, vertically faulted ring of Cambrian and Ordovician sediments with a central uplifted core. The center of the structure is strongly deformed and contains shatter cones, brecciation, and other signs of extreme shock.

A magnetic low over the center of the structure suggests that igneous material was not involved in the formation of the structure, and this is corroborated by core analysis. Gravity data indicates several small gravity lows, possibly associated with areas of brecciation, circling the flanks of the structure. As in the magnetic data, there is no indication that …

A Paleoenvironmental Study Of The Salem Limestone In The Vicinity Of St. Louis, Missouri, Douglas J. Van Brunt

Masters Theses

“The Salem Limestone (Meramecian) of Mississippian age in the vicinity of St. Louis, Missouri is composed of a variable sequence of limestones deposited in shallow waters adjacent to scattered positive elements. This unit varies in thickness from zero up to 160 feet.

A medium to coarse-grained calcarenite is the dominant rock-type of the thesis area and is most abundant in the central and southwest regions. Stratigraphic sections in the northern region are more dolomitic, increasingly brecciated, and contains numerous secondary features. The southeast region is thinly bedded and composed of greater amounts of micrite formed by algal activity or direct …

A Petrographic Investigation Of The Rhythmically Bedded Upper Fayetteville Formation (Mississippian) In Northern Arkansas, Edith Ann Starbuck

Masters Theses

"The upper Mississippian Fayetteville Formation in northern Arkansas is primarily a calcareous black shale, but in some localities the upper one third to one half of the formation is made up of alternating black shales and limestones. Comparable lithologies have been suggested by some (Hallam, Ricken, Kent, and Sujkowski) to have been created by the diagenetic segregation of carbonate from calcareous shale.

Petrographic thin section analysis reveals that the lowest limestone beds of the rhythmic upper Fayetteville are made up almost entirely of microspar and all fossil material is recrystallized, even to the point of obliteration in some cases. The …

Geology Of The Escalante District, Iron County, Utah, James William Biehl

Masters Theses

"The Escalante Silver District, Iron County, Utah, occupies a group of low hills extending to the Escalante Desert from the Black Hills to the south. Tertiary volcanics serve as host rocks for silver bearing quartz veins. Five map units, with a total of 12 members are recognized. X-ray fluorescence and field mapping enabled differentiation of the units, while thin section analysis enabled characterization of the members. The map units formed in three episodes. The oldest is extrusive doming of distinctive older lava and breccia flows. The middle group is made up of tectontic breccias, sillar-like lava flows, and volcaniclastic sediments …

Carbonate Facies Of The Kimmswick Limestone (Trenton/Galena) In Southwestern Illinois : Their Relations As Oil Reservoirs And Traps, Gregory A. Crews

Masters Theses

"Four potentially productive oil horizons have been identified in the Kimmswick Limestone (Trenton/Galena), Ordovician of southwestern Illinois. Four non-porous caprock zones and four porous horizons were identified and informally named after corresponding members of the Dunleith Formation (Illinois State Geological Survey classification). The porous horizons generally consist of coarse-grained, fossiliferous limestone, which is overlain by finer grained, spar-cemented, impermeable limestone.

In order of production potential, the horizons are the upper Moredock, lower Moredock, Beecher-St. James (lowermost stratigraphic unit), and New London (uppermost stratigraphic unit). Porosity in the upper Moredock horizon is relatively consistent throughout the study area, as determined by …

Lithology And Sedimentology Of The Graydon Springs Channel, Pennsylvanian Of Southwestern Missouri, Gregory Lee Easson

Masters Theses

"The Graydon Springs Member of Southwest Missouri, here assigned to the Warner Formation of Pennsylvanian age was sampled and examined in order to document the lithology, sedimentology, source area, stratigraphic position, and overall geologic history of these channel-like bodies. The member is composed of an upper sandstone unit and a lower conglomerate unit.

Laboratory investigations of thin sections indicate that the sandstone unit is composed of well sorted, well rounded quartz and minor amounts of accessory minerals cemented with iron oxide, commonly hematite. Field observations indicate that the conglomerate unit is composed of very poorly sorted, very well rounded chert …

Relation Of Bitumen To Ore In The Magmont West Orebody, Southeast Missouri, Mark Alan Marikos

Masters Theses

"Bitumen in the form of oil blebs from the Magmont West orebody of the Viburnum Trend was examined and analysed in an attempt to relate hydrocarbon distribution and origin to ore genesis. Hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen percentages were determined by elemental analyses. Trace element composition was determined by emmission spectroscopy and the composition of the bitumen was calculated with respect to aromatic hydrocarbons, saturated hydrocarbons and NSO (nitrogen-sulfur-oxygen) components. The bitumen and kerogen from associated shale samples were evaluated by Rock-Eval pyrolysis and pyrolysis-gas chromatography.

The bitumen was calculated to be approximately 40 to 50 percent aromatic and …

Oil Producing Upper Cherokee And Lower Marmaton (Pennsylvanian) Channel Sandstones Of Jackson And Cass Counties, Missouri, Stephen Thomas Carroll

Masters Theses

"Approximately 240 gamma ray-neutron logs were interpreted and correlated in an attempt to isolate separate channels collectively referred to as "Squirrel" sands in the upper Cherokee and lower Marmaton (Pennsylvanian) rocks of Jackson and Cass counties, Missouri. Isopach maps were prepared for two of the identifiable fluvial sandstones and a structure map was drawn on the laterally extensive Anna Shale.

The term "Squirrel" has been applied to as many as five different sandstone packages, and thus, has been the source of a great deal of confusion. In an attempt to sort out the confusion this thesis recognizes and defines three …

Lead-Zinc Metallotects Of The Ozark Dome, Linda Leigh Mallery

Masters Theses

"This is a regional study of the relationship between Mississippi Valley-type mineral deposits and structural features of the Ozark dome which resulted in the description and classification of lead-zinc "metallotects". A more accurate delineation of the Ozark dome was accomplished by examining the gradient and structural contour lines of its Precambrian basement. A general background on the geology, structure, and evaluation of the Ozark dome was discussed along with the stratigraphy, structure, and ore deposits of the major lead-zinc districts of the Ozark dome in order to develop the background data for the application of the "metallotect" concept. The major …

Geochemistry And Petrology Of The Cold Springs Breccia Formation, Wichita Mountains, Oklahoma, Dana Marie Vidrine

Masters Theses

"In the Wichita province of southwestern Oklahoma the Cold Springs Breccia Formation, exposed in a 15 km² area in Kiowa County, is characterized by blocks and pillows of microdiorite surrounded by pink granite. Intimately associated with this mixed zone are sill-like bodies of intermediate rocks, granodiorites and tonalites. The intermediate rocks have been interpreted as hybrids produced by assimilation of microdiorite by granitic magma, and the mixed zone has been interpreted as an intrusion breccia formed at the margins of the hybrid sills.

Major, minor and trace element data have been obtained on a suite of granites, intermediates, and …

Mineralogy And Chemistry Of The Tuff On Pritchards Station, East-Central Nevada, Stanley Christopher Hatfield

Masters Theses

"The Tuff of Pritchards Station in east-central Nevada is a little-known ash-flow tuff of limited areal extent. A detailed study of this tuff was conducted to determine if it is a distinctive unit which can be correlated from one locality to another.

Mineralogical and chemical data indicate that the Tuff of Pritchards Station displays significant lateral variability. Lateral variations in mineralogy include changes in total crystal content and the amount and grain size of individual minerals present over the area studied. Chemically, the tuff is a quartz latite to rhyodacite in composition. However, certain elements, most noteably titanium, show considerable …

Lithofacies Analysis Of The Roubidoux Formation, South Central Missouri, Michael William Harbaugh

Masters Theses

"Lithologic and thickness data of the Lower Ordovician rocks of the Roubidoux Formation, south central Missouri, were interpreted from sample logs. Maps included are based on structure, thickness and lateral and vertical lithologic variability. Sand distribution in the Roubidoux is represented by a "sand percentage" map, a "sand isolith" map, and a "tripartite sand distribution" map. The Roubidoux Formation consists of a sequence of dolomite, sandy dolomite, sand and chert. It is believed that the Roubidoux was deposited on a stable marine platform receiving a supply of elastics from the north and northeast. The sands were deposited by longshore or …

The Precambrian Volcanic Stratigraphy And Petrology Of The Des Arc Ne 7 1/2 Minute Quadrangle, South Central St. Francois Mountains, Missouri, Vernon Max Brown

Doctoral Dissertations

"The Precambrian volcanics in the Des Arc NE 7½ minute quadrangle are composed predominantly of rhyolitic ash-flow tuffs with minor rhyolitic, trachytic, and andesitic lavas, and basaltic dikes. Thirty-seven volcanic units were identified, mapped, and informally named. A minimum of 1,000 meters of volcanic section is present. The rhyolites consist of phenocrysts of albitized alkali feldspar, albitic plagioclase, quartz, opaques, and ferromagnesium relicts set in a devitrified and locally recrystallized felsitic matrix. Pumice and lithophysal structures are common in the ash flows.

Chemically, the rhyolites are quite similar. The potassium to sodium ratio in individual units, however, tends to vary …

The Michigan Basin, L. L. Sloss

UMR Journal -- V. H. McNutt Colloquium Series

The Michigan basin is widely acknowledged to be the archetype among those basins of cratonic interiors whose subsidence is dominated by flexure rather than faulting. Broadly ovate in plan over an area of some hundreds of thousands of square kilometers, with a preserved Phanerozoic sediment thickness exceeding 4 km accumulated during distinct episodes of subsidence over a 500-million year span, the basin is endowed with significant fossil-fuel resources.

The basin area is crossed, from north-northwest, by a rift zone filled with mafic igneous rock and great thickness of sedimentary rock resting on Archean and Middle Proterozoic crystallines. Rifting is presumably …