Geology Commons^™

Evaluation Of Geohazards In The Cape Girardeau Area Using Lidar And Gis, Southeast Missouri, Usa, Olufeyisayo B. Ososami, J. David Rogers, Francisca Oboh-Ikuenobe

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) has historically recorded some of the largest intensity earthquakes in North America, including significant earth movements that resulted in about 2000 felt earthquakes during 1811-1812. The region continues to experience mass wasting due to earth movements. The aim of this study is to understand the influence of geologic variables on mass wasting processes in the greater Cape Girardeau area, which forms the commercial center of Missouri's fertile "Bootheel" region. Earth movement susceptibility was evaluated in Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties and portions of Stoddard and Scott counties by mapping potential landslide features on topographic …

Findings Report: Virtual Workshop On ‘Resilient Supply Of Critical Minerals’, Marek Locmelis, Angela D. Lueking, Michael S. Moats, Kwame Awuah-Offei, Lana Z. Alagha, Mark W. Fitch, Alanna Krolikowski, Shelby Clark

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Executive Summary
On August 2-3, 2021, the Thomas J. O’Keefe Institute for Sustainable Supply of Strategic Minerals at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) hosted the NSF-funded virtual workshop ‘Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals’. The workshop was convened via Zoom and attracted 158 registrants, including 108 registrants from academia (61 students), 30 registrants from government agencies, and 20 registrants from the private sector. Four topical sessions were covered:

A. Mineral Exploration and Source Diversification.
B. Supply Chain and Policy Issues.
C. Improving Mineral Recycling and Reprocessing Technologies.
D. Technological Alternatives to Critical Minerals.

Each topical session was composed …

Teleseismic P-Wave Attenuation Beneath The Southeastern United States, Ashutosh Shrivastava, Kelly H. Liu, Stephen S. Gao

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Seismic attenuation is an important parameter for characterizing subsurface morphology and thermal structure. In this study, we use P-wave amplitude spectra from 588 teleseismic events recorded by 477 broadband seismic stations in the southeastern United States to examine the spatial variations of seismic attenuation in the crust and upper mantle. The resulting seismic attenuation parameter (∆t*) measurements obtained using the spectral ratio technique reveal a zone of relatively low attenuation in the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain and the southwestern terminus of the Piedmont province. Spatial coherency analysis of the ∆t* observations suggests that the center of the low attenuation …

Dynamic Topography Of The St. Francois Mountains, Joshua Carpenter

Undergraduate Research Conference at Missouri S&T

The purpose of this research project was to search for evidence of relict topographic surfaces in the St. Francois Mountains that preserve a history of regional and/or global forces. To accomplish this, topographic cross-sections were taken in Google Earth to examine changes in the region's topography with focus towards the following features: sub-horizontal surfaces, knickpoints, and valley floors. Elevation data was then collected and plotted in Excel. This revealed sub-horizontal surfaces between elevations of ~1780-1545 ft; knickpoints between ~1700-900 ft; and valley floors at ~1470-1350 ft. and ~1200-900 ft. The sub-horizontal surfaces are interpreted as relict peneplains preserved during periods …

Spatial Variations Of Upper Crustal Anisotropy Along The San Jacinto Fault Zone In Southern California: Constraints From Shear Wave Splitting Analysis, Enyuan Jiang, Kelly H. Liu, Yuan Gao, Xiaofei Fu, Stephen S. Gao

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

To discern spatial and explore possible existence of temporal variations of upper crustal anisotropy in an ∼15 km section of the San Jacinto Fault Zone (SJFZ) that is composed of the Buck Ridge and Clark faults in southern California, we conduct a systematic shear wave splitting investigation using local S-wave data recorded by three broadband seismic stations located near the surface expression of the SJFZ. An automatic data selection and splitting measurement procedure is first applied, and the resulting splitting measurements are then manually screened to ensure reliability of the results. Strong spatial variations in crustal anisotropy are revealed by …

Seismic Anisotropy And Mantle Deformation Beneath The Central Sunda Plate, Wenkai Song, Youqiang Yu, Stephen S. Gao, Kelly H. Liu, Yifang Fu

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The central Sunda plate, which forms the core of Southeast Asia, has been extensively studied based on analyses of data mainly from surface geological observations. In contrast, largely due to the limited coverage by seismic stations in the area, a number of key issues associated with mantle structure and dynamics remain enigmatic. These can possibly be constrained by investigating seismic azimuthal anisotropy in the upper mantle. Here we employ the shear wave splitting technique on three P-to-S converted phases from the core-mantle boundary (PKS, SKKS, and SKS) recorded by 11 stations to systematically explore the spatial variation of azimuthal anisotropy …

High-Precision U-Pb Age Constraints On The Permian Floral Turnovers, Paleoclimate Change, And Tectonics Of The North China Block, Qiong Wu, Jahandar Ramezani, Hua Zhang, Jun Wang, Wan Yang, For Full List Of Authors, See Publisher's Website.

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Permian marine-terrestrial system of the North China block provides an exceptional window into the evolution of northern temperate ecosystems during the critical transition from icehouse to greenhouse following the late Paleozoic ice age (LPIA). Despite many studies on its rich hydrocarbon reserves and climate-sensitive fossil flora, uncertain temporal constraints and correlations have hampered a thorough understanding of the records of geologic, biologic, and climatic change from the North China block. We present a new chronostratigraphy based on high-precision U-Pb chemical abrasion-isotope dilution-thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CA-ID-TIMS) geochronology of tuffs from a near-complete latest Carboniferous-Permian succession in North China. The …

Characterization And Oil Recovery Enhancement By A Polymeric Nanogel Combined With Surfactant For Sandstone Reservoirs, Mustafa Mohammed Almahfood, Baojun Bai

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The characterization and enhanced oil recovery mechanisms of a nanosized polymeric cross-linked gel are presented herein. A negatively charged nanogel was synthesized using a typical free radical suspension polymerization process by employing 2-acrylamido 2-methyl propane sulfonic acid monomer. The synthesized nanogel showed a narrow size distribution with one peak pointing to a predominant homogeneous droplet size. The charged nanogels were also able to adsorb at the oil-water interfaces to reduce interfacial tension and stabilize oil-in-water emulsions, which ultimately improved the recovered oil from hydrocarbon reservoirs. In addition, a fixed concentration of negatively charged surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate or SDS) was …

Concentrated Lunar Resources: Imminent Implications For Governance And Justice, Martin Elvis, Alanna Krolikowski, Tony Milligan

History and Political Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Numerous missions planned for the next decade are likely to target a handful of small sites of interest on the Moon's surface, creating risks of crowding and interference at these locations. The Moon presents finite and scarce areas with rare topography or concentrations of resources of special value. Locations of interest to science, notably for astronomy, include the Peaks of Eternal Light, the coldest of the cold traps and smooth areas on the far side. Regions richest in physical resources could also be uniquely suited to settlement and commerce. Such sites of interest are both few and small. Typically, there …

Preclassic Cultural Eutrophication Of Lake Petén Itzá, Lowland Guatemala, By The Early Maya Of Nixtun-Ch'ich', Brooke A. Birkett

Masters Theses

"Paleolimnological evidence indicates the ancient Maya transformed lowland terrestrial ecosystems by felling forest vegetation to construct large civic-ceremonial centers and expand agriculture. The effects of prehistoric Maya land alterations on lake trophic status, however, remain poorly understood. We analyzed a 515-cm-long sediment core from Lake Petén Itzá, lowland Guatemala, to infer paleoenvironmental changes resulting from Maya occupation of the riparian archaeological site of Nixtun-Ch'ich'. Substantial increases in charcoal and fecal stanol concentrations indicate Maya occupation of the Candelaria Peninsula by the late Early Preclassic period beginning ca. 1400 cal yr Before the Common Era (hereafter BCE), despite scant archaeological evidence …

First Ever Polymer Flood Field Pilot To Enhance The Recovery Of Heavy Oils On Alaska's North Slope Pushing Ahead One Year Later, Abhijit Dandekar, Baojun Bai, John Barnes, Dave Cercone, Jared Ciferno, Reid Edwards, Samson Ning, Walbert Schulpen, Randy Seright, Brent Sheets, Dongmei Wang, Yin Zhang

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In June 2018 the team embarked on an ambitious project to address the slow development pace of Alaska's 20+ billion barrels heavy oil resource via the first ever polymer flood pilot. Following the successful commencement of the pilot in August 2018, the field demonstration, supporting laboratory experiments and numerical simulation have steadily progressed. A significant amount of valuable data and lessons learned have been collected and are reported in this paper. The ongoing pilot and the research activities is making headway toward the primary objective of validating the use of polymer flooding for extracting heavy oil in Alaska's challenging environment. …

Impact Of Rheology Models On Horizontal Well Polymer Flooding In A Heavy Oil Reservoir On Alaska North Slope: A Simulation Study, Jianqiao Leng, Mingzhen Wei, Baojun Bai, Randall S. Seright, Yin Zhang, David Cercone, Samson Ning

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Polymer rheology can have either a positive or a negative effect on polymer flooding performance under varied circumstances. Many researchers have studied the effect of polymer rheology in a vertical well, but no field scale studies have been conducted to investigate whether polymer rheology is beneficial to polymer flooding in heavy oil reservoirs developed by horizontal wells. In this paper, we conducted a numerical simulation study to examine the effect of HPAM polymer rheology on a polymer flooding pilot, which is the first-ever project conducted on a heavy oil reservoir from Alaska North Slope (ANS) developed by horizontal wells. Three …

Relationships Among Mineralogy, Geochemistry, And Oil And Gas Production In The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, Hayley Roxana Beitel

Masters Theses

"The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) is an unconventional shale reservoir located in southeast Louisiana and southwest Mississippi. Limited mineralogical and geochemical data for the TMS have been published. The data that do exist indicate that the formation is heterogeneous. Consequently, previous investigators and oil and gas companies have not managed to effectively link mineralogical and chemical changes to oil and gas production in the TMS. These linkages are critical to establish for future exploration efforts. In this study, we attempt to establish these relationships by gathering all existing mineralogical and chemical data in the TMS, including newly acquired data from …

Multiple Generations Of Phlogopite In An Alnöite Diatreme: Insights Into The Petrogenesis Of The Avon Alkaline Igneous Province, Missouri, Nathan Gregory Limbaugh

Masters Theses

“Alkaline Ultramafic Carbonatite (AUC) complexes, although rare, are valued for diamonds and REEs, and as windows into subcontinental and mantle processes as recorded by rock fabrics, mineral spatial relationships, and mineral compositions. We report specifically on olivine and phlogopite petrographic relationships and compositions from the Devonian alnoite diatreme-facies of the Avon Alkaline Igneous Province, Missouri. The diatreme alnoite is a mixture of domains of olivine magmaclasts (OM) set in a crystal-rich melilite matrix. OM are highly fractured, serpentinized olivine pseudomorphs with variable amounts of pristine olivine fragments. Larger olivine domains typically exhibit clear crystal faces and irregular “channels” indicative of …

Neogene Dinoflagellate Cysts From The Tropical Americas, Damian Cardenas

Doctoral Dissertations

"Marine palynomorphs, mainly dinoflagellate cysts and acritarchs, constitute excellent proxies for biostratigraphic and paleoceanographic studies in neritic sequences. Neogene marine palynological studies have mostly focused on the Northern Hemisphere, resulting in the scarcity of dinoflagellate cysts and acritarchs from tropical latitudes. Forty samples encompassing the late Chattian-late Burgidalian time interval (~24.1- 17.3 Ma) in the Southern Caribbean were analyzed for their marine palynological contents. A biostratigraphic scheme for the region is proposed and includes the upper Chattian-lower Aquitanian Minisphaeridium latirictum Interval Zone (~23.9-22.0 Ma), the upper Aquitanian Achomosphaera alcicornu Interval Zone (~22.0-20.3 Ma), and the Burdigalian Cribroperidinium tenuitabulatum Interval Zone …

The Pilot Knob Magnetite, Pilot Knob Hematite, And Shepherd Mountain Iron Oxide Deposits In Southeast Missouri -- Local Expressions Of A Magmatic-Hydrothermal Plumbing System?, Bolorchimeg N. Tunnell

Doctoral Dissertations

“The Southeast Missouri Iron Metallogenic Province in the Midwestern USA contains seven major and several minor IOA/IOCG-type deposits, all of which are spatially associated with the early Mesoproterozoic (1.50-1.44 Ga) magmatism in the St. Francois Mountains terrane. This Ph.D. project focuses on the Pilot Knob deposits, i.e., the deeper largely massive Pilot Knob Magnetite (PKM) and the shallower Pilot Knob Hematite (PKH) deposits, and the Shepherd Mountain deposit that are located less than 2.1 km distance from one another. The first precise age for the formation of the PKM ore is constrained at 1438±5.8 Ma using apatite U-Pb method. Petrographic …

Timing Of Deformation Along The Iron Springs Thrust, Southern Sevier Fold-And-Thrust Belt, Utah: Evidence For An Extensive Thrusting Event In The Mid-Cretaceous, J. Daniel Quick, John Patrick Hogan, Michael Wizevich, Jonathan Obrist-Farner, James L. Crowley

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The temporal and spatial distribution of strain associated with the Sevier orogeny in western North America is significantly different in the southern end of the belt, at the latitude of Las Vegas, Nevada, than farther to the north at the latitude of Salt Lake City, Utah. Reasons for these differences have been speculative as a lack of temporal constraints on thrusting in the intervening region hindered along-strike correlation across the belt. We determined a crystallization age of 100.18 ± 0.04 Ma for zircons extracted from a recently recognized dacite lapilli ash-fall tuff near the base of the synorogenic Iron Springs …

Groundwater Withdrawal Prediction Using Integrated Multitemporal Remote Sensing Data Sets And Machine Learning, S. Majumdar, Ryan G. Smith, J. J. Butler, V. Lakshmi

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Effective monitoring of groundwater withdrawals is necessary to help mitigate the negative impacts of aquifer depletion. In this study, we develop a holistic approach that combines water balance components with a machine learning model to estimate groundwater withdrawals. We use both multitemporal satellite and modeled data from sensors that measure different components of the water balance and land use at varying spatial and temporal resolutions. These remote sensing products include evapotranspiration, precipitation, and land cover. Due to the inherent complexity of integrating these data sets and subsequently relating them to groundwater withdrawals using physical models, we apply random forests -- …

Drastic Vegetation Change In The Guajira Peninsula (Colombia) During The Neogene, Carlos Jaramillo, Pierre Sepulchre, Damian Cardenas, Francisca Oboh-Ikuenobe, For Full List Of Authors, See Publisher's Website.

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Dry biomes occupy ~35% of the landscape in the Neotropics, but these are heavily human-disturbed. In spite of their importance, we still do not fully understand their origins and how they are sustained. The Guajira Peninsula in northern Colombia is dominated by dry biomes and has a rich Neogene fossil record. Here, we have analyzed its changes in vegetation and precipitation during the Neogene using a fossil pollen and spore dataset of 20 samples taken from a well and we also dated the stratigraphic sequence using microfossils. In addition, we analyzed the pollen and spore contents of 10 Holocene samples …

Practical Measurement Of Size Distribution Of Blasted Rocks Using Lidar Scan Data, Irfan C. Engin, Norbert H. Maerz, Kenneth J. Boyko, Robert Reals

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Majority of the world's mine production is made by surface mining facilities for various reasons. Use of explosives is the most economical way in loosening of the main rock where hard rock formations exist. The degree of fragmentation affects the subsequent excavation and loading operations as well as indicates the success of the blasting process. Although the most preferred method for the measurement of fragment size of blasted rock is digital image analysis, the method also includes some limitations and errors. In this study, size distribution of the blasted rock was measured directly using laser scanning-LiDAR technology and a new …

Slab Dehydration And Mantle Upwelling In The Vicinity Of The Sumatra Subduction Zone: Evidence From Receiver Function Imaging Of Mantle Transition Zone Discontinuities, Fansheng Kong, Stephen S. Gao, Kelly H. Liu, Weiwei Ding, Jiabiao Li

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A total of 10,586 P-to-S radial receiver functions recorded by 64 broadband seismic stations were utilized to image the 410 and 660 km discontinuities (d410 and d660, respectively) bordering the mantle transition zone (MTZ) beneath the Sumatra Island, the Malay Peninsula, and the western margin of the South China Sea. The d410 and d660 were imaged by stacking receiver functions in successive circular bins with a radius of 1°, after moveout corrections based on the 1-D IASP91 Earth model. The resulting apparent depths of the discontinuities exhibit significant and spatially systematic variations. The apparent depths of the d410 and d660 …

Topography Of The 410 And 660 Km Discontinuities Beneath The Cenozoic Okavango Rift Zone And Adjacent Precambrian Provinces, Youqiang Yu, Stephen S. Gao, Kelly H. Liu

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

By taking advantage of the recent availability of a broadband seismic data set from Networks NR and BX covering the entire country of Botswana, we conduct a systematic receiver function investigation of the topography of the 410 and 660 km discontinuities beneath the incipient Okavango rift zone (ORZ) in northern Botswana and its adjacent Archean-Proterozoic tectonic provinces in southern Africa. Similar to a previous mantle transition zone (MTZ) discontinuity study using data from a 1-D profile traversing the ORZ, a normal MTZ thickness is observed in most parts of the study area. This is inconsistent with the existence of widespread …

A Bayesian Framework To Unravel Food, Groundwater, And Climate Linkages: A Case Study From Louisiana, Nitin K. Singh, Ruchi Bhattacharya, David M. Borrok

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Advancing our understanding of the connections among groundwater, food, and climate is critical to meet global food demands while optimizing water resources usage. However, our understanding of the linkages among groundwater, food, and climate is still limited. Here, we offer a Bayesian framework to simulate crop yield at a regional scale and quantify its relationships and associated uncertainty with climate, groundwater, agricultural, and energy-related variables. We implemented the framework in the rice-producing regions of Louisiana from 1960-2015. To build a parsimonious model, we used a probability-based variable selection approach to detect the key drivers of rice yield. Rice yield increased, …

Groundwater Storage Loss Associated With Land Subsidence In Western United States Mapped Using Machine Learning, Ryan G. Smith, Sayantan Majumdar

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Land subsidence caused by groundwater extraction has numerous negative consequences, such as loss of groundwater storage and damage to infrastructure. Understanding the magnitude, timing, and locations of land subsidence, as well as the mechanisms driving it, is crucial to implementing mitigation strategies, yet the complex, nonlinear processes causing subsidence are difficult to quantify. Physical models relating groundwater flux to aquifer compaction exist but require substantial hydrological data sets and are time consuming to calibrate. Land deformation can be measured using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) and GPS, but the former is computationally expensive to estimate at scale and is subject …

Soil Fatigue Hazard Screening Analyses Framework For Spacio-Temporally Clustered Induced Seismicity With Examples Of Damage Potential Due To Liquefaction, Merissa L. Zuzulock, Oliver Denzil S. Taylor, Norbert H. Maerz

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Current studies that focus solely on the cause of the increase in seismicity neglect to include considerations for effects of small magnitude cluster events on federal infrastructure. These effects can be almost undetectable at first, but if left unchecked can evolve into a larger issue. The need to reassess and potentially modify the established risk assessment practices for evaluations of federal infrastructure needs to be reviewed to ensure the continued ability of the structure to function as intended. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is responsible for hydroelectric power, flood protection, recreational areas, navigational channels and water supply along …

The Biostratigraphy Of The Offshore Niger Delta During The Late Quaternary: Complexities And Progress Of Dating Techniques, Onema Adojoh, Fabienne Marret-Davies, Robert Duller, Peter Osterloff, Francisca Oboh-Ikuenobe, Malcolm Hart, Christopher Smart

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Late Quaternary marine sediments from the Niger Delta lacks an age model using conventional radiocarbon dating due to the rarity of calcareous macrofossils. The proprietary nature of material drilled by companies prospecting for hydrocarbons in the Niger Delta basin, and in the rare cases when samples are available for study as well as freshwater dilution from continental runoff have contributed to this dearth of knowledge. The availability of three shallow marine (∼3 m) gravity cores obtained from the eastern, central, and western parts of the Niger Delta provides the opportunity for biostratigraphy utilizing well-preserved marker species of planktonic foraminifera …

Prediction Of Tunnel Wall Convergences For Natm Tunnels Which Are Excavated In Weak-To-Fair-Quality Rock Masses Using Decision-Tree Technique And Rock Mass Strength Parameters, Özgür Satici, Tamer Topal

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Tunnel wall convergences should be predicted before the excavation and should be determined accurately in order to ensure safe and economic tunnel excavation media. For this to be possible, rock mass behaviors in the tunnel should also be estimated prior to excavation. This could be ensured by site investigation studies, numerical models and predictive statistics. In this study, the development of convergences during a tunnel excavation in Turkey, excavated by NATM technique, was evaluated by using statistical prediction techniques for weak-to-fair-quality rock masses. For this aim, actual tunnel wall convergence data and rock mass strength parameters were used. For prediction …

Receiver Function Imaging Of The 410 And 660 Km Discontinuities Beneath The Australian Continent, Kailun Ba, Stephen S. Gao, Kelly H. Liu, Fansheng Kong, Jianguo Song

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

To provide constraints on a number of significant controversial issues related to the structure and dynamics of the Australian continent, we utilize P-to-S receiver functions (RFs) recorded by 182 stations to map the 410 and 660 km discontinuities (d410 and d660, respectively) bordering the mantle transition zone (MTZ). The RFs are stacked in successive circular bins with a radius of 1° under a non-plane wave front assumption. The d410 and d660 depths obtained using the 1-D IASP91 earth model show a systematic apparent uplifting of about 15 km for both discontinuities in central and western Australia relative to eastern Australia, …

Mantle Structure And Flow Beneath An Early-Stage Continental Rift: Constraints From P Wave Anisotropic Tomography, Youqiang Yu, Stephen S. Gao, Dapeng Zhao, Kelly H. Liu

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

To explore 3-D seismic velocity and radial anisotropy structures of the upper mantle and mantle transition zone beneath the Malawi and Luangwa rift zones of the East African Rift System, we conduct the first study of P wave anisotropic tomography using data recorded at 75 seismic stations including 34 stations that we installed along two profiles as part of the Seismic Arrays for African Rift Initiation experiment. Both rift zones are revealed to have normal or slightly low velocity anomalies in the lithosphere and upper asthenosphere. The surrounding cratonic lithosphere is characterized by high-velocity anomalies with amplitudes ranging from +1.0% …

Emulsion Stability Of Heavy Oil With Surfactants And Nanoparticles, Zainab Abdulmohsein, Baojun Bai, Parthasakha Neogi

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The recovered crude oil is often in form of an emulsion and the recovery is cut off when water to oil ratio exceeds a certain amount. The emulsions vary from water-in-oil to oil-in-water and the step that follows is to coalesce droplets to get two continuous liquids. Difficulties arise when the oil contains emulsifiers. There are naturally occurring surfactants, or the oil recovered is by enhanced oil recovery techniques which have additives that stabilize the droplets. We have considered below a heavy oil (viscosity 650-750 mPa.s) containing one of the three surfactants: a nonionic surfactant or a cationic surfactant or …