Analysis Of Elock-Eval Pyrolysis

Shale becomes more predominate at near the top of the formation (Thompson 1970b). Thompson noted that this formation is largely composed of micrite, pelmicrite, and pelsparite, with a significant portion of dolomite also present (1970b). Indications of paleosol formation, sub-vertical burrows, and, in the clay-rich layers, abundant hematite flakes are common of Juniata sediments (Davies 2010 and Thompson 1970b). Each of the three genetic units in this formation, however, have unique lithologic compositions and sedimentary structures (Figure 2).

According to Thompson and Turk (2011), sedimentary rocks are broadly divided into four categories: clastic, organic, chemical, and bioclastic rocks. Clastic sedimentary rock is “composed of particles of weathered rocks, such as sand grains and pebbles (also known as clasts), which have been transported, deposited, and lithified” (38). Clastic rocks, such as shale, siltstone, and sandstone, are composed of fragments of older rocks: clay, silt, and sand (38). Moreover, organic sedimentary rocks consist of “lithified remains of plants or animals,” and the most common examples are coal, which is made up of decomposed and compacted plant remains and

Next, we can see that the rock displays a subtle porphyritic texture with plagioclase comprising the phenocrysts. The overall texture of the surrounding groundmass is granoblastic equigranular. Under thin section we also see a weakly defined foliation evidenced in the preferential alignment of actinolite grains and to a lesser extent chlorite grains. Undulose extinction is also observed in quartz indicating the rock was subject to deformation. The normalized quartz, alkali-feldspar, and plagioclase (QAP) values of this rock indicate that it is classified as a grano-diorite according to the IUGS QAPF classification system which is consistent with the hand sample interpretation.

The well tested in this project is located in the city of Brighton in Weld County, CO. Well SHABLE AB11-04P which is operated by Halliburton is one of the many wells in the Wattenberg field. Wattenberg field is a low permeability (“tight”) basin center gas field (Highley 12).Based from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in 1999, the Wattenberg field has approximately produced 1.75 TCFG, 76.4 MMBO, and 15.7 MMBW from all of the formation above. The primary source of hydrocarbon production in the Wattenberg field comes from the Muddy (“J”) Sandstone formation which currently has 1,900 producing wells. The Wattenberg formation also has a potential biogenic gas reserves for coalbed methane (CBM) production at the Laramie formation

Two-hundred million years ago a salt sea covered the Permian Basin which can be attributed to the abundance of oil in Odessa, Texas. Once the structure of the Earth changed a limestone floor developed in the sea. With the help of other rocks, hydrocarbons were trapped from the plants and animals which later resulted in the formation of oil and gas. This area is known as the Permian Basin and distinguishes counties in West Texas and South New Mexico. The Permian Basin earned its name with Permian referring to the Permian Period where sedimentary beds were simultaneously deposited in parts of Russia, England, Southeast New Mexico and West Texas. Basin can be defined as, geologically, a natural indentation in the Earth’s surface that contains water. Two thousand foot cliffs of limestone that cover West Texas and South East New Mexico were at one time submerged reefs created by millions of lime-secreting algae. With this knowledge the West Texas Geological Society

Natural gas began to be extracted from the Marcellus shale formation in the mid-2000s’, and now well pads and their associated infrastructures are now well known fixtures in the Appalachian Mountain regions. Marcellus Shale is an organically rich black shale which is currently being explored by drilling as a source of natural gas. The region in question encompasses most of the relatively uninhabited Appalachian basin, which is located within the Appalachian mountain range. The basin is comprised of sedimentary rocks which stretch from Ontario, Canada all the way down through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, and New Jersey.

1981- Results of the Eastern Gas Shales Project were published by the US Department of the Interior

“The Utica shale is a black, calcareous, organic rich shale of Middle Ordovician age”(King). It is found under Marcellus Shale and is located in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York and parts of eastern North America. Utica is a couple thousand feet below Marcellus Shale. Utica has large amounts of natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquid. The United States Geological Survey estimates about 38 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, 940 million barrels of oil and 208 million of natural gas liquids. The formation is interesting due to its vast size and depth. Also, the gas and oil has very low permeability that

occurring beneath the Santa Ana Volcano. This paper reports the lava chemistry and petrography from rock samples collected

With the United States current demand for oil at roughly 20 million barrels per day, this resource could potential last for another 400 years. These types of numbers suggest that if low-cost production methods can be developed and used effectively to recover the oil, the economic benefits would be great. In the following paper I intend to give clear and succinct information on how oil shale was deposited in the Greater Green River Basin, what it is made of, what was the maturation history of the shale, how the oil is recovered from very impermeable sedimentary units, how economics will play a role in its future as a reliable energy source, as well as the environmental impact of oil production in the basin.

Marcellus Shale is geologically defined as a sedimentary rock that is located at least a mile below the surface and developed approximately 380 million years ago, during Devonian times, in a region referred to as the Appalachian Basin, which explains its prominence in the northeastern region of the United States (“What”). But, more importantly, Marcellus is a specific example of natural gas that contains a substantial concentration of methane, “trapped in low-permeability shale, which requires the hydraulic fracturing or fracking” (“Marcellus Formation”). The natural gas occurs within the Marcellus Shale in several ways, including: “the pore spaces of the shale, the vertical fractures that break through the shale, and adsorbed on mineral grains and organic

Quinnanie Shale is suggested to be a source rock, it has fair levels of organics, but has low generating potential, and is most likely more gas prone. The Byro Group itself contains some source rocks. However, it is suggested that this system is immature (Ghori, 1998)

Microbial communities have been observed around wells that were created using hydraulic fracturing. Shale beds, like the Barnett Shale in Texas, are believed to be sterilized due to the thermogenic origin of the gas formations. “The gas in the shale is entirely of thermogenic origin and was generated during heating events that resulted in temperatures of up to 150 °C (Montgomery et al., 2005). These temperatures are much higher than the currently established temperature limit for life (122 °C) and likely sterilized the formation (Jones & Lineweaver, 2010).” (Struchtemeyer, 2011) Microorganisms may be present due to microorganisms present in the water used

    Three measures of unknown sulfate salt was measured and placed into three beakers with water, Hydrochloric acid, and Barium Chloride. The solutions were heated until Barium Sulfate precipitated and the solutions were filtered through ashless filter papers to collect the precipitate. The filter papers were combusted until only the BaSO4 remained, and the precipitates were massed in crucibles. Using the masses of the BaSO4, the percent composition of the sulfate was calculated and used to determine the percent composition of the sulfate in the original unknown sulfate salt. The experiment performed was required for gravimetric analysis of sulfate to find the mass percent of sulfate in the original unknown sample. Without gravimetric analysis, it would be much more difficult to determine the mass composition of sulfate ions in the unknown sample.  The ending result showed that the percent composition of sulfate in the unknown salt was approximately between 23.65% and 29.55%.

Subsequent research focusing more solely on the San Pedro Pellado Volcanic Complex by Davidson, Ferguson, Colucci, and Dungan (1988) provides evidence that some degree of crustal assimilation has had an impact on the evolution of magmas in the volcanic complex. The evidence for this is the high δ^18O observed in fresh non-glassy rock units. Taylor and Sheppard (1986) argue that the differences in characteristics among rock units of the complex cannot be explained by the closed system fractionalization of an unaltered mantle melt. The concentrations of the oxygen isotopes suggest that the magmas that formed these igneous rocks have undergone some contamination with a crustal component containing a higher concentration of 18O (Davidson et al., 1988). The occasional presence of granitic xenoliths in the lavas and tuffs, such as the Pellado unit, are also indicative of some level of crustal contamination. These xenoliths are enriched in large ion lithophiles and have similar concentrations of REE as the underlying basement material and are therefore believed to be pieces of the underlying basement of the volcanic complex (Davidson et al., 1988). For the granites to be included into the melts as they rise through the crustal material indicates there is some degree of interaction between melts and crustal material.