C NT CT. Upco ming 2011 WGA Luncheon Meeti ngs ICHNOLOGY CHNOLOGY: : STATE AMERICA IN NORTH TREC: T PROCESSES ZONE

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1 C NT CT A P u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e W y o m i n g G e o l o g i c a l A s s o c i a t i o n V o l u m e T, N o. 1 2 D e c e m b e r PRESIDENT S MESSAGE Graeme Finley Wow, what a year it has been for the WGA! I can t believe how quickly the year has gone by. First, I would like to recognize the Board, whose hard work and dedication has made my time as President a pleasure. As President-Elect, JoAnn True is more than ready to take over as President next year. 1st VP Mike Hawks has brought the insight he has gained from other volunteer boards to the WGA and has definitely made the WGA better. At 2nd VP, Julia Lemaster has had arguably the most difficult and most rewarding job. I think we can all agree that Julia did a fantastic job of arranging talks this year. Amber Robbins has stepped up to the role of Treasurer and has been very diligent in making sure the WGA s assets are being managed properly. Editor Barb Atkinson has been very devoted to getting the newsletter out each month. If you knew how busy she was at work, you d be surprised that you get a newsletter at all. That brings me to our illustrious Past-President Steve Reid. Steve had the advantage of serving on the Board in the past. His experience kept our relatively inexperienced board from repeating past mistakes, and making new ones. I am very proud of the Board s accomplishments this past year, and I am happy to say the entire board is continuing on next year. Now we just need a new 2nd VP! Table of Contents President s Message pp. 1-2 Luncheon Abstracts pp. 3-5 Awareness News p. 5 6 Santa Clause Did You Know? p. 6 Tis the Season!!! p. 7 WGA Pioneers p. 8 WGA United States Veterans p. 9 Professional Services pp Professional Development p. 12 WGA Contact Information p. 13 Calendar Quick Reference p. 14 So, what has happened to the WGA over the last year? We were sad that Beth Anderson left for Utah leaving the office manager position open, but we found a great fit and a hard worker in Dixie Eaton. President s Message Continued on Page 2... ATTENTION!! Due to rising publication costs, the CONTACT newsletter will only be available online at the WGA website, starting on January 1, See the WGA website at: If you would like to opt out, and you will require a hard copy of a specific newsletter, please kindly contact the WGA Office Administrator, Dixie Eaton, at: Upco ming 2011 WGA Luncheon Meeti ngs Reservations: info@wyogeo.org or call and leave a message at WGA office Meetings: At Casper Petroleum Club, unless noted. Lunch: Buffet ($10.50), served 11:15a.m. to noon. Speakers Presentations: Begin at noon. Guests: Always Welcome! 2 Dec 9 Dec 16 Dec 23 Dec 30 Dec BRENT H. BREITHAUPT LESLEY URASKY STEVE HOLBROOK, 2012 GEO- PRISMS DISTINGUISHED LECTURER NO MEETING NO MEETING PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ICHNOLOGY CHNOLOGY: : STATE S TATE-OF-THE HE-ART DIGITAL DATA ANALYSIS OF PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCES IN NORTH AMERICA MERICA,, EUROPE E UROPE,, ASIA A SIA, AND AFRICA POLAR OLARTREC: TO T ANTARCTICA IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE AND TEACHING TREC: T SUBDUCTION ZONE PROCESSES Merry Christmas! & Happy Holidays! Happy New Year!

2 PRESIDENT RESIDENT S MESSAGE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The biggest event was certainly the Rocky Mountain Section meeting hosted by the WGA in Cheyenne in June. Those who attended know what a huge success it was. Lyn George and her committee did a phenomenal job of putting the event on. It was my honor to be able to present a few awards throughout the year. The Board presented Gene R. George the Best Speaker award for 2010 for his talk on the Minnelusa Formation. I presented the Distinguished Service Award to Tom C. Anderson at the Rocky Mountain Section meeting in June. Tom has definitely gone beyond the WGA to promote the science of geology. At the Veteran s meeting, I presented Mark Milliken with the Frank A. Morgan Award. Mark has made some great contributions to the WGA. In January, we had our Pioneer Meeting in which we got to recognize our 50 and 60 year members. It is quite humbling to think that our members have remained dedicated to the WGA for such a long time. I can t wait to get there myself someday! Just last month, we had our Veteran s Day lunch. We were able to honor 39 veterans by providing them with lunch. Our membership provided enough lunches to cover all of the veterans present. Thanks to our donors, and a huge thank you to those who have fought for America s freedom! Another big accomplishment of the WGA was reducing its rented space. Through the hard work of Arnold Woods, we were able to drop about 630 square feet of space, and are spending $230 per month less on rent. Speaking of Arnold Woods, he has been working on streamlining the WGA mudlog database. The way it was initially set up made it difficult to fill orders. While trying to streamline the process, he has discovered that the scanned mudlogs are a colossal mess. We have two to three copies of the same mudlog in some cases. At least one of the contractors we used to scan the initial batch didn t do any quality control, so the images are terrible. Additionally, the file naming system used makes it very hard to find specific mudlogs on the computer. We hope to have all this cleaned up and fixed early next year. You may have heard the news that in another effort to decrease costs and increase our presence in the 21 st century, the WGA is switching to a digital format for its newsletter, The Contact. Since we know that not everyone is capable of receiving the newsletter online, we are giving you the option to opt in to the paper copy. To clarify, unless you specifically request a paper copy, starting in January 2011, the only way you will receive the newsletter is by . Please make sure we have your most current on file. It has been a good year for guidebook sales. Dixie has spent a good deal of time sending guidebooks all across the country. Part of the sales success comes from our updated Southeastern Wyoming Oil and Gas Fields Symposium, which came to fruition by the hard of JoAnn True and her volunteers. Of course, the RMS meeting in June really helped out guidebook sales as well. On top of those sales, we have had a couple of large mudlog orders. All told, it has been a good year, financially, for the WGA. Amber and Julia have started up a Casper Geology Club that is supported by the WGA. This club is intended to educate interested junior high and high school students in geology. They have had pretty good success in the early going, and have five to seven consistent members. I hope that by the time you read this, you will have already received a ballot to vote on changes to the bylaws. The Board felt that it was time to update some of the old wording in the bylaws to reflect the current climate the WGA faces. We appreciate your feedback on theses changes. Only those votes we receive will count towards the eventual success of failure of the bylaws changes. It has truly been a wonderful year for the WGA. It has been my pleasure to work with such a great Board, and I look forward to watching the society evolve into the future. Graeme Finley Page 2 CONTACT December 2011

3 DECEMBER 2011 LUNCHEONL UNCHEON SPEAKER ABSTRACTS 2 Dec. Photogrammetric Ichnology: State-Of Of-The The-Art Digital Data Analysis of Paleontological Resources in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa Speaker: Brent H. Breithaupt, BLM Regional Paleontologist (WY, ID, MT, ND, SD & NE) ABSTRACT: Vertebrate trace fossils reflect the complex interrelationship between an animal and the substrate. Digital data collection provides an excellent tool for capturing an incredible wealth of information provided by ichnofossils. Closerange photogrammetry is one of the easiest and most cost-effect digital data collection techniques and forms the basis for photogrammetric ichnology. Three-dimensional image datasets created from digital photography can provide a permanent digital record of fossil tracks (including the creation of digital type specimens) and tracksites and is a non-invasive method to obtain 3D data for assessment. Photogrammetry is an objective recording and analysis method, which provides a visual, quantifiable baseline to evaluate track-bearing surfaces. It has been especially useful in remote locations of Korea, Tanzania, and the United States. Not only do these datasets support accurate visualization of the fossils, they can also be used to make accurate measurements, as well as highly accurate solid, three-dimensional models of the surface. As 3D terrain surfaces or point clouds created from photogrammetric documentation may contain thousands of very accurate x, y, and z coordinates, researchers can measure various track and trackway dimensions at a submillimeter level. In addition to traditional ichnological measurements, higher-level mathematical analyses may be conducted on the 3-D data. These calculations can automatically quantify areas of surface curvature, roughness, slope and other morphometric characteristics. Because these calculations are conducted by algorithms within the software, human bias is greatly removed if not eliminated. Utilizing this type of data analysis, unbiased morphological correlations of various ichnofaunas (e.g., Jurassic tracks from Wyoming, Utah, Scotland and England) can be made and footprint data normalized (e.g., converting convex hyporelief forms to concave epirelief) for comparison purposes. Digital datasets are stored easily, provide a permanent record, are readily shared, and are currently helping to unravel numerous ichnological complexities in Permian-Pliocene sites throughout the world. 7 Dec. THE 2011 WGA/SPE CHRISTMAS PARTY! CONTACT December 2011 Page 3

4 DECEMBER 2011 LUNCHEONL 9 Dec. PolarTREC: To Antarctica in the Name of Science and Teaching Speaker: Lesley Urasky (WGA s Teacher Of The Year!) BIOGRAPHY: Expeditions: Glacial History in Antarctica Occupation: Teacher Organization: Rawlins High School UNCHEON SPEAKER ABSTRACTS Lesley Urasky's love of nature began when her parents took her into the mountains when she was just six days old! Since then, she has received a bachelor's and a master's degree in Geology from the University of Wyoming and has spent time working in the oil, gas, and mining industries in the Rocky Mountain region. Ms. Urasky currently teaches science at Rawlins High School, in Rawlins, Wyoming. Throughout her 12 years of teaching she has taught numerous subjects, including geology, astronomy, and AP Biology to name a few. She has also been an adjunct faculty member in Geology at both the community college and university levels. While teaching in Texas, she and five of her students were selected to participate in NOAA's First Student Summit on Ocean Issues in Washington, D.C, presenting their plan to mitigate estuary degradation in Texas to various federal agencies and National Geographic. It was here, that she met Dr. Sylvia Earle, National Geographic's Explorer-in- Residence, who remains a motivating figure in her desire to study our planet's natural resources. Ms. Urasky hopes that her experience with PolarTREC will help show her students that science is an adventure that can take you to new and exciting places both physically and intellectually. In her free time, she enjoys whitewater rafting, camping & hiking, snowshoeing, and traveling to exotic places. ABOUT PolarTREC: PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) is a program in which K-12 teachers spend 2-6 weeks participating in hands-on field research experiences in the polar regions. The goal of PolarTREC is to invigorate polar science education and understanding by bringing K-12 educators and polar researchers together. By fostering the integration of research and education, PolarTREC will continue the momentum established during the International Polar Year (IPY) by addressing the following program objectives: Improve teacher content knowledge of multidisciplinary polar science. Improve teacher instructional practices, especially the use of inquiry-based learning to translate polar science to the classroom. Improve polar researchers' understanding of and engagement in K-12 education to strengthen and enrich the outreach and dissemination of their research. Increase students' understanding of and engagement in the polar regions and interest in polar science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) careers. 16 Dec. Subduction Zone Processes Speaker: Steve Holbrook, 2012 Distinguished Lecturer for the NSF-sponsored GeoPRISMS program BIOGRAPHY: Professor Steve Holbrook was recently named a 2012 Distinguished Lecturer for the GeoPRISMS program. GeoPRISMS is an NSF-sponsored program for research on continental margins. As a Distinguished Lecturer, Holbrook Page 4 CONTACT December 2011

5 DECEMBER 2011 LUNCHEON L UNCHEON SPEAKER ABSTRACTS will give up to six lectures at universities around the country on subduction zone processes. Professor Holbrook can be contacted at the University of Wyoming Department of Geology & Geophysics information is below: Reflection/refraction seismology Website: Office Phone: (307) Lab Phone: (307) Fax Phone: (307) Dept E. University Ave Laramie, Wyoming Office Room No: ESB steveh@uwyo.edu Personal Website: 23 Dec. No Meeting Holiday 30 Dec. No Meeting Holiday AWARENESS NEWS CONTACT December 2011 Page 5

6 SANTA CLAUS LAUS DID YOU KNOW? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Answers on back cover/bottom of page 14 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ (1) The character of Santa Claus is based on which two Christmas legends?... The first was the patron saint of children, who generously gave gifts to poor and orphaned young ones; the second was the spirit of good tidings. (2) Santa Claus traces his roots back to a Dutch character called?.. When the Dutch colonists came to America, they brought with them the legend of an austere bishop, dressed in a red costume and carrying a book inscribed with a list of all the good and naughty children. To this day in Holland,? delivers gifts to all the "good" children on December 5th, which is St. Nicholas' Eve. The 5th is the primary gift-giving time of the Christmas season for many Europeans. (3) The first recorded mention of Santa Claus in the United States was in what year? The New York press reported a story about a "St. A Claus." (4) How many live (real) Christmas trees are sold every year in the United States?. In 2004, live Christmas tree sales amounted to more than $506 billion in revenue for America's 22,000 tree farms. The state leader in Christmas tree production is Oregon, with sales of $143 million. (5) In 2005, Americans spent more money on Chinese-made? ($561 million) than on Christmas trees grown in the United States? (6) The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe dates back to the when? Originally, the custom held that for each kiss under the mistletoe, one berry should be removed from the mistletoe branch. Once all the berries were removed, no more kissing was allowed!couples avoid this prohibition today by dispensing with the berry removal tradition. (7) _?_ and the rest of Santa's reindeer are very much a modern addition to Christmas tradition?. The legend of Santa's reindeer began in the famous poem, "The Night Before Christmas." Written by Clement Clarke Moore in 1822, it introduced the notion of Santa's sleigh being magically pulled by eight mythical reindeer. (8) There is even a special day celebrating the _?_ called _?_, it is observed on December 12, the anniversary of the death of Joel Roberts Poinsett, the American diplomat who first introduced the Central American plant to the United States. Source: AWARENESS NEWS ATTENTION FORMER WGA BOARD MEMBERS! One of the projects scheduled for 2012 is to collate and organize all historical data for the WGA. In order to do that, we need you to give us your records of any activities that you were involved in when a WGA Board member. This includes things like Board meeting minutes and anything pertaining to the organization of past dances, scholarships, field trips, publications, etc. Once we have the information in hand, we can organize an accurate history of all the things that WGA has accomplished over the years. Please drop off any pertinent material at the WGA offices at 602 South David, Mon 9:30-12:00 and Tues-Thurs 9:30-3:00. We know that there are several gaps in our data, and would really appreciate your help in this. Page 6 CONTACT December 2011

7 T EASON!!! TIS THE SEASON HAPPY HOUR - 5:00 to 6:30pm DINNER - 6:30 to 7:30pm BAND plays - 7:30 to 9:30pm The party is December 7th! Please make your reservations by Monday, December 5th!... by contacting Dixie at or info@wyogeo.org (Dixie s Office hours 9:30-11:30 Mon-Thursday) CONTACT December 2011 Page 7

8 WGA PIONEERS McCanne (Ohio) Anderson (Ohio) Downey (Brown Geoph) Hiestand (Cities) Lewis (Ohio) Larsen (USGS) Reinhart (Shell) Hares (Ohio) Tixler (Schlumberger) Hublry (Stanolid) Corwin (USAAF) 1945 WGA BOD WGA PIONEERS TO BE HONORED January 27, 2012 In a tradition that began in 2010, WGA will conduct a special luncheon meeting on January 27, 2012 in honor of our 60-year and 50-year pioneers. Location will be the Casper Petroleum Club. New honorees will receive commemorative awards and a complimentary lunch. The meeting will feature a special guest speaker TBA. If you originally joined WGA in 1952 or before, or 1962 or before and have not yet been so honored, please RSVP Dixie at the WGA office at before January 13, Page 8 CONTACT December 2011

9 WGA UNITED STATES VETERANS WGA U WGA celebrates our Members who are United States Veterans. This past November, during our Veterans Day luncheon, WGA honored its Member Veterans (many in the photograph above) And once again, we would like to say, Thank you for your service! CONTACT December 2011 Page 9

10 PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Page 10 CONTACT December 2011

11 PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTACT December 2011 Page 11

12 PTTC Workshops PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Low Resistivity, Low Contrast Pay Monday-Tuesday, December 5-6, 2010, 8:30 am 5:00 pm Colorado School of Mines; Ben Parker Student Center, Ballroom E Fee: $450, includes food at breaks, class notes, and PDH certificate Instructor: John T. Kulha, Petrophysical/Petroleum Engineering Consultant This course will provide a proven methodology to identify and evaluate low-resistivity, low-contrast (LRLC) pays as seen in modern wells or as potential bypassed pays in old wells. World-wide examples from productive LRLC reservoirs are presented. The following aspects of LRLC pays will be covered: geologic causes and the depositional and diagenetic environments in which LRLC pays are commonly found identification and evaluation techniques using logs and samples quick-scan log techniques to identify possible productive sands examples of productive LRLC wells and reservoirs from many basins practical application of evaluation techniques on LRLC client workshop wells The first half of the workshop concentrates on general concepts and methodology to evaluate low-resistivity, low-contrast (LRLC) pays. The second half of the course is focused on examples. Participants are encouraged to bring non-proprietary examples that can be discussed in this session. Basic Well Log Interpretation Monday-Tuesday, January 9-10, 2012, 8:30 am 5 pm, Colorado School of Mines, Ben Parker Student Center Ballroom C Fee: $450, includes food at breaks, class notes, and PDH certificate Instructor: Dr. Dan Krygowski, The Discovery Group, Denver, CO Overview: The course assumes no logging knowledge and seeks to establish an understanding of basic petrophysical measurements and interpretation techniques which can be applied to routine tasks, and upon which more complex and advanced information and interpretive techniques can be built. Fluvial Stratigraphy Thursday-Friday, January 19-20, 2012 Colorado School of Mines, General Research Lab Conference Room Fee: $450, includes: refreshments, workbook, and PDH certificate Instructor: John Holbrook (University of Texas, Arlington) Who should attend: Geologists, engineers, geophysicists, and other professionals engaged in production and/or exploration of reservoirs that were partly to mostly deposited by river and floodplain processes. Objectives and content: Fluvial reservoirs abound and are an integral source of the world petroleum supply. The primary objective of this course is to provide a primer on the range of processes that form fluvial strata and to develop from this genetic framework for assessing the stratigraphic architecture of fluvial reservoirs. The course will provide an overview of river processes and primary controls on fluvial preservation. We will use this background as a basis to explain the range of stratigraphic variations observed in fluvial strata from the bedform to the basin scale. From this foundation, we will explore best techniques for reconstructing reservoir stratigraphy from available core, seismic, well-log and outcrop data. Class Descriptions and Register Online: For more information, contact Mary Carr, , mcarr@mines.edu Page 12 CONTACT December 2011

13 CONTACT INFORMATION Wyoming Geological Association P.O. Box 545 Casper, WY (307) Fax (307) WGA 2011 OFFICERS President Graeme Finley Goolsby, Finley & Associates President-Elect JoAnn True True Oil 1st Vice President Mike Hawks Linc Energy 2nd Vice President Julia Lemaster Goolsby, Finley & Associates Secretary/Treasurer Amber Robbins Bureau of Land Management Editor Barb McGavern-Atkinson Trihydro Corporation Past President Steve Reid Consulting Geologist WGA 2011 AAPG Delegates Mike Kozimko Tom Anderson Office Administrator and Advertising Dixie Eaton Continuing Education Ralph Specht Dance Martha Horn Field Conference 2011 General Chair Lyn George Library Dean Stilwell Membership & Directory Dixie Eaton COMMITTEES Nomenclature Committee Carl Babb Don Cardinal Gary Winter Paleontological Resources Brent Breithaupt Publicity & Environmental Issues Rémelle Burton Olson Scholarship Kent Sundell SPE Liaison Dave Chase Stratigraphic Committee Carl Babb Don Cardinal Lyn George Gary Winter U.W. Liaison Amber Robbins CONTACT Submission deadline for January 2012 issue is Friday, December 20th. All ads must be prepaid. Send ad and payment to: WGA PO Box 545, Casper WY CONTACT ADVERTISING RATES Full Page 7.5 x 9.5 1/2 Page 7.5 x 4.5 1/4 Page 3.5 x 4.5 Business Card 3.5 x 2 Various Sizes $3.50 per column inch per month ($10 minimum) $100/month $1000/year $50/month $500/year $25/month $250/year $10/month $100/year Advertising space is also available in the membership directory and the annual field conference guidebook. Discounts are available for advertising in all three publications. CONTACT December 2011 Page 13

14 Wyoming Geological Associa on P.O. Box 545 Casper, Wyoming Website: Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Casper, Wyoming Permit No. 299 Sunday DECEMBER 2011 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday N O V E M B E R Brent H. Breithaupt Lesley Urasky STEVE HOLBROOK NO MEETING NO MEETING Answers from page 6: (1) Saint Nicholas and Father Christmas, (2) Sinterklaas, (3) 1773, (4) 30 million, (5) Christmas ornaments, (6) Middle Ages, (7) Rudolph, (8) Poinsettia/Poinsettia Day. Page 14 CONTACT December 2011