Date Name Title. 6 Martin Goss Rockhounding in Wyoming. 13 No Meeting 20 SPE. 27 Russell Hawley The Tyrannosaurus Story. Guests are always welcome!

Transcription

1 The Status of Recent Geoscience Graduates 2014 was released by the American Geosciences Institute. The report illustrates approximately 70% of programs still required Calculus I and 60% Calculus II. In addition 80% required chemistry and 40% physics. While the statistics associated with physics are disheartening, the remaining numbers underline a continued importance given to graduating geologists as being multidisciplined. It was also noted in the report that when finding a job within geology, personal contacts exceed all other methods by 10-20%. Personal contacts were determined to be more important in finding a geology job than job fairs, conference networking, and faculty referrals. The positions hiring geologists were predominantly environmental (55-65%), then oil and gas (40-45%), and then state/federal government (~35%). Developments within our organization are moving fairly quickly. Marron Bingle-Davis is putting the finishing touches on the Cretaceous Conference: Revolution and Evolution Guidebook, a 170 page volume of papers and road logs set to be released in Con Trumbull has officially initiated his research for a WGA Guidebook on the History of the WGA. It promises to be an exciting project and one I am particularly anxious to see. WGA is also in the process of archiving some of its publications at The American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming. The Center is a repository for manuscripts, rare books, and archives. This will assist in the preservation of the WGA and its data for the future. The WGA is moving forward with three sessions at the upcoming Geological Society of America Sectional Meeting here in Casper. The meeting is May 21-23, 2015 and WGA will be hosting three sessions and a field trip. The sessions are on the topics of sedimentology and stratigraphy, metals and mining, and petroleum please submit an abstract for a 15 minute presentation to support our organization by February 17. Thank you and have a productive month Meetings are held at the Casper Petroleum Club unless noted. A lunch buffet ($12) is served from 11:15 a.m. to noon. Speaker s presentation begins at noon. Reservations: info@wyogeo.org or call and leave a message at WGA office Contact the WGA office to be added to the lunch reminder list. Date Name Title Guests are always welcome! 6 Martin Goss Rockhounding in Wyoming 13 No Meeting 20 SPE Geoffrey Thyne Wettability Alteration and Increasing Recovery in Wyoming CONTACT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 1 27 Russell Hawley The Tyrannosaurus Story

2 6 February Martin Goss, Natrona County Rockhounds Rockhounding in Wyoming Martin Goss is a member of the Natrona County Rockhounds. He will speak about rock collecting in Wyoming. The Natrona County Rockhounds are affiliated with the Wyoming State Mineral and Gem Society. The Wyoming State Mineral and Gem Society (WSMGS) was organized in 1964 to bring about a closer association of Clubs and Societies in Wyoming devoted to the study of Earth Sciences and the practice of lapidary arts. The Society promotes good fellowship among area clubs and a greater appreciation for nature's wonders. As our membership has grown, the activities which we sponsor have also grown, with new members injecting fresh ideas and added support for our many projects. Our newsletter, Jade State News, has become a fast growing resource not only for Wyoming's rockhounds but also for gem and mineral enthusiasts throughout the Western United States. To further answer the call of the community we have expanded our Web site to provide more resources and spread the appreciation of "rocks." The WSMGS is a member of the Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineralogical Societies (RMFMS) and the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (AFMS). WSMGS Member Clubs are located in Casper, Cheyenne, Cody, Powell, Riverton, and Torrington, Wyoming. CONTACT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 2

3 20 February Geoffrey Thyne, ESal Engineered Salinity SPE Wettability Alteration and Increasing Recovery in Wyoming: Application to Conventional and Unconventional Reservoirs. Geoffrey Thyne is a registered professional geologist specializing in applications of geochemistry to earth systems. He started working in 1979 as a research geochemist at the Arco Oil and Gas in Plano, Texas. He returned to graduate school in 1986 at the University of Wyoming earning a PhD in Since then he has taught at California State University in Bakersfield and the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. His previous work has been recognized by the AAPG with the A.I. Levorson Award in 2006 for research on gas development in environmentally-sensitive areas. He has served on the National Research Council committee on beneficial uses of Coal Bed Methane produced water (2008) and the U.S. EPA Scientific Advisory Board for the current hydraulic fracturing study (2010). He returned to Wyoming in 2006 and was a senior research scientist at the Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute until Since leaving EORI he has worked as a consultant and is currently working on wettability modification to improve production for conventional and unconventional reservoirs. Abstract: Wettability has a significant effect on hydrocarbon recovery from all types of reservoirs. Each reservoir has a wettability state that leads to maximum recovery, but the initial wettability of a reservoir is usually not optimal. Traditionally, we have used surfactants and chemical agents to try and optimize wettability and recovery, but this process is expensive and does not always produce the desired results. This talk will outline recent advances in the science of wettability, as well as a practical methodology to realize the goal of maximum recovery for Wyoming reservoirs. The methodology changes wettability by changing water chemistry. This technique can be employed during normal waterflood operations in conventional fields, or during hydraulic fracturing and completions in unconventional targets. The technique has several advantages including substantially lower costs, ease of application and lower probability of negative outcomes. A successful approach to wettability alteration requires several key steps: screening the fields to identify good candidates, simple laboratory techniques to evaluate the increased recovery potential, economic evaluations to estimate costs and benefits, and finally, well-constrained geochemical models to help design the wettability-modifying fluids. In Wyoming there are several options to employ this technique with incremental recoveries of between 5 to 15% OOIP in conventional reservoirs. These include on-site modification of current produced water chemistry before re-injection, injection of water from other reservoir intervals and injection of water that is currently re-injected for disposal. In unconventional reservoirs the opportunity to increase initial flow rates and extend decline curves by re-using fracturing fluids or using saline base fluids are discussed. While some current assumptions will be refined as we become more knowledgeable, the basic idea, that we can alter wettability with water chemistry to optimize recovery seems well justified. CONTACT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 3

4 27 February Russell Hawley, Tate Geological Museum The Tyrannosaurus Story Russell graduated from the University of Colorado in 1991 with a degree in fine art. His artwork has appeared in the America's Smithsonian anniversary traveling exhibition, in "Islands in the Cosmos: The Evolution of Life on Land" by Dr. Dale A. Russell, in "Oceans of Kansas" by Michael Everhart, and several issues of Prehistoric Times magazine. Aside from being the Tate Geological Museum's Educational Specialist, Russell also gives tours, writes articles for the museum newsletter, and produces illustrations for the museum displays. Abstract: Tyrannosaurus rex is the most iconic and widely recognized of all dinosaur species, but our current image of the beast is the result of a long and circuitous series of discoveries, reinterpretations, mis-identifications and wrong turns. Early interpretations of Tyrannosaurus were fraught with uncertainty and inaccuracies, and this is reflected in contemporary depictions of the beast in artwork, movies and even cartoons. Even the exact date upon which Tyrannosaurus was discovered is difficult to nail down with any certainty. In this talk the history of Tyrannosaurus discoveries is recounted, together with the colourful and often eccentric personalities of the various scientists and field workers who brought the bones to light and aided our understanding of this animal s anatomy and action. The current view of Tyrannosaurus, its appearance and possible behaviour, is presented at the conclusion. CONTACT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 4

5 Photo credit: NASA. Martian Gillespie Lake Sandstone. One researcher sees possible microbial mats in the image. Do you see a fossil in the photo? One scientist does. The NASA rover Curiosity took this image of a Martian rock formation, the Gillespie Lake Sandstone. Geobiologist Dr. Nora Noffke, from Virginia s Old Dominion University, points out that the structures on top of the sandstone shelf are remarkably similar in shape and arrangement to Earth s earliest life form: microbial mats. Writing in the journal Astrobiology, Noffke states: [T]he similarities of the macroscopic morphologies, spatial associations, and temporal succession of sedimentary structures on Mars to MISS [microbially induced sedimentary structures] preserved on Earth has led to the following hypothesis: The sedimentary structures in the <3.7 GA Gillespie Lake Member on Mars are ancient MISS produced by interactions between microbial mats and their environment. Noffke sketched the possible mats in the overlay shown below. Overlay of sketch on photograph. Image credit: Noffke (2015). Courtesy of Astrobiology, published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. examined those rocks. Other scientists are skeptical. The Los Angeles Times quoted mission scientist Ashwin Vasavada: The premise of looking for microbially induced sedimentary structures is not a bad one at all [ ] in this particular case, that bell didn t go off for us when we As geologists, we are all familiar with fossil hunting, in which one walks around gazing at the ground until something stands out. Perhaps it s a fossil; more often, it s a suggestively broken rock, a cluster of mudcracks, or a deceptive pattern of loose dirt. Looking for fossils on Earth in person is challenging enough. Trying to find them in images of rocks on Mars is ambitious indeed! Annette Hein, February 2015 Editor s Note: In Geology is a new feature that will appear occasionally and focus on diverse geology topics of interest to WGA members. If you have something you want to see featured, please the editor! CONTACT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 5

6 January 14, 2015 Reprinted from UW Department of Geology and Geophysics News Changing conditions on the Earth s surface can have a major influence on the composition of its overwhelmingly more massive interior. Ken Sims, a University of Wyoming professor of geology and geophysics, has helped make that evolutionary and geological process more accurate and understandable -- using new instruments to more precisely measure a uranium element carbon dating ratio of 238U/235U. The timing and the extent that the material is put back down into the Earth s mantle is addressed by this ratio in a unique way that was not possible a decade ago, Sims says. Our ability to make these isotopic measurements is so greatly enhanced. Sims is a co-writer of a paper, titled The Terrestrial Uranium Isotope Cycle. The paper appears in the Jan. 15 issue of Nature, an international weekly journal of science that publishes the finest peer-reviewed research in all fields of science and technology. This paper is important because the Earth is dynamic. It is always differentiating and remixing. We see that in plate tectonics, Sims says. Thorium and uranium are particularly important chemical elements for understanding these processes. We ve used them for many years to understand the time scales of these processes. Sims and the paper s other writers -- including Tim Elliott, a longtime colleague from the Bristol Isotope Group at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom -- took a number of rock samples, collected from around the globe during the past 30 years, and used them to make very precise measurements with uranium isotopes. These more precise measurements are obtainable because today s mass spectrometers are so much better and can measure out a few more decimal points than previous versions of the instrument were capable of, Sims says. We can now routinely measure sub per million variations of the 238U/235U isotope ratio, which we used to think was constant in the earth at , he adds. Mass spectrometry is an analytical chemistry technique that helps identify the isotopes of chemical elements present in a sample. With these measurements, we are able to put a better understanding on the recycling of material back into the Earth s mantle -- the area between the Earth s core and its crust -- back into the deep earth, Sims says. That s because these uranium isotopes are perturbed or changed by the surface processes that are happening. So, we can look at rocks that are coming back out of the mantle and understand this recycling as well as this differentiating of the early Earth. With the use of a submersible called Alvin, many of the rock samples were collected on mid-ocean ridges like the East Pacific. Mid-ocean ridges are underwater mountain systems that are composed of various mountain ranges. These ridges typically have a mountain valley -- known as a rift -- that runs along its spine and is formed by plate tectonics. Mid-ocean ridges are geologically active, with new magma constantly emerging on the ocean floor and spreading away from the ridge. The crystallized magma forms a new crust of basalt, known as mid-ocean ridge basalt or MORB. Ocean island basalts (OIBs), from places like Hawaii, Iceland, Canary Islands (La Palma), Azores (Pico and Sao Miguel islands), Society Islands and Samoa, also were analyzed. OIBs are basaltic rocks found on many volcanic islands away from tectonic plate boundaries typically associated with hot spots. Other co-writers of the paper include researchers from the University of Bristol; Durham University, United Kingdom; the Institute of Geochemistry and Petrology at ETH Zurich, Switzerland; and Rhode Island University. Because of this system, we understand the evolution of Earth better, Sims says. That is, we can address how material that has been oxidized on the surface of the Earth has been recycled back in to the mantle. Photo: Dr Ken Sims, UW professor of geology and geophysics, took this photo from the submersible Alvin. CONTACT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 6

7 January Reprinted from the Jackson Hole News and Guide On Friday, our much-beloved father and good friend to many, James A. Barlow Jr. passed away after a short illness, surrounded by the family he loved. He was 91. He will be very missed by his many friends and family. Jim was born Sept. 4, 1923, in Englewood, New Jersey. His father, James A. Barlow Sr., was from a homesteader family in Livermore, Colorado and later Sheridan. His mother, Emile Verge, was from Montelimar, France. They had met and were married in the city of New York. Jim was born Sept. 4, 1923, in Englewood, New Jersey. His father, James A. Barlow Sr., was from a homesteader family in Livermore, Colorado and later Sheridan. His mother, Emile Verge, was from Montelimar, France. They had met and were married in the city of New York. Jim was the fourth of five children and grew up with his three sisters and a brother on the banks of Hackensack River in New Jersey. They spent many days exploring the river and even made a boat trip in their favorite boat around the island of Manhattan. In World War II he served as an ensign in the Navy as an aviator with the squadron called the Jersey Skeeters. He was an accomplished pilot, landing the Hellcat and Corsair planes on the decks of aircraft carriers. This past summer, Jim was able, through the help of wonderful friends to revisit some of his flying experience with a tour in an open cockpit bi-plane, like the one he had learned to fly in. It was a grand day to see Dad fly again. Jim met his future wife, Ann, in Brooklyn, New York, while he was stationed at Floyd Bennett Field, they married on Dec. 21, After the war, Jim attended Middlebury College and received a Bachelor of Arts in Wanting to pursue a career in geology, Jim and Ann followed his father s Western heritage to Wyoming and to the University of Wyoming where he received his master s in 1950 and a PhD in geology in They both adapted to life in Laramie and had many great stories of the time there. He and his future business partner, John Haun, received the first two doctorates in geology that UW awarded. After college he worked as an exploration geologist for Marathon Oil and Forest Oil. In 1957 Barlow & Haun Inc. was formed. His love for the state of Wyoming and his belief in giving back to his community led Jim to put on his Wyoming hat, as he liked to call it, and he became involved in local government. In Casper he served on the City Council from 1960 to From 1966 to 1968 he served as mayor of Casper. Jim later went on to the Wyoming state Legislature in the House of Representatives for two terms from 1982 to Dad is one of the few oil men in the Legislature to receive the Environmental Legislator of the Year award. We all were pretty proud of that. In 1988 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree from the University of Wyoming. Jim also served on the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and has been very active in the industry with both his field work and mapping. His love for geology was great and at 91 he still made it to the office and was active in the Geologists of Jackson Hole, which he helped to organize. In 1974 Ann and Jim purchased land in Jackson Hole, which later became his permanent home. Dad loved to fly-fish and was good in the workshop. We have many fine pieces of furniture that he made. He loved gatherings and good conversations and was very devoted to his family and friends. Jim is survived by his son Jim and his wife, Pam, his daughter Lee and his grandchildren Will, Hailey, Nicolas and Lucas. He is also survived by one sister and numerous nieces and nephews. Jim was a beloved grandfather and father. Deeply loved by all, he will be missed. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Geologists of Jackson Hole or the Jane and Dave Love Scholarship Fund. CONTACT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 7

8 CONTACT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 8

9 CONTACT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 9

10 CONTACT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 10

11 Come in out of the Cold for PTTC Workshops Hydraulic Fracturing Measurement, Characterization, and Analysis Tuesday, February 24, 2015 Petroleum Club, Billings Montana Fee: $250 MGS Members, $275 Non-members, includes food, workbook, and PDH certificate. Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Miskimins, Baree and Associates This one-day workshop is intended to demonstrate recent advances in hydraulic fracturing techniques and how they can be used to characterize the producing reservoir. The basics of hydraulic fracturing are discussed and lead into the complexities associated with treatment design and analysis. Special issues such as non-darcy flow, G-function analysis, and mapping techniques are covered. Case studies demonstrating analysis and various fracturing practices (such as slickwater fracs) are presented. Well-Log Sequence Stratigraphy: Applications to Sandstones and Shales Tuesday Thursday, March 10-12, 2015, 8:30 am 5 pm, Colorado School of Mines, Berthoud Hall rm. 243 Fee: $750, includes food at breaks, class notes, and PDH certificate Instructor: Dr. Jeff May On completion of the course, participants will be familiar with the methodologies and skills to subdivide, correlate, and map stratigraphic units (reservoirs, seals, and source rocks) through the application of sequence-stratigraphy concepts in the interpretation of well logs from a variety of nonmarine, shallow-marine, and deep-marine environments in siliciclastic settings Participants completing this workshop will be able to: Analyze the major geologic controls and their interaction on the filling of basins. Comprehend and critically analyze the often-confusing terminology utilized in sequence stratigraphy. Apply appropriate sequence stratigraphy models to various basin settings. Analyze and subdivide stratigraphic successions from well logs into packages of increasing or decreasing accommodation and identify chronostratigraphically significant surfaces. Examine the pitfalls of lithostratigraphic vs. chronostratigraphic well-log correlations. Correlate well logs using sequence stratigraphy concepts. Apply reservoir-seal-source rock concepts to sequence stratigraphic cross sections. Generate maps of genetically related sequence stratigraphic units. Demonstrate and predict new stratigraphic prospects or previously untapped reservoir compartments. Determine the influence of chronostratigraphic surfaces on reservoir quality and flow units. Class Descriptions and Register Online: For more information, contact Mary Carr, , mcarr@mines.edu CONTACT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 11

12 Mike Bingle-Davis Kirkwood Oil and Gas Marron Bingle-Davis Sunshine Valley Petroleum Corporation James Glover BLM Mike Mellin Ur-Energy Ralph Specht Phil Nickerson Bronco Creek Exploration Mike Kozimko Lyn George Dixie Eaton Ralph Specht Please contact board for info Joanie Dunlap Martha Horn (WGA Chairwoman) Con Trumbull Carl Babb Don Cardinal Gary Winter Lyn George Brent Breithaupt Julia Lemaster Lyn George Kent Sundell Barb McGavern-Atkinson Dave Chase Annette Hein Arnold Woods Phil Nickerson Julia Lemaster Submission deadline for March 2015 issue is Monday, February 16th. All ads must be prepaid. Send ad and payment to: WGA PO Box 545, Casper WY 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 FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 12

13 Wyoming Geological Association P.O. Box 545 Casper, Wyoming Website: Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Casper, Wyoming Permit No GOSS NO MEETING THYNE SPE HAWLEY 28 CONTACT FEBRUARY 2015 PAGE 13