Publications

We report data for 112 apatite and 31 zircon fission track (AFT and ZFT) outcrop sandstone samples along a transect that spans the western Brooks Range. Sampling targeted structures that modify the Middle Jurassic‐Early Cretaceous early Brookian orogen. The AFT samples record latest Cretaceous to Eocene in situ exhumational cooling and resolve two kinematic phases. The first phase was...

The application of horizontal and hydraulically fractured wells for producing oil from low permeability formations has changed the face of the North American oil industry. One feature of the production profile of many such wells is a transition from transient linear oil flow to boundary-dominated flow. The identification of the time of this transition is important for the calibration of...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) national assessment of carbon dioxide (CO2) storage capacity evaluated 192 saline Storage Assessment Units (SAUs) in 33 U.S. onshore sedimentary basins that may be utilized for CO2 storage (see USGS Circular 1386). Similar to many other available models, volumetric analysis was utilized to estimate the initial CO2injection and storage capacity of these...

Oil producers have been using enhanced oil recovery methods, including (1) thermal recovery for heavy oil and (2) carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) for medium or light oil, to maximize oil recovery from existing reservoirs. The CO2-EOR method is widely used for recovering additional oil after waterflood, which leaves behind a large volume of oil in the reservoir. Completing...

Mineral criticality is a subjective concept that has evolved throughout history. An abundance of literature on this topic has been published over the last decade, encompassing a variety of criteria and methodologies. To our knowledge, this work is the first large-scale effort to organize and analyze recent comprehensive criticality studies in order to determine if a consensus exists...

This short course was prepared at the request of Servicio Geológico Colombiano (SGC) as a module for staff training. Prior to the short course, the SGC expressed interest in receiving training in (1) geochemistry and quality of coal; (2) geochemistry of trace elements in coal; (3) mercury and halogens in coal; (4) characterization and cycling of atmospheric mercury; (5) mercury, trace...

Raman spectroscopy has recently received attention as a means to estimate thermal maturity of organic matter in petroleum generating source rocks to complement more traditional approaches such as vitrinite reflectance and programmed pyrolysis. While many studies have observed positive correlations between source rock thermal maturity and Raman spectral parameters, little attention has...

Raman spectroscopy was studied as a thermal maturity probe in a series of Upper Devonian Ohio Shale samples from the Appalachian Basin spanning from immature to dry gas conditions. Raman spectroscopy also was applied to samples spanning a similar thermal range created from 72-h hydrous pyrolysis (HP) experiments of the Ohio Shale at temperatures from 300 to 360 °C and isothermal HP...

In 2017, disruptions in the global supply of helium reminded consumers, distributors, and policy makers that the global helium supply chain lacks flexibility, and that attempts to increase production from the U.S. Federal Helium Reserve (the FHR) may not be able to compensate for the loss of one of the few major producers in the world. Issues with U.S. and global markets for helium...

This work used mercury injection capillary pressure (MICP) analyses of the Tuscaloosa Group in Mississippi, including the Tuscaloosa marine shale (TMS), to assess their efficacy and sealing capacity for geologic carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration. Tuscaloosa Group porosity and permeability from MICP were evaluated to calculate CO2 column height retention. TMS and Lower Tuscaloosa shale...

A mathematically sound approach for summarizing chemical analyses of feed coal and all its combustion products (bottom ash, economizer fly ash, and fly ash) is presented. The nature of the data requires the application of compositional techniques when conducting statistical analysis, techniques that have not been applied before to the study of partitioning of elements between the coal...

Mean random vitrinite reflectance (Ro) is the most widely accepted method to determine thermal maturity of coal and other sedimentary rocks. However, oil-immersion Ro of polished rock or kerogen samples is commonly lower than Ro values measured in samples from adjacent vitrinite-rich coals that have undergone the same level of thermal stress. So-called suppressed Ro values have also been...