Gulf Coast Geologic Energy Research Active
USGS Research Drilling Rig in Kinney County, TX, in 2018
Vista of Buda, Eagle Ford, and Austin Formations, Terrell County, TX
The Gulf Coast Geologic Energy Assessments and Research (GEAR) project also conducts research on the properties and processes relevant to the Gulf Coast Jurassic-Cretaceous-Tertiary composite total petroleum system (TPS). This research aims to improve ongoing and future undiscovered, technically recoverable hydrocarbon resources assessments on the onshore and State waters portion of the Gulf Coast basin. Important research avenues include the nature and distribution of source rocks, reservoirs, traps, and seals as well as how the temporal evolution of the TPS affected petroleum migration and accumulations.
Research efforts on the Gulf Coast GEAR project include a focus on Jurassic and Cretaceous petroleum source intervals and charged reservoirs to support the prioritization of hydrocarbon resources assessments in Mesozoic strata. The project also plans to investigate potential energy resources in the Atlantic Coastal Plain provinces and adjacent offshore areas as they are analogous to the Gulf Coast region.
The Gulf Coast GEAR project is also constructing a subsurface geoscience database that will include type logs across the U.S. Gulf Coast basin and contain geophysical logs, interpreted geologic formation top depths, and paleontological data. This effort is a response to the 2018 review of the USGS Energy Resources Program by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which indicated that the program should improve its ability to make petroleum resource data publicly available in a timely manner. Data from the subsurface geoscience and source rock databases are vital for the characterization of hydrocarbon plays by the stakeholder as well as for potential geologic carbon sequestration, subsurface energy store, or paleoclimate reconstruction.
Another research goal is to conduct more robust and interdisciplinary source rock studies on organic-rich mudstones, which can be considered the foundations of petroleum systems. Source rock properties vary both vertically within a stratigraphic unit and geographically across a basin or region. These spatial patterns of source rock composition variability influence the development of hydrocarbon assessment unit boundaries. Increased understanding of controls on source rock formation, compositional variability, and thermal maturity trends can inform the development of geologic models used in USGS petroleum resource assessments. This research on organic-rich mudstone source rocks may also provide insights into paleoclimate, carbon cycling, and oceanic conditions to better understand how conditions in the past varied and changed over time.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Mercury injection capillary pressure data in the U.S. Gulf Coast Tuscaloosa Group in Mississippi and Louisiana collected 2015 to 2017
Petroleum geology data from Mesozoic rock samples in the eastern U.S. Gulf Coast collected 2011 to 2017
USGS National and Global Oil and Gas Assessment Project-Gulf Coast Mesozoic Province, Haynesville Formation Assessment Units
USGS National and Global Oil and Gas Assessment Project-Gulf Coast Mesozoic Province, Bossier Formation Assessment Units
Below are publications associated with this project.
Carbon dioxide sealing capacity of the Tuscaloosa marine shale: Insights from mercury injection capillary pressure analyses
Methodology for correcting bottomhole temperatures acquired from wireline logging measurements in the onshore U.S. Gulf of Mexico Basin to characterize the thermal regime of total petroleum systems
Using mercury injection pressure analyses to estimate sealing capacity of the Tuscaloosa marine shale in Mississippi, USA: Implications for carbon dioxide sequestration
Correlation of the Eagle Ford Group, Woodbine Group, and equivalent Cenomanian-Turonian Mudstones using regional wireline-log cross sections across the Texas Gulf Coast, U.S.A.
Correlation of the Tuscaloosa marine shale in Mississippi, Louisiana, and east Texas, U.S.A.
Estimating thermal maturity in the Eagle Ford Shale petroleum system using gas gravity data
Geochemical and mineralogical characterization of the Eagle Ford Shale: Results from the USGS Gulf Coast #1 West Woodway core
Geopressure gradient maps of Southern Louisiana, state, and vicinity
A synoptic examination of causes of land loss in southern Louisiana as related to the exploitation of subsurface geologic resources
Regional maps of subsurface geopressure gradients of the onshore and offshore Gulf of Mexico basin
Challenge theme 5: Current and future needs of energy and mineral resources in the Borderlands and the effects of their development: Chapter 7 in United States-Mexican Borderlands: Facing tomorrow's challenges through USGS science
U-Pb ages of detrital zircons from the Tertiary Mississippi River delta plain in central Louisiana: Insights into sediment provenance
Below are news stories associated with this project.
- Overview
The Gulf Coast Geologic Energy Assessments and Research (GEAR) project also conducts research on the properties and processes relevant to the Gulf Coast Jurassic-Cretaceous-Tertiary composite total petroleum system (TPS). This research aims to improve ongoing and future undiscovered, technically recoverable hydrocarbon resources assessments on the onshore and State waters portion of the Gulf Coast basin. Important research avenues include the nature and distribution of source rocks, reservoirs, traps, and seals as well as how the temporal evolution of the TPS affected petroleum migration and accumulations.
Research efforts on the Gulf Coast GEAR project include a focus on Jurassic and Cretaceous petroleum source intervals and charged reservoirs to support the prioritization of hydrocarbon resources assessments in Mesozoic strata. The project also plans to investigate potential energy resources in the Atlantic Coastal Plain provinces and adjacent offshore areas as they are analogous to the Gulf Coast region.
The Gulf Coast GEAR project is also constructing a subsurface geoscience database that will include type logs across the U.S. Gulf Coast basin and contain geophysical logs, interpreted geologic formation top depths, and paleontological data. This effort is a response to the 2018 review of the USGS Energy Resources Program by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which indicated that the program should improve its ability to make petroleum resource data publicly available in a timely manner. Data from the subsurface geoscience and source rock databases are vital for the characterization of hydrocarbon plays by the stakeholder as well as for potential geologic carbon sequestration, subsurface energy store, or paleoclimate reconstruction.
Another research goal is to conduct more robust and interdisciplinary source rock studies on organic-rich mudstones, which can be considered the foundations of petroleum systems. Source rock properties vary both vertically within a stratigraphic unit and geographically across a basin or region. These spatial patterns of source rock composition variability influence the development of hydrocarbon assessment unit boundaries. Increased understanding of controls on source rock formation, compositional variability, and thermal maturity trends can inform the development of geologic models used in USGS petroleum resource assessments. This research on organic-rich mudstone source rocks may also provide insights into paleoclimate, carbon cycling, and oceanic conditions to better understand how conditions in the past varied and changed over time.
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
- Data
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 16Mercury injection capillary pressure data in the U.S. Gulf Coast Tuscaloosa Group in Mississippi and Louisiana collected 2015 to 2017
This data release contains mercury injection capillary pressure (MICP), pseudo-wetting saturation, and carbon dioxide (CO2) column height data for subsurface Tuscaloosa Group samples from Mississippi and Louisiana.Petroleum geology data from Mesozoic rock samples in the eastern U.S. Gulf Coast collected 2011 to 2017
This data release contains Rock-Eval pyrolysis, organic petrographic (reflectance), and X-ray diffraction mineralogy data for subsurface Mesozoic rock samples from the eastern onshore Gulf Coast Basin (primarily Mississippi and Louisiana). Samples were analyzed in support of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessment of undiscovered petroleum resources in the Upper Cretaceous Tuscaloosa marine sUSGS National and Global Oil and Gas Assessment Project-Gulf Coast Mesozoic Province, Haynesville Formation Assessment Units
The Assessment Unit is the fundamental unit used in the National Assessment Project for the assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources. The Assessment Unit is defined within the context of the higher-level Total Petroleum System. The Assessment Unit is shown herein as a geographic boundary interpreted, defined, and mapped by the geologist responsible for the province and incorporates a set oUSGS National and Global Oil and Gas Assessment Project-Gulf Coast Mesozoic Province, Bossier Formation Assessment Units
The Assessment Unit is the fundamental unit used in the National Assessment Project for the assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources. The Assessment Unit is defined within the context of the higher-level Total Petroleum System. The Assessment Unit is shown herein as a geographic boundary interpreted, defined, and mapped by the geologist responsible for the province and incorporates a set o - Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 62Carbon dioxide sealing capacity of the Tuscaloosa marine shale: Insights from mercury injection capillary pressure analyses
No abstract available.AuthorsCeleste D. Lohr, Paul C. HackleyMethodology for correcting bottomhole temperatures acquired from wireline logging measurements in the onshore U.S. Gulf of Mexico Basin to characterize the thermal regime of total petroleum systems
Characterization of the subsurface thermal regime is critical for understanding many facets of the petroleum system, from thermal maturation of organic-rich source rocks to thermal preservation and non-degradation of hydrocarbon accumulations. On a broad scale, paleo-heatflow has been mapped for the North American continent (Blackwell and Richards, 2004) as well as the contiguous United States (BlAuthorsLauri A. Burke, Ofori N. Pearson, Scott A. Kinney, Janet K. PitmanUsing mercury injection pressure analyses to estimate sealing capacity of the Tuscaloosa marine shale in Mississippi, USA: Implications for carbon dioxide sequestration
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 samples havAuthorsCeleste D. Lohr, Paul C. HackleyCorrelation of the Eagle Ford Group, Woodbine Group, and equivalent Cenomanian-Turonian Mudstones using regional wireline-log cross sections across the Texas Gulf Coast, U.S.A.
As part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s 2018 hydrocarbon assessment of the Eagle Ford Group and associated Cenomanian-Turonian strata, a series of regional wireline-log cross sections were constructed to examine geologic characteristics of this stratigraphic interval across the Texas Gulf Coast from Mexico to Louisiana. The cross sections were used to help define six continuous assessment units baAuthorsNicholas J. Gianoutsos, Katherine J. Whidden, Russell F. Dubiel, William A. RouseCorrelation of the Tuscaloosa marine shale in Mississippi, Louisiana, and east Texas, U.S.A.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed an assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable unconventional petroleum resources in the Upper Cretaceous marine shale of the Tuscaloosa Group (Tuscaloosa marine shale; TMS) in 2018. As part of the geologic characterization in preparation for the assessment, a series of wireline log cross sections were constructed to illustrate TMS thickness treAuthorsWilliam A. Rouse, Catherine B. Enomoto, Nicholas J. GianoutsosEstimating thermal maturity in the Eagle Ford Shale petroleum system using gas gravity data
Basin-wide datasets that provide information on the geochemical properties of petroleum systems, such as source rock quality, product composition, and thermal maturity, are often difficult to come by or assemble from publicly available data. When published studies are available and include these kinds of properties, they generally have few sampling locations and limited numbers and types of analysAuthorsJustin E. Birdwell, Scott A. KinneyGeochemical and mineralogical characterization of the Eagle Ford Shale: Results from the USGS Gulf Coast #1 West Woodway core
The Eagle Ford shale is a major continuous oil and gas resource play in southcentral Texas and a source for other oil accumulations in the East Texas Basin. As part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) petroleum system assessment and research efforts, a coring program to obtain several immature, shallow cores from near the outcrop belt in central Texas has been undertaken. The first of these corAuthorsJustin E. Birdwell, Adam Boehlke, Stanley T. Paxton, Katherine J. Whidden, Ofori N. PearsonGeopressure gradient maps of Southern Louisiana, state, and vicinity
This series of five maps characterizes the subsurface pressure system of southern Louisiana, including the associated State and Federal waters. These maps were generated using the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) comprehensive geopressure-gradient model (Burke et al., 2012b, 2013) that delineates the regional pressure system spanning the onshore and offshore Gulf of Mexico basin, USA. Previously, tAuthorsLauri Burke, Scott A Kinney, Russell F Dubiel, Janet K. PitmanA synoptic examination of causes of land loss in southern Louisiana as related to the exploitation of subsurface geologic resources
During the last 80 years, Louisiana has been losing wetlands at an average rate of 62 km2/y (24 mi2/y) for an accumulated loss of approximately 4900 km2 (1900 mi2). The loss seems to be the combined result of natural and anthropogenic causes that are behind primarily land subsidence averaging about 10 mm/y (0.4 in/y) coinciding with a sea level rise now at 3 mm/y (0.1 in/y), both contributing to cAuthorsRicardo A. Olea, James L. ColemanRegional maps of subsurface geopressure gradients of the onshore and offshore Gulf of Mexico basin
The U.S. Geological Survey created a comprehensive geopressure-gradient model of the regional pressure system spanning the onshore and offshore Gulf of Mexico basin, USA. This model was used to generate ten maps that included (1) five contour maps characterizing the depth to the surface defined by the first occurrence of isopressure gradients ranging from 0.60 psi/ft to 1.00 psi/ft, in 0.10-psi/ftAuthorsLauri A. Burke, Scott A. Kinney, Russell F. Dubiel, Janet K. PitmanChallenge theme 5: Current and future needs of energy and mineral resources in the Borderlands and the effects of their development: Chapter 7 in United States-Mexican Borderlands: Facing tomorrow's challenges through USGS science
Exploration and extraction activities related to energy and mineral resources in the Borderlands—such as coal-fired power plants, offshore drilling, and mining—can create issues that have potentially major economic and environmental implications. Resource assessments and development projects, environmental studies, and other related evaluations help to understand some of these issues, such as poweAuthorsRandall G. Updike, Eugene G. Ellis, William R. Page, Melanie J. Parker, Jay B. Hestbeck, William F. HorakU-Pb ages of detrital zircons from the Tertiary Mississippi River delta plain in central Louisiana: Insights into sediment provenance
The sources of the tremendous amount of Cenozoic siliciclastic sediment deposited in the Gulf of Mexico region remain debated because of a lack of definitive provenance-identifying characteristics. In an effort to build on prior provenance analysis, we present 101–160 single-grain detrital zircon U-Pb ages for each of 10 outcrop samples from Upper Paleocene to Upper Miocene sandstones from a ∼10,0AuthorsWilliam H. Craddock, Andrew R. C. Kylander-Clark - News
Below are news stories associated with this project.