Publications

The confirmed stratigraphic and structural-stratigraphic Southeast Stable Shelf Assessment Unit (AU) of the Miocene Total Petroleum System (San Joaquin Basin Province) comprises all hydrocarbon accumulations within the geographic limits of the AU. Traps typically display low dip angles, gentle folds, and normal faults. Reservoirs, which range in age from fractured Mesozoic basement rocks...

The time transgressive nature of the California benthic foraminiferal stages is in most cases the result of poor taxonomy, use of local species ranges, and a lack of understanding about the type sections. Correcting these problems allows the stages to be consistently applied and enhances their ability to identify coeval strata. Each stage is identified by the first and last appearances...

Coalbed methane regeneration is of increasing interest, and is gaining global attention with respect to enhancement of gas recovery. The objective of this study is to determine if there are differences in methanogen nucleic acid sequences associated with low rank coals from the Powder River Basin, Wyoming, in comparison with sequences that can be recovered from coal bed-associated...

Significant amounts (> 36 million m3/day) of coalbed methane (CBM) are currently being extracted from coal beds in the Paleocene Fort Union Formation of the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana. Information on processes that generate methane in these coalbed reservoirs is important for developing methods that will stimulate additional production. The chemical and isotopic...

Since 2005, oil price increases have greatly increased investment in the production of extra- heavy oil and natural bitumen (tar sands or oil sands) to supplement conventional oil supplies. These oils are characterised by their high viscosity, high density (low API gravity), and high concentrations of nitrogen, oxygen, sulphur, and heavy metals. Extra-heavy oil and natural bitumen are...

Deposits in lower Mohave Valley and upper Topock Gorge near Topock, Arizona and Park Moabi, California record a succession of depositional and erosional events since late Miocene time that relate to the development of the Colorado River. Upper Miocene alluvial fans were deposited toward a depocenter east of the present valley bottom, indicating there was no valley outlet then through the...

No abstract available.

This rapid trip will explore wild fluvial and tectonic events resulting in scenic and rugged topography. The extreme differences in elevation caused valleys to be choked by alluvium and incised by the Colorado River drainage system.

A distinctive set of fine-grained deposits occurs throughout the lower Colorado River Valley, extending from just below the mouth of Grand Canyon to well into the river delta below Yuma, AZ (Figure 1), an along-channel distance of over 700 km. Upstream of Parker, Arizona, the deposits consist of scattered erosional remnants up to 150 m above the modern floodplain. Below Parker, they...

Atmospheric mercury is thought to be an important source of mercury present in fish, resulting in numerous local, statewide, tribal, and province-wide fish consumption advisories in the United States and Canada (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2007a). To understand how mercury occurs in the atmosphere and its potential to be transferred from the atmosphere to the biosphere, the U.S

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of 113.7 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas, a mean of 690 million barrels of undiscovered oil, and a mean of 3.7 billion barrels of undiscovered natural gas liquids in onshore lands and State waters of the Gulf Coast.

In 2003, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed an assessment of the oil and gas resource potential of the San Joaquin Basin Province of California. The assessment is based on the geologic elements of each Total Petroleum System defined in the province, including hydrocarbon source rocks (source-rock type and maturation and hydrocarbon generation and migration), reservoir rocks...