Javin J Hatcherian
Javin Hatcherian is a Physical Science Technician with the USGS Geology, Energy & Minerals (GEM) Science Center in Reston, VA.
Biography
Since joining the USGS in February, 2016, Javin has devoted his career to studying petroleum geology and specializes in organic petrography.
Education
- B.S. Geology, Texas A&M
Work Experience
- Feb 2016 to Present: Physical Science Technican, USGS Eastern Energy Resources Science Center, Reston, VA
- Jul 2014 to Dec 2015: Volunteer student researcher, Texas A&M, College Station, TX
- Aug 2011 to Dec 2013: Field Technician, AREHNA Engineering, Tampa, FL
Science and Products
Vitrinite Reflectance Service
Vitrinite reflectance is regarded as the gold standard thermal maturity parameter and vitrinite reflectance data is needed for energy resource assessment and other types of basin analysis studies. This effort provides vitrinite reflectance and qualitative organic petrography of shale, mudrock, coal and other unconventional reservoir samples as a routine in-house service, from the Organic...
Nanoscale Molecular Composition of Solid Bitumen from the Eagle Ford Group Across a Natural Thermal Maturity Gradient
Solid bitumen is a petrographically-defined secondary organic matter residue produced during petroleum generation and subsequent oil transformation. The presence of solid bitumen impacts many shale reservoir properties including porosity, permeability, and hydrocarbon generation and storage, amongst others. Furthermore, solid bitumen reflectance is an important parameter for assessing the
Investigating the effects of broad ion beam milling to sedimentary organic matter
To test if reflectance increases to sedimentary organic matter (vitrinite) caused by broad ion beam (BIB) milling were related to molecular aromatization and condensation, we used Raman and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies to evaluate potential compositional changes in the same vitrinite locations pre- and post-BIB milling. The same locations also were examined by at
Organic Petrography and Diagenesis of Leonardian Mudrocks and Carbonates, Midland Basin, Texas (2018)
As part of a larger study, organic petrographic features of Leonardian Wolfcamp A repetitive siliceous and calcareous mudrock and fine-grained carbonate lithofacies cycles occurring in the R. Ricker #1 core from Reagan County, Midland Basin, Texas were evaluated. The objectives of the petrographic investigation were to estimate thermal maturity, identify organic matter types and abundan
Oil-source rock correlation studies in the unconventional Upper Cretaceous Tuscaloosa marine shale petroleum system, Mississippi and Louisiana, USA (2019)
The U.S. Geological Survey assessed undiscovered unconventional hydrocarbon resources reservoired in the Upper Cretaceous Tuscaloosa marine shale (TMS) of southern Mississippi and adjacent Louisiana in 2018. As part of the assessment, oil- source rock correlations were examined in the study area where operators produce light (38-45° API), sweet oil from horizontal, hydraulicall
Nanoscale Molecular Fractionation of Organic Matter within Unconventional Petroleum Source Beds (2019)
Fractionation of petroleum during migration through sedimentary rock matrices has been observed across lengths of meters to kilometers. Selective adsorption of specific chemical moieties at mineral surfaces and/or the phase behavior of petroleum during pressure changes are typically invoked to explain this behavior. Given the current emphasis on unconventional (continuous) resources, ther
High Microscale Variability in Raman Thermal Maturity Estimates from Shale Organic Matter - Data Release
Here the spatial variation in Raman estimates of thermal maturity within individual organic domains from several shale geologic reference materials originating from the Boquillas, Marcellus, Niobrara, and Woodford Formations are assessed from the respective Raman response. We show that for all four shales the thermal maturity parameters extracted from Raman spectra by iterative peak fitting...
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 Tu
Investigating the effects of broad ion beam milling to sedimentary organic matter: Surface flattening or heat-induced aromatization and condensation?
Previous work has proposed transfer of kinetic heat energy from low-energy broad ion beam (BIB) milling causes thermal alteration of sedimentary organic matter, resulting in increases of organic matter reflectance. Whereas, other studies have suggested the organic matter reflectance increase from BIB milling is due to decreased surface roughness....
Hackley, Paul C.; Jubb, Aaron M.; Valentine, Brett J.; Hatcherian, Javin J.; Yu, Jing-Jiang; Podrazky, William K. Examination of inertinite within immature Eagle Ford Shale at the nanometer-scale using atomic force microscopy-based infrared spectroscopy
The nanoscale molecular composition of sedimentary organic matter is challenging to characterize in situ given the limited tools available that can adequately interrogate its complex chemical structure. This is a particularly relevant issue in source rocks, as kerogen composition will strongly impact its reactivity and so is critical to...
Jubb, Aaron M.; Hackley, Paul C.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Hatcherian, Javin J.; Qu, Jing Nanoscale molecular composition of solid bitumen from the Eagle Ford Group across a natural thermal maturity gradient
Microscopic solid bitumen is a petrographically defined secondary organic matter residue produced during petroleum generation and subsequent oil transformation. The presence of solid bitumen impacts many reservoir properties including porosity, permeability, and hydrocarbon generation and storage, among others. Furthermore, solid bitumen...
Jubb, Aaron M.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Hackley, Paul C.; Hatcherian, Javin J.; Qu, Jing Oil-source rock correlation studies in the unconventional Upper Cretaceous Tuscaloosa marine shale (TMS) petroleum system, Mississippi and Louisiana, USA
The U.S. Geological Survey assessed undiscovered unconventional hydrocarbon resources reservoired in the Upper Cretaceous Tuscaloosa marine shale (TMS) of southern Mississippi and adjacent Louisiana in 2018. As part of the assessment, oil-source rock correlations were examined in the TMS play area where operators produce light (38–45° API), sweet...
Hackley, Paul C.; Dennen, Kristin Opferkuch; Garza, Daniel; Lohr, Celeste; Valentine, Brett; Hatcherian, Javin J.; Enomoto, Catherine B.; Dulong, Frank T. Organic petrography of Leonardian (Wolfcamp A) mudrocks and carbonates, Midland Basin, Texas: The fate of oil-prone sedimentary organic matter in the oil window
To better understand evolution of oil-prone sedimentary organic matter to petroleum and expulsion from source rock, we evaluated organic petrographic features of Leonardian Wolfcamp A repetitive siliceous and calcareous mudrock and fine-grained carbonate lithofacies cycles occurring in the R. Ricker #1 core from Reagan County, Midland Basin, Texas...
Hackley, Paul C.; Zhang, Tongwei; Jubb, Aaron M.; Valentine, Brett J.; Dulong, Frank T.; Hatcherian, Javin J. Nanoscale molecular fractionation of organic matter within unconventional petroleum source beds
Fractionation of petroleum during migration through sedimentary rock matrices has been observed across lengths of meters to kilometers. Selective adsorption of specific chemical moieties at mineral surfaces and/or the phase behavior of petroleum during pressure changes typically are invoked to explain this behavior. Such phenomena are of interest...
Jubb, Aaron M.; Hackley, Paul C.; Hatcherian, Javin J.; Qu, Jing; Nesheim, Timothy O Reflectance increase from broad beam ion milling of coals and organic-rich shales due to increased surface flatness
Broad ion beam (BIB) milling is useful in organic petrology because it can yield flat sample surfaces and avert the ‘smearing’ of organic matter (OM) that results from traditional mechanical polishing. This potentially makes BIB especially useful in the study of nano-porosity, where even minor mechanical disruption of the sample surface distorts...
Hatcherian, Javin J.; Yu, Jing-Jiang; Valentine, Brett J.; Hackley, Paul C.; Hatcherian, Javin J.; Yu, Jing-Jiang High microscale variability in Raman thermal maturity estimates from shale organic matter
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...
Jubb, Aaron M.; Botterell, Palma J.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Burruss, Robert C.; Hackley, Paul C.; Valentine, Brett J.; Hatcherian, Javin J.; Wilson, Stephen A.
Assessment of undiscovered continuous oil and gas resources in the Upper Cretaceous Tuscaloosa marine shale of the U.S. Gulf Coast, 2018
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey assessed mean undiscovered, technically recoverable continuousresources of 1.5 billion barrels of oil and 4.6 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Upper Cretaceous Tuscaloosa marine shale in onshore and State waters ofLouisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida in the U.S. Gulf...
Hackley, Paul C.; Enomoto, Catherine B.; Valentine, Brett J.; Rouse, William A.; Lohr, Celeste D.; Dulong, Frank T.; Hatcherian, Javin J.; Brennan, Sean T.; Craddock, William H.; Finn, Thomas M.; Gaswirth, Stephanie B.; Le, Phuong A.; Leathers-Miller, Heidi M.; Marra, Kristen R.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Paxton, Stanley T.; Whidden, Katherine J.; Woodall, Cheryl A.; Schenk, Christopher J. On the petrographic distinction of bituminite from solid bitumen in immature to early mature source rocks
The oil-prone maceral bituminite (and its equivalents: ‘amorphous organic matter’, ‘sapropelinite’, ‘amorphinite’, etc.) converts to petroleum during thermal maturation of source rocks, resulting in formation of a mobile saturate-rich hydrocarbon and a polar-rich residue of solid bitumen. Evidence of this transition is preserved in...
Hackley, Paul C.; Valentine, Brett J.; Hatcherian, Javin J. Nanoscale geochemical and geomechanical characterization of dispersed organic matter in shale by infrared nanoscopy
Solid organic matter (OM) plays an essential role in the generation, migration, storage, and production of hydrocarbons from economically important shale rock formations. Electron microscopy images have documented spatial heterogeneity in the porosity of OM at nanoscale, and bulk spectroscopy measurements have documented large variation in the...
Yang, Jin; Hatcherian, Javin J.; Hackley, Paul C.; Pomerantz, Andrew Geologic characterization of the hydrocarbon resource potential of the Upper Cretaceous Tuscaloosa marine shale in Mississippi and Louisiana, U.S.A.
Recent oil production from the Upper Cretaceous Tuscaloosa marine shale (TMS) has elevated the formation, previously assessed by the USGS in 2011 as part of the Eagle Ford Group, to its own distinct assessment unit for an upcoming assessment. Geologic characterization in preparation for the 2017 assessment has included the analysis of rock...
Enomoto, Catherine B.; Hackley, Paul C.; Valentine, Brett J.; Rouse, William A.; Dulong, Frank T.; Lohr, Celeste D.; Hatcherian, Javin J.