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Title: CREATING A GEOLOGIC PLAY BOOK FOR TRENTON-BLACK RIVER APPALACHIAN BASIN EXPLORATION

Abstract

The Trenton-Black River Appalachian Basin Research Consortium has made significant progress toward their goal of producing a geologic play book for the Trenton-Black River gas play. The final product will include a resource assessment model of Trenton-Black River reservoirs; possible fairways within which to concentrate further studies and seismic programs; and a model for the origin of Trenton-Black River hydrothermal dolomite reservoirs. All seismic data available to the consortium have been examined. Synthetic seismograms constructed for specific wells have enabled researchers to correlate the tops of 15 stratigraphic units determined from well logs to seismic profiles in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. In addition, three surfaces for the area have been depth converted, gridded and mapped. A 16-layer velocity model has been developed to help constrain time-to-depth conversions. Considerable progress was made in fault trend delineation and seismic-stratigraphic correlation within the project area. Isopach maps and a network of gamma-ray cross sections supplemented with core descriptions allowed researchers to more clearly define the architecture of the basin during Middle and Late Ordovician time, the control of basin architecture on carbonate and shale deposition and eventually, the location of reservoirs in Trenton Limestone and Black River Group carbonates.more » The basin architecture itself may be structurally controlled, and this fault-related structural control along platform margins influenced the formation of hydrothermal dolomite reservoirs in original limestone facies deposited in high energy environments. This resulted in productive trends along the northwest margin of the Trenton platform in Ohio. The continuation of this platform margin into New York should provide further areas with good exploration potential. The focus of the petrographic study shifted from cataloging a broad spectrum of carbonate rocks that occur in the Trenton-Black River interval to delineation of regional limestone diagenesis in the basin. A consistent basin-wide pattern of marine and burial diagenesis that resulted in relatively low porosity and permeability in the subtidal facies of these rocks has been documented across the study area. Six diagenetic stages have been recognized: four marine diagenesis stages and two burial diagenesis stages. This dominance of extensive marine and burial diagenesis yielded rocks with low reservoir potential, with the exception of fractured limestone and dolostone reservoirs. Commercial amounts of porosity, permeability and petroleum accumulation appear to be restricted to areas where secondary porosity developed in association with hydrothermal fluid flow along faults and fractures related to basement tectonics. A broad range of geochemical and fluid inclusion analyses have aided in a better understanding of the origin of the dolomites in the Trenton and Black River Groups over the study area. The results of these analyses support a hydrothermal origin for all of the various dolomite types found to date. The fluid inclusion data suggest that all of the dolomite types analyzed formed from hot saline brines. The dolomite is enriched in iron and manganese, which supports a subsurface origin for the dolomitizing brine. Strontium isotope data suggest that the fluids passed through basement rocks or immature siliciclastic rocks prior to forming the dolomites. All of these data suggest a hot, subsurface origin for the dolomites. The project database continued to be redesigned, developed and deployed. Production data are being reformatted for standard relational database management system requirements. Use of the project intranet by industry partners essentially doubled during the reporting period.« less

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
West Virginia University Research Corporation (US)
Sponsoring Org.:
(US)
OSTI Identifier:
839563
DOE Contract Number:  
FC26-03NT41856
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 1 Apr 2005
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
58 GEOSCIENCES; APPALACHIAN BASIN; BASEMENT ROCK; BRINES; CARBONATE ROCKS; CROSS SECTIONS; DIAGENESIS; DOLOMITE; EXPLORATION; FLUID FLOW; MANGANESE; PERMEABILITY; RESOURCE ASSESSMENT; STRONTIUM ISOTOPES

Citation Formats

Patchen, Douglas G, Avary, Katharine Lee, Bocan, John M, Hohn, Michael, Hickman, John B, Lake, Paul D, Drahovzal, James A, Laughrey, Christopher D, Kostelnik, Jaime, Smith, Taury, Riley, Ron, and Baranoski, Mark. CREATING A GEOLOGIC PLAY BOOK FOR TRENTON-BLACK RIVER APPALACHIAN BASIN EXPLORATION. United States: N. p., 2005. Web. doi:10.2172/839563.
Patchen, Douglas G, Avary, Katharine Lee, Bocan, John M, Hohn, Michael, Hickman, John B, Lake, Paul D, Drahovzal, James A, Laughrey, Christopher D, Kostelnik, Jaime, Smith, Taury, Riley, Ron, & Baranoski, Mark. CREATING A GEOLOGIC PLAY BOOK FOR TRENTON-BLACK RIVER APPALACHIAN BASIN EXPLORATION. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/839563
Patchen, Douglas G, Avary, Katharine Lee, Bocan, John M, Hohn, Michael, Hickman, John B, Lake, Paul D, Drahovzal, James A, Laughrey, Christopher D, Kostelnik, Jaime, Smith, Taury, Riley, Ron, and Baranoski, Mark. 2005. "CREATING A GEOLOGIC PLAY BOOK FOR TRENTON-BLACK RIVER APPALACHIAN BASIN EXPLORATION". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/839563. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/839563.
@article{osti_839563,
title = {CREATING A GEOLOGIC PLAY BOOK FOR TRENTON-BLACK RIVER APPALACHIAN BASIN EXPLORATION},
author = {Patchen, Douglas G and Avary, Katharine Lee and Bocan, John M and Hohn, Michael and Hickman, John B and Lake, Paul D and Drahovzal, James A and Laughrey, Christopher D and Kostelnik, Jaime and Smith, Taury and Riley, Ron and Baranoski, Mark},
abstractNote = {The Trenton-Black River Appalachian Basin Research Consortium has made significant progress toward their goal of producing a geologic play book for the Trenton-Black River gas play. The final product will include a resource assessment model of Trenton-Black River reservoirs; possible fairways within which to concentrate further studies and seismic programs; and a model for the origin of Trenton-Black River hydrothermal dolomite reservoirs. All seismic data available to the consortium have been examined. Synthetic seismograms constructed for specific wells have enabled researchers to correlate the tops of 15 stratigraphic units determined from well logs to seismic profiles in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. In addition, three surfaces for the area have been depth converted, gridded and mapped. A 16-layer velocity model has been developed to help constrain time-to-depth conversions. Considerable progress was made in fault trend delineation and seismic-stratigraphic correlation within the project area. Isopach maps and a network of gamma-ray cross sections supplemented with core descriptions allowed researchers to more clearly define the architecture of the basin during Middle and Late Ordovician time, the control of basin architecture on carbonate and shale deposition and eventually, the location of reservoirs in Trenton Limestone and Black River Group carbonates. The basin architecture itself may be structurally controlled, and this fault-related structural control along platform margins influenced the formation of hydrothermal dolomite reservoirs in original limestone facies deposited in high energy environments. This resulted in productive trends along the northwest margin of the Trenton platform in Ohio. The continuation of this platform margin into New York should provide further areas with good exploration potential. The focus of the petrographic study shifted from cataloging a broad spectrum of carbonate rocks that occur in the Trenton-Black River interval to delineation of regional limestone diagenesis in the basin. A consistent basin-wide pattern of marine and burial diagenesis that resulted in relatively low porosity and permeability in the subtidal facies of these rocks has been documented across the study area. Six diagenetic stages have been recognized: four marine diagenesis stages and two burial diagenesis stages. This dominance of extensive marine and burial diagenesis yielded rocks with low reservoir potential, with the exception of fractured limestone and dolostone reservoirs. Commercial amounts of porosity, permeability and petroleum accumulation appear to be restricted to areas where secondary porosity developed in association with hydrothermal fluid flow along faults and fractures related to basement tectonics. A broad range of geochemical and fluid inclusion analyses have aided in a better understanding of the origin of the dolomites in the Trenton and Black River Groups over the study area. The results of these analyses support a hydrothermal origin for all of the various dolomite types found to date. The fluid inclusion data suggest that all of the dolomite types analyzed formed from hot saline brines. The dolomite is enriched in iron and manganese, which supports a subsurface origin for the dolomitizing brine. Strontium isotope data suggest that the fluids passed through basement rocks or immature siliciclastic rocks prior to forming the dolomites. All of these data suggest a hot, subsurface origin for the dolomites. The project database continued to be redesigned, developed and deployed. Production data are being reformatted for standard relational database management system requirements. Use of the project intranet by industry partners essentially doubled during the reporting period.},
doi = {10.2172/839563},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/839563}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 2005},
month = {Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 2005}
}