Search for unconventional methane resources beneath crystalline thrust sheets in the southern Appalachians

Conference · Tue Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1994 · Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:6780961

Olsen, K; Costain, J K; Bodnar, R J; Coruh, C ^[1]; Henika, W S

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1. Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ., Blacksburg, VA (United States). Dept. of Geological Sciences

The crystalline rocks of the Virginia Blue Ridge and Piedmont provinces are generally not thought to be likely targets for natural gas exploration. However, recent fluid inclusion studies have documented the presence of methane in post-Alleghanian quartz veins in the Blue Ridge and Piedmont. Methane is not a stable component of the COH fluid phase predicted to be in equilibrium with these rocks at the P-T conditions of metamorphism. This suggests that the methane is not generated locally but, rather, is derived from other sources. Sedimentary rocks equivalent to the productive hydrocarbon Devonian shale beds of the Appalachian Basin are present in surficial tectonic slices on the Reed Mountain and Coyner Mountain structures in the roanoke area, and Devonian shale source beds are thought to exist beneath the Pulaski and Blue Ridge thrust sheets to the southeast. These source beds are part of the hydrocarbon-bearing Lower Paleozoic shelf strata that are interpreted to be buried beneath the crystalline thrust sheets in the Southern Appalachians.

• OSTI ID: 6780961
• Report Number(s): CONF-9404221--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States) Journal Volume: 26:4
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
030200* -- Natural Gas-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
EXPLORATION
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
METAMORPHIC ROCKS
MINERAL RESOURCES
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
NORTH AMERICA
ORIGIN
RESERVOIR ROCK
RESOURCES
ROCKS
USA
VIRGINIA