Hydrology of the Palo Duro Basin, Texas Panhandle

The heterogeneous aquifer/aquitard system observed in the Palo Duro and Dalhart Basins is the outcome of prolonged cycles of various sedimentation styles. The sedimentary sequence is effectively partitioned into deep and shallow flow systems. The relatively permeable formations are vertically segregated by a thick interval of Middle- and Upper Permian evaporites and fine-grained red beds, which serve as an aquitard, restricting water flow. Following the frameworks developed by Maxey (1964) and Toth (1978), Bassett and Bentley (in press) identified several hydrogeologic elements in the Palo Duro Basin. These elements are categorized based on their relative water-conducting or water-retarding characteristics, such as the Ogallala Aquifer or Evaporite Aquitard. In instances where a hydrogeologic element consists of both permeable lithology and mudstone interbeds, the designation of aquifer/aquitard is determined by the properties of the more permeable strata. Hydrogeologic units are assemblies of vertically adjacent strata sharing similar hydraulic properties, although they may have different primary lithologies. Each hydrogeologic unit comprises one or more hydrogeologic elements. In the Palo Duro Basin, Bassett and Bentley identified five hydrogeologic units: (1) Basement Aquiclude, (2) Deep-Basin Brine Aquifer, (3) Basin Shale Aquitard, (4) Evaporite Aquitard, and (5) Upper Aquifer. The permeabilities listed in Table 1 and shown in Figure 1 represent typical values obtained from literature sources or determined through drill-stem tests analysis.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Production Potential of Unrecovered Mobile Oil Through Infield Development: Integrated Geologic and Engineering Studies Overview

This report is part of a coordinated series of research efforts designed to prepare preliminary evaluations of important components of the domestic unrecovered oil resource. The specific resource of interest is the oil that is displacable by water and remains in the Nation's reservoirs after conventional production. Integrated geologic, engineering, and economic evaluations in this series estimate future reserve additions from this unrecovered mobile oil (UMO) resource under various circumstances. The individual studies (Volumes 2 through 5) consider the effects of changes in oil prices and advances in production technology on the economic recovery potential of the UMO resource. This report (Volume 1) discusses and compares the approaches and results of the individual studies. Several recovery technologies are evaluated, including the use of waterflooding in conjunction with infill drilling to displace and produce UMO at decreased well spacings. The overall analysis series was conducted in two separate, but coordinated, parts: at a detailed reservoir level and at a generalized regional level. At the reservoir level, detailed analyses of three individual Texas reservoirs fully delineated the resource and the potential for UMO recovery in each reservoir under a variety of development situations. Results of the individual reservoir evaluations were extrapolated to groups of reservoirs with common depositional histories, collectively known as "plays". At the regional level, reservoirs in three major oil producing states, Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico, were analyzed to determine the resource volume, potential recovery, and the costs and benefits associated with this recovery both in the individual states and for the region as a whole. This analysis relied on the geologic classification of individual reservoirs, specific rock and fluid properties, and production and development histories to quantify the resource and to assess its potential for UMO recovery potential. Coordination of the studies at two analytical levels proved advantageous -- the initial methods and results at both levels were compared in order to calibrate and to modify the final approach at each level and can now be used as a guide in future analyses. In addition to the specific results from the two analytical levels, several shorter issue and summary papers have also been prepared.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Contributions to geology

Accompanied by 2 fold-outs. Fig. 2 : Map showing localities from which the meteor was seen. Fig. 15 : Production curve of University Deep Well, Texon Oil and Land Company No. 1-B, Reagan County, Texas, from December 1, 1928, to July 31, 1929. Depositional history of the red beds and saline residues of the Texas Permian / C.L. Baker -- Note on the Permian Chinati series of west Texas / C.L. Baker -- The Texas meteor of June 23, 1928 / E.H. Sellards -- The Paleozoic of the Pedernales Valley in Gillespie and Blanco Counties, Texas / R.A. Jones -- Pratt well in Webb County / R.A. Jones -- Pennsylvania ostracoda from Menard County, Texas / B. H. Harlton -- A Yegua-Eocene delta in Brazos County, Texas / L.C. Reed and O.M. Longnecker -- The University deep well in Reagan County, Texas / E.H. Sellards and W. Williams -- Some upper Cretaceous Taylor ammonites from Texas / W.S. Adkins. University of Texas bulletin ; no. 2901 : Jan. 1, 1929UT Librarie

Contributions to Geology, 1944

"Contributions to Geology," including shorter papers, have been issued by the Bureau of Economic Geology since 1928. Each volume of the "Contributions" bears a bulletin number and is thus a part of The University of Texas series. The volumes issued in this "Contributions" series are University of Texas Bulletins 2801, 2901, 3001, 3101, 3201, 3501; University of Texas Publication 3945; and the present volume, University of Texas Publication 4401. The papers of this volume of "Contributions" include two papers on stratigraphic subjects and selected studies of fossil groups as follows: graptolites from the Cambrian, corals from the Carboniferous, Foraminifera from the Upper Carboniferous, vertebrates from the Triassic, crustaceans from the Cretaceous, and vertebrates from the Pliocene. This volume of "Contributions" was planned by Dr. E. H. Sellards who selected the papersand arranged for publication. The volume constitutes avaluable contribution to the geology of Texas and will be useful in many problems of economic geology.UT Librarie

Environmental geologic atlas of the Texas coastal zone : Port Lavaca area

UT Librarie

Environmental geologic atlas of the Texas coastal zone : Brownsville-Harlingen area

UT Librarie

Geodetic monitoring of the Yucca Mountain region using continuous GPS measurements

What Task 3 is About: Monitor current crustal deformation at YM – In the broader tectonic context of the NA-Pacific plate boundary – In the regional context of the East California Shear Zone (ECSZ) – In the geological context of specific fault activity – Vertical motion associated with geophysical fluids Using geodetic methods – GPS – mature, proven track the 3-D point-positions of 47 stations with \u3c 1 mm precision – InSAR – new, experimental regional map of displacement along the line-of-sight (accuracy??) proven capability: (1) co-seismic deformation; (2) local instabilitie

Intracontinental subduction: a possible mechanism for the Early Palaeozoic Orogen of SE China

International audienceThe Early Palaeozoic Orogen of SE China consists of three litho-tectonic elements, from top to bottom: a sedimentary Upper Unit, a metamorphic Lower Unit and a gneissic basement. The boundaries between these units are flat lying, south directed, ductile decollements. The lower one is coeval with an amphibolite facies metamorphism (M1). The belt is reworked by migmatite-granite domes, high-temperature metamorphism (M2) and granitic plutons related to post-orogenic crustal melting. We date here the syn-M1 ductile shearing at 453 +/- 7 Ma by U-Th/Pb method on monazite. Previous ages and our ne

Tibet, the Himalaya, Asian monsoons and biodiversity - In what ways are they related?

Prevailing dogma asserts that the uplift of Tibet, the onset of the Asian monsoon system and high biodiversity in southern Asia are linked, and that all occurred after 23 million years ago in the Neogene. Here, spanning the last 60 million years of Earth history, the geological, climatological and palaeontological evidence for this linkage is reviewed. The principal conclusions are that: 1) A proto-Tibetan highland existed well before the Neogene and that an Andean type topography with surface elevations of at least 4.5 km existed at the start of the Eocene, before final closure of the Tethys Ocean that separated India from Eurasia. 2) The Himalaya were formed not at the start of the India-Eurasia collision, but after much of Tibet had achieved its present elevation. The Himalaya built against a pre-existing proto-Tibetan highland and only projected above the average height of the plateau after approximately 15 Ma. 3) Monsoon climates have existed across southern Asia for the whole of the Cenozoic, and probably for a lot longer, but that they were of the kind generated by seasonal migrations of the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone. 4) The projection of the High Himalaya above the Tibetan Plateau at about 15 Ma coincides with the development of the modern South Asia Monsoon. 5) The East Asia monsoon became established in its present form about the same time as a consequence of topographic changes in northern Tibet and elsewhere in Asia, the loss of moisture sources in the Asian interior and the development of a strong winter Siberian high as global temperatures declined. 6) New radiometric dates of palaeontological finds point to southern Asia's high biodiversity originating in the Paleogene, not the Neogene