Facilitation of Science and Engineering Collaboration and Technology Transfer

Key to the success of research projects involving collaboration across disciplinary, organizational, and geographic boundaries is the use of appropriate and effective mechanisms to exchange data and analyses among research team members. Where diverse university-based research groups are also sharing data and results with industry and government collaborators and sponsors, timely and appropriate information transfer to these entities is also important to project success. Despite rapid evolution of electronic communication technologies, this data sharing and data analysis sharing function is commonly less successful than many stakeholders desire, and less effective than current technology allows. By taking advantage of a secure, interactive website environment, geoscientists, engineers, and others can communicate and share a variety of information resources effectively and conveniently. This results in closer collaboration, faster progress, lower costs, and more effective technology transfer to the private sector. However, the traditional Internet Web site, Intranet, and Extranet approaches are not solutions to many of the challenges of diverse, collaborative research teams. This report outlines the solution to this challenge developed in our project. The project "Using Microstructure Observations To Qualify Fracture Properties and Improve Reservoir Simulation" involves multidisciplinary studies of natural fractures in hydrocarbon reservoirs by a research team of geologists and engineers at The University of Texas at Austin that is dispersed among different buildings and two different campuses. In addition, a collaborating group of industry scientists representing seven companies includes individuals located in different cities (or continents). Successful cooperative research and technology transfer for such a widely distributed group is a serious logistical and organizational challenge.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Increasing Development Efficiency in Low-Permeability Gas Reservoirs: A Synopsis of Tight Gas Sands Project Resesarch

To support the practical application of research outcomes within the industry, this report serves as a roadmap to the literature produced by the Bureau of Economic Geology as part of the Geological Analysis of Primary and Secondary Tight Gas Sands Objectives Project under the Gas Research Institute (GRI) Tight Gas Sands Research Program from 1982 to 1992. We synthesize key findings from geological studies published in 17 GRI topical reports, over 90 Bureau of Economic Geology monographs, peer-reviewed journal articles, contributions to other GRI reports, and presentations and abstracts in conference proceedings. The purpose of this report is to provide a comprehensive index to this body of literature. The completion of the national survey, Atlas of Major Low-Permeability Sandstone Gas Reservoirs in the Continental United States, presented an opportune moment to compile and summarize research findings spanning diverse regions, formations, and geological and engineering subjects. These findings, disseminated through publications in both geological and engineering journals, as well as GRI topical reports, are intended to be cataloged in this report. Furthermore, this report is designed to complement the Atlas of Major Low-Permeability Sandstone Gas Reservoirs in the Continental United States, which consolidates geological, reservoir characterization, and engineering insights from 24 productive low-permeability sandstone formations across 13 basins.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Improved Resource Characterization Technology

To enhance the application of research results by industry, this report provides a guide to the results of research carried out by the Bureau of Economic Geology in the Geological Analysis of Primary and Secondary Tight Gas Sands Objectives Project as part of the Gas Research Institute (GRI) Tight Gas Sands Research Program in the period 1982-1995. The Gas Research Institute (GRI) has supported geological investigations designed to develop the knowledge necessary to produce gas from low-permeability sandstones efficiently. As part of that program, the Bureau of Economic Geology has conducted in-depth research on most of the important low-permeability sandstones in the lower 48. Another objective was to develop advanced technologies, verified in the field, which are necessary for continued cost-competitive production from low-permeability reservoirs. An extensive body of knowledge about many aspects of the geology and engineering attributes of low-permeability sandstones has been developed. We review some of the key findings of the geologic studies published in GRI topical reports and Bureau of Economic Geology monographs, refereed journal papers, contributions to other GRI reports, and papers and abstracts in meeting transaction volumes.Bureau of Economic Geolog

First Descriptions of Endoparasite Fauna of Elasmobranch and Mesopelagic Teleost Bycatch Fishes from the Western North Atlantic Pelagic Longline Fishery

Natural mortality is a poorly known aspect of fisheries biology, despite its importance in stock assessments and population analysis. Of potential sources of mortality and morbidity in fishes, the effect of internal parasites is perhaps the least studied even though these organisms are known to inhibit nutrient uptake and stimulate an inflammatory response in fish. Parasite taxa of the pelagic elasmobranchs silky and night sharks and pelagic stingray (Carcharhinus falciformis, C. signatus and Pteroplatytrygon violacea), and the mesopelagic teleosts sailfin lancetfish, oilfish, snake mackerel, escolar and Atlantic pomfret (Alepisaurus ferox, Ruvettus pretiosus, Gempylus serpens, Lepidocybium flavobrunneum, and Brama brama) are described from the western North Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Parasite taxa included cestodes, trematodes, acanthocephalans, and nematodes. Suggested protocol revisions to current accepted laboratory methods will enhance future parasite taxa descriptions from pelagic marine fishes. This work serves as the first parasite taxa and load descriptions for pelagic stingray, lancetfish, oilfish, snake mackerel, escolar and pomfret

Microfractures: A review

Microfractures are small, high-aspect-ratio cracks in rock that result from application of differential stresses. Although the term has been used to refer to larger features in the petroleum engineering and geophysics literature, in geologic parlance the term refers to fractures visible only under magnification, having lengths of millimeters or less and widths generally less than 0.1 mm. Nevertheless, populations of these structures typically encompass a wide size range and in some cases they form the small-size fraction of fracture arrays that include much larger factures. In geologic settings, microfractures commonly form as Mode I (opening) fractures where the minimum principal stress exceeds the elastic tensile strength creating a narrow opening displacement; in isotropic rocks such fractures mark the plane perpendicular to the least compressive principal stress during fracture growth. These planar or curviplanar openings provide an opportunity for fluids and/or gases to enter the created cavity. Cement deposits or crack closure may trap fluids or gases, leaving mineral precipitates and a track of enclosed fluids and gases. In transmitted light these precipitates frequently manifest as fluid-inclusion planes (FIPs). Cathodoluminescence (CL) images show that many are cement-filled microveins. Microfractures can be used to assess the paleostress history or fluid movement history of a rock body. Also, because sudden opening produces acoustic emissions, microfractures created in the laboratory can be used to assess the rock-failure process. Here we review recent discoveries made using microfractures, including fracture patterns, strain, fracture growth and size-scaling, evolution of stresses around propagating faults (process zones), far-field tectonic stresses, and insights into the state of stress leading to earthquakes

Fluctuation-induced Topological Quantum Phase Transitions in Quantum Spin Hall and Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulators

We investigate the role of quantum fluctuations in topological quantum phase transitions of quantum spin Hall insulators and quantum anomalous Hall insulators. Employing the variational cluster approximation to obtain the single-particle Green's function of the interacting many-body system, we characterize different phases by direct calculation of the recently proposed topological order parameter for interacting systems. We pinpoint the influence of quantum fluctuations on the quantum spin Hall to Mott insulator transition in several models. Furthermore, we propose a general mechanism by which a topological quantum phase transition can be driven by the divergence of the self energy induced by interactions

Description and interpretation of natural fracture patterns in sandstones of the Frontier Formation along the Hogsback, southwestern Wyoming

Fractures exposed in outcrop can be classified into three general groups: J1 fractures strike generally north-south and were formed early, in a regime of east-west extension during basin subsidence. These fractures have the greatest potential for extrapolation into the subsurface of the basin. J2 fractures formed during the subsequent onset of thrusting that led to the Hogsback escarpment; J2 fractures were created by a north-south dilatancy in response to east-west tectonic compression and strike generally east-west. They may extend slightly east of the thrust belt. J3 fractures formed soon after J2 fractures as a mechanical response to local shear and torsion within the thrust plate. They will not exist beyond the limits of the thrust belt. Petrographic study of selected samples suggests that the mechanical properties that controlled fracture susceptibility changed through time, dictating the potential for the sandstones to fracture during given stress-producing tectonic events.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Marcellus Shale BEG Natural Fracture Project Final Report

Operators in the Marcellus Shale gas play are aware of the importance of natural fractures, and there has been substantial work on the fracture systems in core and outcrop in the large region covered by this play (Eastern Shale Gas Project reports; Evans, 1980, 1994, 1995; Engelder et al., 2009 and references therein; Lash and Engelder, 2005, 2007, 2009). The most common fractures documented by these authors in core and outcrop are subvertical opening-mode fractures that are broadly strike parallel (J1) or cross-fold joints (J2). Evans (1995) also found strike-parallel veins that post-date the J2 set, and Lash and Engelder (2005) describe bitumen-filled microcracks developed during catagenesis. Gale and Holder (2010) found in a study of several gas-shales that narrow, sealed, subvertical fractures are typically present in most shale cores. In shale-gas plays that are produced using hydraulic fracturing stimulation, these fractures are nevertheless important because of their interaction with hydraulic treatment fractures (Gale et al., 2007). At the scale of hydraulic fracture stimulation, natural fracture patterns and in situ stress can be highly variable, even though a broad tectonic pattern may be consistent over hundreds of miles. Thus, site-specific evaluation of the natural fractures and in situ stress is necessary. Open fractures are observed in a few cases in core. Fracture-size scaling, coupled with a fracture-size control over sealing cementation and a subcritical growth mechanism that favors clustering, suggests that open fractures are likely to be concentrated in clusters spaced hundreds of feet apart (Gale, 2002; Gale et al., 2007). Our goal for this project is to characterize the fractures and identify the characteristic spatial arrangement of fractures, including potential clusters of large fractures. Our emphasis is on characterizing, quantifying, and modeling fractures that have grown in the subsurface in a chemically reactive environment through a combination of observation at a range of scales, detailed petrographic and microstructural observation of cement fills, and geomechanical modeling (cf. Marrett et al., 1999; Gale, 2002; Laubach 1997, 2003; Olson, 2004). Large natural fractures, open or sealed, are typically sparsely sampled in core or image logs. Yet these are the fractures that would have the most effect in augmenting gas flow or influencing the growth of hydraulic fractures. Our approach overcomes the sampling problem by use of fracture size and spatial scaling analysis coupled with geomechanical modeling. That is, we may make predictions about their attributes without sampling them. Fracture morphology, orientation, spatial organization, and cementation were analyzed using datasets from the project well-experiment area in SW Pennsylvania. We added a dataset from a field area to evaluate the use of outcrop fracture data in reservoir characterization in the Marcellus, thus expanding the relevance of the study beyond the well-experiment area in SW Pennsylvania.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Reinitiation of compensatory lung growth after subsequent lung resection

ObjectiveIn experimental animals, pneumonectomy results in rapid, hyperplastic compensatory growth of the remaining lung. The limits of this induced growth are unknown. We tested the hypothesis that compensatory growth can be reinitiated in the same lung after subsequent lung resection.MethodsA left thoracotomy (Sham group) or left pneumonectomy (PNX group) was performed in Sprague–Dawley rats. A third group underwent left pneumonectomy followed 4 weeks later by a bilobectomy of the right upper and middle lobes (PNX+LBX group). Four weeks after bilobectomy in the PNX+LBX group (8 weeks in the Sham and PNX groups), right ventricular pressures were measured by using the open chest technique, and total lung weight and lower plus cardiac lobe weight indices were measured. Lungs were inflation fixed at 25 cm H2O to measure lobe volume index and to perform morphometric measurements on lung sections. Right ventricle/left ventricle plus septum weight index was measured as another index of pulmonary hypertension.ResultsTotal lung weight index was similar in all groups. Pneumonectomy resulted in increased lower plus cardiac lobe weight and volume indices, which were significantly augmented in the PNX+LBX group. The PNX+LBX group underwent a significant increase in total volume of respiratory region, airspace, and tissue and a decrease in alveolar surface density versus the PNX group. The PNX+LBX group also had significantly increased right ventricular systolic pressure and right ventricle/left ventricle plus septum index.ConclusionThese results demonstrate that compensatory growth can be reinitiated in lungs that had previously undergone postpneumonectomy compensatory growth. This subsequent growth, however, is more hypertrophic, and pulmonary hypertension develops despite subsequent compensatory growth