Pye, Willard D.

The Ohio Journal of Science

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SEDIMENTARY ANALYSIS OF DRILL CUTTINGS FROM THEVANCE WELL, DELAWARE COUNTY, OHIOWILLARD D. PYE1The Chester L. Wise, et al, Herman E. Vance, No. 1, is located on Lot 11,Sec. 3, Orange Township, Delaware County, Ohio. This location is on the eastside of the Olentangy River approximately 14 miles north of Columbus and 10miles south of Delaware. Drilling commenced in September, 1934, and wascompleted in May, 1937, the entire hole being drilled by cable tool. The wellstarted in the Ohio shale of Devonian age and bottomed at a total depth of 4291feet in crystalline rocks of pre-Cambrian age. Despite the fact that the well wasa dry hole, it is of importance because of the information it has yielded as to thesubsurface stratigraphy of that part of Ohio. A detailed study of the drill cuttingsfrom the Vance well has already been published.2The total amount of material available for disaggregation and analysis wassmall, averaging only about 100 grams, and consisted of chips and sand broughtup by the bailer from the indicated depths. Although some contamination of thecuttings undoubtedly occurred due to material being knocked off the upper wallsof the hole during drilling operations, nevertheless, the analyses of the samplesprobably rather closely represent the formation being drilled.The samples were taken at depths of 3435, 3440, and 3445 feet3 and representa Cambrian sandstone, possible just above the Jordan.4 A gas-bearing brine wasfound at 3550 feet, just below the lowest sample.The samples were all very uniform in appearance and consisted of a fine-grained, friable, fairly porous, yellowish-gray calcareous to dolomitic sandstone.*The main cementing material was dolomitic calcite with some iron. In the coarsechips from the cuttings the carbonate is present as a cement binding the sandgrains together; in the finer cuttings where the rock has been broken down into itsindividual mineral grain components, the carbonate cement is found as a finepowder. The original sand grains are rounded to well rounded and possess a fairlyhigh degree of sphericity.METHODS OF ANALYSIS AND DATASince it was obvious from microscopic examination that much of the "sand"was from the carbonate cement, one fraction of each sample was boiled for tenminutes in dilute hydrochloric acid to remove the carbonates, and in stannouschloride to clean the grains of iron oxide coatings so as to facilitate later mineralidentification.Table I gives the results of the mechanical analyses of both the untreated andacid treated samples. Sieving was by hand and lasted for 30 minutes. As thisis longer than has recently become the standard practice for making sedimentaryanalyses, the final results probably were controlled to some extent by the largestopening in each sieve.•Now with the Texas Company, Box 167, U. S. A. C , Logan, Utah.2W. Stout and C. A. Lamey, "Paleozoic and Pre-Cambrian Rocks of the Vance Well,Delaware County, Ohio," Bull. Amer. Assoc. Petrol. Geol., Vol. 24, (1940), pp. 672-692.3The samples were secured by Dr. G. D. Hubbard from Dr. W. Stout, State Geologistof Ohio. Acknowledgment is made to Messrs. A. J. Wallace and R. Mallory for supplementalinformation on the 3440 and 3445 foot samples.4W. Stout and C. A. Lamey, op. cit., pp. 672-692.59No. 1 ANALYSIS OF DRILL CUTTINGS IN DELAWARE COUNTY 51TABLE ISIEVE ANALYSISDEPTHSieve Size (mm.)1.000-0.4950.495-0.2460.246-0.1240.124-0.0610.061-PanTotalMean SizeStandard DeviationPer cent sample intosolution by acid3435 FEETUntreated%trace2.323.837.536.4100.00.0850.5664.1*62.2f3440 FEETUntreated%6'424.742.126.8100.00.0960.55AcidTreated%25.253.718.7100.00.0960.6260^93445 FEETUntreated%'2.120.848.328.8100.00.0860.61AcidTreated%3.332.851.212.7100.00.1080.6241.3*Different sample than the one sieved.fSample used for chemical analysis of cements.TABLE IIPIPETTE ANALYSIS OF SAMPLE FROM 3445 FOOT DEPTH(Untreated by acid)Size (mm.) Per CentPer Cent ofTotal SizeDistribution1/16- 1/321/32-1/641/64-1/128Less than 1/128Greater than 1/16 (from Table I)Total40.940.911.76.5100.011.811.83.41.871.2100.0TABLE IIIMINERALOGY OF SAMPLE FROM 3440 FOOT DEPTHMineralsAcid TreatedSample%Iron stained quartzOpaques (Magnetite and Limonite)BiotiteMuscoviteGarnet (pink and red)HornblendeTourmalineOpaque and semi-opaque iron carbonatesCalcite and Dolomite7910433152 WILLARD D. PYE Vol. X L V IThe material from the non-acid treated sample caught on the pan during thesieving of the 3445 foot depth sample was boiled in a solution carrying 0.5 gramsof sodium carbonate and then diluted to 1000 cc. for pipette analysis. The resultsare presented in Table II. How much of this distribution was due to carbonatecement fragments was not determined.The mineralogy of the samples is given below and is based upon both heavymineral and thin section analyses.Sample from 3435 foot depth: The cement binding the sand grains togetherconsists of carbonate with minor amounts of iron oxide. Some post-depositionalpyrite is also present. No silica cement is evident. Magnetite makes up fullyfifty per cent of the heavy minerals; pyrite, limonite, and leucoxene make upminor amounts. The non-opaque heavy minerals are freshly broken (duringdrilling ?) pink garnet, rounded topaz grains with many inclusions, and well roundedolive-green zircons. The dominant detrital light mineral is quartz, which may beclear or filled with inclusions. Acid feldspar is present but not common. Thevery abundant carbonate cement is all recrystallized and shows no evidence of adetrital origin.Sample from 3440 foot depth: See Table III.Sample from 344-5 foot depth: Iron-stained quartz makes up most of the detritalminerals. Zircons, garnet, flourite, hematite, magnetite, leucoxene, and pyriteare present in small amounts. Magnetite makes up over 40 per cent of the heavyminerals with the other ore minerals making up most of the rest. Fragments ofwell crystallized carbonate cement are very common in the light fraction.Chemical Analysis of Sample from 3435 Foot Depth: After a sample from the3435 foot depth was leached with hydrochloric acid, it was found that a total of62 per cent had gone into solution. This solution was analyzed for calcium, mag-nesium, and iron percentages. Although undoubtedly other elements for whichno tests were made were present in minor amounts, the following were calculatedto have made up all of the material that was dissolved by the acid:CaCO3 57%MgCO3 23%FeCO3 and Fe2O3 20%(Note: Some of the iron probably came from small amounts of the magnetiteand other iron minerals going into solution during the acid treatment.)CONCLUSIONSThe formation is a highly dolomitic, calcareous, fine-grained sandstone withconsiderable iron carbonate and oxide. Silica cement is nil. The insoluble portionis dominantly made up of fine quartz sand with very little feldspar. Small amountsof heavy minerals are present. Of these, magnetite and the other opaque oreminerals predominate.The degree of sorting coupled with the presence of well rounded zircon andtopaz grains would indicate probably at least a second cycle of erosion for some ofthe sand. Not enough evidence was available to determine whether the sandwas (1) deposited under aeolian conditions with later carbonate cementation byground water, or (2) deposited under near shore, clear water conditions with nomajor streams entering the sea in the general vicinity, and a low lying, probablypeneplaned, land-mass making up the coastal area. Either case would give aclean, well sorted, medium fine, calcareous sandstone deposit. The latter prob-ably represents the conditions of deposition unless the formation is a combinationof the two, being an aeolian sand reworked and deposited under the above outlinedmarine conditions.

Sedimentary Analysis of Drill Cuttings from the Vance Well, Delaware County, Ohio

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Sedimentary Analysis of Drill Cuttings from the Vance Well, Delaware County, Ohio

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