October 2006

GE OL N O O G T I S C

O L H 1923 HGSBulletin Volume 49 Number 2 Houston Geological Society October 2006

Worldwide Reality Check of Seals and Sealing Models Page 15

The Role of a Consultant What is it Really Page 25

TheBulletin Houston Geological Society

Volume 49, Number 2 October 2006 In Every Issue Technical Meetings 11 HGS General Dinner Meeting 5 From the President Norphlet Aeolian Dunes in the Deep Water Gulf of by Steve Brachman Mexico 7 From the Editor 13 HGS International Explorationists Dinner Meeting by Bill Rizer Worldwide Reality Check of Seals and Sealing Models 32 GeoEvents Calendar 15 HGS Environmental and Engineering Dinner 59 HGS Membership Meeting Application Where is the DNAPL (Why Can’t I Find It)?? page 29 60 HGA/GeoWives 17 HGS Northsiders Luncheon Meeting 61 Professional Maritech Resources — Sunset Field Strategy for the Directory Gulf of Mexico 19 SIPES Luncheon Meeting Exploration and Drilling Activity for the Deep and Downdip Woodbine Sands of Polk and Tyler Houston Geological Society Counties, Texas OFFICERS 21 HGS North American Explorationists Dinner Steve Brachman President Meeting Linda Sternbach President-elect Andrea Reynolds Vice President Applying Deltaic and Shallow Marine Outcrop Cheryl Desforges Treasurer Analogs to the Subsurface Cheryl Desforges John Jordan Jennifer Burton Secretary 22 HGS General Luncheon Meeting Bill Rizer Bulletin Editor Compartmentalization and Time-Lapse Geochemical Steve Earle Editor-elect Reservoir Surveillance of the Horn Mountain Oil DIRECTORS Field, Deep-Water Gulf of Mexico Bob Merrill Bonnie Milne-Andrews page 35 Jim Doyle Other Features Erik Mason HGS OFFICE STAFF 13 Global Temperatures for the Past Century Joan Henshaw, Office Manager Lilly Hargrave 25 The Role of a Consultant —What is it Really? Deborah Sacrey, Office Committee by Ivor R. Ellul Chairman WEBMASTER 29 World’s Finest Gems Dazzle in New Museum Lilly Hargrave Exhibition Hall EDITORIAL BOARD Bill Rizer Editor 35 Earth Science Week Activities Steve Earle Editor-elect 37 In The News Elsa Kapitan-White Advisory Editor James Ragsdale Advisory Editor by Bill Rizer Charles Revilla Advisory Editor 41 HGS Guest Night June 17 Lilly Hargrave Advertising Editor Lisa Krueger Design Editor 43 2005–2006 Houston Geological Society Awards The Houston Geological Society Bulletin (ISSN-018-6686) is 45 Government Update published monthly except for July and August by the Houston Geological Society, 10575 Katy Freeway, Suite 290, Houston, by Henry M. Wise and Arlin Howles TX 77024. Phone: 713-463-9476, fax: 713-463-9160 page 41 Editorial correspondence and material submitted for publica- 57 NASA’s Mission Changed tion should be addressed to the Editor, Houston Geological Society Bulletin, 10575 Katy Freeway, Suite 290, Houston, TX 77024 or to 58 CVV: What Is It? Why Use It? [email protected] Subscriptions: Subscription to this publication is included in the membership dues ($24.00 annually). Subscription price for nonmembers within the contiguous U.S. is $30.00 per year. For those outside the contiguous U.S. the subscription price is $46.00 per year. Single-copy price is $3.00. Periodicals postage paid in About the Cover: False color image from Landsat 7’s Enhanced Thematic Mapper taken Houston, Texas. June 16, 2001. The electric blue is snow or ice, the green is vegetation, and the pink is rock POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Houston Geological outcrop. Image created by J. Allen, Earth Observatory, NASA. The image can be viewed at Society Bulletin, 10575 Katy Freeway, Suite 290, Houston, TX http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov. 77024 October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 1 2 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 Board of Directors 2006–07 http://www.hgs.org/about_hgs/leadership.asp President (P) Steve Brachman Pogo Producing 713-297-5088 [email protected] President-Elect (PE) Linda Sternbach Kerr-McGee Corp. 281-673-6839 [email protected] Vice-President (VP) Andrea Reynolds Shell 281-544-2481 [email protected] Secretary (S) Jennifer Burton Anadarko 832-636-8357 [email protected] Treasurer (T) Cheryl Desforges Ryder Scott Company 713-816-9202 [email protected] Treasurer -Elect (TE) John Jordan Kerr-McGee 281-673-6178 [email protected] Editor (E) Bill Rizer W. D. Rizer Consulting 281-392-0613 [email protected] Editor-Elect (EE) Steve Earle Carrizo Oil & Gas 713-328-1069 [email protected] Director 06-08 (D1) Bob Merrill Catheart Energy 281-980-8979 [email protected] Director 06-08 (D2) Bonnie Milne-Andrews Swift Energy 832-661-6666 [email protected] Director 05-07 (D3) Jim Doyle ENI Petroluem 713-393-6189 [email protected] Director 05-07 (D4) Erik Mason Shell 281-544-2924 [email protected] Committee Chairperson Phone Email Board Rep. AAPG HOD Foreman Martin Cassidy 281-370-7346 [email protected] D3 Academic Liaison Alison Henning 832-203-5016 [email protected] D3 Advertising Lilly Hargrave 713-463-9476 [email protected] E Advisory Open P Arrangements Gordon Marney 281-381-5257 [email protected] VP Awards Steve Levine 281-293-3896 steve.d.levine@conocophillips.com D3 Ballot Don Scherer 713-723-8484 [email protected] P Calvert Memorial Fund (Graduate Students) Carl Norman 713-461-7420 [email protected] PE Community Outreach Committee Walter Light 713-529-2233 [email protected] P Cindy Gillespie 504-905-3048 [email protected] P Continuing Education Leta Smith 713-369-0253 [email protected] D2 Directory Michael S. Benrud 713-785-8700 [email protected] TE Earth Science Week Martha McRae 713-869-2045 [email protected] D2 Earth Science Week–Logistics Jennifer Burton 832-636-8357 [email protected] D2 Engineering Council of Houston Claudia Ludwig 713-723-2511 [email protected] D3 Richard Howe 713-467-2900 [email protected] D3 Environmental & Engineeering Geology Bruce Woodhouse 281-600-1095 [email protected] VP Exhibits Mac McKinney 281-353-0661 [email protected] D4 Field Trips Neal Immega 713-661-3494 [email protected] D2 Finance Joe Lynch 713-839-2921 [email protected] T Foundation Fund (Undergraduate Students) John Adamick 713-860-2114 [email protected] PE Fund Raising Mike Jobe 713-659-1221 [email protected] P Bonnie Milne-Andrews 832-661-6666 [email protected] P GeoWives Sara Nan Grubb 713-278-9369 [email protected] S Golf Tournament Al Filipov 281-275-7649 afilipov@fairfield.com D1 Government Affairs Arlin Howles 281-808-8629 [email protected] D1 Henry Wise 281-867-9131 [email protected] D1 Guest Night Bill Osten 281-293-3160 [email protected] VP Historical Open S Houston Energy Council Sandy Barber 281-552-2886 [email protected] PE HGS Auxiliary Sally Blackhall [email protected] S Donna Parrish 281-859-8088 [email protected] S International Explorationists Dale Bird [email protected] VP Tarek Ghazi [email protected] VP Donna Davis [email protected] VP Bonnie Milne-Andrews 832-661-6666 [email protected] Library Bill Anderson 713-666-3831 [email protected] D2 Membership Greg Gregson 713-222-9291 x5 [email protected] S Museum of Natural Science Inda Immega 713-661-3494 [email protected] D2 NeoGeos Diane Phu 713-468-1410 [email protected] D4 New Publications Thomas Fiorito 713-275-7711 tom.fi[email protected] D1 Bill Rizer 281-392-0613 [email protected] D1 Nominations Steve Levine 281-293-3896 [email protected] P North American Explorationists Mike Jones 713-654-0080 [email protected] VP Northsiders Frank Walles 713-265-6319 [email protected] VP Gary Coburn 281-782-7021 [email protected] VP Office Committee Deborah Sacrey 713-468-3260 [email protected] PE Personnel Placement Peter Welch 713-862-2287 [email protected] D4 Publication Sales Tom Mather 281-556-9539 [email protected] S Remembrances William C. Robbins 713-206-7362 [email protected] S Scouting George Krapfel 713-989-7433 [email protected] D4 Shrimp Peel Lee Shelton 713- 595-5116 [email protected] D1 Skeet Shoot Tom McCarroll 832-366-1623 [email protected] D1 TechnoFest (Formerly Emerging Technologies) Mike Allison 832-594-4079 [email protected] S Tennis Tournament Ross Davis 713-659-3131 [email protected] D2 Vendor’s Corner Paul Babcock 713-890-3603 [email protected] TE Website Bill Osten 281-293-3160 [email protected] D4 HGS Office Manager Joan Henshaw 713-463-9476 [email protected]

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 3 Click here to renew your HGS membership on-line Instructions for HGS Online Membership Renewal

1. Log in to the HGS Website at http://www.hgs.org. 4. If you need to renew, there will be a Renewal link highlighted in yellow in your most recent record (there may be more than NOTE: All current and past members of the HGS already have a one). Click on this link to bring up the renewal form. login set up for this Website. Please do not register again, as the site will not recognize you as a member. If you can- 5. On the renewal form, your membership type will already be not remember your username and password contact the selected along with the appropriate membership fee. Choose a HGS ofﬁce for this information. payment method (credit card or check). We prefer a credit card for the fastest online processing. The ﬁrst page you see on the Website should have the following link: 6. The next section, Complete the Application? will allow you to update your membership details and contact information. If you Click here to renew your HGS membership on-line know your contact information is complete and up-to-date, you can check I am done, my application is complete. If not, select 2. Click anywhere on this link and you will be directed to the I still need to make changes in my application. You must choose HGS Online Dues Renewal Instructions page. This page shows one option or the other to continue the online renewal. basically the same instructions as this message. 7. Click on the Renew Membership button to bring up another 3. Click on My Memberships. This link can be found on the right form where you can enter your payment information and side of the page, under Quick Links - Manage Your Info. complete the transaction.

Problems or questions? Email the HGS Webmaster Lilly, or call her at 713-463-9476. I

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4 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 From the by Steve Brachman President

Doing For the Membership HGS activities can be viewed as career networking, with a little dinner or golf “on the side.”

s President of the HGS, I feel that it is important to have a With respect to all of the above, I believe the most important Avision for the upcoming year and to clearly and concisely thing a Society can offer its membership is career help. In this communicate that vision in a mission statement. My mission regard, I believe that the Jobs Hotline and the work keeping it up statement for 2006–2007 is “Doing stuff for the membership.” and running, done by Peter Welch and the Personnel Placement Committee, with the aid of Bill Osteen and Lilly Hargrave, are How do we “Do stuff for the membership”? Below is a not entirely important. I distinctly recall being Personnel Placement complete list: Chairman in the late 1980s, when employment opportunities Monthly: were scarce. Much of my job, in fact, consisted of listening to the Lunch Meeting plight of unemployed or underemployed members. With few jobs Dinner Meeting in the pipeline, there was little I could do but offer sympathy and International Dinner Meeting encouragement. North American Dinner Meeting Environmental and Engineering Meeting Even though every industry publication I read now mentions the Northsiders Lunch Meeting shortage of trained personnel, especially young people, I think Publish Bulletin most of us with more than 20 years of experience, and a basketful of companies on our résumé, realize how quickly this demand Annually: can vanish. Personnel professionals, advertisements and the Jobs Golf Tournament Hotline aside, I think many of us have found employment oppor- Tennis Tournament tunities in the past simply by knowing someone in a position to Shrimp Peel hire and making a phone call. Because, courtesy of the HGS, Skeet Shoot members have a minimum of six opportunities per month to get Guest Night to know others in the business, HGS activities can be viewed as Technofest career networking, with a little dinner or golf “on the side.” I believe this falls within the scope of my mission statement, Various: “Doing stuff for the membership.” So the next time you read Short Courses/Continuing Education about a technical meeting whose topic doesn’t exactly make you NeoGeos want to jump in your car and drive across town, just think of it as a potential job interview—over lunch! I

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 5 HGS Bulletin Instructions to Authors All materials are due by the 15th of the month, 6 weeks before issue publication. Abstracts should be 500 words or less; extended abstracts up to 1000 words; articles can be any length but brevity is preferred as we have a physical page limit within our current publishing contract. All submissions are subject to editorial review and revision. Text should be submitted by email as an attached text or Word file or on a clearly labeled diskette in Word format with a hardcopy printout to the Editor. Figures, maps, diagrams, etc., should be digital files using Adobe Illustrator, Freehand, Canvas or CorelDraw. Files should be saved and submitted in .eps (Adobe Illustrator) format. Send them as separate attachments via email or on a diskette or CD if they are larger than 1 MEG each, accompanied by figure captions that include the file name of the desired image. DO NOT EMBED them into your text document; they must be sent as separate files from the text. DO NOT USE POWERPOINT, CLIP ART or Internet images (72-DPI resolution) as these do not have adequate resolution for the printed page and cannot be accepted. All digital files must have 300-DPI resolution or greater at the approximate size the figure will be printed. Photographs may be digital or hard copy. Hard copies must be printed on glossy paper with the author’s name, photo or figure number and caption on the back. Digital files must be submitted in .jpg or .eps format with 300-DPI or greater resolution at the printing size and be accompanied by figure captions that are linked by the file name of the image. The images should be submitted as individual email attachments (if less than 1 MB) or on CD or zip disk. Advertising The Bulletin is printed digitally using QuarkXPress. We no longer use negatives or camera-ready advertising material. Call the HGS office for availability of ad space and for digital guidelines and necessary forms or email to [email protected]. Advertising is accepted on a space-available basis. Deadline for submitting material is 6 weeks prior to the first of the month in which the ad appears. Random Inside Page 2 Inside Inside Outside Calendar (B&W) Front Cover Back Cover Back Cover Page (BL ACK & W HITE) (Full Color) (Full Color) (Full Color) (Full Color) No. of Issues Eighth Quarter Half Full Full Full Full Half Quarter 10 $762 $1284 $2304 $4383 $5260 $7250 $7000 $6350 $2500 9 $762 $1284 $2304 $4383 $5260 8 $694 $1168 $2076 $3988 $4786 7 $616 $1040 $1865 $3550 $4260 6 $546 $918 $1650 $3141 $3768 $1750 5 $460 $775 $1392 $2648 $3178 $4350 $4200 $3800 4 $375 $632 $1132 $2154 $2585 3 $303 $510 $918 $1746 $2094 $1000 2 $215 $363 $652 $1240 $1488 1 $135 $228 $410 $780 $936 $1300 $1200 $1000 $750 Business Card Full Page on Back of Calendar Page TWO-COLOR AD $125 per 10 Issues – Send two cards (FULL COLOR) (Black and editor’s choice) ($25 for each additional name on same card) $6250 - 10 issues add 15% to B&W cost

HGS Website Advertising Rates The HGS Website is seen by many people each day. In recent months, we averaged about 47,000 visitors per month. You have a variety of options for advertising your company,your job openings,or your services on the Website.There are two sizes of ads on the home page,a 165x55 pixel logo along the right-hand border and a new 460x55 Banner ad across the top. We also offer a Banner ad across the top of our monthly Newsletters sent to registered users of the Website.Job postings are available for $100 for 30 days on the Website but they must be geoscience jobs of interest to our members. Current HGS members may post their resumes at no charge. If you have a product or service available at no charge, you can post it in the Business Directory at no charge. Geo-related Business Cards and job openings may be posted directly by any registered user and members may post their own resumes. They will be activated as soon as practical. To place a logo or banner ad or to get more information, send an email to our Webmaster ([email protected]) or go to the Website at http://www.hgs.org/ads/ Home Page Website Business Web and Bulletin Newsletter Sponsor Personal Resumes GeoJobBank Logo 165x55 Banner 460x55 Card (with link) Business Card Banner Ad (with link) (Members only) Posting One year $750.00 $60.00 $150.00 $2,000.00 Free 6 months $385.00 NA See note below• $1,150.00 Free 3 months $200.00 NA $600.00 Free 1 month NA $250.00 NA $250.00 Free $100.00

6 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 From the Editor by Bill Rizer [email protected]

We Need To Be Better Informed

aving survived—if only barely—publication of my first Responding to this challenge the AGU convened a “Conference of HBulletin issue last month, your experienced new editor has Experts” in January 2006 to discuss these issues and to develop a decided to wander farther from the shore and embark on a new plan to integrate current knowledge of the relevant sciences into adventure, the monthly column “In The News,” to highlight the decision-making processes that are necessary for rebuilding in important new developments in the science or to provide infor- a sustainable manner those areas impacted by Katrina. mation particularly relevant to our scientific community. One “Sustainable” is a word heard with ever increasing frequency these reason for doing this is to try to engage the readership and hope- days, one certain to be used even more in the coming months and fully spark enough interest to generate letters to the editor or arti- years. The coverage of Katrina and Rita in full color and prime cles submitted for publication in the Bulletin. time gave lie to the long-held illusion that our You are the Houston Geological Society and There has not been a Gulf Coast communities are “safe” from natu- we want and need your knowledge, your expe- ral disasters and that even if the worst did rience, your commitment and even your criti- major natural-hazard happen our governmental agencies are up to cisms, provided they are printable and the task of protecting life and property. constructive. This month’s column reviews a related disaster in newly issued report by the American Groat’s challenge was also aimed at the scien- Geophysical Union (AGU) on “Hurricanes modern times that wasn’t tific community as a whole, including us, the and the U.S. Gulf Coast: Science and preceded by warnings geologists and earth scientists of the HGS. We Sustainable Rebuilding.” must become more knowledgeable and more from scientists… active in using that knowledge, experience Another reason for starting this column came and our varied talents to engage and inform from reading an article by Charles Groat our political leadership and help our commu- (2005), former director of the Louisiana Geological Survey and nities make decisions that are increasingly more important to our executive director of the United States Geological Survey. In this future and way of life in the Houston area. We can no longer hide article, written in the weeks following the Katrina disaster along our heads in the sand and ignore issues like global warming, sub- the central Gulf Coast, Groat, currently the Jackson Chair in sidence and sea level rise, and decreasing biodiversity. These are Energy and Mineral Resources in the Jackson School of very real problems that, instead of going away, are only getting Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin, made the follow- worse. If Katrina did not tell us that, it should have. Yes, Katrina ing simple but thought-provoking statement: the storm was most likely an expression of increasing sea surface “There has not been a major natural-hazard related disas- temperature and other factors associated with global warming. ter in modern times that wasn’t preceded by warnings Katrina the disaster was an expression of lack of planning, insuffi- from scientists about the potential consequences of the cient infrastructure and our insistence on maintaining an illusion intersection of populations, infrastructure, and extreme of security. natural events.” Like you, I have heard all of the arguments against global warm- Clearly, something is wrong; the scientific community is not get- ing. Yes, the earth has been warmer in the past. But, we do not live ting its messages through. Groat identified both the problem and in the past. Yes, climate prediction is an extremely complex area the solution. with numerous variables, nonlinear processes and poorly under- “The challenge for the scientific community is to is to be stood climate forcings. Yes, statistics can be used to arrive at organized, reasonable in its expectations, effective in its contradictory conclusions, particularly when misused. communications and persistent in engaging those respon- Nevertheless, when the best science is applied by the best scien- sible for (the) next steps in the recovery and rebuilding of tists, the same answer keeps turning up in the scientific literature. New Orleans and affected Gulf Coast areas.” Global warming is a measurable From the Editor continued on page 9

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 7 8 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 r From the Editor continued from page 7 ______o t i d E

scientific fact and it is accelerating. Furthermore, most of the hypothetical examples, the real world has more than enough con- e increase in global temperature is the result of human activities. troversial issues to engage our talents and tax our newly found h t Accepting this reality is the ﬁrst step toward recovery. knowledge.

Let your editor know what you think. Send in the letters and con- m o

What can we do? The first thing we can do is become better sider sending in a technical article. Start reading a little more r informed, both about the science and the current political situa- about current issues. Do a little background research to get better F tion, local and national. We all have access to the current informed. Just start and see where this takes you. I literature, even if it means a visit to the library at one of the local universities. Both the USGS and NASA have excellent Web sites Groat, Charles, 2005: “Hurricane Katrina And New Orleans: ‘I Told You So’ is with links to tremendous amounts of relevant information, most not Enough,” Eos, Vol. 86, No. 38, 20 September 2005 EOS, Transactions, of it free. We could even shell out the money to buy an online American Geophysical Union, p. 341. subscription to Science or one of the many other relevant scien- tiﬁc journals. We all need to be better informed. September Bulletin Errata The next step, a necessary one, is to become more engaged with In the September Bulletin, Peter Bartok's photograph was our political leaders and our communities. We need to know inadvertently attached to a Remembrance for Bob Berg rather what is going on. Perhaps that plan to divert the river is not such than to the abstract for Bartok’s presentation at the Joint HGS a good idea after all, if it will result in further erosion of the coast- and NA Explorationists Luncheon on September 19. Sincere line downstream. Perhaps we could hold off drilling in that apologies from the editor and staff to both Peter and to the wilderness area until a plan is developed to minimize impact on family and many friends of Bob Berg for this error. the highly sensitive biota present. While those are simplistic and g n i l l i r D r e k r

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Please contact Doug Coyle at 210-271-9875 or e-mail: [email protected].

ACTIVA RESOURCES, Ltd. 403 E. Commerce, Suite 220 San Antonio, TX 78205

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 9 10 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 Monday, October 9, 2006 HGS General g n i

Westchase Hilton • 9999 Westheimer Dinner Meeting t Social 5:30 p.m., Dinner 6:30 p.m. e e Cost: $28 Preregistered members; $35 non-members & walk-ups The HGS prefers that you make your reservations on-line through by Ted Godo M the HGS website at www.hgs.org. If you have no Internet access, you Senior Staff Geologist r e can e-mail [email protected], or call the ofﬁce at 713-463-9476

Shell Exploration & n (include your name, e-mail address, meeting you are attending, phone Production Co. n number and membership ID#). i D l a r e

Sponsored by C&C Reservoirs a n o i

Worldwide Reality Check of Seals and Sealing Models t a n

n empirical evaluation of seals in over 980 reservoirs located an empirical reality check from worldwide reservoir analogs will r e

Ain 190 basins worldwide was used to test the validity of the be discussed. I t most popular assumptions made when risking hydrocarbon n I retention. Modern deterministic seal studies have produced a Biographical Sketch substantial volume of useful information on sealing lithologies, JOSÉ I. GUZMÁN is a Senior Research but many have yet to be calibrated with the Geoscientist with height of hydrocarbon columns and with the A comprehensive C&C Reservoirs, Inc. in degree in which traps are filled to their maximum Houston. He obtained a capacity. A comprehensive classification, based on classification, based BA in geology from the the number, type, location and combination of University of Colorado at sealing surfaces was developed to better under- on the number, type, Boulder in 1980, an MSc stand the contribution of each sealing surface and from the Universidad to facilitate this calibration process. End-member location and Central de Venezuela in seal categories are simple top seals, updip lateral combination of 1995, and a PhD from the University of Texas at fault seals, and lateral stratigraphic seals. Austin in 1999. He has over 25 years of experi- Combination types may be top-dominated, fault- sealing surfaces was ence in clastic stratigraphy, depositional system dominated, or stratigraphic-dominated. A sepa- analysis and reservoir geology in Venezuela, West rate class of miscellaneous or unconventional developed... Texas and Mexico. During the past three years, he seals is also considered. Over half of the reservoirs has been synthesizing field analogs in South studied are sealed by a combination of surfaces. Assumptions America and Mexico and developing a comprehensive treatise on made when using common wisdom for seal risking, followed by seals based on worldwide field analogs. Global Temperatures for the Past Century

he highest global temperatures Tobserved since instrumentation was available worldwide occurred in 2005 (Figure 1a). Although 1988 was statistically within the same margin of error, that year was inﬂu- enced by the strongest El Niño in over a century (Hansen, et al., 2006). The warming was observed over virtually the entire globe (Figure 1b), although it was far from uniform. The environmental- Figure (a) Global annual surface temperature relative to 1951-1980 mean based on surface air measurements at mete- ly fragile northern latitudes from orological stations and ship and satellite measurements for sea surface temperature. (b) Global temperature anomaly map for the 2005 calendar year. Gray areas indicate a lack of station data within 1200km. Hansen, et al., 2006. Alaska to Greenland to Siberia experienced the largest increase in warming, stressing the ecosystem and endangering many of the animal and plant species that are native to there. Global Temperatures continued on page 61

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 13 14 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 Tuesday, October 17, 2006 Environmental and Engineering Group g n i

New Location Cheddar's • 10601 Westpark Drive Dinner Meeting t

(the southwest corner of Westpark and Beltway 8) e

Social 5:30 p.m., Dinner 6:30 p.m. e

Cost: $25 Preregistered members; $30 non-members & walk-ups by Bruce Manchon M Make your reservations now on-line through the HGS website at www.hgs.org; or, by Camp, Dresser & McKee Inc. r calling 713-463-9476 or by e-mail to [email protected] (include your name, meeting you are e

Houston, Texas n attending, phone number and membership ID#). n i

Where is the DNAPL (Why Can’t I Find It)?? D g n

he large number of sites contaminated by dense non-aque- The importance of developing a conceptual site model (CSM), espe- i r

Tous phased liquids (DNAPLs) such as chlorinated aliphatic cially for evaluating the Technical Impracticability (TI) as a DNAPL e hydrocarbons (CAHs) are the result of ineffective or improper remedial alternative, will also be discussed. The EPA’s 1993 “Guidance e n disposal methods. The standard disposal method, during early for Evaluating the Technical Impracticability of Groundwater i g

applications of CAHs, involved the dumping or releasing of sol- Restoration” outlines three general factors that can inhibit groundwa- n vents onto dry ground or into nearby ditches or impoundments. ter restoration and justify the granting of a TI waiver: E

This method was considered appropriate d because it was assumed that various sol- DNAPLs can be hard to 1) Hydrogeologic factors; n a

vents would completely volatilize to the 2) Constituent-related factors; and l

locate... in fractured media a atmosphere before inﬁltrating the soil. 3) Remedial technology inadequacies. t n Field evidence clearly indicates that gravity because...contamination Geologic complexities combined with e and soil capillarity cause inﬁltration and ver- chlorinated solvent behaviors are the most m can diffuse into the porous n

tical migration of the DNAPLs into the common reasons for determination of TI. o r subsurface. CAHs released to the subsurface To demonstrate TI requires 1) a conceptual i

rock matrix in both hard v reach a steady-state condition in which the site model and 2) an evaluation of restora- n amount of CAHs adsorbed to the soil and rock and in the clays found tion potential. The presentation includes E dissolved in groundwater does not change, as case studies from CAH sites that support long as the CAHs are present as a DNAPL. At along the Gulf Coast. the discussion of DNAPL characterization this point, equilibrium exists between three and remediation. I phases (NAPL, solid/soil, and aqueous). A CAH will remain as a NAPL, adsorbed to soil, dissolved in groundwater, or volatilized into Biographical Sketch soil gas (if in the vadose zone) to the extent deﬁned by the physical BRUCE MANCHON is a Registered and chemical properties of the individual CAHs and the subsurface Professional Geologist in Texas, environment. Equilibrium changes and the higher speciﬁc gravity California, Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas of DNAPL allow the CAH to continue migrating vertically through and Mississippi with more than 25 the saturated zone until the DNAPL volume is eventually exhausted years in the environmental and petro- to residual saturation or until it reaches a low-permeability forma- leum industries. He received a BA in tion where it begins to migrate laterally. geology from the University of Colorado and is a senior hydrogeolo- DNAPLs can be hard to locate for three reasons: most DNAPLs gist for Camp, Dresser & McKee Inc. are at residual saturation levels and cannot flow to a sample (CDM) in Houston, Texas. In his point, in fractured media large amounts of dissolved contamina- current position he is responsible for oversight of the technical tion can diffuse into the porous rock matrix (this can happen in aspects of projects relating to geology and hydrogeology and for both hard rock and in the clays found along the Gulf Coast), and ensuring that the technical objectives are met for a variety of often sample locations are not ideal for locating the DNAPL. government and commercial clients. His last four projects have involved DNAPL investigations and remediation: 1) investigation The presentation will discuss the 1% Rule developed by Dr. John and remediation of a DNAPL trichloroethylene (TCE) plume in Cherry for chlorinated solvents. This rule was not intended to fractured shale at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas; 2) investigation and provide guidance for locating DNAPL. This rule was introduced remediation of a DNAPL (TCE) plume in karst at Pools Prairie, (published by the US EPA ) in the late 1980s to counter the view Missouri; 3) investigation of free-phase creosote at 75 feet below that subsurface DNAPL occurrence is improbable anywhere at a ground surface in Houston, Texas; and 4) a chlorinated plume site unless actual free product is found. Now the rule is common- investigation in southeast Texas. ly used to indicate DNAPL locations. This is an invalid 1Estimating Potential for Occurrence of DNAPL at Superfund Sites, application of the rule. Publication 9355.4-07FS, January 1992 October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 15 16 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 Tuesday, October 17, 2006 g

HGS Northsiders n i

The Soﬁtel Hotel • 425 Sam Houston Pkwy. North t

Social 11:15 a.m., Luncheon 11:30 a.m. Luncheon Meeting e e Cost: $30 Preregistered members; $35 non-members & walk-ups M The HGS prefers that you make your reservations on-line through the by Matt McCarroll HGS website at www.hgs.org. If you have no Internet access, you can n e-mail [email protected], or call the ofﬁce at 713-463-9476 (include o e your name, e-mail address, meeting you are attending, phone number and h

membership ID#). c

Qualiﬁes as 1.0 CEU for Texas State Geoscientists n u L

Maritech Resources — Sunset Field Strategy for the s r e d

Gulf of Mexico i s

Biographical Sketch h

aritech evaluates mature oil and gas prop- t

Even with a positive r erties to determine both the economic life MATT MCCARROLL has M o remaining and the future abandonment and served as President of,

cash ﬂow, many N decommissioning liabilities. Even with a positive Maritech Resources, cash flow, many mature properties have a mature properties Inc., since 2003. He negative net worth because of the abandonment served as Sr. Vice and facility removal obligations that are looming have a negative President and COO of in the not too distant future. Maritech acquires Maritech from October these end-of-life properties, manages the remain- net worth because of 2001 to 2003. From 1997 ing production—often extending their economic to 2001, he served as life through well intervention operations and the abandonment President of Augusta Petroleum Partners, LLC. development drilling—and then performs all and facility removal He was a member of the executive management necessary well abandonment and decommission- team at Plains Resources Inc. from 1987 to 1997, ing services. Maritech has created a very obligations that are last serving as Vice President of Exploration and successful niche business strategy in the Gulf of Land. Mr. McCarroll received a BA in business Mexico that has added significant value to it’s looming in the not administration from Louisiana State University in shareholders. Mr. McCarroll will explain this Baton Rouge, Louisiana. strategy and review the growth of the company too distant future. and several of it’s successful exploitation projects. I Instructions for HGS Online Membership Renewal

1. Log in to the HGS website. payment method (credit card or check). We prefer a credit card NOTE: All current and past members of the HGS already have a for the fastest online processing. login set up for this Website. Please do not register again, as the site will not recognize you as a member. If you can- 5. The next section, Complete the Application? Will allow you to not remember your username and password contact the update your membership details and contact information. If HGS ofﬁce for this information. you know your contact information is complete and up-to- date, you can check I am done, my application is complete.If 2. After you successfully login, click on the link My not, select I still need to make changes in my application.You Memberships. This link can be found on the right side of the must choose one option or the other to continue the online page, under Quick Links. renewal.

3. In your most recent record (there may be more than one) there 7. Click on the Renew Membership button to bring up another will be a Renewal link highlighted in yellow. Click on this link form where you can enter your payment information and to bring up the renewal form. complete the transaction.

4. On the renewal form, your membership type will already be Problems or questions? Email the HGS Webmaster Lilly, or call selected along with the appropriate membership fee. Choose a her at 713-463-9476. I

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 17 18 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 Thursday, October 19, 2006 SIPES g n i Petroleum Club • 800 Bell (downtown) Luncheon Meeting t Social 11:15 a.m., Lunch 11:45 a.m. e e Register online, call, fax or e-mail your reservation to Mrs. B.K. Buongiorno at Tel: 713-651-1639, Fax: 713-951-9659, e-mail: [email protected] by 12:00 Noon, by Fred V. Byther M

Tuesday October 17, 2006. Members and Afﬁliates who register by October 17 Oracle Resources S pay $30. The cost is $35 for guests, non-members, and new registrations at the E door. No-shows will be billed. You can now sign up for SIPES Meetings online at P www.sipeshouston.org, but payment is still required by regular mail or at I the door. S Exploration and Drilling Activity for the Deep and Downdip Woodbine Sands of Polk and Tyler Counties, Texas

eginning with the discovery of the giant East Texas Field in Cretaceous Shelf in Polk and Tyler Counties await the comple- B1930, the Woodbine has made its mark in the history of oil tion of a discovery well to announce their presence. And with and gas. Yet 76 years later there are still sig- that a new chapter will begin in the history nificant contributions to be made from The Woodbine has made of the Woodbine. I these remarkable sands. The search for new Woodbine fields has shifted far to the south, its mark in the history Biographical Sketch to Polk and Tyler Counties, Texas. FRED V.BYTHER of oil and gas since the attended the The Woodbine sands in Polk and Tyler University of Texas Counties are distinctly different from those of East Texas Oil Field was at Arlington (UTA) the main Harris Delta in the East Texas Basin. discovered in 1930. Today, from 1964 to 1967. The existing fields, all of which are located on After serving in the the Cretaceous Shelf, have been referred to as 76 years later, the Deep US Na vy,he the Downdip Woodbine. The Deep returned to UTA Woodbine applies to the Woodbine sands Woodbine sands south of from 1974 to 1977, deposited south of the Cretaceous Shelf. receiving a BS in geology in May 1977. the Cretaceous Shelf in Production from the Downdip Woodbine in Fred began his career in 1977 with J.D. these fields is approaching 700 BCF and 26 Polk and Tyler Counties (Jack) Sistrunk Jr. and began work for MMBO, with the ultimate production on Sunmark Exploration in Dallas in 1980 as a the shelf almost certain to exceed 1 TCF and await the completion of a Deep Anadarko Basin exploration geologist. 30 MMBO. An analysis of these fields sug- discovery well to announce Re-assigned to Sun Exploration in Denver as gests that they are largely deltaic and delta geological supervisor of the Williston front sands consisting of coalescing, dip-ori- their presence, and a new District in 1985, he became a regional plan- ented lobes at sites determined by abrupt ner in 1986. He returned to Dallas in 1987 as increases in accommodation space. chapter in the history of a senior exploration geologist.

Exploration for Deep Woodbine sands south the Woodbine. Fred moved to the Texas Gulf Coast with of the Cretaceous Shelf is under way with Oryx Energy Company, where he was large areas already covered by 3-D seismic. Drilling began in 2004 assigned a seemingly insignificant field in Polk County. In a few for reservoirs that could dwarf those found updip. Early results years the field, Double A Wells, had become Oryx’s most prolific are encouraging, but the data from these 18,000- to 22,000-ft onshore asset. Fred retired from Oryx in 1998. wells is being held tight by the companies who have invested in the play. What is now known is that these Deep Woodbine reser- Fred formed Oracle Resources, LC with Bryan Pershern and voirs exist; they are gas-filled and highly overpressured. Among George Ainsworth in 1999. He is currently engaged in explo- the greatest hurdles to successful exploitation of the play may ration for Deep Woodbine targets from 16,000 to 22,000 ft, well be the engineering aspects of drilling and completing such supported by large 3-D seismic surveys. wells. So today, the Deep Woodbine sands south of the

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 19 R 3 1 0 0

20 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 Monday, October 23, 2006 HGS North American Explorationists g n i Westchase Hilton • 9999 Westheimer Dinner Meeting t Social 5:30 p.m., Dinner 6:30 p.m. e e Cost: $25 Preregistered members; $30 non-members & walk-ups The HGS prefers that you make your reservations on-line through by Janok P. Bhattacharya M the HGS website at www.hgs.org. If you have no Internet access, you r e can e-mail [email protected], or call the ofﬁce at 713-463-9476. n (include your name, e-mail address, meeting you are attending, phone n number and membership ID#). i D n

Applying Deltaic and Shallow Marine Outcrop Analogs a c i r

to the Subsurface e

fundamental problem in subsurface reservoir characteriza- Biographical Sketch m Ation is determining the continuity of flow units and flow JANOK P. B HATTACHARYA is the Robert E. A barriers. Flow units and barriers exist on a variety of scales from Sheriff Professor of Sequence h t

field-wide to interwell to wellbore. Stratigraphy at the University of r Houston. His research interests include o Outcrop analog studies and databases are used to develop models deltaic sedimentology and sequence N for stratigraphy, the local control of struc- • regional and field-scale reservoir and nonreservoir elements ture on stratigraphy and reservoir associated with shallow marine, deltaic reservoir types architecture of clastic depositional sys- • detailed 3D facies architecture of small-scale, intrawell hetero- tems. He has most recently been geneity (cements and “stochastic” shales) in specific involved in examining the sedimentol- depositional subenvironments (e.g., delta front facies) that may ogy and stratigraphy of 3 billion year old Martian river deltas. be incorporated into reservoir models • conceptual reevaluations of shoreline and deltaic facies that may He received his BSc in 1981 from Memorial University of be applied by geologists interpreting or correlating seismic, well Newfoundland, Canada. Following his Bachelor’s degree, he log or core data. worked at ESSO Resources Calgary, before completing a PhD in 1989 from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Following The subsurface geologist must use facies models and sequence a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council post-doc at stratigraphy concepts to correlate well data. Several examples of the Alberta Geological Survey in Edmonton, Janok worked for deltaic reservoirs that consist of horizontal layers are described. the Bureau of Economic Geology at Austin, ARCO Research in Outcrop examples suggest that delta front sandstones are not Plano, Texas and the University of Texas at Dallas before joining horizontal but dip seaward. This recognition challenges many the University of Houston this fall. current reservoir models that assume flat-lying beds and affects how we correlate core and well log data. On the regional scale, the He is an AAPG Southwest Section Distinguished Educator, AAPG analogs suggest very different exploration models are required to Distinguished Lecturer, the Technical Program Chairman for the search for basin-distal reservoir sandstones. 2004 AAPG Annual meeting in Dallas and the SEPM Field Trip Chairman at the 1999 AAPG conference in San Antonio. He has From the perspective of general facies models, historically also led field trips for the AAPG 2004 annual meeting and 2003 shorefaces have been assumed to form homogenous, uniform AAPG Southwest Section meeting. He has been awarded the 2004 reservoirs that require little effort to produce. Production histo- AAPG Certificate of Merit and the Dallas Geological Society ries, however, show that this assumption is not valid for many Professional Service Award (2004), 2004 CSPG Best Oral so-called shoreface-type reservoirs. Many reservoir units identi- Presentation award, 2002 Frank Kottlowski Memorial fied as wave-dominated shorefaces are actually delta front Presentation Award, 2002 Houston Geological Society Best Oral deposits. This new model for wave-influenced coastlines suggests Paper Award and 2001 AAPG Al Cox Award for best poster at the a distinct facies asymmetry, with homogenous beach and AAPG Southwest Section meeting. shoreface sands accumulating on the updrift side of the river mouth and significantly more heterogeneous facies on the down- He is an associate editor for both the Journal of Sedimentary drift side. The new model was used to reinterpret Cretaceous Research and the AAPG Bulletin and has authored over 100 “shoreface” deposits in Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah and abstracts and over 40 technical papers. He recently co-edited should be applicable to subsurface deltaic reservoirs elsewhere. I SEPM Special Publication 83, River Deltas: Concepts, Models and Examples. He is an active member of AAPG, SEPM, GSA and IAS.

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 21 g Wednesday, October 25, 2006 n HGS General i t Petroleum Club • 800 Bell (downtown) Luncheon Meeting e Social 11:15 a.m., Lunch 11:45 a.m. e Cost: $30 with advance reservations, $35 for walk-ins, space available M ($15 for Emeritus and Honorary). by Alexei V. Milkov n The HGS prefers that you make your reservations on-line through and Evvy Goebel o the HGS website at www.hgs.org. If you have no Internet access, you BP America e can e-mail [email protected], or call the ofﬁce at 713-463-9476 h Houston, Texas

c (include your name, e-mail address, meeting you are attending, phone

n number and membership ID#). u L

S Compartmentalization and Time-Lapse Geochemical G

H Reservoir Surveillance of the Horn Mountain Oil Field, Deep-Water Gulf of Mexico

il is produced at the Horn Mountain field (Gulf of Mexico, Group. He holds a BSc (1996) and OMississippi Canyon blocks 126 and 127) from two middle an MSc (1998) in petroleum geolo- Miocene reservoirs (M and J Sands). Reservoir facies are charac- gy from Saint Petersburg State terized as sand-filled channels and associated overbank deposits University (Russia), and a PhD and are positioned in combination structural-stratigraphic traps. (2001) in geology from Texas A&M Prior to initial production, several barriers and baffles were iden- University. In his previous life as a tified in both reservoirs by integrating geological, geophysical, marine geologist with Texas A&M petrophysical, pressure, PVT and geochemical data and petrole- and Woods Hole Oceanographic um-filling history. A Compartmentalization Risk Matrix was Institution, Dr. Milkov worked on developed to facilitate and visualize the integrated evaluation of gas hydrates and mud volcanoes compartmentalization. and published 35 peer-reviewed papers on these subjects. Since joining BP in 2003, Dr. Milkov has used his basin modeling and During production, reservoir surveillance is a vital task aimed at organic geochemistry skills to assist in exploration, appraisal, understanding how petroleum is produced from a reservoir. In development, production and environmental projects in the Gulf addition to traditional surveillance technologies, we applied of Mexico, Alaska, Canada, Colombia, offshore Angola and off- time-lapse geochemistry (TLG) to visualize the petroleum sweep shore Trinidad. Dr. Milkov is an Adjunct Professor at Cornell by monitoring changes in fluid composition and fingerprints University, where he teaches “Introduction to Petroleum Systems across reservoirs. For this technology, appraisal and preproduc- Analysis.” tion fluid samples are first analyzed to map fluid types across a static reservoir. Then, a surveillance program in which fluid sam- EVVY GOEBEL works for BP’s Gulf of ples are taken from producing wells at regular time intervals is Mexico Deepwater Production designed and executed. The production samples are geochemi- business unit, where she is assigned cally “fingerprinted” and compared with preproduction fluids to the Horn Mountain field as a from the same well and surrounding wells. At Horn Mountain, development and production geol- interpretation of geochemical data allowed us to infer oil move- ogist. She earned a BSc in geology ment across the M Sand and helped to reevaluate reservoir from Marietta College and an MSc models and reduce risks in managing reservoir performance. In in geology from the University of the J Sand, an untapped compartment was identified, and an Cincinnati. Goebel has over 20 additional producer was justified for future drilling. TLG results years of industry experience in are consistent with and complementary to other surveillance exploration, development and production. She has worked in data available to date. Our study demonstrates that TLG is a safe numerous clastic and carbonate fields in Ohio, West Virginia, and cost-effective technology that reduces uncertainties associat- Alaska, Alberta, New Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico. She enjoys ed with other reservoir surveillance methods and appears to be a the challenge of integrating static and dynamic reservoir data in valuable technique for reservoir management. I order to better understand and model each reservoir’s architecture and potential. Goebel is a licensed professional geologist in Biographical Sketch Texas. ALEXEI V. M ILKOV works for BP America Inc. as a Petroleum Systems Analyst in the Exploration and Production Technology 22 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 23 H G S / G SH Shrimp Peel Saturd a y, N o v emb er 18, 2 006 6 p m - 10p m Sam Houston Race Park 7275 N. Sam Houston Pkwy. West 281.807.8700 Boiled Shrimp-Beer&Beverages -Horse Races -Music - DoorPrizes -BoiledShrimp-Beer&Beverages -Horse Races -Music - DoorPrizes -BoiledShrimp

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24 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 Invited Paper t n a t The Role of a Consultant – What is it Really? l by Ivor R. Ellul, Chief Executive Ofﬁcer, Knowledge Reservoir, L.P. u s n

he title of the article might cause one to pause momentarily Integrity o Tbecause I am sure that we ALL know what a consultant is This is a key element in today’s business environment and hinges C and what the associated role should be. I am equally sure that if on you doing what you say that you are going to do while ensuring a one were to ask a group of consultants the same question that there are no conflicts of interest along the way. This is f o the answers would be interestingly varied. As a consultant and especially important given the fact that a consultant is usually e business owner, I take this opportunity to distill over 25 years exposed to sensitive client data that must not be seen by any third l o

of experience that I have used to build a leading consulting party. Sanctity of contracts is key whether constituted on the R

organization, while sharing some of the more controversial issues basis of a handshake or as a result of a 20-page document. e that arise. h

Service T The dictionaries proclaim that a consultant is an expert who gives This is a difficult one, and one that does not come easily advice. Additionally, it is believed that the word consultant has particularly to consultants who have previously worked in oil been used for some time before 1892. So, what companies. It relates to the mind set that is it that has driven the need for this “species” If a few simple business 1. The client is always right – or at least most of from as far back as the 19th century? The the time. answer is simple and has partly to do with the rules are followed, 2. You are there to advise and that’s it. expertise factor, but, above all, it has to do with there should be nothing 3. Once you are done advising you must not the time/money factor. A client employs a overstay your welcome. consultant to get something done quicker (and to hinder a successful 4. If you do a good job you may be called back, hopefully better) than it could have done in but this should not be an expectation. house given the client’s lack of available and and harmonious For those of us who have been in the service qualified resources. As a result, the job should business their entire career, there is an cost less. In addition, the value added must long-term relationship ingrained nature that follows the above rules. always be significantly greater than the value For others, well, let us say that they will never paid out. between client and make it in the consulting world no matter how hard they try. Consultants are prevalent in a number of consultant. industries including medical, aerospace, Value added transport and construction. The energy industry is no different There must always be an element of clear and resounding value and has a wide spectrum, ranging from independent consultants added for clients to feel satisfied that they have gotten what they to large organizations geared to take on and execute large-scale paid for and then some. projects. Wherever you are in the spectrum, there are a number of very fundamental characteristics that define a true consultant. Having detailed what should make a consultant successful, one These are as follows. might, on the other hand, ask what the barriers to long-term success are. These are summarized in what I call a series of effects. Expertise This comprises the technical and, possibly, commercial back- The “charlatan” effect ground necessary to address the problems at hand and deliver a I have seen quite a range of charlatan behavior, from flaunting successful solution. bogus degrees to selling snake oil. Then there are the claims of working on projects that never really happened. One is reminded Experience of the quip about summing up the years of experience of a Armed with the technical know-how, this relates to the fact that résumé resulting in a 130-year career. the individual or company has successfully executed the type of work under consideration in the past. The “I will play with the big boys” effect This appears to be fairly common nowadays where consultants Deliverability are asked to “participate” in the “upside” of the field. So, in one No matter how smart and how experienced one is, if one cannot fell swoop, the consultant has become a producer. Now what is deliver on time, on budget, and to the client’s satisfaction then it is wrong with this picture, I wonder? I will let the barrage of lawyers all for naught and the client’s time and money have been wasted. employed by the various “real” producers out there attempt to answer the question in the context of “conflict of interest.” The Role of a Consultant continued on page 27

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 25 26 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 The Role of a Consultant continued from page 25 ______t n a t l u

The “holier than thou” effect the technologists working on the O-rings for the solid boosters s n

There are consultants out there who, having established some straddled by Challenger had been allowed to do their job and o degree of expertise in an area, suddenly become the proclaimed present their recommendations, the disaster probably would have C mouthpiece for that area. Naturally, they act as the one and only been avoided. a “go to” guy with charge rates commensurate with this elevated f o position. The consultant has a very clear and important role to play. He or e /she must understand it, embrace it, and be allowed to play it. If l o

The “conﬂict of interest” effect these business elements are met, and if the prerequisites discussed R

A true consultant does not care what tools are used to execute the earlier are checked, there should be nothing to hinder a successful e work, provided they are best in class and fit for purpose. Indeed the and harmonious long-term relationship between the client and h consultant must be able to recommend to the client what software the consultant. I T should be used on a project, with the client making the ultimate decision. Clients, on the other hand, must have a say in what is We acknowledge permission from the Society of Petroleum used since they are paying for the tools. So, voilà, anyone pushing Engineers to publish this article, which appeared in the Journal of in-house developed/marketed software is, by definition, conflicted Petroleum Technology, July 2006. despite whatever assurances are provided to the contrary. Biographical Sketch The “I do not need to listen” effect IVOR ELLUL is the principal founder There are many consultants who believe that they really do know and Chief Executive Officer of it all and that they can diagnose the problem before the client has Knowledge Reservoir, an energy even verbalized what it is. As a result they are off on a solution consulting firm headquartered in track that is, more often than not, tangential to a convergent solu- Houston, Texas, with offices in tion. Naturally, time is being billed to the client in the process. London and Aberdeen. Dr. Ellul began his career in the oil and gas The “get rich quick” effect industry in 1980, in West Germany, The industry is cyclic in nature, meaning that there will be as a design engineer on pipeline buoyant times and there will be not so buoyant times. There are and storage tank systems. After some who subscribe to the philosophy that gouging when times specializing in modeling multiphase flow in pipelines, he worked are good will put them on the Bill Gates ladder to great wealth. for a number of years in the area of numerical modeling of What they tend to forget is that the industry maintains a memory single- and multiphase pipelines under steady-state and transient that is almost elephantine in nature and that next cycle around conditions. He has been and continues to be involved in various they will scrape the bottom of the barrel. consulting studies in both the upstream and downstream segments of the oil industry for clients worldwide. Recent So where does all this leave us? The industry is now very buoyant. experience includes various executive positions in the upstream Oil prices are staying at a level where previously marginal fields area of the oil and gas industry. are now economical. As a result, novel technologies are being pursued. This provides an excellent opportunity for many players Dr. Ellul is industry lecturer to the Petroleum Engineering in the consulting world to exhibit their wares and secure business Department of Imperial College, University of London, where he that is ultimately intended to add value to their clients, the energy lectures the MS course on pipeline and process engineering. He companies. The value added needs to be clear and succinctly has held advisory posts on the board of the Faculty of Petroleum defined and, in return, compensated for on the basis of fair market Engineering of the University of Houston and participated on a value. To accomplish these objectives and achieve the ultimate number of SPE committees at both the regional and international goal of “sustainability,” the go-forward plan is quite simple –find levels. He is a member of the Advisory Board of Energy Ventures, more and produce more. A very simple mantra to keep in mind is a Norwegian venture capital firm, and is chairman of the board to “stick to the knitting” while “delivering the goods.” of the Pipeline Simulation Interest Group.

The latter two somewhat clichéd comments should not be taken Dr. Ellul holds a BS in mechanical engineering from the lightly but rather considered essential to the client–service University of Malta and MS and PhD degrees in petroleum provider relationship. The consultant should maintain an engineering from Imperial College, London. He is a registered interface with the client that is clear and sharply deﬁned. Yet the Chartered Engineer in the United Kingdom and a registered consultant has responsibilities that must not be infringed upon. If Professional Engineer in the state of Texas.

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 27 28 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 The Houston Museum of Natural Science PRESS RELEASE l l a World’s Finest Gems Dazzle in New Museum H n o i t Exhibition Hall i b i h

The Lester and Sue Smith Gem Vault Premieres November 17 x E

pening November 17, 2006, the Lester and Sue Smith Gem “Each of the jewels on display tells an incredibly dramatic story— m u

OVault, a new permanent exhibit hall at the Houston a story that begins deep underground where the transparent, e Museum of Natural Science, completes the story begun by the colorful crystals and rare, precious metals are fashioned and s u now world-renowned Cullen Hall of Gems and Minerals. formed. The story continues by recounting the efforts of those M miners who toiled to recover them from the earth and, having “Many people don’t realize this, but minerals come straight out of done so, then passed them on to the master cutters who shaped w e the ground with amazing color and fascinating, extremely artistic and polished the gems by hand. It ends with the creativity and N forms, with absolutely no help from humans,” said Joel A. craftsmanship that highly skilled jewelers employ, working ‘at the n

Bartsch, president of the Houston Museum of Natural Science bench’ for hundreds of hours to create the ﬁnal masterpieces,” i and curator of the Cullen Hall of Gems and Minerals and the said Lester Smith, member of the Board of Trustees of the e l

Smith Gem Vault. “With the Houston Museum of Natural z z

Smith Gem Vault, we wanted to Science. “The Museum already a

build on the story created in the has the best collection of natural D

Cullen Hall of Gems and mineral crystals on public display s Minerals to show what people anywhere in the world. It only m can then do with these materials, makes sense to show the public e

to show how they can evolve into how these natural wonders are G something different, stunningly transformed into artistic master- t s beautiful and fascinating in its pieces, in the form of stunning e n own right.” gemstones and jewelry. The Smith i Gem Vault completes the story of F s Made possible through the gen- how the artistic efforts of man ’

Intensely hued jeweled masterpieces ﬂoat wondrously in utter dark- d erous support of The Lester and can complement these miner- l ness, embodying the ultimate combination of natural perfection r

Sue Smith Foundation, this alogical wonders of nature-and o and flawless artistic execution. Photo byTom DuBrock entirely new permanent hall that story is told all in one place.” W abounds with some of the most mesmerizing cut and polished jewels ever displayed in a single exhibit. It includes dazzling Other highlights include a stunning emerald, platinum and dia- examples of diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald, aquamarine, mond tiara; a magnificent blue star sapphire, diamond and topaz, amethyst, alexandrite and tourmaline. The stunning cen- platinum ring; and a brilliant golden sapphire brooch surround- terpiece is a 1,869-carat natural emerald crystal, the largest and ed by dramatic green diamonds. Special lighting for the hall was most spectacular ever recovered in North America. designed to create the appearance of inner illumination, and the only light in the hall will radiate from the pieces themselves. “When people think of rare gems, they tend to think of diamonds. In reality, diamonds are fairly common, with millions of “To work with such outstanding gems is a designer’s dream,” said carats mined each year. Truly rare and important gemstones are Ernesto Moreira, Smith Gem Vault jewelry designer. “To capture far more elusive,” said Bartsch. “The collections of a museum the raw beauty found in nature, beauty marked by brilliant colors define it. Our focus has been, and will continue to be, finding the and facets, has been the most extraordinary experience in my rarest gemstones of unrivaled quality to create the best gem col- professional career. It is a tremendous privilege and honor to take lection in the world.” these spectacular gems and create artistic masterpieces that Museum visitors will enjoy, and learn from, for generations to The Lester and Sue Smith Gem Vault will present the world’s come.” finest aquamarine, a gem that was mined in 1938 only to disap- pear from history for four decades before recently surfacing. Also The creation of the Lester and Sue Smith Gem Vault was made displayed will be the world’s finest Tsavorite garnet, a 144-carat possible through the generous support of The Lester and Sue gem in that variety’s rarest color—a striking green—and the Smith Foundation. 2,765-carat Boulder Opal, the world’s finest of its kind. World’s Finest Gems Dazzle continued on page 30

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 29 l l World’s Finest Gems Dazzle continued from page 29 a H n o i The Lester and Sue Smith Gem Vault is one of the Museum’s t i permanent exhibition halls. Tickets for the permanent exhibit b i

h halls, including the Smith Gem Vault, are free for members, $9 for x adults; $6 for children (3–11), seniors (62+), college students and E military with a valid ID; $1.50 school groups; and $3.50 for m groups of 20 or more. For tickets, or more information, visit u

e www.hmns.org or call 713-639-4629. Information is available in s Spanish at 713-639-4603. u M The Houston Museum of Natural Science—one of the nation’s w most heavily attended museums—is a centerpiece of the e Houston Museum District. With four floors of permanent N exhibit halls, and the Wortham IMAX® Theatre, Cockrell n i Butterfly Center, Burke Baker Planetarium and George e Observatory and as host to world-class and ever-changing l z touring exhibitions, the Houston Museum has something to z

a delight every age group. With such diverse and extraordinary

D offerings, a trip to the Houston Museum of Natural Science,

s located at One Hermann Circle Drive in the heart of the Museum District, is always an adventure. m I e G t s e n i F s ’ d l r o W

30 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 31 October 2006 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday

1 2 NOW 3 4 you can make your reservations HGS Executive Board on-line at Meeting www.hgs.org

8 9 10 11 HGS General Dinner SIPES Continuing Meeting Education Seminar by Ted Godo “New E&P Opportunities: Case Studies, “Norphlet Aeolian Dunes in the Bypassed Pays, Unconventional DeepWater Gulf of Mexico” Resources and Play Openers” Page 11 Page 46

15 16 HGS International 17 HGS Northsiders 18 Explorationists Dinner Luncheon Meeting HGA/GeoWives Luncheon Earth Science Week Meeting Sunset Field Strategy for the Gulf of by Dr. Del Passand Downtown Building’s Mexico” Page 17 Excel Diagnostic, by José Guzmán HGS Environmental and 9101 Richmond #3124 Stone Tour “Worldwide Reality Check of Seals and Engineering Dinner Meeting Page 60 Page 35 Sealing Models” “Case Examples and Remediation of Dense Page 13 Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (DNAPL) Sites” 13th Annual International Petroleum Environmental Conference Page 15 22 23 HGS North American 24 ECH Young 25 HGS General Explorationists Dinner Professionals Social Luncheon Meeting Sponsored by Engineering, Science & by Alexei Milkov & Evvy Goebel Meeting Technology Council of Houston (ECH) “Compartmentalization and Time-lapse by Janok Bhattacharya 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM “Distinguishing Shorefaces Versus Delta No HGS Online Registration for this Event Geochemical Reservoir Surveillance of the Fronts in the Rock Record” Houston Museum of Natural Science Horn Mountain Oil Field, Deep-water Page 21 One Hermann Circle Drive Gulf ofMexico” Houston TX 77030 Page 22 29 30 31 Members Pre-registered Prices: General Dinner Meeting ...... $28 Nonmembers walk-ups...... $35 Env. & Eng...... $25 Luncheon Meeting ...... $30 Nonmembers walk-ups...... $33 International Explorationists ...... $25 North American Expl...... $25 Emerging Technology ...... $25

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[email protected] 24-hour wellsite service hotline: 713-328-2121

32 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 GEOEVENTS Thursday Friday Saturday

5 6 7 Texas Geoscience License Earth Science Week: Exam Annual Family Festival Houston Museum of Natural History Page 35 Upcoming GeoEvents l Monday, November 6 FYI labe Sheriff Lecture: Joint International iling & General Dinner 12 ur ma RE13D 14 Seismic Geomorphology & Seismic If yo EXPI Stratigraphy from Shelf to ays our Earth Science Week Deepwater: Implications for s is y Exploration & Development, page 52 this sue. Field trip to Galveston st is Island State Park Tuesday, November 14 la Page 35 HGS Continuing Education Short Course Introduction to Reservoir Fluids Analysis for Geologists, page 44 19 SIPES 20 21 Tuesday, November 14 Luncheon Meeting Barnett Shale Gas Play of Ft. Worth by Fred Byther Basin A one day seminar and core “Deep Woodbine Exploration Models workshop hosted by BEG and Concepts and Status of Current Activity” Page 19 Thursday, November 16 SIPES Luncheon troleum Environmental Conference San Antonio Page 12 Legal Matters Affecting Independents Saturday, November 18 26 27 28 HGS/GSH Shrimp Peel at Sam Houston Raceway, page 24 Tuesday, November 21 HGS Environmental & Engineering Dinner Tuesday, November 28 HGS Northsiders Luncheon South Texas Sub-Regional Evaluation: Area-wide Integrated Reservations: Structural and Stratigraphic The HGS prefers that you make your reservations on-line through the HGS website at Framework of the Frio and Vicksburg www.hgs.org. If you have no Internet access, you can e-mail [email protected], or call Yields New Plays and Leads the office at 713-463-9476. Reservations for HGS meetings must be made or cancelled by the date shown on the HGS Website calendar, normally that is 24 hours before hand or Wednesday, November 29 on the last business day before the event. If you make your reservation on the Website or HGS Lunch Meeting by email, an email confirmation will be sent to you. If you do not receive a confirmation, Emergence of the Lower Tertiary check with the [email protected]. Once the meals are ordered and name tags and lists are Wilcox Trend in the Deepwater Gulf prepared, no more reservations can be added even if they are sent. No shows will be billed. of Mexico

Collarini Energy Stafﬁng Inc. Full–Time and Temporary Exploration and Production Personnel Geoscience ¢ Facilities ¢ Drilling ¢ Production ¢ Reservoir Engineers ¢ Landmen ¢ Management Procurement ¢ Information Technology ¢ Health and Safety ¢ Accounting ¢ Administrative Support 11111 Richmond Avenue, Suite 126 www. collarini.com 4200 South I-10 Service Road, Suite 230 Houston, Texas 77082 Metairie, Louisiana 70001 Phone (832) 251-0553 Phone (504) 887-7127 Fax (832) 251-0157 Connecting the Industry’s Experts Fax (504) 887-7162

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 33 34 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 s e i t Be a Citizen Scientist i v i t

Earth Science Week Activities c A

October 7 – 15, 2006 k e Annual Family Earth Science Festival e W e

Houston Museum of Natural Science c

Saturday October 7, 2006, 1:00pm- 5:00pm n e Join us for the annual Family Earth Science Festival at the Houston Museum of Natural Science’s Weiss Energy Hall. The festival will i c

include an energy passport contest, hands-on demonstrations, special presentations, Boy Scout badge activities, and other great S programs. We will have an opening ceremony at the entrance to Weiss Energy Hall at h t

1:00pm. Please join us as a visitor or a volunteer, and bring your family and friends! r

Please visit the museum’s website at www.hgms.org for more information or contact a Inda Immega at [email protected] or Martha McRae at [email protected] E

Classroom Connections — Art & Essay Contest Winners awarded October 7, 2006, 1:30pm This year we are asking kids from classrooms around Houston to participate in our Art & Essay contests, which will be open to entries through October 2nd. The theme of these contests will be the national theme “Be a citizen scientist” which will focus on the scientiﬁc activities in our own community. The visual art contest will be open to grades K-5 and the essay contest will be open to grades 6–8. First, second, and third prize winners will be selected from each category and will be awarded at the Family Earth Science Festival on October 7th. For more information and contest guidelines, please contact Alison Henning at [email protected] or Jennifer Burton at jennifer_ [email protected]

Our contest is modeled on the American Geological Institute’s national contest. If you would like to learn more or submit a separate entry, please view the link below: http://www.earthsciweek.org/index.html

Two General Public Field Trips: Galveston Island State Park Saturday, October 14, 2006 9:00am-4:00pm To fully celebrate this year’s Earth Science Week theme, we are offering a new ﬁeldtrip aimed at creating awareness of the geology of our area’s coastal regions. Our coastlines are critical to our region’s economy and recreation, but did you know how crucial they are to protecting us during hurricanes? With another active storm season upon us, there is no better time to broaden your appreciation of these precious regions. Please bring your family and friends and join area experts at Galveston Island State Park for a discussion and tour of key beach elements. Your entrance fee to the park will be waived and volunteers will be stationed at the entrance with information and directions. Please bring a sack lunch, water, sunblock and a pair of sturdy shoes. Please contact [email protected] or [email protected] for additional information and trip details.

Building Stones of Downtown Houston Sunday, October 15, 2006, 2:00pm-4:00pm Did you know that downtown Houston has some of the most fascinating geology? In the walls and ﬂoors of many of our downtown landmarks are some of the most beautiful and exotic rocks from around the world. Please join area experts in a tour of the city. There is no better way to be a citizen scientist in your community. Please email Neal Immega at [email protected] for details and information. The tour will begin at One Shell Plaza (777 Walker) at 2pm.

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 35 ENVIRONMENTAL SITE ASSESSMENTS PHASE II PROJECTS

Location of Sinkholes and Voids Mapping of Faults and Fractures Mapping of Bedrock Topography Delineation of Landﬁlls Detection of Oil and Water Wells Ground Water Exploration Delineation of Brine Contamination

Environmental Geophysics Associates

Ofﬁce: 281-370-7066 Email: [email protected] EGA www.environgeophysics.com Contact Dr. Mustafa Saribudak

36 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 In The News by Bill Rizer, editor, HGS Bulletin

Hurricanes and the U.S. Gulf Coast: Science and establishing a multidisciplinary steering committee to monitor Sustainable Rebuilding rebuilding efforts and identify key scientific questions relevant to report by American Geophysical Union sustainability of those efforts. This committee would interact with a “database of experts” who would be available to provide In response to an article by Charles Groat, former director of the scientific guidance to the planners. United States Geological Survey and the Louisiana Geological Survey, the American Geophysical Union (AGU) convened a Noticeably absent from the meeting report was a mechanism for “Conference of Experts” in early January, 2006. The focus of this scientists to interact or “continue the dialogue” with national, conference was to take a first step towards developing an state, or local government or the private sector. Perhaps this is the approach to insuring that good science is a significant part of greatest challenge we face. We must learn to navigate the halls of plans to rebuild the Gulf Coast communities impacted by Katrina politics at all levels if we are to insure that the best scientific and Rita last year. The conference attendees identified the current advice reaches the appropriate decision makers and is integrated level of understanding, gaps in the knowledge, and areas needing into the rebuilding effort. How this is to be accomplished seems focused long and short-term research for hurricanes, storm surge to be an open question, one that we as scientists must not only and flooding, subsidence, climate change, hydrology, infrastruc- address, but answer. ture, and disaster preparedness and response. American Geophysical Union, 2006: Hurricanes and the U.S. Gulf In the report issued in June, 2006, the scientists conclude that Coast: Science and Sustainable Rebuilding, report issued June 19, warming sea surface temperatures (SST’s) accompanying global 2006, available at http://www.agu.org/ published 19 June 2006, climate change likely will lead to an increased frequency and 29p. intensity of hurricanes. Rising sea level and continued subsidence will make coastal areas like southern Louisiana increasingly more Hurricane Season Outlook Improves vulnerable to storm surge and flooding. The report points out The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) has that new flood control maps developed by the Federal Emergency updated its outlook for the 2006 hurricane season and now calls Management Agency (FEMA) that will be issued in 2007 and will for fewer storms than predicted earlier, although conditions con- form the basis for flood control and rebuilding efforts will not be tinue to favor a stronger than normal season. In a press release accurate because of subsidence that has already occurred in many from August 8, NOAA scientists predicted that the remainder of parts of the areas. The report urges that past and future subsi- this season is not likely to be a repeat of last year. While condi- dence and future changes in sea level and subsidence likely to tions favorable for a stronger than average season persist, the occur over the design life of the structures should be integral to combination of very high sea surface temperatures (SST’s), low any rebuilding effort in the area. vertical wind shear, low sea level pressure, and a favorable African easterly jet seen last year are not as bad this year. The press release Conference scientists concluded that the current state of vulnera- was published in full in the September HGS Bulletin, without the bility of areas such as the Mississippi delta are the result of figure shown below. For more information, go to human modification of the natural system that maintain a bal- http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov. In The News continued on page 39 ance between sediment deposition and subsidence. Rebuilding plans should include taking steps to rectify that imbal- ance in part by reclaiming wetlands and reestablishing sediment supply where possible. There should be a clear role for scientists to develop better understanding of the ecosystem and to insure that that knowledge is integrated into the planning process.

Several recommendations emerged from the conference focused on continuing Contrast in sea surface temperatures at the beginning of the hurricane season in 2005 and 2006. the dialogue between scientists and plan- The colors represent °F over normal. The green box encloses the convergence zone where most ners at all levels. Chief among these was hurricanes are born. Figure courtesy NOAA.

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 37 38 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 In The News continued from page 37 ______s w e N

Warming Climate Plays Major Role in Hurricane Katrina, Submitted to Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 33, e

Intensity L17802, 5p. doi:10.1029/2006GL026623. h In related news, Science reports that a number of studies includ- T n

ing Kafatos, et al. (2006) and \Hoyos, et al. (2006) indicate that Climate Science Goes to Court I the increase in hurricane intensity and number that marked the In an article in ScienceNOW Daily News, 31 August 2006, Eli 2005 season in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico were related to Kintisch describes how a coalition of 12 states led by global warming, although the intensity of any storm at any given Massachusetts, several cities and non-profit organizations have time and place is also affected by local conditions. For example, sued the EPA to force the organization to limit the amount of the intensification of Katrina as it approached the coast was like- CO2 emitted from cars. According to the filings of the case, the ly the result of a pocket of very high SST in the northeast Clean Air Act requires that the EPA set emission standards for quadrant of the storm. substances that can reasonably be anticipated to harm the public. So far the EPA has not set standards for CO2 or other greenhouse References gasses, although a substantial body of scientific literature says Hoyos, C. D., P. A. Agudelo, P. J. Webster, and J. A. Curry, 2006: that those substances are having a significant impact on climate Deconvolution of the Factors Contributing to the Increase in change. Global Hurricane Intensity, Originally published in Science Express on 16 March 2006, Science, 7 April 2006, Vol. 312. no. In a statement to reporters, Massachusetts Attorney General Tom 5770, pp. 94 – 97 DOI: 10.1126/science.1123560. Reilly said that “the federal government is shirking its responsibility to enforce the law.” The case, Massachusetts v. EPA, is Kafatos, Menas, Donglian Sun, Ritesh Gautam, Zafer Boybeyi, expected to be heard later this year or in early 2007. Ruixin Yang, and Guido Cervone, 2006: Role of anomalous warm gulf waters in the intensification of Hurricane

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40 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 HGS Guest Night June 17

Dr. Jeff Fox, Director Integrated Ocean Drilling Program at Texas A&M University

Charles and Linda Sternbach, Donna Davis, Cretaceous/Tertiary deep sea core Kit meteorite impact breccia!

Steve Henry & Al Danforth (The Africa Group)

Award winning students

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 41 GEOSCIENCE JOBS & PERSONNEL AVAILABLE! Job Seekers: During the past year, the HGS Jobs Hotline website has averaged over 30 positions per month. New ads are being posted almost every day! Employers: Post your job listings, and get a large response from qualiﬁed candidates, for your ads. Our website averages nearly 11,000 website “hits” per month. Current Jobs page at: http://www.hgs.org/en/jobs/search.asp Contact info: Peter Welch – Chairman, HGS Personnel Placement Committee (713) 862-2287 [email protected]

16945 Northchase, Suite 1600, Houston, TX 77060

42 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 2005–2006 Houston Geological Society Awards

Honorary Life Membership Award recipients Charles Strenbach and President’s Award recipients Thom Tucker, Janet Combes and Dave John Adamick, Dave Rensink in center Fontaine, with Dave Rensink

Distinguished Service Award recipient Steve Henry, with Dave Rensink Rising Star Award recipients Ianthe Sarrazin, Gary Coburn, Martha McRae and Walter Light, with Dave Rensink

Houston Geological Auxilliary (HGA)/Houston Geological Society (HGS) Corporate Star Awards Accepted by Michele Foster (SMT), Charles Award recipient Mary Hale with Norma Jean Jones and Dave Rensink Winkler (Shell), Dawne Jordan (BP) and Dave Rensink (Apache)

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 43 44 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 e Government Update t a

by Henry M. Wise, P.G. and Arlin Howles, P.G. d p U t n

TBPG News Chapter 350 is the primary soil and groundwater remediation e

Firm Registration provision(s) for the TCEQ. Chapter 350 has not undergone sub- m

The Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists has announced stantive change or cleanup since its initial adoption in September n r

that firm registration will become effective beginning September 1999. The TCEQ has noticed errors (misspelling, typographical, e 1, 2006. Registration forms will be available on that date at the and mathematical) in the rules that need to be corrected, as well v o TBPG website. All geological firms should be registered by as provisions that need clarification or modification to facilitate October 1, 2006. The TBPG has a FAQs page at: http:// consistent and effective rule application. These rules will also G www.tbpg.state.tx.us/Firmregistrationfaqs.html affect LPST investigations. These new rules should be reviewed carefully as there are some changes that will affect site investiga- Executive Director Recalled By US Army tions and sampling. The new rules will be published in the Texas Michael D. Hess, Executive Director of the TBPG, has been Register sometime after October 9, 2006 and are due to take effect recalled to active duty by the United States Army. The TBPG has on January 17, 2007. named CFO and former Deputy Executive Director Vincent R. Houston to act as Colonel Hess’ successor until his safe return. You can view the pending proposal at: http://www.tceq. We all wish him the best of luck. state.tx.us/rules/pendprop.html#05033.

TCEQ News Quarry Rules Amended New TRRP Rules Proposed The TCEQ has adopted new sections regarding the regulation of The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) filed quarries in the John Graves Scenic Riverway. Senate Bill (SB) the proposed Texas Risk Reduction Program (TRRP) Rule 1354, 79th Legislature, 2005, amended the Texas Water Code amendment (Rule Project No.: 2005-033-350-PR) with the Chief (TWC), Chapter 26 by adding new Subchapter M, Water Quality Clerk’s office on August 4, 2006. Protection Areas; specifically Government Update continued on page 47

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 45 46 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 Government Update continued from page 45 ______e t a d p

§§26.551 - 26.562. The statute addresses permitting, financial Relating to Public Files and Joint Report. The rules in Chapter U responsibility, inspections, water quality sampling, enforcement, 601 deﬁne the conditions that constitute groundwater contami- t n

cost recovery, and interagency cooperation with regard to quarry nation for the purpose of inclusion of cases in the public ﬁles for e

operations. The requirements of the statute are applicable to a each state agency having responsibilities related to the protection m pilot program in the John Graves Scenic Riverway. The John of groundwater. For more information go to: http://www.sos. n r

Graves Scenic Riverway (JGSR) is defined as the Brazos River state.tx.us/texreg/sos/adopted/31.NATURAL%20RESOURCES% e Basin, and its contributing watershed, located downstream of the 20AND%20CONSERVATION.html#153 v o Morris Shepard Dam on the Possum Kingdom Reservoir in Palo Pinto County, Texas, and extending to the county line between AGI Government Affairs Monthly Review (August 2006) G Parker and Hood Counties, Texas. Mark Myers Says Unbiased Science a Priority if Confirmed as USGS Director This is the first regulations on quarrying operations in the state of The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee unani- Texas and will probably be used to regulate quarries in other mously approved Mark Myers to be the new Director of the U.S. areas of the state. The original version of this regulation required Geological Survey (USGS). Now the full Senate must vote on his all work to be overseen and signed-off by a Professional Engineer. nomination before he can be confirmed. As of August 3, 2006 a Due to the efforts of a number of individuals, companies, other date for the vote has not be set on the congressional calendar and local agencies, and the TBPG, Professional Geoscientists were because the Senate will leave for a four week recess after Friday added to the list of professionals allowed to oversee and sign-off August 4, 2006 a vote on Myers may be delayed until September. on this work. For more information go to: http://www.sos.state. tx.us/texreg/sos/adopted/30.ENVIRONMENTAL%20 Mark Myers, nominated to be Director of the USGS, spoke to the QUALITY.html#198 Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee on July 20, 2006 to discuss his priorities for the USGS. “I look forward to the Groundwater Protection Rules Amended responsibility of managing one of the premier scientific organiza- The Texas Groundwater Protection Committee has adopted tions of the world,” he said. Myers described his role as ensuring amendments to §§601.1 - 601.5, concerning General Provisions the USGS provides unbiased Government Update continued on page 49

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 47 48 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 Government Update continued from page 47 ______e t a d p and accurate scientiﬁc data for the federal government. “One of Myers’s previous position was the Director of Alaska’s Division of U the key challenges is to ensure the science is focused, and ready Oil and Gas, which he held for ﬁve years. He is also a past presi- t n

when and where we need it…it’s incredibly important that the dent and board member of the Alaska Geological Society; a e

science is unbiased, that it is peer reviewed and objective, and has certified professional geologist with the American Institute of m no agenda other than giving the information the government Professional Geologists; a certiﬁed petroleum geologist with the n r

needs,” he explained. American Association of Petroleum Geologists; and a licensed e geologist with the State of Alaska. He received his doctorate in v o In addition to unbiased scientiﬁc data, Myers told the committee geology from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks in 1994, special- that geologic mapping would also be a high priority. “One of the izing in sedimentology, clastic depositional environments, surface G core missions of the USGS is basic mapping,”he said. Senator Jim and subsurface sequence analysis and sandstone petrography. Bunning (R-KY) inquired to Myers about mapping and how he Myers earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in geology from the plans to continue this practice at USGS. Myers’s response was University of Wisconsin-Madison. that he would foster state and local level partnerships to meet government and private sector needs. U.S. – India Nuclear Pact Debated in Congress A pact agreed to by President Bush and Indian Prime Minister Senators Ted Stevens (R-AK) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) attend- Singh to provide India with civilian nuclear technology and ed the meeting to endorse Myers’s nomination. “Mark is very materials in exchange for greater oversight of some of India’s respected…he has developed a reputation for gathering a consen- civilian nuclear facilities has passed several hurdles in Congress, sus for his opinions,” said Stevens. Murkowski added to Stevens’ but has a long way to go before the U.S. can sign the pact. comments saying, “When you look at his qualiﬁcations and his Committees on international relations in the Senate and the resume you say this is a man who has given his life to science… House approved the agreement late last month. The legislation, His work in the earth sciences has spanned 28 years, twelve of H.R. 5682 and S. 2429, essentially grants the President authority which he has served the public.” Myers received nothing but to waive certain requirements of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act of praise from senators during the hearing. 1954, which prevents the U.S. Government Update continued on page 51

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 49 GE OL N O O G T I S C

A O

L HGS Welcomes New Members H 1923

Effective September 12, 2006

ACTIVE MEMBERS Mary Rather Randy Bacon David Runyon Timothy Gibbons Tim Ryan Daniel Hansen Jon Sartell Donald Lacombe Annette Veilleux Stephen Lichlyter J. Scott McCollum ASSOCIATE MEMBERS Anthony Moherek Christopher Barringer Scott Moore Luis Navarro Leslie Neal Karen Pate STUDENT MEMBERS Blake Patterson Anthony Johnson Jeanne Perdue Welcome New Members

50 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 Government Update continued from page 49 ______e t a d p from engaging in nuclear trade with countries that do not allow weapons-building capacity twenty-fold. In spite of this and only U full international inspections of their civilian and military days after the administration admitted to knowing about t n

nuclear facilities. Under the pact, India would allow inspections Pakistan’s new facility when they agreed to the pact with India, e

of its civilian facilities, but not at its weapons plants. In addition, the House voted 359 to 68 in favor of the agreement. The Senate m

India has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has not yet voted on their bill. n r

nuclear security experts fear that the pact will encourage other e nations to develop nuclear capabilities without signing the non- The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee also held a v o proliferation treaty because, like India, they could establish hearing on other aspects of U.S. – India energy cooperation, pro- separate bilateral treaties. viding more background and justification for the nuclear pact. G The Bush administration may also seek to build similar coopera- Supporters of the agreement, including some sectors of the ener- tive energy enterprises with other nations in the future. gy industry, point out that India’s expanding economy and growing population, combined with a democratic government “Hockey Stick” Global Warming Hearings Take Place in House and market-based economy, will allow U.S. industry to benefit A series of climate change hearings were convened in the House from the pact. A representative from General Electric estimated during the month of July. The hearings come about a year after that each new nuclear plant would contribute $1 billion to the the Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R- U.S. trade balance, a boon to the U.S. economy. TX) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Edward Whitfield (R-KY) launched an investigation into the Critics of the plan believe that it will allow India to increase its validity of the 1998 and 1999 “hockey stick” temperature recon- weapons production, precipitating an arms race between India, struction and the scientific credibility of the papers’ authors, Drs. Pakistan and China. These concerns have been exacerbated by the Michael Mann, Raymond Bradley and Malcolm Hughes. revelations in late July that Pakistan is building a large new nuclear facility capable, by some estimates, of increasing its On July 19, 2006 the Oversight Government Update continued on page 53

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 51 52 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 Government Update continued from page 51 ______e t a d p and Investigations Subcommittee held a hearing on the statistical ences on global warming, and more of a focus on what is being U methodology of the “hockey stick” temperature reconstructions. done and what can be done in the near future to stem emissions t n

Subcommittee republicans denied that the hearing was an of greenhouse gasses. Among the nine witnesses that testified e

attempt to discredit the work of the three paleoclimatologists, before the committee, Jim Connaughton, the Chairman of the m and explained that research with such major policy and econom- President’s Council on Environmental Quality, presented infor- n r

ic implications should be subject to intense scrutiny. The mation on the administration’s “growth-oriented” climate change e National Academy of Sciences (NAS) completed independent policy, and a top Wal-Mart Executive, Andrew Ruben, gave testi- v o reviews of the principle component analysis methodology and an mony concerning the company’s commitment to sustainability ad hoc committee of statisticians led by Dr. Edward Wegman, and its initiatives to increase efficiency. G and both found flaws in Mann et al.’s statistical treatment of the temperature reconstruction data. The NAS report stated that A second hearing by the Oversight and Investigations despite statistical flaws in the two papers, the conclusion that the Subcommittee was convened on July 27, 2006, with Dr. Michael 20th century has shown unprecedented global warming is never- Mann present to defend his research. Dr. Mann explained that he theless largely correct. The ad hoc panel countered that the had recognized the errors in his early statistical techniques and papers’ conclusions cannot be supported, and questioned the had subsequently refined his methods in later published studies. peer review process and the social networking within the relative- He also underscored the existence of numerous independent ly small paleoclimatology community. The hearing also included paleoclimate proxy records that corroborate his findings. some republican-led debate about whether man-made pollution Although all witnesses on the panel acknowledged that the Earth is the major cause of global climate change or if the present is warming and that humans are a part of the problem, there was warming is just part of a natural cycle. some lingering disagreement on whether the warming is pro- ceeding at an unprecedented rate. In the House Committee on Government Reform hearing on July

20,2006 there was little debate regarding anthropogenic influ- For written testimony from the Government Update continued on page 55

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 53 TAKING DRILL-READY PROSPECTS

CONTACT: DAN KELLOGG x103 DENNIS FERSTLER x104

[email protected] (713) 655-1221 TEL (713) 951-0079 FAX

1201 LOUISIANA, SUITE 3310 HOUSTON, TEXAS 77002

54 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 Government Update continued from page 53 ______e t a d p three climate change hearings, please see the following links, The bill funds nearly $2 billion in energy programs. This includes U which are in chronological order: $1.25 billion in plug-in hybrid research and an additional $250 t n

http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/Hearings/07192006 million to fund state projects for plug-in hybrid research. Biofuel e

hearing1987/hearing.htm programs are appropriated $485 million over three years. Solar m http://reform.house.gov/GovReform/Hearings/EventSingle.aspx? technology research receives $648 million and an additional $800 n r

EventID=46863 million in grant programs. Wind power is allotted $204 million. e http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/Hearings/07272006 There is also an energy efﬁcient building program funded at $50 v o hearing2001/hearing.htm million. G

House Science Committee Approves New Energy Bill One controversial measure was the future of the proposed On June 17, 2006 the House Science Committee unanimously Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E). H.R. passed the Energy Research, Development, Demonstration, and 5656 requests the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to clarify Commercial Application Act of 2006 (H.R. 5656), a bill appropri- their recommendations for ARPA-E’s mission and role in the fed- ating funds to several energy initiatives. “Having reliable eral government in fostering new energy technology. Gordon affordable, clean sources of domestic fuel is a must… [We] need offered an amendment, which would have approved ARPA-E as to develop and use [domestic] sources more wisely,” said proposed and appropriated $3.4 billion to the program. However, Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) in his opening statements. the amendment failed by a voice vote on party lines after Boehlert The energy research programs that would be funded by H.R. 5656 urged the committee to wait until after the NAS could clarify are broad in nature and include carbon sequestration, nuclear fuel ARPA-E’s mission. reprocessing, solar and wind technology, and hydrogen fuel cells. The bill would also put emission requirements on the clean coal House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Approves project called FutureGen, tightly limiting the amount of sulfur, Levee Safety Bill nitrous oxide, mercury and carbon dioxide emissions. The full House Transportation Government Update continued on page 57

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 55 Capital available for drill ready prospects and select drilling ideas • Must have running room • Targeting low to moderate risk • Non-pressure • Less than 12,000 feet depth range • Onshore US Contact Bob Hixon • 713-495-6551 • [email protected] EnerVest Management Partners, Ltd.

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56 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 Government Update continued from page 55______e t a d p and Infrastructure Committee met on June 28, 2006 to markup as amended by voice vote. H.R. 4650 is ready to be voted on by U the National Levee Safety Program Act (H.R. 4650), a bill to the full House t n

inventory the nation’s levees. This bill would require the Army e

Corps of Engineers to create a list of all levees, citing condition, USGS Launches New Natural Hazards Web Site m vulnerability, age, structure, and other characteristics related to To help educate the public about the threat of natural hazards, n r

safety and operation. Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN) cited the need the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has launched a new Web site e for federal review of levees. “The levees I saw near New Orleans with seven easy-to-understand fact sheets on earthquakes, ﬂoods, v o were only as wide as my thumb to my little finger…In hurricanes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanoes and wildfires. The Sacramento, there is seepage under the levee walls, [which may] hazards Web site highlights resources and information available G soon lead to another catastrophic event,” he said. This program from the USGS and provides links to the individual hazards Web would be the ﬁrst federal initiative to gauge the quality of levees. pages for more detailed information. The Web site and fact sheets H.R. 4650 also creates incentives for states to create a similar pro- can be accessed at: http://www.usgs.gov/hazards/. gram, and for a national board to create standards of rating and cataloging levees. “As the experience in Louisiana from Katrina From the Federal Register: shows us, there has never been a complete adequate review of the DOE: The Department of Energy announced the availability of nation’s levees,” said Rep. John Duncan (R-TN). the Draft Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Infrastructure Improvements for the Yucca Mountain Project, An amendment sponsored by Duncan allows private sector Nevada. The draft and electronic comment forms are available at: review of levee standards and assessments, and increased appro- http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov. priations from $10 million to $15 million per year from 2007 to [Federal Register: July 6, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 129)]. I 2012. The amendment passed, followed by the passing of the bill

NASA’s Mission Changed

n an article published July 22 in the New York Times, Andrew pursuing human spaceflight to the Moon and Mars.”Some of the IRevkin broke a story that the mission for NASA had been qui- NASA researchers, however, are concerned that the change in etly changed in early February. For the past several years the mis- mission is intended as a signal that the agency is moving away sion statement had been “To understand and protect our home from its pivotal role in measuring and monitoring the environ- planet; to explore the universe and search for life; ment for greenhouse gasses and other agents to inspire the next generation of explorers … as to pioneer the future and indications of climate change. That role has only NASA can.” been the focus of increasing dissatisfaction in space exploration, from industry groups and pro-industry politi- The new mission statement “to pioneer the future cians in congress and in the executive branch. in space exploration, scientific discovery and scientific discovery aeronautics research” first appeared in 2007 The phrase “to understand and protect the budget and planning documents submitted to and aeronautics home planet” in the old mission statement was Congress on February 6. The news came as quite used by many NASA researchers to explain and a shock to many NASA scientists, many of whom research defend their research. In fact, James E. Hansen, expressed concern that headquarters had not the climatologist recently in the news because consulted with them, as had been customary. A spokesman for he had been threatened by political appointees for speaking out the agency countered that “Strategic planning comes from head- about the dangers of greenhouse gasses and global warming, had quarters down,” and added, “I don't think there was any repeatedly used the phrase publicly. Administration spokesmen mal-intent or idea of exclusion.” The manner in which the denied any connection. change was implemented reflected the management style of Michael Griffith, the new administrator. Hansen responded that “They're making it clear that they have the authority to make this change, that the president sets the A spokesman for the administration said that the change was objectives for NASA, and that they prefer that NASA work on intended to “square the statement with President Bush's goal of something that's not causing them a problem.” I

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 57 ? t

I CVV: What Is It? Why Use It? s I hen you pay online for HGS events or ﬁll out a member- for the CVV code, but it functions the same for all major card t a Wship application or renew your membership with a credit types. (VISA refers to the code as CVV2, MasterCard calls it h card you are asked to input a CVV, Card I.D., CVC2, and American Express calls it CID.) or Code. This three- or four-digit number is “HGS pays additional This security number should be typed in the W

: used to verify the authenticity of the user and Card Code box when entering information at

V help prevent unauthorized use of the card credit card fees when the HGS Your Pay Connect payment site. V number by someone. HGS pays additional members complete C credit card fees when members complete The back panel of most Visa/MasterCard credit card transactions without inputting the credit card transactions cards contains the full 16-digit account num- CVV number. ber, followed by the CVV/CVC code. Some without inputting the bank cards, however, show only the last four CVV is a new authentication procedure digits of the account number followed by the established by credit card companies to fur- CVV number.” code. You can find the four-digit card verifica- ther efforts toward reducing fraud for tion number on the front of the American Internet transactions. It consists of requiring a card holder to Express credit card above the credit card number on either the enter the CVV number at transaction time to verify that the card right or the left side of the card. is on hand. The CVV code is a security feature for “card not present” transactions (e.g., Internet transactions), and now Why Use It? appears on most (but not all) major credit and debit cards. This To aid in the prevention of fraudulent credit card use, we ask that new feature is a three- or four-digit code that provides a crypto- you input the 3- or 4-digit code on the back of your credit card graphic check of the information embossed on the card. when making payments online or when you provide your credit Therefore, the CVV code is not part of the card number itself. card information to the HGS office. When submitting credit card information and the CVV number, your data are protected by The CVV code helps ascertain that the customer placing the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology and a digital certificate. order actually possesses the credit/debit card and that the card HGS pays additional credit card fees when members complete account is legitimate. Each credit card company has its own name credit card transactions without inputting the CVV number. I

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58 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 y r _ _ t e y _ _ v e b _ _ o ) i _ _ c e r s _ _ e d e e i c r r r i b t t _ _ a a a b 4 D a a _ _ m e e e

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f r S S S S S E E N A D D D h i l d h m H T 1 d i s r r p S y r o C a a a x a e C G I P C E M ( b r H m e e m . d ) b s e e e . t e e e g i t 0 c f e r d a l 0 n i m t . o l e e r c 2 o i n y y c e . . o c e c 1 r t c d s s s $ o a d n e u s m t t d e c y c e e s t n A t e e M n a i d t a r l a e p d a i u i a t l t K e s s c n m ) r e s a D r s s r n o o c e r t i i r e p c d e b s f - o i . n a e m e s e e h s m e h i e t c m d e r o r i s l n e d e e f c t l e a r n a t R n - c a o n 5 v e e e u i l i m i r n : m r e t l $ b f y r t i i e r s e p m D f s : r u o c f c ) o m o r – f u C P o m e e s O g r 5 e e t h A r f ( s a y h o i t a n b l t c r r e g P K K M i e g N a f e a g m o K n d i v n e l e i s i i ) ’ u w m u d o f t r e e r l e e e d e s e e s r e N c t i o h B e n a g e s l e d u t f n m e l g x o a o n h i n r f a o n a i a e ( p y i C a l o g g l e o k F S H n f s t t n n p ) d p c a l n t t i a e e e e a e p u o l r r n h i r l r L a h e n p t o s o G ( o o o i e a r d h f C r n y . y e h e c n s u e n i b s 0 f r e g t b a : b l c e f r s e c s o K o o 3 h p n e l s r o e t t n m : e ; . i e p e e e v o n b e i s e r s y r a i a e r e t n h m t c & e d i c i e m h s g w d M e h u I t s s d e e t h a a u h - r J r t d n n e t l : t l o A e h i i y l o t s n ( M t y d n c O h v g : n r h u a a g e e r c i e i a s i e f s o P i B a e e n a n l a c y v n e r r n ; l i d m o t m u o & i o l o d i E i g g : o 0 e f r i t s i t e t ( s r P E B n e e 0 t i - c s v o p e s a r . l l o a d d G : a e a r l P e e & n 4 A A e s i o i r M l u e h l a v v a a s c 2 n p E e v & f i a p r r i i e c g fi t t $ d o t C l G i t n e e o o n r f x E e i a i e r n n c f f a l v v P t e u d u r t l I A A e E : e p a n r a a c e e : d s s r s u r r i e o A l l e t e s o a e a m m B B p o c H H n n i i h A n a a f e x n t A t : o s s n o o o e A : n n o a s u e y y i i r r o E h e C e : o o t t h r n e n h l u n n s i i v P i ) ) ) ) P r t D f e t : a a s : s s i P b d a a o r l l i v e t 2 2 1 1 s s c c e e e l h e 6 i t p p l o u l e e c r n 0 t T C k fi fi m a c a f f n 0 a m r i i d m e m m E I N G 2 r o o A l l o s u / b o o a u o d o i m r r t 7 o / a a n i T M n 2 W C C E C J H A N P K P K K K K u u . n n v e r Q Q A A

October 2006 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 59 HGA and GeoWives News 2006–2007 HGA Board Pres: Sally Blackhall Presentation and Luncheon Pres Elect: Audrey Tompkins Wednesday, October 18, 11:00 a.m. 1st VP: Sara Nan Grubb Excel Diagnostic, 9101 Richmond #3124 2nd VP: Camille Amoruso 3rd VP: Donna Parrish We will be going on a group outing to a presentation by Dr. Del Secretary: Millie Tonn Passand on the latest news in cancer research. Lunch will be Treasurer: Vicky Pickering provided at no cost to the attendees. Dr. Passand will discuss the Parliamentarian: Norma Jean Jones latest treatments and diagnostic tests for a disease that affects all Historian: Norma Gordon of us in some way. This presentation should provide knowledge Photographer: Betty Alfred and a new awareness that we can share with family and friends. Directors: Norma Jean Bacho Shirley Gordon Keep your calendars open for the December luncheon at Sugar Margery Ambrose Creek Country Club and for the January event at the Junior Norma Jean Jones League with our sister auxiliaries. More news coming next Liaison to HPAC: Winona LaBrant Smith month. I Edie Bishop

HGA board 2006-2007 at Houston Racquet Club in May, 2006, back row from left to right: Norma Jean Jones, Vicky Pickering, Betty Alfred. Front row left to right: Audrey Tompkins, Margery Ambrose, Millie Tonn, Sara Nan Grubb, Norma Jean Bacho, and Sally Blackhall. You are invited to become a member of Houston Geological Auxiliary 2005–2006 dues are $20.00 make check payable to Houston Geological Auxiliary and mail to: Sally Blackhall • 8714 Sterling Gate Circle • Spring, Texas 77379 HGA YEARBOOK INFORMATION Last Name First Name Name Tag

Spouse Name Name Tag HGS Members Company

Home Phone Business Phone Business Fax ( ) ( ) ( )

Street Address City Zip

Birthday, Month, Day ONLY Email Address Home Fax ( )

60 Houston Geological Society Bulletin October 2006 coe 06HoustonGeologicalSocietyBulletin October 2006 I will help planaGeoWives help I will activity ______email: ______Telephone: ______City/State/Zip: ______Sreet Address: ______Name: thefollowing provide Please ______11 eoilDie Hutn Texas 77024 11212 Memorial Drive •Houston, make check payable to As a HGA member youAs are to join aHGAmember invited N I w My home isavailable for ameeting /HostessCourtesy ot il iﬁ l se cat 2005–2006 dues are $7.50 r v io e on acommittee n /P GeoWives ho Sara NanSara Grubb ne Committee GeoWives and mailto: Professional doi:10.1029/2001JD000354 t T. Easterling, D. Acloser atUnited look surface States andglobal Lawrence, W. Karl 2001. Imhoff, andT. M. Peterson, Sato, Mki. Ruedy, R. J.E., Hansen, 2006. temp/2005/ accessed September 14, N Institute for Space Studies andColumbia University Institute Earth New York, NASA GISSSurface Temperature Goddard Global Temperature2005Summation, 2006: Trends: Analysis, Lo, andK. Sato, M. Ruedy, R. J., Hansen, listed below.the article go to the Web page and For reading andother graphics, further meauecag.J epy.Rs 0,23947-23963, 106, Res. Geophys. J. emperature change. Check outtheNew HGSMessageBoard 02,UA a evee tteWbst:http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gis- atthe viewed canbe Web site: USA, Y 10025, at http://www.hgs.org via“HGSForums” • Event information andannouncements • Eventinformation Directory •Public for http://www • Onlinediscussions • Virtual networking • Virtual I Committees ums forHGSandGSH Y G our Card BelongsHere lobal Temperatures .neogeos.org $125 pery 713-463-9476 ear –10issues continued from page13 61

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