New Core Study Unearths Insights Into Uinta Basin Evolution and Resources
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UTAH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY SURVEY NOTES VOLUME 51, NUMBER 2 MAY 2019 New core study unearths insights into Uinta Basin evolution and resources CONTENTS New Core, New Insights into Ancient DIRECTOR’S PERSPECTIVE Lake Uinta Evolution and Uinta Basin • Exploration and development of Energy Resources ..........................1 by Bill Keach unconventional resources. Oil shale Drones for Good: Utah Geologists As the incoming Take to the Skies ...........................3 director for the Utah and sand continue to be a provocative Utah Mining Districts at Your Fingertips . .4 Geological Survey opportunity still searching for an eco- Energy News: The Benefits of Utah (UGS), I would like to nomic threshold. Oil and Gas Production.....................6 thank Rick Allis for his Glad You Asked: What are Those • Earthquake early warning systems. Can Blue Ponds Near Moab?....................8 guidance and leader- they work on the Wasatch Front? GeoSights: Pine Park and Ancient ship over the past 18 years. In Rick’s first • Incorporating technology into field Supervolcanoes of Southwestern Utah....10 “Director’s Perspective” he made predic- Survey News...............................12 tions of “likely hot-button issues” that the mapping and hazard recognition and UGS would face. These issues included: using data analytics and knowledge Design | Jenny Erickson sharing in our work at the UGS. Cover | View to the west of Willow Creek • Renewed exploration for oil and gas in core study area. Photo by Ryan Gall. the State. The last item is dear to my heart. A large part of my career has been in the devel- State of Utah • Renewed interest in more fossil-fuel-fired Gary R. Herbert, Governor electricity in Utah, especially from coal. opment and promotion of technology Department of Natural Resources to solve complex geological/geophysical Michael Styler, Executive Director • Increased demand for groundwater problems. Certainly, in my time I have UGS Board supplies to supplement reservoirs dur- Marc Eckels, Chair seen a significant shift from qualitative Ken Fleck, Pete Kilbourne, Dave Garbrecht, ing the summer months. Sam Quigley, Elissa Richards, Rick Chesnut, to quantitative geology. Under Rick’s di- • Preserving the quality of strategic David Ure (Trust Lands Administration-ex officio) rection the UGS made significant strides groundwater supplies by preventing and it is important that we continue to UGS STAFF contamination from sources such as embrace the shift. Administration agricultural waste, sewage, industrial/ Bill Keach, Director Michael Hylland, Deputy Director mining waste. On a personal note: I am married and Starr Soliz, Secretary/Receptionist have four children. After earning a B.S. Cheryl Gustin, Secretary/Receptionist • Competing demands for land access. Jodi Patterson, Financial Manager degree in Geology from Brigham Young Linda Bennett, Accounting Technician • Ongoing interest to develop on sites like University and an M.S. degree in Geophys- Editorial Staff | Jennifer Miller floodplains, areas having landslide risk, Lori Steadman, Martha Jensen, John Good, ics from Cornell, I spent more than 5 years and areas with seismic zoning issues. Jenny Erickson working for Sohio/BP in California followed Geologic Hazards | Steve Bowman Rick was right. Exploration and produc- by 17 years with Landmark Graphics (now Richard Giraud, Jessica Castleton, Tyler Knudsen, tion of oil and gas have grown but have Greg McDonald, Adam McKean, Ben Erickson, Halliburton). While there I traveled the Adam Hiscock, Gordon Douglass, Emily Kleber, also had downturns; the Uinta Basin Chelsea Samuelson world developing 3D visualization technol- felt the impacts of both. Fossil-fueled Geologic Information and Outreach | Michael Hylland ogy and adoption. I took a sabbatical in electricity generation has shifted from Mark Milligan, Lance Weaver, Gentry Hammerschmid, 2006 and returned to Utah to spend time Stephanie Carney, Kimm Harty, Jim Davis, Marshall coal to natural gas. In arid western Utah, Robinson, Jay Hill, Brian Butler, Suzanne Sawyer, doing research and teaching at both the Andrew Cvar, Mackenzie Cope groundwater continues to be a critical University of Utah and Brigham Young Geologic Mapping | Grant Willis issue, impacting both urban growth Jon King, Douglas Sprinkel, Kent Brown, Basia and agricultural needs. Different groups University. In 2017 I accepted a role with Matyjasik, Donald Clark, Bob Biek, Zach Anderson, California’s Division of Oil, Gas, and Geo- James Kirkland, Martha Hayden, Don DeBlieux vigorously advocate for access rights to Energy and Minerals | Michael Vanden Berg public lands, both to allow and limit; the thermal Resources to evaluate reservoirs Jeff Quick, Taylor Boden, Thomas Chidsey, Tom recent reductions to National Monu- and bring technology into the division. I Dempster, Andrew Rupke, Christian Hardwick, Peter Nielsen, Elliot Jagniecki, Ryan Gall, Stephanie Mills ments underscore this issue. Lastly, continue to hold an adjunct position with Groundwater | Hugh Hurlow forecasts predict Utah will add another the U. of U. and BYU. One of my favorite Janae Wallace, Paul Inkenbrandt, Lucy Jordan, Stefan 250,000 households by 2025 and devel- Kirby, Diane Menuz, Nathan Payne, Emily McDermott, roles in academia has been developing Miles McCoy-Sulentic, Trevor Schlossnagle, Pete Goodwin opers are looking for places to build. and leading field courses in Utah and Looking forward, these issues will con- introducing students and professionals Survey Notes is published three times yearly by the Utah Geological Survey, 1594 W. North Temple, Suite tinue to be important and new ones from around the world to the many geo- 3110, Salt Lake City, Utah 84116; (801) 537-3300. The UGS may present themselves: logic wonders of this great State. provides timely scientific information about Utah’s geologic environment, resources, and hazards. The UGS • Where to safely dispose of domestic Today, I am excited to work with the won- is a division of the Department of Natural Resources. Single copies of Survey Notes are distributed free of and industrial waste. derful folks that comprise the UGS, and by charge within the United States and reproduction is extension those agencies we work with. encouraged with recognition of source. Copies are • Renewable energy resources. Utah available at https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey- continues to develop geothermal, solar Studying the geologic past and present is notes/. ISSN 1061-7930 Printed on recycled paper. and wind resources. a great way to spend the future. (e.g., carbon dioxide) and extreme New Core, New Insights global temperatures. In the quest to understand the Eocene environment into Ancient Lake Uinta and better characterize our energy resources, the Utah Geological Survey Evolution and Uinta Basin (UGS) recently partnered with the U.S. Energy Resources Geological Survey (USGS) to drill a new 240-foot-long core from the Uinta by Ryan Gall Basin—Willow Creek No. 1. Utah geologists are lucky to have outstanding outcrop exposures in every The Willow Creek No. 1 core targets corner of the state. Our understanding of ancient Utah is built upon these the Uteland Butte member and outcrops and geologists from around the globe frequently travel here to study overlying Colton Tongue–Castle Peak these irreplaceable sources of geologic information. However, outcrops lose interval of the lowermost Green River some geologic information due to surface weathering that obscures sedi- Formation. The Uteland Butte is a ris- mentary features and alters rock chemistry. Fine-grained rocks like claystone ing horizontal-well target that has pro- are especially prone to poor surface exposure as they break-down quickly and duced over 15 million barrels of oil and become rooting grounds for modern plants. In contrast, borehole core provides over 21 billion cubic feet of natural gas a rare glimpse of strata untouched by surface processes. Cores allow geologists (2010 to present, just from horizontal to clearly see sedimentary features like ancient insect burrows and wave rip- wells) from a >100-foot-thick interval ples in fine-grained rocks that help interpret ancient environments. In addition, of interbedded porous dolostone and cores provide an opportunity to collect geochemical data that can be used to limestone in the western Uinta Basin reconstruct paleoenvironments and to characterize petroleum systems. (see Survey Notes, v. 50, no. 2, p. 1–3). The Uteland Butte rocks represent The Eocene-age Green River Formation in the Uinta Basin of northeastern Utah the first widespread transgression particularly benefits from core study. The Green River Formation was depos- (expansion) of ancient Lake Uinta. The ited about 55 to 43 million years ago in ancient Lake Uinta, which had similar overlying deposits represent a period characteristics to the modern Great Salt Lake (see Survey Notes, v. 46, no. 1, of Lake Uinta regression (contraction) p. 1–3). With abundant fine-grained, organic-rich rocks deposited in the lake, dominated by expansive river chan- the Green River Formation has gained global attention for its hydrocarbon re- nels and soil development around the sources and its paleoclimatic records from the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum perimeter of the basin (Colton Tongue) (EECO), a period of elevated concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases and deposition of siliciclastic sediment Willow Creek No. 1 field site (view to the east) with wireline coring rig in Willow Creek Canyon. MAY 2019 1 (e.g., sand) in the relatively