HGS Bulletin Volume 51 Number 7 Houston Geological Soc iety March 2009 HGS Guest Night Saturday, April 4, 2008 Speaker: Dr. Mike Waters Page 47 Late 20th Century Subsidence of South Louisiana: Insights into the Nature of Passive Margin Normal Faults Page 23 TheBulletin Houston Geological Soc iety Volume 51, Number 7 March 2009 In Every Issue Technical Meetings 5 From the President by Kara Bennett 15 HGS General Dinner Meeting Paleocene-Eocene Lowstand Systems Tract From the Editor 7 Sandstone Deposits of the Eastern Gulf by Michael Forlenza Coastal Plain: Potential Reservoir Facies in 32 GeoEvents Calendar the Offshore Northeastern Gulf of Mexico 59 HGS Membership page 19 Application 19 HGS International Dinner Meeting The Risk Police — Evil Naysayers or Exploration 60 HPAC Best Practice? 61 Professional Directory 23 HGS General Luncheon Meeting Late 20th Century Subsidence of South Louisiana: Insights into the Nature of Passive Margin Normal Faults Houston Geological Society 27 HGS North American Dinner Meeting OFFICERS Shale Plays, Risk Analysis and Other Perils of page 27 Kara Bennett President Conventional Thinking Gary Coburn President-elect Art Berman Vice President John Tubb Treasurer 37 SIPES Luncheon Meeting Matt Boyd Treasurer-elect Case Study: Highest Possible Resolution (HPR) Mike Jones Secretary Stratigraphic Imaging of a Deep Reef Platform Michael Forlenza Bulletin Editor Gordon Shields Editor-elect DIRECTORS Alison Henning Other Features Richard Howe Ianthe Sarrazin 13, 20 Remembrances Walter Light HGS OFFICE STAFF Geologic Website of the Month Sandra Babcock Office Manager 41 Lilly Hargrave Webmaster “I’ve Looked at Life from Both Sides Now” Ken Nemeth Office Committee The Discovery Institute (www.discovery.org) and page 47 Chairman Understanding Evolution (evolution.berkeley.edu) Michael Forlenza, PG EDITORIAL BOARD Michael Forlenza Editor Gordon Shields Editor-elect 47 2009 HGS Annual Guest Night James Ragsdale Advisory Editor In Search of the First Americans: Recent Charles Revilla Advisory Editor Discoveries and the Role of Geology in the Lilly Hargrave Advertising Editor Lisa Krueger Design Editor Pursuit of the Past The Houston Geological Society Bulletin (ISSN-018-6686) is published monthly except for July and August by the Houston 51 Book Review: The Dating Game: One Man’s Geological Society, 14811 St. Mary’s Lane, Suite 250, Houston, Texas 77079-2916. Phone: 713-463-9476; fax: Search for the Age of the Earth 281-679-5504 George O. Chandlee Editorial correspondence and material submitted for publica - tion should be addressed to the Editor, Houston Geological Society Bulletin , 14811 St. Mary’s Lane, Suite 250, Houston, Texas 77079-2916 or to [email protected] 55 Government Update Subscriptions: Subscription to this publication is included in Henry M. Wise and Arlin Howles the membership dues ($24.00 annually). Subscription price for nonmembers within the contiguous U.S. is $30.00 per year. For page 51 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: Colorful subalpine fall foliage cloaks the foothills of Mount Rainer, Washington. Houston, Texas. Mount Rainer, at 14,410 feet above sea level, is the most prominent peak in the Cascade Range. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Houston Geological It is an active stratovolcano that last erupted approximately 150 years ago. Mount Rainier is the Society Bulletin, 14811 St. Mary’s Lane, Suite 250, Houston, most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48 states at 35 square miles of snow and ice. Texas 77079-2916 Photograph by Michael F. Forlenza. Copyright © 2008. All rights reserved. March 2009 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 1 2 Houston Geological Society Bulletin March 2009 Board of Directors 2008 –09 http://www.hgs.org/about_hgs/leadership.asp President (P) Kara Bennett Consultant 832-452-3747 [email protected] President-elect (PE) Gary Coburn Murphy Oil 281-675-9210 [email protected] Vice President (VP) Art Berman Labyrinth Consulting Services 713-557-9076 [email protected] Secretary (S) Mike Jones Scout Petroleum 713-654-0080 [email protected] Treasurer (T) John Tubb INEXS 713-805-5649 [email protected] Treasurer-elect (TE) Matt Boyd Southwest Energy 281-618-7379 [email protected] Editor (E) Michael Forlenza Malcolm Pirnie Inc. 713-960-7421 [email protected] Editor-elect (EE) Gordon Shields Fugro Gravity and Magnetics Services 713-369-6132 [email protected] Director 07-09 (D1) Alison Henning H2B, Inc. / Rice University 832-203-5016 [email protected] Director 07-09 (D2) Richard Howe Terrain Solutions 713-467-2900 [email protected] Director 08-10 (D3) Ianthe Sarrazin Petrobras America 713-808-2775 [email protected] Director 08-10 (D4) Walter Light Thunder Exploration 712-823-8288 [email protected] Committee Chairperson Phone Email Board Rep. AAPG HOD Foreman Sharie Sartain 281-382-9855 [email protected] P Academic Liaison Brad Hoge [email protected] D3 Ad Hoc Constitution & Bylaws Steve Earle 713-328-1069 [email protected] P Advertising Lilly Hargrave 713-463-9476 [email protected] E Arrangements Matt Boyd 281-618-7379 [email protected] TE Awards Mike Deming 281-925-7239 [email protected] VP Ballot Paul Hoffman 713-783-7880 [email protected] S Calvert Memorial Scholarship Carl Norman 713-461-7420 [email protected] PE Community Outreach Walter Light 713-529-2233 [email protected] D1 Continuing Education Ken Schwartz 281-690-0995 [email protected] D1 Directory Michael S. Benrud 713-785-8700 x104 [email protected] EE Earth Science Week Martha McRae 713-869-2045 [email protected] D1 Jennifer Burton [email protected] D1 Engineering Council Claudia Ludwig 713-723-2511 [email protected] D4 Environmental & Eng Geologists Matthew Cowan 713-777-0534 [email protected] VP Exhibits Paul Carter 713-826-0540 [email protected] D3 Field Trips Gary Moore 713-466-8960 [email protected] D4 Finance Joe Lynch 281-496-9898 x134 [email protected] T Foundation Fund John Adamick 713-860-2114 jada@tgsnopec .com PE General Meetings Art Berman 713-557-9076 [email protected] VP Golf Tournament Mark Dennis 281-494-2522 [email protected] D1 Government Affairs Arlin Howles 281-808-8629 [email protected] D4 Henry Wise 281-242-7190 [email protected] D4 Guest Night Bill Osten 281-293-3160 [email protected] D2 Houston Energy Council Sandi Barber 713-935-7830 [email protected] D4 HGA/HPAC Norma Jean Jones 281-497-3857 [email protected] S Daisy Wood 713-977-7319 [email protected] S International Explorationists Justin Vanden Brink 281-877-9400 [email protected] VP Ad Hoc Int'l Year of Planet Earth Sandi Barber 713-935-7830 [email protected] D3 Membership Steve Levine 713-624-9723 [email protected] S Membership Growth Linda Sternbach 281-679-7333 [email protected] D2 Museum of Natural Science Inda Immega 713-661-3494 [email protected] D3 NeoGeos Cecelia Baum 713-268-5238 [email protected] S Rachael Czechowskyj 713-609-4406 [email protected] New Publications Bill Rizer 281-392-0613 [email protected] D1 Nominations Linda Sternbach 281-679-7333 [email protected] P North American Explorationists Steve Getz 713-871-2346 [email protected] VP Northsiders Tony D'Agostino 832-237-400 [email protected] VP David Tonner 713-516-6894 [email protected] VP Office Ken Nemeth 713-689-7605 [email protected] PE Personnel Placement Peter Welch 713-862-2287 [email protected] PE Publication Sales Tom Mather 281-556-9539 [email protected] Remembrances EE Shrimp Peel Lee Shelton 713-595-5116 [email protected] D1 Skeet Shoot Tom McCarroll 713-353-4728 [email protected] D1 Technofest Deborah Sacrey 713-468-3260 [email protected] D1 Tennis Tournament Ross Davis 713-659-3131 [email protected] D1 Vendor’s Corner Paul Babcock 713-859-0316 [email protected] TE Web Site Manager Tarek Ghazi 713-432-4562 [email protected] PE Web Master Lilly Hargrave 713-463-9476 [email protected] PE HGS Office Manager Sandra Babcock 713-463-9476 [email protected] March 2009 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 3 4 Houston Geological Society Bulletin March 2009 t From the n e Kara Bennett President d i [email protected] s e r P e h t The rest of the story… m o r ast month I listed the first half of the HGS top ten. Now for of Houston through the Engineering Council of Houston (we F Lthe rest, some items which are less well-known: could use one or two more volunteers for this upcoming event), and we help select summer interns for the museum 6. The HGS contributes the largest number of delegates to from the Science Fair participants. We offer an award for the AAPG House of Delegates (HOD). The HOD vets AAPG excellence in science teaching (which includes a cash award). applications and acts like Congress for the AAPG—it generates, We have been distributing geological maps of the United States approves, or disapproves AAPG by-law changes. Delegates are free to local schools. We have more maps, if your school needs elected from HGS members for 3-year terms and meet monthly one. We also have rock and mineral kits available for checkout to discuss AAPG business. If you would like to be a part of it, for school visits by our members. you can self-nominate through the HGS web site. 10. HGS is working to keep members informed of geoscience- 7. HGS social events are both fun and a big fund-raisers for the related legislation in Austin. Most recently, this has focused society to help support our programs.