Oil And Gas Geoscience Reports 2012 BC Ministry of Energy and Mines Geoscience and Strategic Initiatives Branch © British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mines Oil and Gas Division Geoscience and Strategic Initiatives Branch Victoria, British Columbia, April 2012 Please use the following citation format when quoting or reproducing parts of this document: Ferri, F., Hickin, A.S. and Reyes, J. (2012): Horn River basin–equivalent strata in Besa River Formation shale, northeastern British Columbia (NTS 094K/15); in Geoscience Reports 2012, British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mines, pages 1–15. Colour digital copies of this publication in Adobe Acrobat PDF format are available, free of charge, from the BC Ministry of Energy and Mines website at: http://www.em.gov.bc.ca/subwebs/oilandgas/pub/reports.htm FOREWORD Geoscience Reports is the annual publication of the Geoscience Section of the Geoscience and Strategic Initiatives Branch (GSIB) in the Oil and Gas Division, BC Ministry of Energy and Mines. This publication highlights petroleum related geosciences activities carried out in British Columbia by ministry staff and affiliated partners. The Geoscience Section of the Strategic Initiatives Branch provides public geoscience information to reduce exploration and development risk and promote investment in British Columbia’s natural gas and other petroleum resources. The studies produced by staff and partners encourage responsible development and provide technical expertise to better aid policy development. Public Geoscience is identified as an important component of the British Columbia Natural Gas Strategy, announced in February 2012 (www.gov.bc.ca/ener/natural_gas_strategy.html). Geoscience Reports 2012 includes six articles that focus on two themes; geological studies in the Liard region of northeast British Columbia and water studies related to oil and gas development. The first two articles describe mapping and thematic studies in the Liard Basin. These studies investigate rocks that are currently being targeted for shale gas development in the Liard and Horn River basins. The subsequent four articles focus on water, an important resource in northeast British Columbia, where it is critical for the petroleum industry, agriculture and domestic activities. The first article in this year’s volume is by Filippo Ferri and Adrian Hickin of the GSIB and Julito Reyes of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC). They present results from the 2011 summer field program that is part of a multi-year project evaluating the shale and siliceous siltstone of the Besa River Formation from measured sections of outcrop. The evaluation includes lithological description, a gamma-ray spectrometry (U, Th and K) survey and Rock-Eval™ and lithogeochemical analysis of samples. The second study, by Margaret McMechan (GSC), Filippo Ferri (GSIB) and Larry MacDonald (GSC), is a regional mapping project. This article reports on summer fieldwork in 2011 within the Toad River map area (NTS 094N) and incorporates published and unpublished geological studies in the Liard River area. Rocks in this map sheet span the Mesoproterozoic to Upper Cretaceous, which have been effected by tectonic activity during the Middle Cambrian, Ordovician to Silurian, Mississippian to Permian, and Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (pre-Albian). Hydrocarbon resources occur within Middle Devonian carbonates involved in large, structural culminations (e.g. Beaver River and Crow River gas fields). In addition, the Paleozoic and Mesozoic successions contain several organic-rich horizons (Besa River Formation, Toad/Grayling formations and Garbutt Formation) that are stratigraphically equivalent to sequences being developed for shale gas resources elsewhere within the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. The first of the series of papers related to water resources is by Elizabeth Johnson of GSIB and Laura Johnson, an independent consultant. Their contribution investigates industry water consumption during hydraulic fracturing operations in northeast British Columbia. The paper looks at the relationships around fracture type, stimulation volume, well location and the number of fractures per well. Another contribution is a compilation of potential freshwater aquifers hosted in shallow bedrock formations by Janet Riddell, formerly with the GSIB, but now with the British Columbia Geological Survey. She notes that the most important prospective regional aquifer units are the coarse clastic Cenomanian Dunvegan and Campanian Wapiti formations. Some of these aquifers are well known in the Peace River valley, but outside that region hydrogeological data are sparse and many aquifers are not formally identified or delineated. This work indicates that new data will significantly improve our knowledge about the hydrostratigraphy of Cretaceous clastic units across northeast British Columbia. The final two papers introduce a multi-year, inter-agency program initiated in September of 2011. This program is directed at gaining an understanding of the groundwater resources in the rural area around Dawson Creek. The principle objective of this ongoing work is to provide BC Ministry of Energy and Mines i science based information (characterization of groundwater aquifers and water) that will benefit water resource management. The paper by Wilford et al. includes 15 authors from 10 agencies that are participating in this multi-year program. This paper describes two projects; the first is the Northeast British Columbia Aquifer Project with components that include: 1) a private water well sampling survey; 2) expansion of the British Columbia Observation Well Network; 3) an evaluation of the geological framework for the Groundbirch Paleovalley; and 4) an update to the Groundwater Level Interface database. The second project involves surface water hydrology modelling and the development of a decision-support tool for water allocation in northeast British Columbia. The final paper in the volume, by Adrian Hickin (GSIB) and Melvyn Best (Bemex Consulting International), describes the geophysical techniques that were employed to construct the geological framework of the Groundbirch Paleovalley, a feature known to host an unconsolidated groundwater aquifer. In their paper, they provide some preliminary results from the Coldstream River, where incision by the river has allowed direct observation of the paleovalley-fill secession. Adrian S. Hickin Director, Petroleum Geoscience Geoscience and Strategic Initiatives Branch Oil and Gas Division British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mines ii Geoscience Reports 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS GEOSCIENCE REPORTS 2012 GEOSCIENCE HORN RIVER BASIN–EQUIVALENT STRATA IN BESA RIVER FORMATION SHALE, NORTHEASTERN BRITISH COLUMBIA (NTS 094K/15) .......... 1 by Filippo Ferri, Adrian S. Hickin and Julito Reyes GEOLOGY OF THE TOAD RIVER AREA (NTS 094N), NORTHEAST BRITISH COLUMBIA ...............................................................................17 by Margaret McMechan, Filippo Ferri and Larry MacDonald WATER HYDRAULIC FRACTURE WATER USAGE IN NORTHEAST BRITISH COLUMBIA: LOCATIONS, VOLUMES AND TRENDS ..........................................41 by Elizabeth G. Johnson and Laura A. Johnson POTENTIAL FOR FRESHWATER BEDROCK AQUIFERS IN NORTHEAST BRITISH COLUMBIA: REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION AND LITHOLOGY OF SURFACE AND SHALLOW SUBSURFACE BEDROCK UNITS (NTS 093I, O, P; 094A, B, G, H, I, J, N, O, P) ...................................................................65 by Janet Riddell COLLABORATIVE INTERAGENCY WATER PROJECTS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: INTRODUCTION TO THE NORTHEAST BRITISH COLUMBIA AQUIFER PROJECT AND STREAMFLOW MODELLING DECISION SUPPORT TOOL ...........................................................................................................79 by Dave Wilford, Adrian S. Hickin, Allan Chapman, Jillian Kelly, Ed P. Janicki, Ben Kerr, Chelton van Geloven, Tarik Dessouki, Katherine Henry, Kirsten Heslop, Dirk Kirste, Marilyne McCarville, Kevin Ronneseth, Matt Sakals, Mike Wei STRATIGRAPHY AND PROPOSED GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY OF THE GROUNDBIRCH PALEOVALLEY: A CONTRIBUTION TO THE COLLABORATIVE NORTHEAST BRITISH COLUMBIA AQUIFER PROJECT ...................................................................................................................................91 by Adrian Hickin and Melvyn E. Best BC Ministry of Energy and Mines iii iv Geoscience Reports 2012 HORN RIVER Basin–equivALENT STRATA IN BESA RIVER FORMATION SHALE, NORTHEASTERN BRITISH COLUMBIA (NTS 094K/15) Filippo Ferri1, Adrian S. Hickin1 and Julito Reyes2 ABSTRACT In the summer of 2011, approximately 310 m of shale and siliceous siltstone of the Besa River Formation was measured in the Stone Mountain area of northeastern British Columbia (NTS 094K/15). In addition to a lithological description, a gamma-ray spectrometry (U, Th and K) survey was conducted and Rock Eval™ samples were collected across the section. Results show similarities between this section and a section of the Besa River Formation measured in the Caribou Range along the northern border of the Toad River map area (NTS 094N) in 2010. Although a comparison of U, Th and K logs from each section are in general agreement, absolute levels, particularly with respect to U, are higher within the Caribou Range. Comparison of the gamma-ray log with similar subsurface sections shows good correlation and indicates the presence of the Evie and Muskwa markers of the Horn River succession, and the Exshaw Formation within the Besa River section. Total organic carbon levels