HGSBulletin Volume 54 Number 4 Houston Geological Society December 2011 Deepwater Sedimentological Features as Shown in High-resolution Data Donated to Universities, Gulf of Mexico Page 21 TheBulletin Houston Geological Society Volume 54, Number 4 December 2011 In Every Issue Technical Meetings 5 From the President by Steve Earle 13 HGS Environmental & Engineering Dinner Meeting Addressing Environmental Concerns in Shale Gas Devel- 7 From the Editor opment: Baseline Groundwater Sampling, Monitoring, by Ron Waszczak and Other Mitigation Strategies 30 GeoEvents Calendar 21 HGS General Dinner Meeting 55 HGS Membership Deepwater Sedimentological Features as shown in Application High-resolution Data Donated to Universities, 56 HPAC Gulf of Mexico page 10 57 Professional Directory Other Features Houston Geological Society Honky-To n k OFFICERS 15 HGS Legends Night 2012 Steven A. Earle President Unconventional Wildcatters Martin Cassidy President-elect Ho-Ho- David Meaux Vice President Christina M. Higginbotham Treasurer Hoedown Donald Walker Treasurer-elect 23 SIPES November Luncheon Meeting Matthew Cowan Secretary Sound U.S. Energy Security Solutions for the Nation Ron Waszczak Bulletin Editor page 19 Patricia Santogrossi Bulletin Editor-elect DIRECTORS 27 Earth Science Week 2011 John Adamick “Our Ever-Changing Earth” Jennifer L. Burton Martha McRae Cecelia Baum Raborn Gary Coburn HGS OFFICE STAFF 43 Remembrance Sandra Babcock Office Manager Roy K. Dokka Vacant Webmaster Mike Erpenbeck Office Committee Chair EDITORIAL BOARD 47 Government Update Ron Waszczak Editor Henry M. Wise and Arlin Howles Patricia Santogrossi Editor-elect Fang Lin Advisory Editor James Ragsdale Advisory Editor 51 Remembrance page 21 Charles Revilla Advisory Editor Alfred Wagner, Jr. Sandra Babcock Advertising Editor Lisa Krueger Design Editor The Houston Geological Society Bulletin (ISSN-018-6686) is 52 December Crossword published monthly except for July and August by the Houston Geological Society, 14811 St. Mary’s Lane, Suite 250, Houston, Texas 77079-2916. Phone: 713-463-9476; fax: 281-679-5504 53 November Crossword Answers Editorial correspondence and material submitted for publication 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] Subscriptions: Subscription to this publication is included in the membership dues ($24.00 annually). Subscription price for non- members within the contiguous U.S. is $30.00 per year. For those outside the contiguous U.S. the subscription price is $46.00 About the Cover: Cable Shovel and Haul Truck, Syncrude Tar Sand Mine. Syncrude is a joint per year. Single-copy price is $3.00. Periodicals postage paid in venture of companies mining the Athabasca oil sands north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Houston, Texas. Mining activities concentrate on the McMurray Formation, a lower Cretaceous oil-bearing POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Houston Geological sandstone. The oil sands consist of a mixture of crude bitumen, silica sand, clay minerals, and Society Bulletin, 14811 St. Mary’s Lane, Suite 250, Houston, water. The Athabasca deposit, named after the river which cuts through it, is the largest reservoir Texas 77079-2916 of crude bitumen in the world. Photo by Albert Holba page 27 December 2011 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 1 An Integrated Workflow Solution Get the full picture with comprehensive integration of IHS PETRA®, IHS PetraSeis® and IHS GeoSyn™. 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See moremore solutions at www.ihs.com/hgswww.ihs.com/hgs 2 Houston Geological Society Bulletin December 2011 Board of Directors 2011–12 http://www.hgs.org/about_hgs/leadership.asp President (P) Steve Earle Carrizo Oil and Gas 281-435-5020 [email protected] President-elect (PE) Martin Cassidy University of Houston 281-370-7346 [email protected] Vice President (VP) David Meaux BP America 281-366-2847 [email protected] Secretary (S) Matthew Cowan Consultant 713-777-0534 [email protected] Treasure(T) Christina Higginbotham Golder Associates, Inc. 281-620-7835 [email protected] Treasure-elect (TE) Donald Walker ConocoPhillips 832-486-3924 [email protected] Editor (E) Ron Waszczak ConocoPhillips 281-293-3088 [email protected] Editor-elect (EE) Patricia Santogrossi Statoil 713-918-8240 [email protected] Director 10-12 (D1) John Adamick TGS-NOPEC Geophysical 713-860-2114 [email protected] Director 10-12 (D2) Jennifer Burton Legado Resources 832-607-0074 [email protected] Director 11-13 (D3) Cecelia Baum Raborn Maersk Oil 713-346-5826 [email protected] Director 11-13 (D4) Gary Coburn Murphy Oil 281-782-7021 [email protected] Committee Chairperson Phone Email Board Rep. AAPG House of Delegates Tarek Ghazi 281-961-7632 [email protected] P Academic Liaison vacant D2 Ad Hoc Advertising Sandra Babcock 713-463-9476 [email protected] E Africa Conference Al Danforth 713-780-8622 [email protected] P Arrangements (hotel contracts) David Meaux 281-366-2847 [email protected] VP Ballot/Elections Paul Hoffman 713-871-2350 [email protected] S Calvert Fund Carl Norman 713-461-7420 [email protected] PE Christmas Party Kelly Limbaugh 713-972-9200 [email protected] D3 Community Outreach vacant D1 Continuing Education Rosemary Laidacker 713-805-9672 [email protected] D1 Directory Michael S. Benrud 713-785-8700 x104 [email protected] D1 Earth Science Week Martha McRae 713-869-2045 [email protected] D2 Engineering Council of Houston Claudia Ludwig 713-723-2511 [email protected] D2 Environmental & Eng. Geologists Matthew Cowan 713-777-0534 [email protected] VP Exhibits Bill Mason 281-367-0357 [email protected] D3 Field Trips Gary Moore 713-466-8960 [email protected] D1 Finance Joe Lynch 281-496-9898 x134 [email protected] T Foundation Fund John Adamick 713-860-2114 [email protected] PE General Meeting David Meaux 281-366-2847 [email protected] VP Golf Tournament Mark Dennis 281-494-2522 [email protected] D4 Government Affairs Arlin Howles 281-808-8629 [email protected] D4 Henry Wise 281-242-7190 [email protected] D4 Guest Night Dave Reynolds 281-497-2485 [email protected] D4 HGS New Publications Bill Rizer 281-392-0613 [email protected] D1 Houston Energy Council Sandi Barber 713-935-7830 [email protected] PE HPAC Winona LaBrant Smith 713-952-2007 [email protected] S Imperial Barrel Connie Mongold 832-315-4991 [email protected] D2 International Explorationists Justin Vandenbrink 281-448-6188 [email protected] VP Legends Night Charles Sternbach 281-679-7333 [email protected] P John Tubb, Jr. 713-805-5649 [email protected] P Membership Shari Sartain 281-382-9855 [email protected] S Membership Growth Jeff Allen 713-871-2350 [email protected] D3 Mudstone Conference Frank Walles 713-265-6319 [email protected] P Museum of Natural Science Inda Immega 713-661-3494 [email protected] D2 NeoGeo’s Sameer Baral 440-941-7121 [email protected] D3 Nominations John Tubb, Jr. 713-805-5649 [email protected] P North American Interest Group Steve Getz 713-304-8503 [email protected] VP Northsiders Simon Hughes 713-264-2167 [email protected] VP David Tonner 713-516-6894 [email protected] VP Office Management Mike Erpenbeck 832-418-0221 [email protected] PE Publication Sales Dennis McConnell 281-362-4743 [email protected] D1 Remembrances Art Berman 713-557-9067 [email protected] EE Shrimp Peel Lee Shelton 281-381-1093 [email protected] D4 Skeet Shoot Tom McCarroll 713-419-9414 [email protected] D4 Social Media Dianna Phu 281-925-2491 [email protected] D3 Speaker Awards Mike Deming 281-925-7239 [email protected] VP TechnoFest John Tubb, Jr. I713-805-5649 [email protected] D4 Tennis Tournament Steve Brachman 713-268-8810 [email protected] D4 Vendor’s Corner Paul Babcock 713-859-0316 [email protected] TE Volunteer Coordinator Sue Pritchett 281-451-6522 [email protected] P Web Management Linda Sternbach 281-679-7333 [email protected] D3 HGS Office Manager Sandra Babcock 713-463-9476 [email protected] December 2011 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 3 9 th ANNUAL WINTER EDUCATION CONFERENCE )06450/ 59t'&#36"3: Five Great Days of the Finest Geoscience Training for One Low Price Courses include: s $EEPWATER3EDIMENTATION Hosted by the s %XPLORATIONFOR$EEP 7ATER3ANDS5SING Norris Conference Center: 3EISMIC3EQUENCE-ETHODOLOGY 4OWN#OUNTRY,ANE s #ARBONATE2ESERVOIR'EOLOGY (OUSTON 48 s 3EISMIC)MAGINGOF#ARBONATES 0HONE s #ARBONATE$EPOSITIONAL3YSTEMS &AX s 1UICK'UIDETO#ARBONATE7ELL,OG!NALYSIS 3PECIALGROUPRATEATNEARBY s )NTERPRETATIONOF$3EISMIC$ATA (OTEL3ORELLA s 3EISMIC!MPLITUDE)NTERPRETATION Registration and s 3EISMIC3TRATIGRAPHYAND3EISMIC'EOMORPHOLOGY information: s %VALUATIONAND1UANTITATIVE-ODELINGOF&RACTURED2ESERVOIRS 4OLL FREE53AND#ANADA s (YDRAULIC&RACTURINGOF3HALES