COMPILATION OF GEOLOGICAL INFORMATION FOR THE RICHTON SALT DOME PERRY COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI MMRI Open-file Report 14-01S By Charles T. Swann, R.P.G. Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute 111 Brevard Hall University, Mississippi 38677 September, 2014 Table of Contents List of Figures………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…….………….2 List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….….…………..3 Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……..…………….4 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…….…………….4 Published Literature…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………5 Professional Literature……………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………..6 Publications of the U.S. Department of Energy and other agencies of the U.S. Government…..………….7 Reports from Mississippi governmental agencies ……………………………………………………………………...……11 Literature and Document Collections Dedicated to the Richton Dome………………………………..…………..12 Subsurface Information (Well locations, information sources)…………………………………..……….……………13 Drilling History……………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………13 Hydrocarbon Exploration Wells………………………………………………………………….………….…..….……13 East Apollo Field Wells and Field Production……………………………………………………………..……..…14 Sulfur Exploration Wells………………………………………………………………..…….……………………..………16 U.S. Department of Energy Test Wells………………………………………….……….…………………….………19 Potential Uses of the Richton Salt Structure………………………………………………….…………….………..…………21 Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………………….……………….…………….…22 Certification………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………..…………….23 pg. 1 List of Figures Figure 1 – Location map of the Richton Salt Dome, Perry County, Mississippi. Elevations are depth relative to sea level…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...5 Figure 2 – Oil and Water Production in East Apollo (in barrels)………………………….………..…………………..16 pg. 2 List of Tables Table 1 - Hydrocarbon Exploration Wells……………………………………………………….…..………………..…………14 Table 2 – East Apollo field Wells….....................................................................................................15 Table 3 – Sulfur Exploration Wells……………………………………………………………………………….………………….16 Table 4 – U.S. Department of Energy Test Wells………………………………………………….…………………………..19 pg. 3 COMPILATION OF GEOLOGICAL INFORMATION FOR THE RICHTON SALT DOME PERRY COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI Abstract The Richton Salt Dome is located in Perry County, Mississippi, and partially underlies the town of Richton. This dome is the largest in Mississippi as well as the shallowest, with salt encountered at a depth of 767 feet. At a depth of 2000 feet, there is an estimated 4,376 acres of salt. Large areas of salt and at shallow depths, are characteristics ideal for economic development of the resource. The goal of this report is to summarize the geological data generated by private industry as well as State and Federal governmental agencies. A total of 75 bibliographic entries are included as well as information on 92 over-dome wells. Hopefully, these data will assist in dome utilization studies by providing a single source for pertinent literature and well information regarding Richton Dome. Introduction Common salt (NaCl) is one of Mississippi’s most underutilized mineral resources. With a number of salt domes within the State, Mississippi is utilizing only six for gas storage. The Richton Salt Dome, located in Perry County near the town of Richton, is Mississippi’s largest and shallowest salt dome and is not utilized at present (see Figure 1). The majority of the Richton Dome literature is associated with its use as a potential site for storage of high-level nuclear waste. This controversial use of the dome ended when both Mississippi sites were abandoned in favor of the Yucca Mountain, Nevada, site. This set of studies did produce an abundance of literature relating to geology and groundwater in the vicinity of the dome. These repository studies are public documents and could be used to build a geologic framework. Many of these documents are listed below. Documents that do not have significant bearing on the dome geology are not included in the listing. A companion set of digital data suitable for spatial analysis is also available through the Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute (MMRI) web site (www.mmri.olemiss.edu). These digital data will allow the user to download hydrocarbon well logs, mineral exploration well logs and the locations of wells drilled by the U.S. Department of Energy in the Richton area. The Richton Dome is both large and shallow. It has been drilled extensively by private industry as well as the U.S. Government (see Thieling and Moody, 1997). The MRIG-9 well drilled by the U.S. Department of Energy sampled salt at a depth of approximately 767 feet (see also Lord and others (2007). Lord and others, (2007), estimated that there are 3885 acres of limestone cap rock at a depth of 600 feet and 4,376 acres of salt at a depth of 2,000 feet. These two characteristics make the dome attractive for economic utilization, particularly for hydrocarbon storage and perhaps for salt mining. The dome’s edges are not clearly defined and vary with depth becoming more extensive in the shallower subsurface. At a depth of 4000 feet the dome is contained on the Rhodes and Richton 7.5 minute topographic quadrangles although it approaches the western edge of both maps. Ovett and Ovett SE are the topographic maps adjoining the western edge. pg. 4 The purpose of this report is to support the potential economic development of this underutilized resource, one of the primary responsibilities of the MMRI. Background literature search is the precursor to any utilization project and is the basis on which many decisions will be made. Here we have compiled and summarized the geological information regarding the dome. The goal is to provide one source of background information on Richton Dome and hopefully save time and effort for others in need of this type of information. Published Literature The literature regarding Richton is significant in its abundance and it is here divided into three categories: professional, U.S. Department of Energy, other Federal agencies and reports Figure 1 - Location map and structure contours map of Richton Salt Dome, Perry County, Mississippi. Elevations are depth relative to sea level. pg. 5 generated by Mississippi government agencies. Each entry contains the bibliographic information to allow the citation to be found in public records and libraries. The U.S. Department of Energy literature consists of reports to the U.S. Department of Energy from its various contractors. These reports are public information and can be accessed through libraries designated as repositories of U.S. Government documents, or through interlibrary loan arrangements. Some documents are in digital form and can be downloaded, but others are in paper form only. The listing of professional literature consists of publications in professional journals (largely geology-related publications). The Mississippi Office of Geology has retained a set of reports by Mississippi contractors investigating various aspects of the dome. To view a more complete set of these reports, one should contact the Office of Geology in Jackson, Mississippi, (ph. 601-961-5500). Included in this listing are only publications that include Richton Dome in a significant manner rather than a passing mention. Professional Literature Alexander, C.W., C.L. Morgan and M.E. Norman, 1945, Developments in southeastern states in 1944: Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, vol., 29, no. 6, pp. 815 -835. Berger, Z., and J. Aghassy, 1980, Geomorphic manifestations of salt dome stability: Applied Geomorphology, Binghamton Symposia, Kent State University, vol. 11, pp. 72-84. Corcoran, A.E., 1972, The feasibility of storing large quantities of crude oil in salt dome solution cavities: unpublished Master of Science thesis, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas, 82 p. Corcoran, A.E., F.W. Jessen and H. von Schonfeldt, 1973, Feasibility of storing large quantities of crude oil in salt dome solution cavities: Fourth International Symposium on Salt – Northern Ohio Geological Society, vol. 2, pp. 277 – 283. George, S.M., 1991, An interpretation of geologic conditions at Richton Salt Dome for possible selection as a nuclear waste repository site: Association of Engineering Geologists, 34th Annual Meeting Proceedings, pp. 403 – 408. Karges, H.E., 1975, Petroleum potential of Mississippi shallow salt domes: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, vol. 25, pp. 168 – 181. Mullin, C. W., 1982, Geology, Caprock and salt stock of the Richton Salt Dome: unpublished Master of Science Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, 157 p. Swann, C.T. , 1989, Review of geology of Mississippi salt domes involved in nuclear research: Transactions – Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies, vol. 39, pp. 543-551. Thieling, S.C. and J.S. Moody, 1997, Atlas of shallow Mississippi salt domes: Mississippi Office of Geology, Bulletin 131, 328 p. pg. 6 Werner, M.L., M.D. Feldman, and L.P. Knauth, 1988, Petrography and geochemistry of water-rock interactions in Richton Dome cap rock (southeastern Mississippi, U.S.A.): Chemical Geology, v.74, p. 113-135. Publications of the U.S. Department of Energy and other agencies of the U.S. Government Bechtel National, Inc., 1980, Regional environmental characterization report for the Gulf Interior Region and surrounding territory: U.S. Department of Energy, Office