Geology topics
Publications and source records attributed to Jane S. Hearon.
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean continuous resources of 703 million barrels of oil and 5.8 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Niobrara Formation in the Southwestern Wyoming Province, Wyoming and Colorado.
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional and continuous resources of 473 million barrels of oil and 27 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Mowry Composite Total Petroleum System in the Southwestern Wyoming Province, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah.
Geological studies in the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway (KWIS) in North America reveal highly variable sedimentological conditions on its western shore caused by rapidly changing sea level and detrital input during the seaway’s closure. Here we examine a 601-foot (183 meters) continuous core through the lower part of the Maastrichtian Lewis Shale in the eastern Washakie Basin, Wyoming, through integrating stratigraphic and geochemical analyses to better understand organic matter deposition and preservation during the final marine transgression within the seaway. The core penetrates eight organic-rich flooding intervals (F1-F8) and a regional condensed section, informally known as the Asquith marker. The lower portions of the core record sediment input from a southern source, likely the Sierra Madre/Park Ranges, while the upper part records sediment input from a northern source, likely the Granite Mountains. This provenance transition is supported by regional stratigraphic analysis and changes in bulk mineral and trace metal composition. The Asquith marker and early flooding surfaces are enriched in oil-prone, marine organic matter deposited under dysoxic to euxinic conditions, whereas younger flooding surfaces show increased terrigenous input and poorer preservation conditions. The Asquith marker is identified as a prime oil-prone source rock. Although younger flooding surfaces also exhibit favorable source-rock properties, their generative potential is reduced due to increased clastic and terrigenous organic matter deposition caused by regression. These results emphasize the importance of sediment source variability, organic matter preservation, and changing redox conditions to provide insight into the sediment provenance and petroleum potential of the Lewis Shale in the context of the final transgression within the KWIS.
No abstract available.
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 61 million barrels of oil and 240 billion cubic feet of gas in the Los Angeles Basin Province.
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 1.2 billion barrels of oil and 6.4 trillion cubic feet of gas in Oman.
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 47 million barrels of oil and 876 billion cubic feet of gas in upper Paleozoic reservoirs of the Wind River Basin, Bighorn Basin, and Powder River Basin Provinces.
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 34.3 billion barrels of oil and 320 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Greater Caspian area.
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 3.3 billion barrels of oil and 80.3 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Zagros Fold Belt of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Geologic, or naturally occurring, hydrogen has the potential to become a new, low-carbon, primary energy resource. Often referred to as “white” or “gold” hydrogen, this gas occurs naturally in the Earth’s subsurface, similar to petroleum resources. However, unlike petroleum, which releases carbon dioxide when burned, burning hydrogen only produces water as a byproduct. Exploration for geologic hydrogen remains in an early stage and discoveries of high concentrations of subsurface hydrogen are still relatively rare. To facilitate research and exploration for this potential resource, this report presents the first publicly available prospectivity map of geologic hydrogen accumulations in the conterminous United States. Prospective regions are those regions in which all major components necessary for a hydrogen accumulation likely are present—a source of sufficient hydrogen generation, porous reservoirs for storage, and seals to prevent leakage. The midcontinent region of the United States and the central California coast are revealed as having high prospectivity. This analysis also identifies previously unrecognized prospective regions that may be favorable due to long distance lateral migration of subsurface hydrogen, such as the offshore eastern seaboard of the United States, and can provide a linkage between surface observations of hydrogen degassing and far-field source regions. The methodology developed to create this map is expandable and flexible and may be adapted to incorporate new concepts in the hydrogen system and for application to other regions of the world.
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional and continuous resources of 294 million barrels of oil and 11 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Lewis Shale in the Southwestern Wyoming Province, Wyoming and Colorado.
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 5.1 billion barrels of oil and 79.1 trillion cubic feet of gas in offshore East Africa and the Seychelles.
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 2.3 billion barrels of oil and 105.5 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Black Sea area.
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 10.5 billion barrels of oil and 47.4 trillion cubic feet of gas in postsalt reservoirs within the West-Central Coastal Province of Africa.
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 12.1 billion barrels of oil and 50 trillion cubic feet of gas in presalt reservoirs within the West-Central Coastal Province of Africa.
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated means of 1.04 billion barrels of oil, 3.9 trillion cubic feet of gas, and 11 million barrels of natural gas liquids in Upper Cretaceous marine shales in the Raton Basin-Sierra Grande Uplift Province in Colorado and New Mexico.
Three stratigraphic cross sections A–A', B–B', and C–C' were created for the Lewis Shale and associated strata in the eastern part of the Southwestern Wyoming Province of Wyoming and Colorado. The cross sections highlight 15 clinothems within the Lewis Shale, Fox Hills Sandstone, and Lance Formation progradational system (also referred to as the Lewis Shale system). Additionally, the cross sections indicate that multiple source areas were active at the same time during deposition of the Lewis Shale. Specifically, the north-to-southeast cross section A–A' demonstrates that the northern, sand-rich source was being deposited and onlapping onto an older, southern, mud-rich source.
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 3.8 billion barrels of oil and 20.7 trillion cubic feet of gas offshore of Morocco.