Print this pageABSTRACT: Surface Geochemical Hydrocarbon Signature of the Eastern Colorado and Western Kansas Morrow Formation
Meandering fluvial deposition, combined with valley-fill stratigraphic and combination traps, makes the Pennsylvanian Morrow Formation sandstones of eastern Colorado and western Kansas a very challenging exploration target. Surface geomicrobial analysis of shallow soil samples enhances and ranks geophysical and geological leads by identifying hydrocarbon microseepage patterns. Productive versus nonproductive Morrow traps are delineated by microbial prospecting, which locates and measures concentrations of specific microbial populations associated with hydrocarbon gases leaking from buried reservoirs. We provide examples of microbial signature profiles over known production and prospect locations prior to drilling, including the Moore-Johnson state-line field.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90991©1993 AAPG Mid-Continent Section Meeting, Amarillo, Texas, October 10-12, 1993.