Hydrogeochemical Evaluation of the Green River and Unita Formation of the Piceance Basin, Northwestern Colorado
Megan Masterson
Geology, Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA
[email protected]
Abstract
The Piceance Basin in northwestern Colorado contains extensive oil shale deposits that could potentially yield 1.0 trillion barrels of oil. However, much of the oil shale lies at depths too great to mine. Various innovative approaches for in situ conversion of kerogen to oil have been proposed. Critical to their success is a firm understanding of the existing geochemistry as mineralogical changes or rock-fluid reactions that may affect porosity and permeability and the composition of groundwaters are likely to result from heating and introduction of fluids. Previous studies largely focus on bedrock lithologies and origins of the shale and related units. The objective of this study is to evaluate the aqueous chemistry of the Basin using existing data in terms of mineralogical controls (saturation indices) and residence times (sample depths and position along presumed flow paths). The results of the study will be useful in predicting changes resulting from oil shale development.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90199 © 2014 AAPG Foundation 2014 Grants-in-Aid Projects