Seal integrity and feasibility of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> sequestration in the Teapot Dome EOR pilot: geomechanical site characterization

This paper reports a preliminary investigation of CO₂ sequestration and seal integrity at Teapot Dome oil field, Wyoming, USA, with the objective of predicting the potential risk of CO₂ leakage along reservoir-bounding faults. CO₂ injection into reservoirs creates anomalously high pore pressure at the top of the reservoir that could potentially hydraulically fracture the caprock or trigger slip on reservoir-bounding faults. The Tensleep Formation, a Pennsylvanian age eolian sandstone is evaluated as the target horizon for a pilot CO₂ EOR-carbon storage experiment, in a three-way closure trap against a bounding fault, termed the S1 fault. A preliminary geomechanical model of the Tensleep Formation has been developed to evaluate the potential for CO₂ injection inducing slip on the S1 fault and thus threatening seal integrity. Uncertainties in the stress tensor and fault geometry have been incorporated into the analysis using Monte Carlo simulation. The authors find that even the most pessimistic risk scenario would require ∼10 MPa of excess pressure to cause the S1 fault to reactivate and provide a potential leakage pathway. This would correspond to a CO₂ column height of ∼1,500 m, whereas the structural closure of the Tensleep Formation in the pilot injection area does not exceed 100 m. It is therefore apparent that CO₂ injection is not likely to compromise the S1 fault stability. Better constraint of the least principal stress is needed to establish a more reliable estimate of the maximum reservoir pressure required to hydrofracture the caprock.     

Tectonic Subsidence of California Estuaries Increases Forecasts of Relative Sea-Level Rise

Even along the generally uplifting coast of the Pacific US, local geologic structures can cause subsidence. In this study, we quantify Holocene-averaged subsidence rates in four estuaries (Carpinteria Slough, Goleta Slough, Campus Lagoon, and Morro Bay) along the southern and central California coast by comparing radiocarbon-dated estuarine material to a regional sea-level curve. Holocene-averaged rates of vertical motion range from subsidence of 1.4?±?2.4, 1.2±0.4, and 0.4?±?0.3 mm/year in Morro Bay, Carpinteria Slough, and Goleta Slough, respectively, to possible uplift in Campus Lagoon (?0.1?±?0.9 mm/year). The calculated rates of subsidence are of the same magnitude as rates of relative sea-level rise experienced over the late Holocene and effectively double the ongoing rates of relative sea-level rise experienced over the last five decades on other parts of the coast. The difference in rates of vertical motion among these four estuaries is attributed to their geological settings. Estuaries developed in subsiding geological structures such as synclines and fault-bounded basins are subsiding at much higher rates than those developed within flooded river valleys incised into marine terraces. Restoration projects accounting for future sea-level rise must consider the geologic setting of the estuaries and, if applicable, include subsidence in future sea-level rise scenarios, even along the tectonically uplifting US Pacific Coast.     

Evacuees’ information sources and reentry decision making in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike

In the aftermath of a hurricane, local emergency managers need to communicate reentry plans to households that might be scattered over multiple counties or states. To better understand evacuees’ households’ reliance on different information sources at the time they decided to return home, this study collected data on reentry after Hurricane Ike. The results from a survey of 340 evacuating households indicated that there was low compliance with official reentry plans and that none of the information sources produced greater compliance with official reentry plans. Nonetheless, there were significant changes in the utilization of different sources of emergency information over the course of an evacuation but local news media remained the most common sources throughout the event. There also were significant differences in the relative importance of different sources of reentry information, with people relying most on information from peers. In summary, local authorities need to identify more effective ways to communicate with evacuees that have relocated to distant communities and to motivate them to comply with official reentry plans.     

Multi-Modal Monitoring of Slip Along Frictional Discontinuities

Seismic wave transmission and digital image correlation (DIC) are employed to study slip processes along frictional discontinuities. A series of biaxial compression experiments are performed on gypsum specimens with non-homogeneous contact surfaces. The specimens are composed of two blocks with perfectly mated contact surfaces with a smooth surface with low frictional strength on the upper half and a rough surface with high frictional strength on the lower half. Compressional, P, and shear, S, wave pulses were transmitted through the discontinuity while digital images of the specimen surface were acquired during the test. A distinct peak in the amplitude of transmitted wave occurs prior to the peak shear strength and is considered a “precursor” to the failure. Precursors indicate that slip initiates from the smooth surface and extends to the rough surface as the shear load is increased. From the DIC data, slip is identified as a jump in the displacement field along the fracture that initiates from the smooth surface and propagates to the rough surface. Precursors are associated with an increase in the rate of slip across the discontinuity and are a measure of the reduction in the fracture shear stiffness.     

Multiepisodic evaporite sedimentation as an indicator of palaeogeographical evolution in foreland basins (South‐eastern Pyrenean basin,Early–Middle Eocene)

Extensive deposition of marine evaporites occurred during the Early–Middle Eocene in the South‐eastern Pyrenean basin (north‐east Spain). This study integrates stratigraphic and geochemical analyses of subsurface data (oil wells, seismic profiles and gravity data) together with field surveys to characterize this sedimentation in the foredeep and adjacent platform. Four major evaporite units were identified. The oldest was the Serrat Evaporites unit, with a platform‐slope‐basin configuration. Thick salina and sabkha sulphates accumulated on the platform, whereas resedimented and gravity‐derived sulphates were deposited on the slope, and salt and sulphates were deposited in the deep basin. In the subsequent unit (Vallfogona evaporites), thin sulphates formed on the platform, whereas very thick siliciclastic turbidites accumulated in the foredeep. However, some clastic gypsum coming from the platform (gypsarenites and gypsum olistoliths) was intercalated in these turbidites. The following unit, the Beuda Gypsum Formation developed in a sulphate platform‐basin configuration, where the topography of the depositional surface had become smooth. The youngest unit, the Besalú Gypsum, formed in a shallow setting. This small unit provides the last evidence of marine influence in a residual basin. Sulphur and oxygen isotope compositions are consistent with a marine origin for all evaporites. However, δ³⁴S and δ¹⁸O values also suggest that, except for the oldest unit (Serrat Evaporites), there was some sulphate recycling from the older into the younger units. The South‐eastern Pyrenean basin constitutes a fine example of a foreland basin that underwent multiepisodic evaporitic sedimentation. In the basin, depositional factors evolved with time under a structural control. Decreasing complexity is observed in the lithofacies, as well as in the depositional models, together with a diminishing thickness of the evaporite units.     

Iron isotope fractionation by Fe(II)-oxidizing photoautotrophic bacteria

Photoautotrophic bacteria that oxidize ferrous iron (Fe[II]) under anaerobic conditions are thought to be ancient in origin, and the ferric (hydr)oxide mineral products of their metabolism are likely to be preserved in ancient rocks. Here, two enrichment cultures of Fe(II)-oxidizing photoautotrophs and a culture of the genus Thiodictyon were studied with respect to their ability to fractionate Fe isotopes. Fe isotope fractionations produced by both the enrichment cultures and the Thiodictyon culture were relatively constant at early stages of the reaction progress, where the ⁵⁶Fe/⁵⁴Fe ratios of poorly crystalline hydrous ferric oxide (HFO) metabolic products were enriched in the heavier isotope relative to aqueous ferrous iron (Fe[II]_aq) by ∼1.5 ± 0.2‰. This fractionation appears to be independent of the rate of photoautotrophic Fe(II)-oxidation, and is comparable to that observed for Fe isotope fractionation by dissimilatory Fe(III)-reducing bacteria. Although there remain a number of uncertainties regarding how the overall measured isotopic fractionation is produced, the most likely mechanisms include (1) an equilibrium effect produced by biological ligands, or (2) a kinetic effect produced by precipitation of HFO overlaid upon equilibrium exchange between Fe(II) and Fe(III) species. The fractionation we observe is similar in direction to that measured for abiotic oxidation of Fe(II)_aq by molecular oxygen. This suggests that the use of Fe isotopes to identify phototrophic Fe(II)-oxidation in the rock record may only be possible during time periods in Earth’s history when independent evidence exists for low ambient oxygen contents.     

Significance of post‐peak metamorphic reaction microstructures in the ultrahigh temperature Eastern Ghats Province,India

Ultrahigh temperature (UHT) granulites in the Eastern Ghats Province (EGP) have a complex P–T–t history. We review the P–T histories of UHT metamorphism in the EGP and use that as a framework for investigating the P–T–t history of Mg–Al‐rich granulites from Anakapalle, with the express purpose of trying to reconcile the down‐pressure‐dominated P–T path with other UHT localities in the EGP. Mafic granulite that is host to Mg–Al‐rich metasedimentary granulites at Anakapalle has a protolith age of c. 1,580 Ma. Mg–Al‐rich metasedimentary granulites within the mafic granulite at Anakapalle were metamorphosed at UHT conditions during tectonism at 960–875 Ma, meaning that the UHT metamorphism was not the result of contact metamorphism from emplacement of the host mafic rock. Reworking occurred during the Pan‐African (c. 600–500 Ma) event, and is interpreted to have produced hydrous assemblages that overprint the post‐peak high‐T retrograde assemblages. In contrast to rocks elsewhere in the EGP that developed post‐peak cordierite, the metasedimentary granulites at Anakapalle developed post‐peak, generation ‘2’ reaction products that are cordierite‐absent and nominally anhydrous. Therefore, rocks at Anakapalle offer the unique opportunity to quantify the pressure drop that occurred during so‐called M2 that affected the EGP. We argue that M2 is either a continuation of M1 and that the overall P–T path shape is a complex counter‐clockwise loop, or that M1 is an up‐temperature counter‐clockwise deviation superimposed on the M2 path. Therefore, rather than the rocks at Anakapalle having a metamorphic history that is apparently anomalous from the rest of the EGP, we interpret that other previously studied localities in the EGP record a different part of the same P–T path history as Anakapalle, but do not preserve a significant record of pressure decrease. This is due either to the inability of refractory rocks to extensively react to produce a rich mineralogical record of pressure decrease, or because the earlier high‐P part of the rocks history was erased by the M1 loop. Irrespective of the specific scenario, models for the tectonic evolution of the EGP must take the substantial pressure decrease during M2 into account, as it is probable the P–T record at Anakapalle is a reflection of tectonics affecting the entire province.     

Exploring the impact of diagenesis on (isotope) geochemical and microstructural alteration features in biogenic aragonite

For the Quaternary and Neogene, aragonitic biogenic and abiogenic carbonates are frequently exploited as archives of their environment. Conversely, pre‐Neogene aragonite is often diagenetically altered and calcite archives are studied instead. Nevertheless, the exact sequence of diagenetic processes and products is difficult to disclose from naturally altered material. Here, experiments were performed to understand biogenic aragonite alteration processes and products. Shell subsamples of the bivalve Arctica islandica were exposed to hydrothermal alteration. Thermal boundary conditions were set at 100°C, 175°C and 200°C. These comparably high temperatures were chosen to shorten experimental durations. Subsamples were exposed to different ¹⁸O‐depleted fluids for durations between two and twenty weeks. Alteration was documented using X‐ray diffraction, cathodoluminescence, fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy, as well as conventional and clumped isotope analyses. Experiments performed at 100°C show redistribution and darkening of organic matter, but lack evidence for diagenetic alteration, except in Δ₄₇ which show the effects of annealing processes. At 175°C, valves undergo significant aragonite to calcite transformation and neomorphism. The δ¹⁸O signature supports transformation via dissolution and reprecipitation, but isotopic exchange is limited by fluid migration through the subsamples. Individual growth increments in these subsamples exhibit bright orange luminescence. At 200°C, valves are fully transformed to calcite and exhibit purple‐blue luminescence with orange bands. The δ¹⁸O and Δ₄₇ signatures reveal exchange with the aqueous fluid, whereas δ¹³C remains unaltered in all experiments, indicating a carbonate‐buffered system. Clumped isotope temperatures in high‐temperature experiments show compositions in broad agreement with the measured temperature. Experimentally induced alteration patterns are comparable with individual features present in Pleistocene shells. This study represents a significant step towards sequential analysis of diagenetic features in biogenic aragonites and sheds light on reaction times and threshold limits. The limitations of a study restricted to a single test organism are acknowledged and call for refined follow‐up experiments.