Geochemical Indicators of Shallow Gas in Groundwater … to M m th A rnega d Wild rose Belc ourt E...

transcript

North Dakota Geological SurveyGeologic Invest igations No. 135

Edward C. Murphy, State Geo logistLynn D. Helms, Director Dept. of Mineral Resources

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EXTENT OF COAL BEARING STR ATA IN T HE SU BSU RFACE

E XT ENT OF COALS

EASTE RN EX T E NT O F WIL LISTO N BASIN

µ104o R 10 0 W

103oR 10 2 W

R 96 W R 92 W102o

R 94 W R 88 W R 84 W101o

R 86 W R 80 W R 76 WR 78 W R 72 W100o

R 68 WR 70 W R 64 W99oR 60 WR 62 W R 56 W

R 10 4 W

T 130 N

R 10 0 W 103oR 98 WR 10 2 W

R 96 W R 92 W 102oR 90 WR 94 W R 88 W R 84 W 101o

R 82 WR 86 W R 76 W R 74 WR 78 W 100oR 68 W R 66 WR 70 W

99oR 60 W R 58 WR 62 W R 56 W98o

R 54 W R 52 W49o49o

R 48 WR 54 W R 52 W 97o

T 162 N

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T 158 N

T 156 N

T 154 N

T 150 N

T 148 N

T 146 N

T 144 N

T 142 N

T 140 N

T 138 N

T 136 N

T 134 N

T 132 N

T 130 N

T 162 N

T 160 N

T 158 N

T 156 N

T 154 N

T 150 N

T 148 N

T 146 N

T 144 N

T 142 N

T 140 N

T 138 N

T 136 N

T 134 N

T 132 N

Figure 2. The distribution of sha llow gas occurrences detected in groundwaters that arefound within respective areas of interpolated sulfate /bicarbonate ratio across NorthDakota . The f requency of wells with a shallow gas show is greater in areasdelinea ted as having rela tively lower sulfate/bicarbonate ratios.

Geochemical Indicators of Shallow Gas in Groundwater in North DakotaFred J. Anderson

0 10 20 30 40Miles

0 10 20 30 40Kilometers

Lambert Conforma l ConicNorth American Datum 1983

1:1,000,000Scale

Cartographic Compilation: Elroy L. Kadrmas

[Sulfate]/[Bicarbonate]Ratio in Groundwater

00.10.20.30.40.50.60.70.80.91.01.11.2

Geologic Symbols!( Ground-Water Wells with Detected Shallow Gas Occurrence

Historical Area of Reported Shallow Gas in Water-Supply Wells

Area of Gas Occcurrence, as determined from Recent Anecdotal Occurrences in Water-Supply Wells

Eastern Extent of Williston Basin (Laird, 1956)

Extent of Coal Bearing Strata in the Subsurface (Murphy, 2001)

Township Boundaries

County Boundaries

Selected Major Rivers or Creeks

City/Town Boundaries

" City/Town Locations

Interstate Highway§̈¦29

(/83 US Highway

Misc Symbols

Figure 1. Comparison of sulfate/bicarbonate concentra tion ratios in groundwater to shallowgas field screening results from selected wells across Nor th Dakota. The highest methaneconcentration (reported in ppm as C1 in air) de tec ted from wells in each county arecompared against their respective average sulfate/bicarbonate ratios - as determined fromavailable ground-water geochemical data. The number of shallow gas occurrences isgrea ter, and are also in relatively higher concentrations, as the sulfate/bicarbonate ratiodecreases.

selected

REFERENCESAnderson, F.J ., Gudmunsen, C.B., Hall, B.N., Ries , A.J ., Christensen , A.R., and Bubach, B.J., 2010,Locat ions of FID Shallow Gas O ccurrences in North Dakota, North Dakota Geolog ical Survey,Geologic Inves tigations No. 128, 1 :500,000 scale map. Anderson, F.J., 2010, Shallow Gas Geochemical Exploration Indicators in Ground-Water Wells inNorth Dako ta, North Dakota Geolog ical Survey, Geolog ic Invest igations No. 92, 1:500 ,000 scale map.

Anderson, F.J. , 2009, Methane Occu rrence in Glacial Buried-Valley Aquifer Systems in N orthDako ta, Geo logical Society of America 2009 Annual Meeting & E xposi tion , Abs tracts withPrograms, Vol . No . 41, No. 7, p. 214.

Anderson, F.J., Shu rr, G.W., and Fischer, D.W., 2006, History, Geology, and Potent ial Hydro-geochemical Indicators of Natural Gas Occurrence and Production from Quaternary Glacial Driftand Upper-Cretaceous Sedimentary Bedrock in North-Central North Dakota, North DakotaGeological Survey, Geolog ic Investigat ions No. 33, 25 p. Laird , W.M., 1956, The Will iston Basin - A Backward Look with a View to the Future, Firs tInternational Williston Basin Symposium, Bismarck ND, p . 14-22.

Mart ini , A.M., Walter, L.M. , Ku, T.C.W., Budai, J.M., McIntosh , J.C., and Schoell, M., 2003, Microb ialproduction and modification o f gases in sedimentary basins-a geochemical case s tudy from aDevonian shale gas play, Michigan basin: AAPG Bullet in, p. 1355-1375.

McIn tosh , J.C. , and Mart ini , A.M., 2008 , Hydrogeochemical Indicators for Microb ial Methane inFractured Organ ic-Rich Shales: Case Studies of the Antrim, New Albany, and Ohio Shales, in Hill,P. Lil lis, and J. Curtis, eds ., Gas Shale in the Rocky Moun tains and Beyond: Rocky Moun tainAssociation of Geologists 2008 Guidebook CD, p. 162-174 .

Murphy, E.C., 2001, Strippab le Lign ite Deposi ts of North Dako ta, North Dako ta Geological Su rvey,Miscellaneous Maps No. 34.

NDSWC, 2010 , North Dako ta State Water Commission Online G round-Water In fo rmationSys tem: http:/ /www.swc.state.nd.u s

Shurr, G.W., Haggar, T., and Chad ima, S.A., 2006, Exp loration Strategies for U ltra-ShallowMicrobial Methane on the Eastern Marg in of the Willis ton Basin, American Association o fPetroleum Geologists, National Meeting Abs tracts Volume, Houston TX, p 99.

Shurr, G.W., 2008, Shallow Biogenic Gas in Cretaceous Shale on the Eas tern Margin o f theWillis ton Bas in, in Hill, P. Lil lis, and J. Curtis, ed s., Gas Shale in the Rocky Mountains and Beyond:Rocky Mountain Association o f Geologists 2008 Gu idebook CD, p. 176 -198.

VanVoas t, W.A., 2003, Geochemical signature of fo rmation waters associated with coalbed methane:AAPG Bullet in, v. 87, p . 667-676 .

DISCUSSION The geochemical distribution of ground-water chemistries (in theform of sulfate [SO4] to bicarbonate [HCO] ion ratio) favorable for theoccurrence of methane (CH4 or C1) is presented on this map. In addition,the locations of ground-water wells (field screened between 2006 to2010) have been plotted that contain methane. Data from 7,503 wells wasextracted, averaged, and interpreted here as is from ground-watergeochemical databases maintained by the North Dakota State WaterCommission (NDSWC). The data used for the geochemical interpolationon the map is from many different individual sampling events andinclude data from sampling events as far back as 1932. Any well sampledwith ground-water ion chemistry meeting previously identified shallowgas exploration criteria has been included. Data reported from all types ofwells found across the state, including: domestic, stock, production,municipal, industrial, observation, and irrigation wells, were used in thegeostatistical interpolation. Wells described as “unknowns” with reportedsulfate and bicarbonate ion concentrations were also included forcompleteness. Well depths range across all shallow ground-water systemsfrom as shallow as three feet to as deep as 3,277 feet with the majority ofwells (>80%) completed to depths less than 300 feet. In the absence of methane detection through instrumental or analyticalmeans, sulfate and bicarbonate ion concentrations have beendemonstrated as valid proxy indicators for potential occurrences ofmethane. The ratio of these concentrations are predictive ofground-water chemistry favorable for the presence of methane in theshallow subsurface. Previous workers (Anderson, et. al, 2006, McIntoshand Martini, 2008, Martini, et.al., 2003, Shurr, et.al, 2006, Shurr, 2008,and Van Voast, 2003) have demonstrated empirically that sulfate ionconcentrations less than 500 mg/L, coupled with bicarbonate ionconcentrations greater than 400 mg/L, are indicative of groundwaterscontaining detectable concentrations of methane in shallow ground-watersystems in the Dakotas. The interpolated sulfate to bicarbonate ratiodistribution is plotted on this map for the purposes of shallow gasexploration and comparison with known areas of hydrocarbon resourceoccurrence and reported historical shallow natural gas occurrence. Areas where a good correlation exists between known hydrocarbonoccurrence and areas shown to be favorable for the occurrence ofmethane (based on sulfate to bicarbonate ratios) include: 1) the westerntwo-thirds of the state coincident with the existence of the WillistonBasin, 2) the areas of measureable coal resources, and 3) areashistorically (ca. 1900’s) reported to have had shallow gas in the shallowground-water systems. These historic areas include Bottineau County(north-central North Dakota), and the LaMoure area (southeastern NorthDakota). In addition, recent anecdotal reports of shallow gas in waterwells have been recorded in north-central North Dakota. Areas recentlyidentified by the NDGS to contain shallow gas through well fieldscreening, sampling, and testing include McKenzie County, westernDickey, northeastern Ransom, and eastern Cavalier counties. Severalsmaller areas were also identified in Divide and Burke Counties(northwestern North Dakota) as well as Wells, Eddy, Foster, Kidder,Burleigh, and Emmons counties (central North Dakota). A comparison of shallow gas occurrences with areas of interpolatedground-water geochemistry data further supports the conditions ofground-water geochemistry that are favorable, and potentially predictiveof methane occurrence. Comparing sulfate/bicarbonate ratios (i.e. lowsulfate/higher bicarbonate concentrations in groundwater) from wellswith detected shallow gas indicate that a greater number of wells withrelatively higher methane concentrations, occur at the lower end of thesulfate/bicarbonate ratio spectrum (Figure 1). Further, the directcomparison of ground-water geochemistry across the state with wells thatcontain shallow gas demonstrates occurrences (Figure 2) tend to be foundin areas of favorable ground-water geochemistries (i.e. low sulfate/bicarbonate ratio). It is important to note that this geostatistical interpolation andhydrogeologic interpretation of shallow ground-water geochemistrygroups the saturated shallow subsurface into one relatively homogeneousground-water unit across the state. In actuality this unit consists ofseveral discontinuous systems and aquifers which are most appropriatelyconsidered individually and at larger scales for typical hydrogeologicalstudies.

[SO42-] [HCO3

(CH4 or C1)

Geochemical Indicators of Shallow Gas in Groundwater … to M m th A rnega d Wild rose Belc ourt E...

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