Field Course | Utah Field Trip–A five day geology experience through central & southern Utah Instructor: William Keach
egi.utah.edu | EGI ... the science to find energy
2
Utah Field Trip Overview
Day 1: Provo to Moab The “Wasatch Front”, which includes the city of Provo, is located along the dividing line between two of North America’s great geologic provinces, the Colorado Plateau to the east and the Basin and Range to the west. It also marks the location of the second most active seismic belt in North America, the Intermountain Seismic Belt. This seismic belt runs from approximately Los Angeles to Yellowstone National Park.
As we travel eastward into the Wasatch Plateau we move up section stratigraphically from Pennsylvanian-aged carbonates of the Oquirrh Group to Eocene rocks of the Green River Formation. Upon descending through the Book Cliffs via Price Canyon we then reverse our direction stratigraphically and move from Eocene rocks back down to Late Cretaceous rocks of the Mesaverde Group. The Mesaverde Group represents the shoreline and alluvial systems of the Western Cretaceous Interior Seaway. Overtime this shoreline prograded from east-central Utah well into western Colorado. This progradation has been studied extensively by petroleum geologists world wide. We will study several parasequences in detail within Price Canyon.
We will then travel across the San Refael Swell, a doubly plunging asymmetrical “Laramide” anticline that represents an ancient, giant oil field. We will stop on the east flank of the swell to consider reservoir partitioning in the Navajo Sandstone. Further east along I-70 we will have an overview of recent research related to reservoir characterization of the Early Triassic Sinbad Limestone Member of the Moenkopi Formation.
Day 2: Moab, Dalton Wells Dinosaur Quarry and Arches National ParkThe Lower Cretaceous Dalton Wells dinosaur locality, north of Moab, Utah, consists of a 2 m thick, stacked succession of four fossil-rich bonebeds from which more than 4200 vertebrate fossil field specimens have been collected. Nine dinosaur taxa are recognized, making Dalton Wells one of the richest (abundance
egi.utah.edu | EGI ... the science to find energy
3
Field Course | Utah Field Trip–A five day geology experience through central & southern Utah Instructor: William Keach
and diversity) Lower Cretaceous dinosaur localities in the world. The bonebeds are rare examples of fossiliferous subaerial debris flow deposits. Quarry subject to availability. If unavailable, we will study an example of salt tectonics.
In addition to our visit to the dinosaur quarry, we will spend a short few hours in Arches National Park viewing the classic arches, pillars, and fins for which Arches is famous. The ephemeral landscape seen today is a result of a complex geologic history that started approximately 300 My with the accumulation of a thick succession of salt within the Paradox basin. We will view numerous lines of evidence that allow us to unravel the events that led to the present landscape. We will also discuss how this landscape continues to evolve.
Day 3: Icehouse Stratigraphy and Reservoir Facies of the Paradox BasinThe Paradox basin is the second most productive oil-producing basin in Utah. Production comes largely from phylloid algal buildups of middle Pennsylvanian age. The Honaker Trail section, located along the cliffs of deeply incised San Juan River in SE Utah, affords us the opportunity to view carbonate-dominated icehouse depositional sequences and outcrop analogs of oil- and gas- producing strata.
We will examine most of this section via a 1 day raft trip on the San Juan River. The river cuts through two anticlines and affords amazing views of the Permian stratigraphy. In particular the focus will be on: 1) three orders of stratigraphic cyclicity, 2) characteristics of sequence boundaries in an arid shelf setting, 3) the Lower Ismay phylloid algal reservoir facies, and 4) the Chimney Rock shale source horizon.
Day 4: Capitol Reef National Park Capitol Reef National Park is centered on the Waterpocket Fold, an approximately 50 My “Laramide” structure. This fold is
Field Course | Utah Field Trip–A five day geology experience through central & southern Utah Instructor: William Keach
egi.utah.edu | EGI ... the science to find energy
4
essentially composed of two high angle reverse faults created under compressional stress while North America actively converged with portions of the Pacific Ocean plate during Cretaceous and early Tertiary time. Interestingly, the vergence of the two reverse faults was in opposing directions. The northern fault segment, known as the Miners Mountain Uplift, verges westward (fault plane dips eastward) while the southern segment, (known as the Circle Cliffs uplift), verges eastward (fault plane dips westward).
The Capitol Reef area exposes more than 17 bedrock formations ranging in age from Permian to Cretaceous. With its stratigraphy and structure, this area has a plethora of things to study. We will view slot canyons along the Western Escarpment of the park, overview the incision and landscape evolution of the Fremont River through the Waterpocket Fold, and overview recent research completed on the Entrada Sandstone. The Entrada Sandstone was formerly a small coastal erg system. It has recently developed into a new gas exploration play within the Uinta basin.
In the late afternoon/evening, we will drive from Torrey to Tropic via Highway 12. Highway 12 is one of the “Scenic Byways” of Utah and in the opinion of many, the prettiest drive in Utah.
Day 5: Bryce National Park, Covenant Oil Field, OverthrustsOur visit to Bryce National Park will begin at Inspiration Point. Here one can view the Bryce Amphitheater, one of the most picturesque places on earth. At this viewpoint we will discuss the bedrock history, the stratigraphic succession of the Grand Staircase, and the erosional styles and rates of the amphitheater.
egi.utah.edu | EGI ... the science to find energy
5
Field Course | Utah Field Trip–A five day geology experience through central & southern Utah Instructor: William Keach
We will then take an approximate two hour hike on the Navajo Loop.
As we drive north on our return to Provo you will pass through the Marysvale volcanics, a series of mostly Oligocene and Cenozoic ash flow tuffs and basalts. One of the stops will be at a spectacular outcrop of lahar flows.
Your last stop is at the Covenant Oil Field, a 150+ million barrel discovery within the central Utah overthrust belt. Here we will discuss the complex geologic history of this field.
egi.utah.edu | EGI ... the science to find energy | [email protected]
R. William (Bill) Keach, M.Sc.Bill is a professional geophysicist who has worked with geoscientists and interpreters from national and international oil companies around the world. His main areas of focus are 3D visualization, volume interpretation techniques, and effective use of seismic attributes in understanding depositional environments and structural controls. He earned an MS in Geophysics from Cornell University (1986) and a BS in Geology from Brigham Young University (1984).
Prior to joining EGI, he worked six years with Standard Oil Production Co. and British Petroleum on exploration play development in California and the Deep Water Gulf of Mexico. He was with Landmark Graphics – Halliburton from 1992-2009 in a variety of technical and leadership roles. He has been an Adjunct Professor of Geology at Brigham Young University (BYU) since 2001 and Visiting Associate Professor of Geology in 2006. He currently teaches two courses: Introduction to Seismic Interpretation, a senior-level course, and 3D Subsurface and Evaluation (Geomodeling) at the graduate level. Bill has also developed and led 20 EGI Field Courses, reaching over 200 professional geoscientists from around the world.
Bill reads, writes, and speaks Spanish fluently, and has taught many technical courses and given numerous technical speeches in Spanish throughout Latin America. His Regional and Basin Experience includes New Mexico, Texas, Campos Basin, US Rocky Mountains, North Sea, Gulf of Mexico - on and off shore, and Brazil. He is a member of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) (past Chair, SEG Interpretation Committee), American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), and Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists (RMAG) where he is a member of the 3D Symposium Committee.
Select publications include:Keach II, R.W., McBride, J.H., and Pykles, B.C., June 2010, “Petroleum industry techniques yield new insights into 3D GPR data.” Proceedings of Ground Penetrating (GPR), 2010 13th International Conference
Keach II, R.W., Birgenheier, L., Hokanson, W., and Baster, D., October 2009, “Integrated Interpretation of the Dakota and Cedar Mountain Channel Complexes Play Using 3D Seismic Attribute Analysis and Well Logs, Uinta Basin, Utah”. A USTAR (Utah Science Technology and Research) funded project, #53000492, with cooperation between industry, government and academia. EGI Technical Report #I00964.
Keach II, R.W., Morris, T.H., McBride, J.H., Mullen, M. Leetaru, H.E., O’Neal, R., December 2006 ”Interpretation of the Jurassic Entrada Sandstone play using 3D seismic attribute analysis, Uinta Basin, Utah. Utah Geological Survey, Open File Report 493.
McBride, J. H., Leetaru, H. E., Keach, R. W., II, and Nelson, W. J., 2008, Subtle fault detection and mapping for carbon sequestration assessment in the Illinois Basin, in Carbon Dioxide Sequestration in Geological Media - State of the Art, AAPG Special Publication, edited by M. Grobe, J. Pashin, and R. Dodge, in press.
