N134 Carbonate and Shale Faulting and Fracturing Field Seminar (Texas, USA)
N134 Carbonate and Shale Faulting and Fracturing Field Seminar (Texas, USA)
Business Impact: This course examines factors that influence the style and intensity of faulting, folding and fracture development from map to fault block scale and the relationship between fracture spacing and mechanical layering.
This field seminar explores faulting and fracturing processes in Cretaceous carbonate and shale strata in central and west Texas, with a particular emphasis on excellent exposures of the Eagle Ford and equivalent Boquillas Formations.
A five-day field seminar starting in San Antonio, Texas, and ending in Midland, Texas. The proportion of field time to classroom time is about 95:5.
Participants will learn to:
This course provides in-depth analysis of faulting and fracturing in carbonate and shale strata using superb exposures in central and west Texas. The outcrops offer analogs for deformation in carbonate reservoirs and shale resource plays around the world. It concentrates on extensional fault systems and contractional structures, with a minor component on strike-slip deformation features.
Particular emphasis will be placed on the Eagle Ford and equivalent Boquillas formations from the San Antonio area through to Del Rio and Big Bend National Park. Excellent exposures provide the opportunity to explore the range of depositional facies and diverse tectonic regimes that influence the style and intensity of faulting, folding and fracture development in this important resource play.
The course covers a range of scales from regional fault networks to details of fault block deformation, relay ramp development and fault zone processes. It also examines relationships between fracture spacing and mechanical layering, including bed thickness.
Introductory lectures set up the regional geology and cover basic concepts of faulting and deformation mechanisms.
The itinerary below is pending and subject to change
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The course is aimed at geoscientists, petrophysicists, reservoir engineers, and production engineers working in mechanically layered, deformed rocks especially carbonates and shales in extensional or contractional tectonic settings. It will be of particular interest to any geoscientists, petrophysicists and engineers working in the Eagle Ford play.
Familiarity with structural geology concepts would be an advantage but is not essential.
An introduction to structural geology is presented in N016 (Structural Geology for Petroleum Exploration, Nevada, USA), N116 (Structural Geology for Petroleum Exploration, SW England, UK), N041 (Extensional Tectonics and Normal Fault Patterns, Utah, USA), and N114 (Extensional Tectonics and Normal Faulting, Nevada and California, USA). The role of structural geology in shale resource plays is examined at the Basic Application level in N259 (From Outcrop to Subsurface: Understanding and Evaluating Shale Resource Plays, Alberta, Canada). The structural geology of resource plays is covered at a Skilled Application level in N206 (Seismic Tools for Unconventional Reservoirs), and N364 (Fracture Architecture, Sedimentology and Diagenesis of Organic-rich Mudstones of Ancient Upwelling Zones with Application to Naturally Fractured Reservoirs, California, USA).
The physical demands for this class are MODERATE according to the Nautilus Training Alliance field course grading system. Fieldwork is in the Hill Country near San Antonio, where conditions are typically warm-hot and humid, and in west Texas, where the climate is warm-hot and dry. Participants will be taking short to moderate hikes (less than 3.2 km (2 miles) each) over flat to hilly terrain with a maximum elevation change on a hike of 200 m (660 ft). Transport is by SUVs. Most driving is on black-top roads, but some outcrops are reached via well marked dirt roads. The total driving distance on this course is about 1600 km (1000 miles).
Background
Dr. Ferrill is a structural geologist with international research experience in contractional, extensional, and strike-slip tectonic regimes, and oil and gas exploration and production experience. He has conducted research on geometric and kinematic analysis of folding and faulting processes, curvature of mountain belts, regional tectonics, hydrocarbon trap integrity, reservoir characterization, aquifer characterization, and interpretation of tectonic stress fields and rock deformation mechanisms with emphasis on mechanical stratigraphy and fault and fracture characterization. Study areas have included the Appalachians; the Basin and Range Province and Colorado Plateau of the western United States; the Permian Basin; the Gulf of Mexico Basin; offshore Newfoundland; the Northern Range of Trinidad; the French Alps; offshore Vietnam; offshore Turkey; the Arabian Gulf; and the Zagros Belt.
As an Institute Scientist, Dr. Ferrill develops and executes projects with emphasis on oil and gas exploration and production. Dr. Ferrill performs contract consulting and structural geology and geomechanics training for the oil industry. He is a licensed professional geoscientist (geology) in the state of Texas. Previously at Shell Offshore Inc., Dr. Ferrill executed regional to prospect scale structural and stratigraphic analyses that led 3D seismic acquisition, multiple offshore lease purchases, and two commercial hydrocarbon discoveries in traps controlled by complex extensional and salt-related structures.
Affiliations and Accreditation
PhD University of Alabama
MSc West Virginia University
BSc Georgia State University
Courses Taught
N114: Extensional Tectonics and Normal Faulting (Nevada & California, USA)
N134: Carbonate and Shale Faulting and Fracturing Field Seminar (Texas, USA)
N180: Fault Mapping: Class and Field Seminar (Texas, USA)
N207: Fault Mapping: Class and Field Seminar (Haute Savoie, France)
N381: Influence of Tectonics and Mechanical Stratigraphy on Natural Deformation in the Permian Basin (Texas, USA)
Background
Adam is a structural geologist at Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas. He recently completed his Ph.D. at the University of Aberdeen (2019) which focused on the use of digital outcrops for the extraction of structural attributes. Adam performs training, research, and contract consulting for the oil and gas industry in his role as research scientist at Southwest Research Institute.
His research is focused on deformation processes in outcrop and the subsurface, fracture characterization and prediction, fault analysis, seismic-based cross-section construction and restoration, and close-range remote sensing for quantitative structural analysis. Adam has published several peer-reviewed journal articles, is a regular reviewer for various academic journals and has received a number of academic awards. He has carried out field studies of contractional systems in the western Alps, Variscan Pembrokeshire, the NW Highlands of Scotland and the Rocky Mountains and fracture characterization in the Eagle Ford and Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico. Adam is an advocate of digital outcrops for geological training and has developed web-based teaching resources in this area.
Affiliations & AccreditationPh.D. University of Aberdeen and the NERC Centre for Doctoral Training in Oil and Gas - Geology
B.Sc. University of Aberdeen - Geology
Courses Taught
N134: Carbonate and Shale Faulting and Fracturing Field Seminar (Texas, USA)
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