N466 Wilcox Stratigraphy and Sedimentology, Onshore to Deep Water (Texas, USA)
Course Facts
- Course Code:
- N466
- Duration:
- 3 days
- Type:
- Field
- Physical Demand:
- Moderate
- CEU:
- 3.2 Continuing Education Units
- PDH:
- 32 Professional Development Hours
- Certificate:
- Certificate Issued Upon Completion
Summary
This course examines the sedimentology and stratigraphy of Wilcox Group (Paleocene) outcrops in Central Texas, representing deltaic and shallow marine paleoenvironments. It will also investigate Wilcox Group strata in cores which have been interpreted as shelf edge deltas, as well as core from the deep water. These together provide a link in source-to-sink relationships from hinterland sediment source areas to deep water Wilcox Group reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico. The course will allow for the examination and distinction of these different paleoenvironments, and further provide a chrono- and sequence stratigraphic context in which to place and characterize deep water Wilcox Group reservoirs.
Duration and Training Method
This three-day course is comprised of field work (40%) and classroom lectures/core workshop (60%). Every field stop includes an overview and short lecture of the key concepts and methods discussed in lectures and reinforced in the core workshop.
Participants will learn to:
- Characterize source-to-sink controls on deep water systems, investigating updip sources and shelf edge deltas, and bypass.
- Examine outcrop/updip Wilcox stratigraphy in Central Texas, understand temporal relationships, links from sediment source areas, shelf-edge deltaic reservoirs to deep water turbidite reservoirs, and implications for static and dynamic reservoir models.
- Analyze and understand sedimentological features and interpret depositional environments associated with tidally influenced deltas of Wilcox updip strata.
- Compare published accounts with field observations and evaluate their validity.
- Apply lessons learned to better understand deep water Wilcox stratigraphy.
- Evaluate the stratigraphic evolution of lithology and thickness distributions of fluvial and shallow water systems, and how they may relate to deep water.
Day One (Austin: UT-BEG Classroom)
- Understanding the significance of the Wilcox in the deep water and outcrop equivalents in central Texas
- Historical understanding of onshore and offshore Paleogene stratigraphy
- Sequence stratigraphic and bio/chronostratigraphic overview of the Wilcox onshore in central Texas
- Wilcox shelf-edge deltas
- Lunch included
Day Two AM:
- Drive from Austin to Bastrop (Tahitian Village, banks of the Colorado River)
- Copperas Creek outcrop, Colorado River: Sabinetown and Carrizo formations (uppermost Paleocene-lowermost Eocene: PETM interval locality)
- Red Bluff outcrop, Colorado River: Sabinetown Formation (uppermost Paleocene)
- Lunch along the banks of the Colorado River
Day Two PM:
- Riverside Golf Course outcrop: Sabinetown/Carrizo formations (PETM interval locality)
- Manawianui Drive outcrop (Sabinetown/Carrizo formations (PETM interval locality)
- Drive back to Austin
Day Three
- Austin UT-BEG Core Workshop all-day: Wilcox shelf-edge delta cores. Presentations by UT-BEG staff on core-based examples of shelf-edge deltas in the subsurface of Central and South Texas, followed by examination of cores illustrating wave/storm and tidal settings.
- Lunch included.
To view some of the Wilcox outcrops using drone imagery, please click on the following links:
Who should attend
The course is relevant to all subsurface geoscientists who wish to broaden and deepen their knowledge of deltaic and shelf clastic stratigraphy and sedimentology, and engineers who wish to understand the different characteristics of deltaic and shelf sandstone reservoirs.
Prerequisites and linking courses
Participants should understand the fundamental processes and terminology of sedimentology (and perhaps sequence stratigraphy) before attending this class, as covered in N155 (Introduction to Clastic Depositional Systems: A Petroleum Perspective).Several other field and classroom courses address sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy, and deltaic and deepwater clastic depositional systems, including N451 (Practical Oil-Finders Guide to Siliciclastic Sequence Stratigraphy (Wyoming)), N042 (Reservoir Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of Coastal and Shelfal Successions: Deltas, Shorelines and Origins of Isolated Sandstones (NW Colorado, USA)), N410 (Sequence Stratigraphy Applied to Exploration and Production), and N442 (Reservoir Architecture of Deep Water Systems (California)).
The physical demands for this class are (MODERATE) according to Nautilus Training Alliance field course grading systems. Participants should anticipate relatively long days in the field with an average of 8-10 hours away from lodging facilities. Attendees must be prepared for short hikes (2-3 km) across relatively rough terrain: the outcrops themselves may be steep. There will also be shallow creeks to cross. Participants may expect elevated temperatures during the day.
Click on a name to learn more about the instructor
Thomas Demchuk
Thomas Demchuk
Background
Thomas is currently Business Development Manager, Specialist Geology with the RPS Group Inc. in Houston, TX. His duties include marketing biostratigraphy and other specialist geology to the energy industry in North and South America. He also works at the microscope conducting palynology investigations, and organic petrography and maturation assessment for various unconventional/resource-play projects on a global basis. Additionally, he is a Geology Advisor to the Nautilus Training Alliance overseeing new course development, as well as custodianship of courses within the general geology and geophysics curriculum. Thomas is also Adjunct Professor at Louisiana State University within the Department of Geology and Geophysics, Center for Excellence in Palynology (CENEX).
Before joining RPS, Thomas was employed by ConocoPhillips for 18 years in their Upstream Technology Group, coordinating biostratigraphy projects and interpreting/integrating data for the global exploration and development BU’s. Prior to ConocoPhillips, he worked almost 5 years at Amoco Upstream Technology (Houston) collecting, analysing and integrating palynology data with other biostratigraphic interpretations for the international exploration groups. In all, Thomas has over 26 years of experience in the energy industry. He has been past-Secretary/Treasurer (20 years) of AASP-The Palynological Society and is currently the Trustee and Chair of the AASP Foundation. He is also currently President of the Gulf Coast Section of the Society for Sedimentary Geology (GCSSEPM).
Key research interests include the palynology and chronostratigraphy of onshore Wilcox and associated Paleocene-Eocene strata along the U.S. Gulf Coast, and the bio/chronostratigraphic relationship to deepwater Wilcox reservoirs. This includes analysis of the Gulf Coast Paleocene-Eocene paleoclimate which is represented in the highly varied and rich palynofloral assemblages. Research interests also include the general Paleocene-Eocene palynology of the North American Western Interior, organic petrography of varied North American Tertiary coals, and the use of image capture and imaging technology in organic characterization and maturation assessment.
Affiliations and Accreditations
PhD University of Calgary - Palynology/Organic Petrography
MSc University of Alberta - Palynology
BSc University of Alberta - Geology
Courses Taught
N466: Wilcox and Claiborne Group (Paleocene-Eocene) Stratigraphy: Onshore to Deep Water (Texas, USA)
Chris Denison
Chris Denison
Background
After retiring eight years ago, Chris quickly became engrossed in revision of the Wilcox/Carrizo succession in Bastrop County, applying a combination of siliciclastic sedimentology, ichnology and palynology. Chris has been leader on corporate field trips in Utah, New Mexico, Trinidad and Kalimantan, focussing on shallow marine siliciclastics, and more recently in Bastrop County for the Austin Geological Society.
After doctoral studies on Paleocene/Eocene palynology in southern England, Chris joined a British consulting company and worked on Jurassic and Cretaceous successions in the rapidly growing North Sea province. With Chevron, Chris worked on biostratigraphic projects in Cabinda, Venezuela and Papua New Guinea, before transitioning to stratigraphic projects involving core descriptions from Saudi Arabia, Cabinda and Sumatra. Working on subsurface tidal deltas in Sumatra has led to a passion for tidal depositional systems.
After 40 years, Chris has circled around to working on the Paleocene/Eocene and the PETM. Current research activities include additional aspects of the geology of Bastrop County, with emphasis on recognition of shallow marine depositional environments.
Affiliations and Accreditation
PhD University of Sheffield
BSc University of Sheffield
Courses Taught
N466: Wilcox and Claiborne Group (Paleocene-Eocene) Stratigraphy: Onshore to Deep Water (Texas, USA)
Jen O'Keefe
Jen O'Keefe
Background
Jen is a professor of geology and science education in the department of Earth and Space Sciences at Morehead State University. She teaches courses in field geology, geomorphology, micropalaeontology, palynology, and coal geology.
Before joining Morehead State University, Jen was employed by the U.S. Geological Survey in support of coalbed methane exploration in the U.S. Gulf Coast. She is a past president of AASP - The Palynological Society and a past Division Chair of the Geological Society of America Energy Geology Division.
Key Research Topics include clastic and organic sedimentology and stratigraphy; ecological controls on organic sediment (coal, oil shale) development and on coal chemistry. Jen has been conducting field and laboratory research on Wilcox and Claiborne Group biostratigraphy, organic petrography, and depositional environments since 1999.
Affiliations and Accreditations
PhD University of Kentucky - Geology
MS Texas A&M University - Geology
BA Cornell College - Geology
Courses Taught
N466: Wilcox and Claiborne Group (Paleocene-Eocene) Stratigraphy: Onshore to Deep Water (Texas, USA)
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