Master of Science / Department of Geology / Abdelmoneam Raef / Amid increasing interest in geological sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2), detailed rock formation characterization has emerged as priority to ensure successful sequestration. Utilizing recent advances in the field of 3D seismic attributes analysis, offers improved opportunities to provide more details when characterizing reservoir formations. In this study, several post-stack seismic attributes integrated with seismic modeling for highlighting critical structural elements and petrophysical facies variation of rock formations at Wellington and Anson-Bates fields, Sumner County, Kansas. A newly acquired 3D Seismic data set and several geophysical well logs are also used to achieve the objectives of this study. Results sought in this study are potentially important for understanding pathways for CO2 to migrate along. Seismic amplitude, coherency, and most negative curvature attributes were used to characterize the subsurface for structural effects on the rock formations of interest. These attributes detect multiple anomaly features that can be interpreted as small throw faults. However, in this study, there is a larger anomalous feature associated with the Mississippian formation that can be interpreted as a small throw fault or incised channel sand. Determining which of the two is very important for flow simulation models to be more exact. Modeling of the seismic was undertaken to help in the interpretation of the Mississippian amplitude anomaly. An artificial neural network, based on well log porosity cross-plots and three seismic attributes, was trained and implemented to yield a seismic petrophysical facies map. The neural network was trained using three volume seismic waveform attributes along with three wells with difference in well log porosity. A reworked lithofacies along small throw faults has been revealed based on comparing the seismic structural attributes and the seismic petrophysical facies. Arbuckle formation characterization was successful to a certain degree. Structural attributes showed multiple faults in the northern half of the survey. These faults are in agreement with known structure in the area associated with the Nemaha uplift. Further characterization of the Arbuckle was hindered by the lack of well data. This study emphasizes the need for greater attention to small-scale features when embarking upon characterization of a reservoir for CO2 based geosequestration.

Master of Science / Department of Geology / Saugata Datta / Mass poisoning of arsenic (As) has affected roughly 60 million people in the Bengal Basin (Bangladesh and West Bengal, India) and 43 million people alone in West Bengal. Elevated levels of Manganese (Mn) is another alarming issue in the groundwaters of this region (MCLs: As<10µg/L and Mn< 0.4mg/L). Four locations in Murshidabad district (south-central part of Bengal Basin) were chosen for this current study. Among the 4 locations, two of them showed high concentration of As (>50 - 4622µg/L; 2009 survey) and they are Beldanga: 23° 56'N& 88°15'E and Hariharpara: 24°3.68'N & 88° 21.63'E. On the other hand: Nabagram (24°12.08'N & 88°13.29'E) and Kandi (23°58.6'N & 88°6.68'E) demonstrated less dissolved As (<10µg/L) in groundwaters. Study areas were located to the west (Nabagram, Kandi) and east (Beldanga, Hariharpara) of the river Bhagirathi, a tributary of the river Ganges, flowing N-S through the district of Murshidabad. Eastern side of the river is occupied by grey colored Holocene sediments and western side has more oxidized orangish-brown Pleistocene sediments. Comparative study of major water quality parameters between these sites revealed high As (10-1263µg/L) and low Mn (0.1-1.3mg/L) in the areas like Beldanga, Hariharpara while low As (0-15µg/L) and higher Mn (0.2-4.2mg/L) in Nabagram and Kandi. The pH range for high and low As areas were 4.5-7.8 and 5.1-8.2 respectively. Phosphates showed values <0.04-2.21mg/L in high As areas and <0.08-2.52mg/L in low areas whereas Cl- values were higher within low As areas (29-200mg/L) and lower within high As areas (3.9-78.4mg/L). Fe(t) and Fe2+ values at high and low As areas were 0-13.5mg/L, 0.01-0.11mg/L and 0-1.4mg/L, 0.04-0.06mg/L respectively. δ18O and δD results revealed that monsoonal precipitation is the major recharge source in this area with some input from the surficial waterbodies as ponds in shallower depths within high As areas. The total As extracted from core sediments in these areas do not show much difference: total As in high and low As areas ranges from 6.4-18 mg/kg. Sequential extraction results revealed that majority of the sediment bound As is present in residual phases (>40%). DOC in groundwaters in high and low As areas were 1.5-3.2 and 0.5-1.3mg/L respectively and they had positive correlation with As within the depth profiles. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) characterization studies indicated that microbial proteins (Tyrosine and Tryptophan) are the major components in the groundwaters in the low As region, whereas high As area groundwaters tend to have higher content of humic DOM (A and C). Cl/Br molar ratio of high As wells were low compared to the low As wells. Current study revealed the importance of organic matters (and not the mineralogy of the sediments) both in sediments and groundwaters in controlling the release of As from sediment, at least in the shallow parts of Bengal delta aquifer and microbial mediated reductive dissolution of FeOOH in the presence of organic matter is the major mechanisms by which sediment bound As (<50m depth) is released into the groundwater. The darker organic matter rich sediments (OM both sediment bound and anthropogenically derived) existing at the depth range 20m-50m with reducing environment persisting in both high and low As areas are possible reasons for elevated levels of As in this region.

Master of Science / Department of Geology / Matthew Totten / The Woodford shale is recognized as an abundant source rock across Oklahoma and much of the midcontinent (Lambert, 1990), and up to 8% of the world’s hydrocarbon reserves are estimated to have been sourced by the Woodford and its equivalents (Fritz et al, 1991). The Woodford shale is far more complex than other Devonian black shales found in North America due to the presence of alternating bands of chert-like amorphous silica and silica-rich shale. Analysis of chert and its possible role in gas generation and storage in shales has been largely overlooked. The goal of this study is to determine if chert size, amounts, or polycrystallinity can be indicators of thermal maturity within the Woodford shale. Handheld XRF analysis was conducted on the whole rock samples, and a mudrock specific sodium bisulfate fusion was used to separate the non-clay fraction. SEM was performed on the resulting separates to study and observe changes in chert fabric, grain-size, and amount. No correlations were observed to indicate that chert is an indicator of thermal maturity within the Woodford shale. Increase in chert growth and amount was also not detected within the size fractions as thermal maturity increases. Handheld XRF proved to be a good proxy for quick, onsite analysis of silica concentrations, as well as the amount of organic matter within drill core. This could be beneficial as hydraulic fracking produces best results in areas of higher silica content, and the wells with the highest organic matter have the highest potential for petroleum accumulations.

Master of Science / Geology / Saugata Datta / The province (upazila) of Matlab in SE Bangladesh is highly affected with elevated concentrations of dissolved As content and widespread fecal contamination in untreated drinking waters. The study area is sedimentologically composed of thick floodplain deposits of Holocene age overlying Plio-Pleistocene grey fine to coarse sands with considerable clays (consisting of Dupi Tila formation). The goal of the current study is to understand the possible impact of co-occurrence of dissolved organic carbon (along with As release) and fecal indicator bacteria (e.g., E.coli) in aquifers from shallow to deep groundwater quality in this area. Nineteen groundwater (spanning a depth range of 14 to 240 m) samples and nine surface water samples (eight ponds and one canal in proximity to the piezometer nests) were collected from four different piezometric nests within north and south Matlab Upazila in Bangladesh during the monsoonal season (Jun-Jul 2014). The analyses of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and its fluorescence properties indicate that the chemical character of DOC from shallow to intermediate groundwaters (<150 m) and surface water is dominated by more aromatic and humic materials than deeper groundwaters. Both groundwaters and surface waters may receive humic substances leached from soil and/or from the cellular constituents and exudates of indigenous aquatic organisms. Dissolved organic carbons in groundwater and surface waters are composed of predominantly UVA and UVC-humic like along with tryptophan like components. Only 15% of total C is modern carbon at shallowest depths (<30 m) in groundwaters. The recharge source of groundwaters is from local precipitation, with or without some evaporation before infiltration as depicted by the δ2H and δ¹⁸O variations and the water is infiltrating through mostly terrestrially derived weathered sediments into the aquifers. The type of water in the study area is Ca-Na-HCO₃⁻ type. More toxic and soluble As (III) is present in shallow groundwaters (<30 m). High concentrations of As (V) and As[subscript (t)] are observed high in shallow and intermediate depth wells (<150 m). The most probable number based on the Colilert test and qPCR result for E.coli suggest that unprotected surface waters are harbingers for high microbial population compared to hand pumped wells. However, the very low observed concentrations of cultured E. coli (<1-10 MPN/100 mL) and E. coli DNA (<40 Copies/100 mL) in the wells indicates that the abundance of E.coli cells decrease rapidly with residence time in oligotrophic aquifers. Thus, it may be suggested that more humic DOC in shallow and intermediate groundwaters may be involved in complexation or other biogeochemical reactions that may mobilize As in groundwater. The non-indigenous bacteria can be the primary producers of DOC in the aquifers which can be utilizing surface derived DOC.

Master of Science / Geology / Matthew W. Totten / Organic-rich shales were deposited over a large part of what is now North America during the Late Devonian. North America in the late Devonian was located in the tropics (Woodrow et al., 1973), possibly in low southerly latitudes (Heckel and Witzke, 1979; Witzke and Heckel, 1988; Streel et al., 1990). This environment creates an organic-rich environment that resulted in thick, black shales. The Devonian-Mississippian Chattanooga (Woodford) shale is known to be an important petroleum source rock in many intracratonic basins of the Midcontinent (Lambert, 1993). Geochemical analysis of the Chattanooga shale, using various techniques, provides additional information on oil-source rock potential. Handheld XRF analysis was conducted on well cuttings samples, Loss on Ignition (LOI) was performed on a subset of those samples and mapping of the organic matter results of the two methods was completed. Handheld XRF still has the prospect for providing quick analysis to infer organic matter content to be used as a determination of the quality of source rock. Although slightly reduced correlation has been found within this study compared to Willey (2015), the method has still proven viable for fracking targets to be determined on site and in a more efficient manner. Loss on Ignition results have correlated with TOC data better then XRF results, making this method the better option for evaluating source rock potential. Mapping of these results provide the first known source rock potential map across Kansas and can be used by the industry for future exploration.

Master of Science / Geology / Joel Q. Spencer / Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is a relatively new dating method, tangibly introduced in 1985 when Huntley et al. demonstrated the ability to use light-sensitive traps to measure radiation exposure and determine the age of sediment. Quartz and feldspar grains are commonly used for the method, with quartz receiving significantly more attention than feldspars until the past decade. Recent research has improved the practicality of using feldspars as a reliable dosimeter –an appealing notion as the intrinsic properties of feldspars allow them to date older sediment that may lie beyond the reliable range of quartz dosimetry. This work explores and utilizes the contemporary feldspar technique termed post-infrared, high-temperature infrared stimulated luminescence (pIRIR) dating to add to the existing knowledge base of this method, particularly by testing different preheat and measurement temperature combinations. Analysis of the each pIRIR method indicates that the pIRIR signal stimulated at 225°C is more appropriate for dating than the pIRIR signal stimulated at 290°C. Techniques and protocols developed in this work are done so via their application to a marine terrace that is displaced by the San Andreas Fault. Corals from the terrace along the Pacific plate, dated with U-series by Muhs et al. (2002), offer an age estimate. Comparison of the pIRIR ages to the U-series ages yield an underestimation, suggesting the pIRIR method may be more useful as a means of correlating terraces across the fault, than for providing ages of terrace formation.

Master of Science / Department of Geology / Matthew W. Totten / Sedimentary beds rich in volcanic ash have been reported throughout Kansas. It is believed the source of these ashes are the large-scale eruptions from the Yellowstone Calderas. Very few of these ash units have been dated, however, and the vast majority simply reported as “Pearlette Ash.” The objective of this research was to investigate the potential of trace element geochemistry in correlating individual ash outcrops in Kansas to their eruptive source. Thirty-six previously reported ash occurrences of unknown age in Kansas were reoccupied and sampled. In addition, three unreported ash deposits were discovered and sampled. Two ash units previously identified as Huckleberry Ridge-aged and three as Lava Creek B were also collected. The samples were processed using the method of Hanan and Totten (1998) to concentrate ash shards. These ash concentrates were analyzed for specific trace and rare earth element (REE) concentrations using inductively coupled mass-spectrometry (ICP-MS) at the University of Kansas. The ash samples from known eruptions have distinct trace and REE signatures, allowing comparison to the unknown ash units. Most of the unknown ash samples correlate with specific Yellowstone eruptions. The majority of the undifferentiated “Pearlette Ash” samples correlate with the most recent Lava Creek B eruption and several unknown ashes correlate to the Huckleberry Ridge eruption. The distribution of ash units in Kansas being dominated by Lava Creek (0.60 ma) is expected because it is the most recent of the Yellowstone eruptions. The abundance of the older Huckleberry Ridge (2.10 ma) over the more recent Mesa Falls (1.27 ma) is likely the result of the much larger Huckleberry Ridge eruption.

Master of Science / Department of Geology / Abdelmoneam Raef / Geotechnical site characteristics are a function of the subsurface elastic moduli and the geologic structures. This study integrates borehole, surface and laboratory measurements for a geotechnical investigation that is focused on investigating shear-wave velocity (Vs) variation and its implication to geotechnical aspects of the Ogden test site in eastern Kansas. The area has a potential of seismicity due to the seismic zone associated with the Nemaha formation where earthquakes pose a moderate hazard. This study is in response to recent design standards for bridge structures require integrating comprehensive geotechnical site characterization. Furthermore, evaluation of dynamic soil properties is important for proper seismic response analysis and soil modeling programs. In this study, near surface geophysical site characterization in the form of 2D shear-wave velocity (Vs) structure that is compared with laboratory measurements of elastic moduli and earth properties at simulated in situ overburden pressure conditions and synergy with downhole Acoustic Televiewer time and amplitude logs, proved very robust “validated” workflow in site characterization for geotechnical purposes. An important component of a geotechnical site characterization is the evaluation of in-situ shear modulus, Poisson’s ratio and reliable and accurate elastic modulus ([lambda]) and shear modulus ([mu]) estimates are important in a good geotechnical site characterization. The geophysical site characterization, undertaken in this study, will complement and help in extrapolating drilling and core-based properties deduced by the geotechnical engineers interested at the test site.