Middle Mississippian ramp carbonates in Kentucky (Fort Payne to Salem interval) form a large scale depositional supersequence (0 to 500 feet thick, approximately 8 m. y. duration). It formed on and in front of the abandoned Early Mississippian Borden deltaic marine paleoshelf, which had up to 100 m of relief above the adjacent starved basin. Major facies consist of marine quartz sandstone and shale; peritidal carbonates; high-energy ramp margin, crinoidal-bryozoan grainstones; deeper ramp mounds, skeletal grainstone/packstone sheets and channel-fills interlayered with shale or calcisiltite; and slope deposits of siliceous calcisiltite. Regional slopes on the paleoshelf edge and ramp margin are 0.5 to 2.5 mIkm (less than 0.25 degrees), although clinoforms of 2 to 10 degrees occur locally associated with mounds and depositional lobes. The supersequence LST is dominated by mounds interlayered with green shaly, deeper ramp facies. The mounded units are located in a fairway that is normal to the Borden margin but parallel to the Appalachian Grainger deltaic shelf. No TST is evident, except for a glauconite horizon capping the Borden paleoshelf. The supersequence HST consists of at least eight third-order sequences (each approximately 1 m.y. duration), the older ones downlapping onto the shelf 20 to 30 m deep, the younger ones downlapping into the deeper basin (over 150 m water depth). Sequences show marked toplap with the upper sequence boundary. The third-order sequences locally have lowstand sands, some of which may be associated with a paleodrainage system off the Borden paleo shelf. They lack recognizable TSTs, but have well-developed prograding HST units of nearshore shale and peritidal dolomite, skeletal packstone/grainstone banks, and siliceous calcisiltite slope facies. The supersequence correlates with a global sea level cycle in the lower Visean terminating in a major sea-level fall. The highly clinofonned toplapping supersequence reflects this long term, sea-level fall which prevented space from being created on the old delta top. The third-order sequences, although mappable between the sections, are not easily correlated with global third order cycles. / Master of Science

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2010. / Title from title page screen (viewed on July 13, 2010). Thesis advisor: Lynne P. Sullivan, Gerald F. Schroedl. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Master of Science / Department of Geology / Matthew Totten / The Petersilie oil field in Ness County, Kansas produces out of the Mississippian System, a reservoir composed mainly of shallow water carbonates, at depths of around 4375 ft (1334 m). The lithology of the field ranges from limestone to dolomite, to interlaminated limestone-dolomite beds. Chert is commonly found throughout. Petersilie field lies to the west of the Central Kansas Uplift, and to the east of the Hugoton Embayment. The field saw much drilling activity in the 1960’s, when it reached a production peak of nearly 378,000 barrels of oil per year. Production declined swiftly after that until the late 1990’s, when waterflooding was successfully employed. In this study, a reservoir model was produced for the Mississippian as it occurs in Petersilie field using the Department of Energy’s EdBOAST reservoir modeling software, with the intent of providing a reference for future drilling activity in the Mississippian and determining reservoir characteristics that may have contributed to the effectiveness of waterflooding in this area. The reservoir model was checked by simulation with a companion reservoir simulator program, BOAST 98. Subsequent comparison of simulated and actual oil production curves demonstrates the reliability of well log and drill stem test data for the field and proves the reservoir model to be a good fit for the Mississippian in Petersilie. Production curve analysis of Petersilie indicates the field was an ideal candidate for waterflooding because it has a solution-gas drive mechanism. As the field approached depletion from primary recovery, oil saturations remained high. Petersilie also exhibits high porosity and good permeability. The BOAST software was found to be an effective and inexpensive means for understanding the Mississippian reservoir in central to south-central Kansas. It was determined that BOAST has potential for practical use by smaller independent oil companies targeting the Mississippian in Kansas.

This study provides new insights on the mechanisms that controlled the development of solution-enhanced fractures and suprastratal deformation associated with the Mississippian Madison Sequence IV evaporite paleokarst complex. Based on detailed field mapping utilizing LiDAR, GPS, and field observations, we document a paleostructural high (oriented 145º) associated with the Ancestral Rockies uplift within the study area. One hundred twenty-one sediment-filled, solution-enhanced fractures within the Seq. IV cave roof were mapped and characterized by their dominant fill type (Amsden or Madison) and vertical extent. Spatial analysis reveals minimum spacing of these features occurs in areas uplifted during the Late Paleozoic suggesting a link between paleostructural position and solution feature spacing. Shape analysis of these solution features also supports structural position during the Late Paleozoic acted as a dominant control on fracture morphology: (1) downward tapering and fully penetrative features concentrate in areas that experienced uplift; (2) upward tapering concentrate in areas that were undeformed. Mapping of Seq. IV cave roof strata demonstrates vertical collapse variability exceeds 22 m and fault intensity increases in areas of increased collapse. These findings have significant implications for prediction and characterization of solution-enhanced fractures and suprastratal deformation within evaporite paleokarst systems. / text

The Upper Devonian-Lower Mississippian Bakken Formation has recently become a prolific producer of light gravity oil in southeastern Saskatchewan since the advent of horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracture technologies, which has resulted in an increase in geological studies within the area. However, the Bakken Formation of west-central Saskatchewan has been producing heavy oil since the 1950s, and has comparatively received much less attention than its southeastern counterpart. The Bakken Formation is the youngest member of the Three Forks Group and unconformably overlies the Big Valley Formation. In west-central Saskatchewan, the Bakken Formation can be conformably overlain by the Mississippian carbonates of the Madison Group or unconformably overlain by the Lower Cretaceous Mannville Group. A tripartite subdivision is applied to the Bakken Formation, with a mixed clastic/carbonate Middle Member deposited between Lower and Upper Black Shale Members. Based on detailed core description, eight facies have been defined for the Bakken Formation of west-central Saskatchewan: Facies 1 (Lower and Upper Black Shale members), Facies 2 (bioturbated siltstone/sandstone), Facies 3 (wave-rippled sandstone), Facies 4 (bioclastic grainstone), Facies 5 (interbedded mudstone, siltstone, and very fine-grained sandstone), Facies 6 (very fine- to fine-grained sandstone), Facies 7 (bioturbated siltstone/sandstone), and Facies 8 (massive and brecciated siltstone). Deposition of the Bakken Formation in west-central Saskatchewan occurred under either open-marine or marginal-marine conditions. Facies association 1 (open-marine interval), which is made up of F1 through F4, is characterized by the distal Cruziana Ichnofacies. It was deposited within a wave-dominated shallow-marine depositional environment. Facies association 2 (marginal-marine interval), which is comprised of F5 through F8, shows scarce biogenic structures, most likely as a result of brackish-water conditions. Geological mapping (structure surface and isopach) of the facies and facies associations has aided in illustrating their lateral distribution. However, mapping of the overlying Mississippian carbonates and sub-Mesozoic unconformity shows that post-Mississippian erosion was a controlling factor in the distribution and preservation of Bakken Formation deposits, which creates uncertainty when interpreting geological maps and stratigraphic cross-sections. Although post-Mississippian erosion causes problems when reconstructing the depositional history and stratigraphic architecture of the Bakken Formation, it illustrates the importance of not performing stratigraphic studies within a vacuum, only focusing on the formation of interest. Rather, underlying and overlying units must be studied to see whether or not the unit of interest’s deposition and distribution has been affected by pre- and post-depositional events.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2007. / Title from title page screen (viewed on June 20, 2008). Thesis advisor: Murry K. Marks. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D.A.)--Illinois State University, 2000. / Title from title page screen, viewed May 4, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Frederick D. Drake (chair), Lawrence W. McBride, M. Paul Holsinger, L. Moody Simms. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 245-254) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (M.A.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Anthropology, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

L'étude a pour but de caractériser les facteurs de contrôles de la distribution des propriétés pétrophysiques et mécaniques dans les réservoirs carbonatés. Pour y répondre, il a été entrepris une démarche intégrant des analyses sédimento-diagénétiques (sédimentologiques, pétrographiques, géochimiques…) et de la fracturation (stratigraphie mécanique et stratigraphie de fracture, hiérarchisation, chronologie…). L'acquisition des données a été réalisée sur un analogue de terrain d'un réservoir carbonaté fracturé : la Formation Madison, d'âge Carbonifère inférieur (357-340 Ma), affleurant dans le Bassin de Bighorn (Wyoming, USA) et qui est aussi un réservoir exploité en subsurface. Cette acquisition a été réalisée dans cinq sites : Wind River Canyon, Shell Canyon, Sheep Mountain, Shoshone Canyon, et Clark's Fork Canyon (selon une polarité paléogéographique proximale - distale).Dans le Wyoming (USA), la Formation Madison est une série carbonatée, atteignant une épaisseur de 340 m, formée de sept séquences de dépôt basse fréquence (SBF). Les deux premières (SBF1 et 2) se sont formées sur une rampe qui, en conséquence de progradations extensives, s'est aplanie progressivement pour former une plate-forme sur laquelle se sont déposées les cinq autres séquences (SBF3 à 7). SBF1 à 3, d'âge Kinderhookien à Osagéen inférieur, se sont formées sous climat aride à la faveur d'une subsidence tectonique générale compensant les chutes eustatiques épisodiques. Les cortèges de rétrogradation se caractérisent par le développement étendu des milieux inter- à supratidaux et des processus de précipitation d'évaporites et dolomitisation. / The purpose of this study is to characterize factors controlling the distribution of the petrophysical and mechanical properties in carbonate reservoirs. To do so, a pluridisciplinary approach integrating sedimento-diagenetic and fracturing analyses on a carbonate reservoir analogue: he Madison Formation, (Lower Carboniferous, 357-340 My), outcropping in the Bighorn Basin (Wyoming, USA) and that is also a subsurface reservoir.The Madison Formation is a 340 m thick carbonate series composed of seven low frequency depositional sequences (LFS). The first two (LFS 1 and 2) formed on a prograding ramp passing upward into a vast platform on which the other five LFS deposited (LFS3 à 7). LFS 1 to 3 (Kinderhookian to lower Osagean) deposited under arid conditions during general subsidence that balanced eustatic falls. Retrograding system tracts are characterized by the development of supratidal to intertidal environment dominated by evaporite precipitations and carbonate dolomitization. Prograding system tracts are mainly mainly by early-lithified grainstones. LFS 4 to 7 (Osagean) deposited under humid conditions (glacial conditions in high-latitudes) that contributed to a decrease in evaporite precipitations and carbonate dolomitization but that involved karstifications on tops of LFS 4 to 7 during uplift episodes and eustatic falls.

This thesis focuses on creating a deeper understanding of European-made metal objects uncovered at a Late Mississippian period site by using an object itinerary theoretical framework. This theory allows for objects to be understood and analyzed without bias as it acknowledges Indigenous and archaeological perspectives by considering the many different contexts an object moves through. I apply this theory to these European-made metal objects that were transformed and used by the Chicasa as a way to introduce a more collaborative and holistic approach to the other analytical methods being used at Stark Farm (22OK778). This process was completed by using a variety of methods, from statistical analysis to thorough literature review, to investigate the different interactions and stoppage points that the objects have traveled along and through.