"The History of Water on Mars: Insights Provided by 35 Years of Robotic Exploration"
Date: Monday, November 12, 2001
Place: Westchase Hilton, 9999 Westheimer
Time: Social 5:30 p.m., Dinner 6:30 p.m.
Cost: Click here
The presence of numerous kilometer (km)-deep channels, up to several hundred of kilometers wide and thousands of kilometers long, provides persuasive evidence that Mars was (and likely remains) water-rich. The elevation of channel source regions (which average several km above the planet’s low-lying northern plains) also indicates that, at the time the channels formed, much of this inventory of water was stored in the subsurface in disequilibrium with the global topography. The preservation of a reservoir of groundwater under disequilibrium conditions can be explained if it is confined beneath a thick layer of frozen ground, a hydraulic barrier whose existence is consistent with the extremely cold climatic conditions that are thought to have characterized the planet at the time the channels formed (~2-3 billion years ago).
However, earlier in the planet’s history, a higher geothermal heat flux would have resulted in a thickness of frozen ground that was too thin to confine an elevated water table, implying that the initial distribution of water on Mars was in a state of hydrostatic equilibrium. If so, then it suggests that an ice-covered ocean, as much as several kilometers deep, may have occupied the northern third of the planet, with numerous lakes and seas residing in other low-lying elevations.
The progressive crustal assimilation of these early surface reservoirs of water appears to have been a natural consequence of the planet’s subsequent climatic and geothermal evolution. Given the plausible range and likely heterogeneity of the planet’s crustal properties (as well as regional differences in climatic and geologic evolution), and the evidence provided by the available geomorphic examples, the distribution and state of subsurface water on Mars is thought to be quite complex.
The abundance and distribution of subsurface water on Mars has important implications for understanding the geologic, hydrologic, and climatic evolution of the planet; the potential origin and continued survival of life; and the accessibility of a critical in-situ resource for sustaining future human explorers. For this reason, a principal goal of the international Mars exploration program is to determine the 3-D distribution and state of subsurface water at a resolution sufficient to permit reaching any desired volatile target by drilling.
Instruments designed to sound the Martian subsurface are planned as part of several missions between now and 2007. These initial efforts will provide invaluable data for the design of more comprehensive and ambitious investigations that are most likely to be flown in 2009 and beyond.
Biographical Sketch:
Stephen Clifford is a staff scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Clear Lake, where he conducts research on the distribution and dynamic behavior of water on Mars. He received his PhD in astronomy and MS in physics from the University of Massachusetts and did his undergraduate work in math and physics at Windham College in Putney, Vermont.
"General Environmental Regulatory Issues Associated with Pipe Line Operations Abstract" Author: Mr. Lyn Sadler, Chevron
Date: Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Place: Rudy Lechners 2503 S. Gessner (1/2 block North of Westheimer)
Time: Social 5:30 p.m., Dinner 6:00 p.m.
Cost: Click here
Abstract:
This presentation provides a basic overview of the environmental regulations that govern the petrochemical industry, with a special emphasis on waste regulations in the oil and gas industry. The presentation will focus on basic environmental regulations, which confront the industrial sector of America, and will also provide a background on dealing with some of the Railroad Commission and the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) guidelines and how they affect the pipe line industry overall.
The industrial sector of America is required to comply with some extremely stringent regulations as part of the privilege of doing business in this country. Industry is confronted with managing numerous issues potentially impacting each media: air, water, and soil. An industry perspective on the numerous environmental regulations is provided. Applicable regulations that will be discussed will include: the Clean Air Act, SARA, CERCLA, NPDES and RCRA. These regulations govern the way industrial facilities control stormwater runoff, the amount and type of air emissions and disposition of their waste. The Presentation will emphasis solid and hazardous waste regulations.
In the State of Texas, the petrochemical industry has two different regulatory agencies to potentially interface with. Oil and gas exploration and transport through pipelines are regulated by the Railroad Commission. The petrochemical refineries and other industries are regulated through the (TNRCC).
The primary regulatory agency that has jurisdiction over the routine waste and remedial action of a pipe line is determined by the service of that pipe line. A discussion of specific cases where both regulatory agencies have been involved with the oversight of remedial action will be included.
Biographical Sketch:
Lynn Sadler is an environmental specialist for Chevron Pipe Line Company (CPL) and provides environmental compliance support for pipe line operations. Lynn obtained his BS in biology and a BA in chemistry from the College of the Ozarks, Clarksville, Arkansas and his MS from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. Prior to working with CPL Lynn was an environmental specialist for the Texas Water Commission’s field operations. As an environmental specialist for CPL, Lynn interfaces with the Railroad Commission, TNRCC, EPA and Army Corp of Engineers. Lynn supports CPL projects ranging from new construction to remediation.
The Third Annual Robert E. Sheriff Lecture Series
"Transtension in Arcs and Orogens"
Date: Monday, November 19, 2001
Place: Westchase Hilton, 9999 Westheimer
Time: Social 5:30 p.m., Dinner 6:30 p.m.
Cost: Click here.
Robert E. Sheriff Lecture Series:
The lecture series is sponsored by the University of Houston Department of Geosciences and UH Geoscience Alumni Association in association with the Houston Geologic Society International Group.
Mr. Matt Martin, president of the University of Houston Geological Alumni Association (UHGAA) will MC. Dr. John F. Casey, Department of Geosciences Chairman, will give an overview of current activities at UH. There will be posters and presentations on current thesis and dissertation research activities of UH graduate students.
Get a quick synopsis of presentations from the AAPG, GSA, SEG, GCAGS and AGU conventions and meet the next generation of geoscientists from UH.
The Robert E. Sheriff Lecture Series was initiated in 1999 by the UHGAA. For the past two years it has been co-sponsored by the International Explorationists Group of the Houston Geological Society. The series honors Dr. Sheriff as an educator, scholar, and a proponent for the geosciences. Its mission is to
Abstract:
"Transtension in Arcs and Orogens"
John F. Dewey, Department of Geology, UC Davis, Davis CA 95616.
Transtension is oblique extension, a combination of coaxial zone-orthogonal extension and non-coaxial zone-parallel shear. It is typical of extensional zones for many reasons, mainly because plate boundary and deformation zones are rarely perfectly orthogonal to plate and block boundaries. The transport direction (TD) is defined as the slip vector between the separating blocks or plates. The instantaneous extension direction (Xi) is not parallel with TD but bisects the angle between TD and the zone boundary orthogonal.
The finite extension direction (X) rotates towards TD. Lines, planes, and structures in the obtuse angle between TD and the zone orthogonal rotate, with vorticity, towards TD; those in the acute angle rotate against vorticity towards TD. Where the angle (a) between TD and the zone orthogonal is less than 70.5º, the principle shortening direction (Zi) is vertical and the intermediate (shortening) direction (Yi) is horizontal. This generates sub-horizontal foliation and vertical dykes and fissures and steeply dipping conjugate normal faults intersecting in Yi and folds and constrictional stretching lineations parallel with X. Where a is greater than 70.5º, Zi is horizontal and Yi is vertical, generating vertical foliation and conjugate strike-slip faults (Riedels and anti-Riedels) an folds and lineations prallel with X. Thus, TD can be calculated for any deformation zone where the angle a/2 can be determined; this is of enormous potential in determining relative plate motions.
Transtension is of great importance but is, as yet, very poorly understood in convergent plate boundary zones. Intra-oceanic juvenile arcs are dominated by transtension where subduction roll-back occurs with motion of the over-riding plate away from the trench line. In Newfoundland, a fine example of a transtensionally-distended Cambria-Ordovician arc with oblique dykes and horizontally stretched pillows and supra-subduction-zone ophiolites is superbly exposed with a complicated polyphase structural and igneous history.
Transtension dominated the late extensional "collapse" of several orogens. Orogenic transtension leads to tectonic denudation by crustal thinning and extensional detachment and the development of high temperature/and low pressure metamorphic assemblages with subhorizontal foliations and stretching directions, so typical of the Tasman Belt of Australia and the Variscan belt of Europe. Transtensional Xi and X parallel folds are expressed as periclines and "corrugations" in extensional detachments in the Cenozoic Basin and Range and in the Silurian Caledonides of western Norway.
Biographical Sketch:
Dr. John F. Dewey, currently Professor at the Dept. Geology, UC Davis, Davis, California, holds a Ph.D. from the University of London (1960).
His current focus is in structural geology and tectonics - from the small-scale materials science of deformed rocks to the large-scale origin of topography and structures. His ongoing field-based research is on the rock fabrics and structures of transpression and transtension, especially in California, New Zealand, Norway, Ireland and Newfoundland. His evolving interests are in the neotectonics of California and Nevada and the relationship among faulting, topography, and sediment provenance, yield and distribution, as well as the geohazards of volcanoes, earthquakes and landslides.
John is perhaps most widely known for his contributions to plate tectonic theory. He has served in a leadership role in the academic a scientific realm for many years and is the recipient of many awards. Dr. Dewey has also been a consulting geologist for over 20 petroleum companies during the last 15 years and is currently a senior consultant to ExxonMobil and BP.
He can be contacted at Dept. Geology, UC Davis, Davis, CA 95616 (530) 754-7472; dewey@geology.ucdavis.edu
POSTERS:
UH Geosciences Graduate Student Posters, Robert E. Sheriff Lecture, November 19, 2001
1. Brine Source Migration & Cap-Rock Dissolution in the Vicinity of the South Liberty Salt Dome, Texas Gulf Coast, -Tathagata Banga
2. Down Hole Variations in the Chemistry of Gabbroic Rocks from Atlantic Bank, ODP Hole 1105A, Southwest Indian Ridge: Magma Chamber Processes, -Debleena Banerji
3. Time/Temperature Constraints on the Generation of Biogenic Methane Gas in Natural Gas, -Constantin Sandu
4. Thermal History of Breccia Veins from Roter Kamm Crater, Namibia, -David Rajmon
5. Distribution and Stratigraphy of Basaltic Units in Marc Tranquillitatis on the Moon, -David Rajmon
6. Geochemical Compositions of Basalts, Gabbros, And Ultramafic Rocks from the 15º 20´ Fracture Zone, Mid-Atlantic Ridge, -Kegan Boyer
7. Oceanic Extensional Core Complexes along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, -John F. Casey
8. Estimates of Crustal Thickness beneath 12 Core Complexes along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, -John F. Casey, Dmitri Pistoun, Vsevolod Egorov, Stewart A. Hall, Toshi Fujwara1
1
Deep Sea Research Institute, JAMSTEC, Japan9. On-going Research in Near-Surface Rock Physics, -Christina Chan
10. Can We See beyond Seismic Resolution?, -Hua-Wei Zhou
11. Late Cenozoic Strain Partitioning in Southwest Tibet and Western Nepal, -Michael A. Murphy
12. A Study of Fractured Reservoirs of Lacustrine Shaley Dolostones in LK Reservoir, Jiuxi Basin, China, -Ma Long
13. Seismic Frequency Recovery, -Warren S. Duncan
14. Recognition and Timing of Maximum Flooding Surfaces with Graphic Correlation, -Don Van Nieuwenhuise
15. Ophiolite Detachment and Initiation of Subduction due to Extrusion Tectonics? Evidence from the Palawan Ophiolite, Philippines, -Dan Fernandez 1,2, John Encarnacion1, James Mattinson3, Patrick B. Luetkemeyer1
1 Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Saint Louis University
2
Now at the University of Houston3
University of California, Santa Barbara16. A Quantitative Evaluation of the Relationship between Magnetic and Silicate Fabrics in Cumulates with No Discrete Magnetite, -William P. Meurer, Jeff S. Gee1, Peter Selkin1
1 Scripps Institute of Oceanography
17. Miocene Extension, Volcanism and Possibly associated Upper Crustal P-Wave Velocity Anomalies in the Northeastern Los Angeles Basin (NELAB), -Tom Bjorklund, Kevin Burke, Hua-Wei Zhou, Robert S. Yeats1
1Oregon State University
18. Stable Isotopic Variability in Travertine-Depositing Streams: Implications for Paleoclimate Interpretations, -Penny M. Taylor
19. Kinetic Controls on Timing of Oil Generation from Coals and Coaly Shales in the Eastern Venezuela Basin, -Angel F. Callejon and K.K. (Adry) Bissada
20. Variation in Noble Gas Content as Evidence of Filling History of Bravo Dome, New Mexico, CO2 Deposit, -Martin Cassidy, Chris Ballentine1, James Lawrence
1
University of Manchester, UK21. Morrow Incised Valley Fill, Eddy County, New Mexico, -Debra Rutan, Charlotte Sullivan
22. A Regional 3-D Look at Devonian Chert/Carbonate Turbidite Deposition in West Texas, -Charlotte Sullivan, Kurt Marfurt
23. Downhole Correlation of Deformation Intensity and Lithology Utilizing FMS Log and Microstructural Analyses, ODP Hole 1105A, -Pedram Zarian
24. Seismic Stratigraphy, Reservoir Characterization, and 3-D Visualization of Seismic Attributes of Carbonate Facies and Karst in the San Andres Formation, Vacuum Field, Lea County, New Mexico, -Donna A. Davis, Kurt Marfurt, Charlotte Sullivan, and Ian Evans
25. Most-Energetic Arrival Kirchhstt Migration, -Changsoo Shin1, Kurt Marfurt
1
Seoul National University, Korea26. Sun Center of Excellence at University of Houston, -Barbara Chapman, Kurt Marfurt, Daewoon Byun, Cory Hoelting
27. Analysis of Frequency Loses Through Seismic Processing, -Warren Duncan
28. Multi-Component Migration, -Mariana Gherasim
29. Spectral Coherence, -Cory Hoelting
30. Prestack Seismic Attribute Analysis, -Prasad Jyosyula
31. Polyform Chromites, -Brenda Monslave
32. DOE Vinton Dome Project, - Kurt Marfurt, Allied Geophysical Laboratory Staff
33. AGL 2 year plan, -Kurt Marfurt, Allied Geophysical Laboratory Staff
34. AGL’s New Physcial Modeling System, -Qingliang Lin
35. Model Scanning and Scattering Experiments, -Burcin Inanli
36. Linear Adaptive Noise Attenuation, -Saleh al-Dossary
37. Calibration of Long-Offset AVO, -Duane Pankhurst
38. Ray Theoretical Modeling of Thin-Bed AVO, -Mohammed al-Otaiibi
39. Geotomography, -Khalid al-Ruffai
40. Integrated gravity/seismic Vinton Dome, LA, -Rajendra Prasad Eti
41. National Lab Next Generation Numerical Modeling Project, -Bob Wiley, Kurt Marfurt
42. 3-D Multicomponent OBS Acquisition, Imaging, Physical Modeling, -Burcin Inanli
43. Hurricanes Recorded in the Geologic Record: Oxygen Isotope Spikes, -James R. Lawrence
"The Impending Obsolescence of Maps"
Date: Wednesday, November 28, 2001
Place: Petroleum Club, 800 Bell Avenue, Downtown
Time: Social 11:15 a.m., Lunch 11:45 a.m.
Cost: Click here
Maps have provided critical information and knowledge for society for the last millennium. A map is a representation, on a plane and at a reduced scale, of part or the whole of the earth’s surface, according to the 1910 Encyclopaedia Britannica. We regularly use maps to define mineral rights, data coverage, drilling locations, pipeline routes, etc. However, maps only become indispensable when there is more information available than we can hold in our head, or when we need to confirm artificial or legal boundaries (for example, ownership). Computer databases and visualization technologies are providing explorationists with real-time 3-D views of complex inter-relationships of their data as it changes across time. When new presentation technologies are combined with the innate ability of explorationists to visualize complex 3-D relationships in their mind’s eye, there is no longer a need for paper representations of the subsurface. This presentation illustrates how databases and computer earth models, in combination with data mining tools and new visualization technologies, are replacing maps and enabling widespread application of Wallace Pratt’s statement that “in the final analysis, oil is first found in the mind.”
Databases and models presented in an immersive environment provide a new way to evaluate data traditionally studied as surfaces, cross-sections, and other types of maps. By improving the bandwidth to transfer digital information from computer storage to the mind, or at least by making digital data available for interactive access by the minds of decision makers, decisions are improved. Displays move from the 2-D map plane to a true 3-D visualization using immersive environments to drive computer-controlled, human-scale stereo display and audio systems. A regional example of identifying a new exploration concept is shown in Texas Railroad Commission District IV, derived by simply visualizing data from Richard Nehring’s database. This process works at basin or at prospect scale. Movies of interpretations of Fairfield Industry 3-D seismic data using Chroma Energy’s pattern finding tools demonstrate how visualization helps extract geology from a 3-D seismic survey. With development of these types of complex models, and because 3-D displays help understanding, immersive environments and related technologies are becoming common both inside and outside the petroleum industry. They are expected to become ubiquitous over the next decade.
Rapid comprehension of complex spatial information can be achieved when data are evaluated simultaneously and proportionally to the sources of the data. In the oil and gas industry, many models require N-dimensional data integration. Multi-dimensional models render major improvements, beyond what can be derived from 2-D maps. This is particularly true when data mining tools have been used to correlate and high-grade relevant data relationships. Seeing and hearing spatial relationships between data types highlights inconsistencies, and the process of reconciling these differences greatly enhances understanding. Because databases and models have embedded knowledge and users can interact with a human scale visualization as if it were another individual, a visceral understanding of the data can be obtained simply by walking around the model in an immersive environment. The conventional “map reader” can more easily replicate the three or more dimensional model in his or her mind and then show it to others, allowing better communication and better collaboration, either being in the same theater or being in different networked theaters separated by large distances. As more data and information become available in every walk of life, understanding interrelationships requires adaptation of new methods to understand spatial complexity, which the conventional planar 2-D map can not encompass.
Biographical Sketch:
H. Roice Nelson, Jr. likes to find things, particularly promoting exploration, exploitation, and production of hydrocarbons. His accomplishments in interactive seismic interpretation technologies have impacted how oil companies explore for and produce hydrocarbons. As a co-founder of Landmark Graphics Corporation, HyperMedia Corporation, Continuum Resources International Corporation, and now Dynamic Resources Corporation, Roice has moved from developing new immersive interactive interpretation tools to using these technologies to explore for hydrocarbons.
He is the author of more than 140 professional papers and a 1983 book, New Technologies in Exploration Geophysics, which was later published in Chinese. His professional activities include membership in AAPG (visiting petroleum geologist, associate editor Geobyte [1985-1986], and member AAPG/SEG Geophysical Integration/Interpretation Committees); GSH; HGS; SEG (on the Research Committee for more than a decade, associate editor Geophysics [1989-1990], and Enterprise Award 1999); and instructor for a variety of domestic and international schools. Mr. Nelson earned a BS in geophysics from the University of Utah (1974) and an MBA from Southern Methodist University (1981).