Preliminary stratigraphic correlation of subsurface and ... · Figure 1: Stratigraphic column of...
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MGS m a n i t o b a g e o l o g i c a l s u r v e y 1 9 2 8 Preliminary stratigraphic correlation of subsurface and outcrop sections of the Favel Formation, southwestern Manitoba 1 1 2 by M.P.B. Nicolas , J.D. Bamburak and S. Hosseininejad 1 Manitoba Geological Survey, Winnipeg, MB 2 Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB Fossiliferous limestone Carbonate bed Fish bone bed Bentonite bed Foraminifera laminae Bivalve laminae Missing core Legend upstream downstream 2 Ochre River 5 Sclater River 6 East Favel River 7 Swan River 1 east of Pembina Hills 8 Little Woody River 3 Vermilion River 4 Wilson River south north Gamma Ray Resistivity argillaceous mudstone calcareous silty mudstone calcareous sandy mudstone massive mudstone 470 475 480 485 490 495 500 505 mud silt vf f mc Depth (m) Lithology Grain size Stratigraphy Favel Formation Carlile Formation Ashville Formation Assiniboine Member Keld Member Morden Member Belle Fourche Member Marco Calcarenite Well 3-27-1-25W1 K.B.= 476.0 m Laurier LimestoneBeds Manitou Swan River Dauphin Virden Waskada Treherne Portage la Prairie Riding Mountain Duck Mountain Porcupine Hills Pembina Hills Morden Brandon Canada United States Barrows Roblin Manitoba Saskatchewan 0 49 00’W 0 101 22’N T2 T10 T20 T25 T35 T40 T45 R25W1 R15W1 R20W1 R10W1 R5W1 Lake Manitoba Lake Winnipegosis T30 T15 T5 0 97 35’W 0 52 55’N Dauphin Lake 0 50 kilometres Location of outcrop with reference number LEGEND Location of well 3-27-1-25W1 reference core 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Manitoba escarpment Formation Carlile Favel Ashville Member Morden Assiniboine Keld Belle Fourche Marker bed X-bentonite Laurier Limestone Marco Calcarenite unnamed calcarenite The Upper Cretaceous Favel Formation (Figure 1) in Manitoba is a biogenic, gas-bearing, chalk-speckled, calcareous, sandy to silty mudstone, with abundant thin carbonate beds. This formation is exposed at various locations along the Manitoba escarpment (Figure 2), with the best sections located along the banks of incised river valleys. These outcrop sections were examined in the field, however, it was difficult to position these sections within the overall stratigraphic structure of the formation and its two members. It was decided that a complete core of the Favel Formation recovered from well 3-27-1-25W1 could be used as a reference section. Using a detailed core description, a preliminary correlation of outcrops was attempted to determine their stratigraphic positioning (Figure 3). The selected outcrop sections are located in ditches and along the banks of rivers, and include, from south to north: 1) east of the Pembina Hills; 2) Ochre River, 3) Vermilion River, 4) Wilson River, 5) Sclater River, 6) East Favel River, 7) Swan River, and 8) Little Woody River. Stratigraphic positioning of the outcrops is important to better characterize the lateral variability of the Favel Formation in outcrop, as well as to help with long-range subsurface correlations where there is minimal core information available. It was found that the best way to correlate outcrop sections of the Favel Formation was to position the sections lithostratigraphically, based on lithology, relative to the reference subsurface section or other outcrop sections, while ignoring the thickness variability that can occur between outcrop and subsurface sections. The thickness variability of different intervals within the formation and the presence or absence of bentonite beds is due to changes in depositional conditions and synformational erosive events. (c.f. Nicolas et al., 2013) The authors would like to thank P. Pedersen from the Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, for reviewing an earlier version of this paper, and gratefully acknowledge Centra Gas Manitoba Inc., a subsidiary of Manitoba Hydro, for their generous support of the Shallow Unconventional Shale Gas Project. The Favel Formation is likely the best prospect as a shale gas resource for Manitoba. It is a thick section of gas-bearing silty and sandy mudstone equivalent to formations with proven gas production records in Saskatchewan and Alberta. In Manitoba, the rarity of core through this section makes it difficult to characterize the formation properly and best determine its true potential, despite the abundance of wireline geophysical information available. Correlation of subsurface information with outcrop information is the best tool available in Manitoba to better characterize the Favel Formation to determine its economic potential. (c.f. Nicolas et al., 2013) Acknowledgments Economic considerations Summary Figure 2: Digital elevation model map of southwestern Manitoba (United States Geological Survey, 2002) showing the location of the reference subsurface core (well 3-27-1-25W1) and representative outcrop sections of the Favel Formation (1, east of Pembina Hills; 2, Ochre River; 3, Vermilion River; 4, Wilson River; 5, Sclater River; 6, East Favel River; 7, Swan River; 8, Little Woody River). Figure 3: Stratigraphic position of composite outcrop sections in the Favel Formation with respect to the subsurface reference log at well 3-27-1- 25W1, southwestern Manitoba. Vertical scales of outcrop sections are approximate. Outcrop section photographs are shown throughout poster. Reference for sections: 1, 2, 4 (upstream), 6 and 7, from field observations by the authors; 3, composite of outcrop sections 80 and 81 in McNeil and Caldwell (1981); 4 (downstream), from outcrop section 65 in McNeil and Caldwell (1981); 5, composite of outcrop section 64 in McNeil and Caldwell (1981) and authors' field observations; 8, from outcrop section 42 in McNeil and Caldwell (1981). Abbreviations: K.B., kelly bushing; vf, very fine; f, fine; m; medium; c, coarse; Fm., formation; Mb., member. Figure 1: Stratigraphic column of the part of the Cretaceous section in southwestern Manitoba, showing the positioning of prominent and important marker beds that aid in correlation. References McNeil, D.H. and Caldwell, W.G.E. 1981: Cretaceous rocks and their foraminifera in the Manitoba Escarpment; Geological Association of Canada, Special Paper 21, 439 p. Nicolas, M.P.B., Bamburak, J.D., and Hosseininehad, S. 2013; Preliminary stratigraphic correlation of subsurface and outcrop sections of the Favel Formation, southwestern Manitoba; in Report of Activities 2013, Manitoba Mineral Resources, Manitoba Geological Survey, p. United States Geological Survey 2002: Shuttle radar topography mission, digital elevation model, Manitoba; United States Geological Survey, URL <ftp://edcsgs9.cr.usgs.gov/pub/data/srtm/>, portions of files N48W88W.hgt.zip through N60W102.hgt.zip, 1.5 Mb (variable), 90 m cell, zipped hgt format [Retrieved March 2003; dead link October 3, 2013]. This poster was presented at: Manitoba Mines and Minerals Convention Winnipeg, MB, Canada November 20-22, 2013 1. East of Pembina Hills Assiniboine Mb., Favel Fm. Assiniboine Mb., Favel Fm. Assiniboine Mb., Favel Fm. . . . ostracod shells Photo courtesy of P. K. Pedersen upstream downstream 2. Ochre River Assiniboine Mb., Favel Fm. Morden Mb. Marco Calcarenite Assiniboine Mb. Assiniboine Mb. Quaternary sediments Quaternary sediments Photo courtesy of P. K. Pedersen upstream Photo courtesy of P. K. Pedersen upstream Inoceramus shell Photo courtesy of P. K. Pedersen downstream Photo courtesy of P. K. Pedersen 3. Vermilion River Belle Fourche Mb., Ashville Fm. Keld Mb., Favel Fm. Morden Mb., Carlile Fm Assiniboine Mb., Favel Fm. Assiniboine Mb. Keld Mb. Assiniboine Mb. Quaternary sediments Inoceramus shells upstream downstream downstream ichthyodectid fish fossils (possibly Xiphactinus) 4. Wilson River Assiniboine Mb. Keld Mb Belle Fourche Mb., Ashville Fm. Keld Mb., Favel Fm. X bentonite X bentonite Belle Fourche Mb. Assiniboine Mb. Keld Mb. ? Quaternary sediments downstream upstream 5. Sclater River Keld Mb. Assiniboine Mb. Laurier Limestone Assiniboine Mb. Keld Mb. Laurier Limestone Inoceramus shells Laurier Limestone Quaternary sediments Quaternary sediments 7. Swan River Assiniboine Mb., Favel Fm. Quaternary sediments 8. Little Woody River Keld Mb., Favel Fm. Quaternary sediments downstream Photo courtesy of P. K. Pedersen upstream Photo courtesy of P. K. Pedersen 6. East Favel River Assiniboine Mb., Favel Fm. Assiniboine Mb., Favel Fm. Marco Calcarenite, Assiniboine Mb. Morden Mb., Carlile Fm. burning shale vent Morden Mb., Carlile Fm. Quaternary sediments Quaternary sediments Quaternary sediments fish bone fragments 11-25-1-25W1 Assiniboine Mb. foraminifera (f) laminae and chalk-speckled ( c) shale f c 3-27-1-25W1 Keld Mb.
Transcript of Preliminary stratigraphic correlation of subsurface and ... · Figure 1: Stratigraphic column of...
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Preliminary stratigraphic correlation of subsurface and outcrop sections of the Favel Formation, southwestern Manitoba1 1 2by M.P.B. Nicolas , J.D. Bamburak and S. Hosseininejad
1Manitoba Geological Survey, Winnipeg, MB2Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB
Fossiliferous limestoneCarbonate bed
Fish bone bedBentonite bedForaminifera laminaeBivalve laminae
Missing core
Legend
upstream
downstream
2Ochre River
5Sclater River
6East Favel River
7Swan River
1east of
Pembina Hills
8Little Woody River
3Vermilion River
4Wilson River
south north
Gamma Ray Resistivity
arg
illa
ceo
us
mu
dst
on
eca
lca
reo
us
silt
ym
ud
sto
ne
calc
are
ou
s sa
nd
ym
ud
sto
ne
ma
ssiv
em
ud
sto
ne
470
475
480
485
490
495
500
505
mud silt vf f m c
Depth (m)
Lithology
Grain size
Stratigraphy
Fave
l F
orm
ation
Carlile
Form
atio
nA
shvi
lleF
orm
ation
Ass
inib
oin
e M
em
ber
Keld
Mem
ber
Mord
en M
em
ber
Belle
Fourc
he
Mem
ber
Marco Calcarenite
Well 3-27-1-25W1
K.B.= 476.0 m
Laurier LimestoneBeds
Manitou
Swan River
Dauphin
Virden
Waskada
Treherne
Portage la Prairie
RidingMountain
DuckMountain
PorcupineHills
PembinaHills
Morden
Brandon
Canada
United States
Barrows
Roblin
Ma
nit
ob
a
Sa
sk
atc
he
wa
n0
49
00
’W
0101 22’N
T2
T10
T20
T25
T35
T40
T45
R25W1 R15W1R20W1 R10W1 R5W1
LakeManitoba
Lake
Win
nip
eg
osis
T30
T15
T5
097 35’W
05
25
5’N
DauphinLake
0 50
kilometres
Location of outcrop with reference number
LEGEND
Location of well 3-27-1-25W1 reference core
1
1
2
34
567
8
Manitoba escarpment
Formation
Carlile
Favel
Ashville
Member
Morden
Assiniboine
Keld
Belle Fourche
Marker bed
X-bentonite
Laurier Limestone
Marco Calcarenite
unnamed calcarenite
The Upper Cretaceous Favel Formation (Figure 1) in Manitoba is a biogenic, gas-bearing, chalk-speckled, calcareous, sandy to silty mudstone, with abundant thin carbonate beds. This formation is exposed at various locations along the Manitoba escarpment (Figure 2), with the best sections located along the banks of incised river valleys. These outcrop sections were examined in the field, however, it was difficult to position these sections within the overall stratigraphic structure of the formation and its two members. It was decided that a complete core of the Favel Formation recovered from well 3-27-1-25W1 could be used as a reference section. Using a detailed core description, a preliminary correlation of outcrops was attempted to determine their stratigraphic positioning (Figure 3). The selected outcrop sections are located in ditches and along the banks of rivers, and include, from south to north:
1) east of the Pembina Hills; 2) Ochre River, 3) Vermilion River, 4) Wilson River, 5) Sclater River, 6) East Favel River, 7) Swan River, and 8) Little Woody River.
Stratigraphic positioning of the outcrops is important to better characterize the lateral variability of the Favel Formation in outcrop, as well as to help with long-range subsurface correlations where there is minimal core information available. It was found that the best way to correlate outcrop sections of the Favel Formation was to position the sections lithostratigraphically, based on lithology, relative to the reference subsurface section or other outcrop sections, while ignoring the thickness variability that can occur between outcrop and subsurface sections. The thickness variability of different intervals within the formation and the presence or absence of bentonite beds is due to changes in depositional conditions and synformational erosive events.(c.f. Nicolas et al., 2013)
The authors would like to thank P. Pedersen from the Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, for reviewing an earlier version of this paper, and gratefully acknowledge Centra Gas Manitoba Inc., a subsidiary of Manitoba Hydro, for their generous support of the Shallow Unconventional Shale Gas Project.
The Favel Formation is likely the best prospect as a shale gas resource for Manitoba. It is a thick section of gas-bearing silty and sandy mudstone equivalent to formations with proven gas production records in Saskatchewan and Alberta. In Manitoba, the rarity of core through this section makes it difficult to characterize the formation properly and best determine its true potential, despite the abundance of wireline geophysical information available. Correlation of subsurface information with outcrop information is the best tool available in Manitoba to better characterize the Favel Formation to determine its economic potential.(c.f. Nicolas et al., 2013)
Acknowledgments
Economic considerations
Summary
Figure 2: Digital elevation model map of southwestern Manitoba (United States Geological Survey, 2002) showing the location of the reference subsurface core (well 3-27-1-25W1) and representative outcrop sections of the Favel Formation (1, east of Pembina Hills; 2, Ochre River; 3, Vermilion River; 4, Wilson River; 5, Sclater River; 6, East Favel River; 7, Swan River; 8, Little Woody River).
Figure 3: Stratigraphic position of composite outcrop sections in the Favel Formation with respect to the subsurface reference log at well 3-27-1-25W1, southwestern Manitoba. Vertical scales of outcrop sections are approximate. Outcrop section photographs are shown throughout poster. Reference for sections: 1, 2, 4 (upstream), 6 and 7, from field observations by the authors; 3, composite of outcrop sections 80 and 81 in McNeil and Caldwell (1981); 4 (downstream), from outcrop section 65 in McNeil and Caldwell (1981); 5, composite of outcrop section 64 in McNeil and Caldwell (1981) and authors' field observations; 8, from outcrop section 42 in McNeil and Caldwell (1981). Abbreviations: K.B., kelly bushing; vf, very fine; f, fine; m; medium; c, coarse; Fm., formation; Mb., member.
Figure 1: Stratigraphic column of the part of the Cretaceous section in southwestern Manitoba, showing the positioning of prominent and important marker beds that aid in correlation.
ReferencesMcNeil, D.H. and Caldwell, W.G.E. 1981: Cretaceous rocks and their foraminifera in the Manitoba
Escarpment; Geological Association of Canada, Special Paper 21, 439 p.
Nicolas, M.P.B., Bamburak, J.D., and Hosseininehad, S. 2013; Preliminary stratigraphic correlation of subsurface and outcrop sections of the Favel Formation, southwestern Manitoba; in Report of Activities 2013, Manitoba Mineral Resources, Manitoba Geological Survey, p.
United States Geological Survey 2002: Shuttle radar topography mission, digital elevation model, Manitoba; United States Geological Survey, URL <ftp://edcsgs9.cr.usgs.gov/pub/data/srtm/>, portions of files N48W88W.hgt.zip through N60W102.hgt.zip, 1.5 Mb (variable), 90 m cell, zipped hgt format [Retrieved March 2003; dead link October 3, 2013].
This poster was presented at:
Manitoba Mines and Minerals ConventionWinnipeg, MB, CanadaNovember 20-22, 2013
1. East of Pembina Hills
Assiniboine Mb., Favel Fm.
Assiniboine Mb., Favel Fm.
Assiniboine Mb.,Favel Fm.
.
.
.
ostracod shells
Photo courtesy of P. K. Pedersen
upstream
downstream
2. Ochre River
Assiniboine Mb.,
Favel Fm.
Morden Mb.
Marco Calcarenite
Assiniboine Mb.
Assiniboine Mb.
Quaternarysediments
Quaternarysediments
Photo courtesy of P. K. Pedersen
upstream
Photo courtesy of P. K. Pedersen
upstream
Inoceramus shell
Photo courtesy of P. K. Pedersen
downstream
Photo courtesy of P. K. Pedersen
3. Vermilion River
Belle Fourche Mb.,
Ashville Fm.
Keld Mb.,
Favel Fm.
Morden Mb., Carlile Fm
Assiniboine Mb., Favel Fm.
Assiniboine Mb.
Keld Mb.
Assiniboine Mb.
Quaternarysediments
Inoceramus shells
upstream
downstreamdownstream
ichthyodectid fish fossils (possibly Xiphactinus)
4. Wilson River
Assiniboine Mb.
Keld Mb
Belle Fourche Mb., Ashville Fm.
Keld Mb., Favel Fm.
X bentoniteX bentoniteBelle Fourche Mb.
Assiniboine Mb.
Keld Mb.
?
Quaternarysediments
downstream
upstream
5. Sclater River
Keld Mb.
Assiniboine Mb.
Laurier Limestone
Assiniboine Mb.
Keld Mb. Laurier Limestone
Inoceramus shells
Laurier Limestone
Quaternary
sediments
Quaternarysediments
7. Swan River
Assiniboine Mb., Favel Fm.
Quaternary sediments
8. Little Woody River
Keld Mb., Favel Fm.
Quaternary sediments
downstream
Photo courtesy of P. K. Pedersen
upstream
Photo courtesy of P. K. Pedersen
6. East Favel River
Assiniboine Mb., Favel Fm.
Assiniboine Mb., Favel Fm.
Marco Calcarenite,Assiniboine Mb.
Morden Mb., Carlile Fm.
burning shale vent
Morden Mb.,Carlile Fm.
Quaternary sediments
Quaternary sediments
Quaternary sediments
fish bone fragments
11-25-1-25W1Assiniboine Mb.
foraminifera (f) laminae and chalk-speckled ( c) shale
f
c
3-27-1-25W1Keld Mb.
