31 Black Shale and Associated Strata: Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, and Paleontology

Tuesday, 19 April 2016
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Illinois Ballroom C

GEOCHEMICAL AND STABLE ISOTOPE COMPARISON OF NEW ALBANY SHALE GROUP SOURCE ROCKS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SHALE-GAS POTENTIAL ALONG THE WESTERN MARGIN OF THE ILLINOIS BASIN

Paper number: 31-7
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 3:30 PM – 3:50 PM

Authors

Abstract

Unconventional shale gas resources have been extracted from the Middle to Upper Devonian age black shales throughout the United States. In the Illinois Basin organic-rich black shales occur in the Devonian and Lowermost Mississippian age units which are called the New Albany Shale Group. As part of a USGS-STATEMAP project, two holes were drilled in central Calhoun and southwestern Greene counties in western Illinois on the margin of the Illinois Basin. Shale samples were collected from drill core (1-2’ intervals) in the Mississippian age Hannibal Shale, and the Devonian age Grassy Creek and Saverton formations. This study characterized the samples by measuring bulk total organic carbon (TOC), inorganic carbon, stable isotopes (organic δ13C), gamma, single-point resistivity, and major and trace elements. Geochemical and geophysical data of the Nutwood member of the Hannibal shale yielded comparable results to the local Devonian shale units, including a C3 terrestial plant source for organic carbon, elevated sedimentation rates, and potential for dry-gas maturation. The data suggest that economic shale-gas may be present in the Devonian age shales as well as the Mississippian age Nutwood Member of the Hannibal Shale in thermally mature portions of the Illinois Basin.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 48, No. 5

doi: 10.1130/abs/2016NC-275369

© Copyright 2016 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.