March/April Reservoir 2023

MAR/APR 2023 • ISSUE 2 • VOL 50

THE MAGAZINE OF CANADIAN ENERGY GEOSCIENTISTS

Reservoir cspg.org

In This Issue

MAR/APR 2023

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Letter from the Editor

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Go Take a Hike: Bear’s Hump, Waterton National Park, Alberta

12 Petrophysics in the Green Economy – Part 5: HYDROGEN: Natural and Manufactured 18 The (Forgotten?) Art of Geological Field Sketches 23 Trailblazer Award

CONFERENCES PAGE 31

GUSSOW 2023

24 The Red Head Aeolian Sandstones of the Upper Triassic Fundy Basin, Nova Scotia, Canada 30 Honorary Membership – Dr. Scott W. Tinker 32 Honorary Membership – Dr. A. Guy Plint 36 Geology in Motion: Accessing the Untapped Value of Satellite Imagery 40 The Blue View: Industry Trends Through Woodmac’s Lens

UPCOMING EVENTS PAGE 33

CORE CONFERENCE 2023

PAGES 34

2023 UPCOMING INFORMATION

DESERT LANDSCAPE, JORDAN. Orange Cambro-Ordovician sandstones, seen here at Wadi Rum in southernmost Jordan, comprise a vast sheet of mainly non-marine sediments that were derived from the continental interior to the south and extend across North Africa and Arabia. These same units host the famous Petra archeological site to the north. The locality, also known as the Valley of the Moon, contains ancient petroglyphs and has been the setting for many modern movie productions – both historical and science fiction. The wadi is filled with fluvial sediments that have been superficially reworked by aeolian processes. Scale is indicated by the group of 4WD vehicles at the foot of the cliffs in the centre. Photo by: Andrew Maill.

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FROM THE EDITOR SARAH SCHULTZ, TECHNICAL EDITOR FOR THE RESERVOIR

WELCOME... to the latest issue of the CEGA Reservoir! I am taking over this duty from Tom Sneddon and would like to thank him for his time served as Editor. Moving forward, I will be your go to rock-enthusiast to send all Reservoir related material to and I am looking forward to taking on this role. In this issue we have the continuation of some of our regular articles, with the addition of some new and upcoming material: •

E.R. Crain’s part 5 of the Petrophysics in the Green Economy series

•

Take a Hike visits the Bears Hump in Waterton National Park

•

Geology in Motion

We present the following technical articles: •

Dr. John Noad: The (forgotten?) art of geological sketches

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K. T. Martyns-Yellowe et al.: The Red Head aeolian sandstones of the Upper Triassic Fundy Basin, Nova Scotia, Canada

We would like to congratulate the following award winners: •

2022 Patricia J. Lee Trailblazer Award: Dr. Don Lawton and Kirk Osadetz

We present our first honorary memberships to: •

Dr. Scott W. Winkler

•

Dr. A. Guy Plint

Please remember to check out the CEGA website for up-to-date information on upcoming division talks, conferences, and technical webinars. Registration for the 2023 Core Conference and Geoconvention is now open. The Core Conference will take place on May 11th and 12th, while Geoconvention runs from May 15th to 17th. We hope to see many of you there. We look forward to continuing to receive your manuscripts for our remaining 2023 Reservoir Editions!

Sarah Schultz PUBLICATIONS INFORMATION The RESERVOIR is published 6 times per year by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists. The purpose of the RESERVOIR is to publicize the Society’s many activities and to promote the geosciences. We look for both technical and non-technical material to publish. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in part or in full without the consent of the publisher. No official endorsement or sponsorship by the CSPG

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is implied for any advertisement, insert, or article that appears in the RESERVOIR unless otherwise noted. All submitted materials are reviewed by the editor. We reserve the right to edit all submissions, including letters to the Editor. Submissions must include your name, address, and membership number (if applicable). The material contained in this publication is intended for informational use only. While reasonable care has been taken, authors and the CSPG make no guarantees that any of the equations,

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2023

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GO TAKE A HIKE

Bear’s Hump, Waterton National Park, Alberta Dallin Laycock, Clint Tippett, Philip Benham

Trailhead: The trailhead is located on the west side of Highway 5, across from the access road to the Prince of Wales Hotel. Distance: 2.4 km out-and-back. Moderate to challenging hike due to the rapid elevation gain. Average time to complete the hike is around 1-2 hours. Elevation Gain: 222 m

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ear’s Hump is a prominent bump on the southeast side of Mt. Crandell. It provides one of the most spectacular views of Waterton National Park. The name of Bear’s Hump was given as the shape of the summit resembles the hump behind a grizzly bear’s shoulders. This can be a very busy trail in the summer months, so a little planning can make for a more enjoyable experience. Some of the best times to climb are early in the morning and later in the evening. Locals are known to climb Bear’s Hump at night to partake in stargazing in some of southern Alberta’s darkest skies. The 2017 Kenow Wildfire devastated the park’s vegetation, drastically altering the appearance of Mt. Crandell. However, a silver lining of this fire is that the geology is more visible now than ever before. In addition, the Bear’s Hump Trail has been re-built to make it even more accessible.

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The geologic history of Waterton can be divided into 3 main phases: 1) Deposition of the Belt-Purcell Supergroup, 2) Mountain Building, and 3) Glaciation and subsequent surficial processes. Hiking Bear’s Hump is a great way to make observations about these different phases of development. The Belt-Purcell Supergroup was deposited approximately 1.45 Ga, and despite its great age, has not been metamorphosed. Bear’s Hump Trail stays within the light grey limestones of the Altyn Formation. Looking up toward the peak of Mt. Crandell, grey to tan outcrops of the Upper Altyn and Appekunny formations can be seen (Figure 2). FIGURE 1: Google Earth image of the Bear’s Hump Trail, highlighted in red. North is toward the top of the image.

Coloured dots indicated where images in this article were taken. FIGURE 2: Annotated photo of Mt. Crandell and Bear’s Hump, as seen from the Prince of Wales Hotel parking lot, showing approximate location of major thrusts, splay faults, and stratigraphic boundaries. FIGURE 3: Fold and thrust fault near the base of Bear’s Hump along Highway 5.

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Bear’s Hump is comprised of stacked thrust faults, resulting in thrust-repeated successions of Altyn Formation, bounded by Appekunny Formation at the top of Mt. Crandell and Altyn Formation at the base of Mt. Crandell (Figure 2). This deformation is the product of mountain building that started ~165 Ma, creating the Rocky Mountains (Mudge and Earhart, 1980). Thrusting along the Lewis Thrust is responsible for the deformation observed on this hike. The strata of the Belt-Purcell Supergroup were carried to the northeast on the Lewis Thrust for approximately 140 km, before reaching their final location approximately 58 Ma. Close inspection of the rocks along the trail show heavily deformed strata, commonly exhibiting vertical to overturned beds, folds, and faulting (Figures 3 and 4). Exploring the area on the top of Bear’s Hump is a particularly good place to examine the effects of structural deformation. Waterton is home to a classic example of a relationship that is common in thrusted rocks. This specifically relates to how overthrusts commonly distribute and redistribute the amount of their overlaps amongst their multiple splays or branches. In this case, two major detachments are involved (Figure 5). At the base is the main Lewis Thrust that carries Precambrian sedimentary rocks over much younger Cretaceous strata. It lies deep beneath the townsite of Waterton. Over a sizeable section along strike, a major subsidiary thrust diverges from the Lewis Thrust at depth and rises to the surface. This splay is the Mount Crandell Thrust. It takes up some of the overall shortening. The rock volume between these two primary thrusts is broken up into a series of smaller panels or imbricates that piggyback on each other like a multi-vehicle pile-up. One such stack-up is exposed in Bear’s Hump where the Altyn Formation is repeated multiple times (Figure 2). Such complex structures are called duplexes. They are characterized by a lower detachment (in this case the Lewis Thrust, an upper detachment (in this case the Mount Crandell Thrust) and a duplexed stack-up in-between. The

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FIGURE 4: Vertical bedding in the Altyn Formation near the top of Bear’s Hump.

main detachments in duplexes are often illustrated as being parallel to bedding but this is not always the case as shown in Waterton where both faults gradually cut up section in the direction of transport to the northeast. The Mount Crandell Thrust and its related splays gradually change in geometry to the north and to the south. From the top of Bear’s Hump one can look eastwards across Waterton Lakes to Vimy Peak where this thrust carries the light-coloured Altyn Formation

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FIGURE 5: Cross-section A-A’ showing stacked thrust faults on Mt. Crandell (modified from Douglas, 1952). Location shown on the map in Figure 13. Colors follow the legend in Figure 12.

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(on the skyline) up and over the green- and red-coloured Appekunny Formation in a fairly simple fashion on the middle slopes (Figure 6). The view from the top of Bear’s Hump allows for an overview of a variety of features, especially the geomorphological results of glaciation. These classic erosional and depositional structures were left as the glaciers last retreated ~15,000 years ago. To the southeast is Upper Waterton Lake, which is a large U-shaped glacial valley (Figure 7). The head of the lake extends around 4.5 km beyond the Canada-USA border, and the glacial valley extends

an additional 11 km to the south beyond the head of the lake. Between the bounding mountains are smaller U-shaped valleys in which smaller alpine glaciers connected to the larger one (Figure 7). Much of Waterton National Park and Glacier National Park consist of interconnected glacial valleys with associated U-shaped valleys, cirques, and tarns. The contrast between very old rocks and very young geomorphology adds to the intrigue of this landscape. Looking to the distant north, eskers and kettles of a glacial outwash plain can be observed. This outwash plain is home to

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FIGURE 6: Annotated photo of Vimy Peak as seen from the Prince of Wales Hotel near the Bear’s Hump trailhead, showing approximate location of major thrusts and unit boundaries (see Gordy et al., 1977).

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FIGURE 7: View from the top of Bear’s Hump, looking south along the length of Upper Waterton Lake. Major mountain peaks and other features are labelled. Red lines show position and generalized flow paths of nowmelted alpine glaciers.

FIGURE 8: Google Earth image of the central portion of Waterton National Park, with major glacial features annotated. Alluvial fans are outlined in green, glacial outwash plain in white, glacial kame terraces in blue, cordilleran tills in pink, and the general position and generalized flow paths of alpine glaciers shown with red arrows. The Lewis Thrust is traced in black (See Eyles et al., 2000), and is shown by a dashed line where the fault trace is buried. The yellow arrow shows the location of Bear’s Hump.

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FIGURE 9: View from the top of Bear’s Hump, looking towards the marina. The valley funnels wind to the north, as indicated by the white arrow. The resulting longshore drift has created a spit on the north side of the marina, parallel to a ridge of Altyn Formation across the lake.

the golf course and bison paddock. To the northeast, immediately under Bear’s Hump, is the Prince of Wales Hotel, which sits on a glacial kame (Figure 8). More recent features of deposition can also be observed from the vantage point atop Bear’s Hump. Looking to the west there are two large alluvial fans, one prograding to the southeast (The Blackiston Creek Alluvial Fan), and another prograding eastward (The Sofa Creek Alluvial Fan). These both grew into the Lake, eventually joining together to separate Middle and Lower Waterton lakes (Figure 8). The region between the lakes is referred to as the ‘Dardanelles’.

Looking to the southeast, another alluvial fan can be seen prograding eastward into Upper Waterton Lake, providing the substrate upon which the townsite is built. This fan is fed by Cameron Creek flowing southeast along the southwest flank of Mount Crandell (Figure 8). The valley directs wind to the north, resulting in consistently strong winds and large waves that rework the leading edge of this alluvial fan (Figure 9). Large boulders of Altyn Formation are visible near the base of the hike. These are the result of rockfalls from the cliffs of Mt. Crandell

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FIGURE 10: Large boulder of Altyn Formation that has fallen from Mt. Crandell. FIGURE 11: Weathering pits in the Altyn Formation on top of Bear’s Hump created by rainwater dissolution. FIGURE 12: Stratigraphic column for the Belt-Purcell Supergroup in the Waterton area (after Stockmal and Fallas, 2015). The colours and abbreviations reflect those on the geological map in Figure 13 and crosssection in Figure 5.

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FIGURE 13: Geological map of the region around Bear’s Hump. The location of Bear’s Hump is shown with the red and white star. Cross-section A to A’ is shown in Figure 5. Modified from Stockmal and Fallas, 2015. Compare with the satellite image in Figure 8.

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(Figure 10). These provide relatively fresh surfaces to examine the sandy dolomite lithology of the Altyn Formation. In contrast to these fresh surfaces, the top of Bear’s Hump shows heavily weathered exposures of these dolomites, resembling the top of a merengue pie (Figure 11). This texture can be described as small clints and grykes. These form when interactions of atmosphere, groundwater, and vegetation create carbonic acid that dissolve the rock. From these small-scale features to large mountains, this short hike contains enough geology to keep geologists coming back year after year. Historical Note: The challenge for geological interpretation in Waterton is that the complicated thrust structures are intersected by an equally complicated pattern of topographical relief (Figure 13). This has produced some interesting geometries that require considerable three-dimensional thinking to unravel. Robert (Bob) Douglas was a geologist who worked for the Geological Survey of Canada in the Rocky Mountains during the 1950s. Douglas mapped the Waterton region and recognized the interplay between the Lewis Thrust and the Mount Crandell Thrust including the intervening duplex (Douglas, 1952). As a reflection of Douglas’s many contributions to Canadian geology, the CSPG has named one of its major annually-presented scientific awards in his honour.

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS: Douglas, R. J. W., 1952; Preliminary map of Waterton; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 52-10. Gordy, P. L., Frey, F. R., and Norris, D. K. (eds.), 1977; Geological guide for the CSPG 1977 Waterton-Glacier Park Field Conference; 93 p. Horodyski, R. J., 1982; Problematic bedding-plane markings from the Middle Proterozoic Appekunny Formation, Belt Supergroup, northwestern Montana; Journal of Paleontology, v. 56, p. 882-889. Lebel, D., Douglas, R. J. W., and Norris, D. K., 1994; Geology, Waterton Lakes, Alberta; Geological Survey of Canada Open File 2855, 1 sheet; https://doi.org/10.4095/203331. Leckie, D., 2021; The scenic geology of Alberta – a roadside touring and hiking guide; 221 p. Mudge, M.R., and Earhart, R, L., 1980; The Lewis thrust fault and related structures in the Disturbed Belt, northwestern Montana. Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 81, p. 377-392. Pratt, B., 1994; Seismites in the Mesoproterozoic Altyn Formation (Belt Supergroup), Montana: A test for tectonic control of peritidal carbonate cyclicity; Geology, v. 22, no. 10; https://doi.org/10.1130/00917613(1994)022%3C1091:SITMAF%3E2.3.CO;2. Stockmal, G. S. and Fallas, K. M., 2015; Geology, Chinook South, Alberta – British Columbia; Geological Survey of Canada Open File 7476, 48 p., 1 sheet; https://doi.org/10.4095/297169.

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Petrophysics in the Green Economy

PART 5

HYDROGEN: Natural and Manufactured E.R. CRAIN, P.ENG.

INTRODUCTION Hydrogen is the smallest and lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a diatomic gas (H2). It is colorless, odourless, tasteless, non-toxic, and highly combustible, creating water (H2O) when burned. Hydrogen can be separated from water by electrolysis and from methane by pyrolysis or steam reforming.

There is one known example, in Mali, of naturally occurring hydrogen in a geologic setting. It is a small accumulation but is revolutionizing geological thought on possible sources of natural hydrogen. Dozens of hydrogen seeps are known around the World – some of these may prove to be more than just curiosities. Most of the hydrogen on Earth exists in water and organic compounds, and in hydrides inside the Earth. Known occurrences of natural hydrogen are rare, partly because we haven’t looked very carefully, due to preconceived opinions that are now known to be incorrect. Major uses of hydrogen are making ammonia, upgrading bitumen and heavy oil, and removal of sulphur from liquid petroleum, industrial and agricultural chemicals, as well as food processing. A new era of hydrogen powered aircraft, railway locomotives, ships, and ground transport is being led by

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innovative entrepreneurs and both large and small business ventures. So far, very tiny steps forward on a very, very long road to the “Hydrogen Economy” – think year 2050 or beyond. The virtue of such a fuel is that the exhaust is water (and maybe some NOx), instead of CO2, which contributes to climate change. There are many unresolved technical and practical issues, not the least of which is what to do with all that water in cold weather. Hydrogen has the potential to assist the global race for decarbonization. Stay tuned! To produce enough Green Hydrogen to displace fossil fuels, we need to increase renewable electrical energy output by a factor of 1000, probably much more. And drill and complete unknown thousands of deep water wells, plus build a desalinization plant for each electrolysis plant. Why? Because most of the fresh water needed for electrolysis is already allocated for human and agricultural use.

FIGURE 1: The Colours of Hydrogen: green if produced from 100% renewables; black, brown, or grey if coal or methane is used; blue if CCS is added, gold or white if source is naturally occurring. (Image from World Economic Forum, from 2022 talk by Emanuele Taibi)

HOW H2 FUEL CELLS WORK

FIGURE 2: The Green Hydrogen Transition

Through an electrochemical reaction, fuel cells produce electricity and heat as long as fuel is supplied. A fuel cell consists of a negative electrode (anode) and a positive electrode (cathode) sandwiched around an electrolyte. The hydrogen fuel is fed to the anode, and air is fed to the cathode. A platinum catalyst at the anode separates hydrogen molecules into protons and electrons. The electrons go through an external circuit to the cathode, creating a flow of electricity. The protons migrate through the electrolyte to the cathode, where they unite with oxygen and the electrons to produce water and heat. Anode reaction: 2H2 + 2O2− —> 2H2O + 4e. Cathode reaction: O2 + 4e− —> 2O. Overall cell reaction: 2H2 + O2 —> 2H2O.

(Image courtesy International Renewable Energy Agency)

It might be better to electrify transport and use heat pumps for HVAC and avoid the H2 middleman. This leaves about 40% of current carbon emissions to be fixed – the carbon-heavy industrial heartland to decarbonize with Green Hydrogen. As hydrogen technology improves, the timing might just work out for all those year 2050 targets that governments have made.

PETROPHYSICAL ANALYSIS IN HYDROGEN BEARING ROCKS Petrophysical analysis in a hydrogen accumulation is truly difficult, unconventional, and still open to improvement.

Natural hydrogen gas accumulations do not behave on well logs in the same way as methane gas reservoirs. Hydrogen gas does not exhibit high resistivity like a methane gas zone. This phenomenon is not fully understood but may be related to ionization of H2 in the water in the rock. When a hydrogen atom dissolves in aqueous solution, it ionizes into H+ (a proton) and H- (an electron). Protons cannot live in isolation and immediately hook up to a water molecule, creating the ion H3O+, called hydronium. As the protons are used up, more hydrogen can be dissolved and more hydronium is created. H3O+ ions are conductive, similar to other Group 1 elements, such as sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+). As a result, conventional water saturation equations make hydrogen zones look like water zones.

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Hydrogen does not produce density neutron crossover (gas effect). Instead, H2 shows up as if the zone were shale or heavy minerals – high neutron porosity from higher hydrogen index (HI) with slightly high density porosity, giving density neutron separation instead of crossover. The gamma ray can usually distinguish if it is shale or non-shale rock. When methane co-exists with hydrogen, open hole logs behave more like they would in conventional gas zones. Detailed sample descriptions are critical in determining the actual mineralogy, since standard 2- and 3-mineral models are unlikely to behave well in an H2 zone. Multi-mineral models might work, but the petrophysical properties of H3O+ are as yet unknown. Hydrogen can be seen on the mud log C1 gas curve and as a temperature log anomaly which shows the hydrogen accumulation as a gas cooling effect compared to geothermal trends.

Natural Hydrogen From GEOLOGIC ACCUMULATIONS Conventional literature says that hydrogen gas does not occur naturally in convenient accumulations like oil and natural gas reservoirs, because the small molecules could escape too easily. This is not the case, as a hydrogen accumulation is being exploited in the region of Bourakebougou in Mali, producing electricity for the local village. Tested in 2012 from a capped wellbore machine-drilled for water in 1987, natural hydrogen flowed from below the plastic casing cemented to the bottom of the wellbore. Analysis of this shallow GazBougou1 discovery well confirmed H2 gas at a concentration of 98% purity, with traces of methane, and nitrogen. This is the purest naturally occurring hydrogen ever discovered.

Fracture intensity, formation dip, and depositional environment can be determined from resistivity image logs. Reservoir seal integrity is critical due to the small size of the H2 molecule, which can leak through almost any trap that would contain CH4, CO2, N2, or He. The best possible seals are lava flows and evaporites. You still need a stratigraphic or structural trap, otherwise the H2 will “just keep on a-movin’ ”. New and evolving technology may help. One possibility is the fast neutron cross section measurement (FNSX). Low density CH4 and CO2 have very low FNXS values, as well as low SIGMA values, compared to water, heavier hydrocarbons, and rock minerals. A direct calculation of gas saturation might be possible in these cases. The FNXS and SIGMA values for H2 and H3O+ in an accumulation setting are currently unknown, so we will wait and see what develops. Elemental yields from a slim hole induced gamma ray spectroscopy log (e.g. Schlumberger Pulsar log) might resolve the presence of hydrogen or hydronium-ions. It should be possible to tune the element to mineral transform to include H2 and H3O+ in the allowed “mineral” list. It has also been observed in ROKE Quad Neutron logging that the borehole resistivity measurement correlates with the Mudlog H2 signal. One pass with this slim hole logging tool is all that is needed to identify a hydrogen gas accumulation.

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FIGURE 3: Stratigraphic sequence of Mali natural hydrogen discovery (Ref 1)

Further exploratory wells were drilled long after the first two stratigraphic holes F1 and F2 had their cores studied to begin defining the regional geological model for H2. Mali’s natural hydrogen is gathered in 5 rock layers, trapped by subsurface lava flows. Deep, medium, and shallow sources are believed to be at work to periodically refresh the accumulations of geologic hydrogen. There are at least 7 possible mechanisms for the generation of hydrogen discussed in the reference paper. There are many challenges in defining hydrogen system logic, so there are still many unknowns. This is where petrophysics comes to the rescue. Take a peek under the rug and see what might be waiting below all those volcanics you drilled through over the last 70 years. No, it won’t be easy, as you probably will need faults to the basement and fractures, where well logs can help there too.

FIGURE 4: Seismic cross-section of Mali natural hydrogen discovery showing “flower structure” (Ref 1)

It’s time for a paradigm shift for hydrogen! Some scientists believe geologic hydrogen gas produced in Mali will continue for thousands of years, sustainably decarbonising the local community (even though they did not have much of a carbon footprint to begin with). This is highly speculative as it may have taken millions of years for the gas to accumulate.

MANUFACTURED HYDROGEN There are over 200 chemical reactions that can produce hydrogen, some dating back 150 years or so. None could be considered “Green”. About 48% of commercial bulk hydrogen is produced by the Steam Reforming Method (SRM), using natural gas as a feedstock, with CO2 released to the atmosphere, or with carbon capture and storage (CCS) to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Other sources of H2 are from by-products of the manufacture of ammonia, methanol, and other industrial chemicals, plus electrolysis of water or pyrolysis of methane.

HYDROGEN PRODUCTION FROM METHANE USING STEAM REFORMING The most common method is reacting water, in the form of superheated steam (700 – 1100 C), with methane to form carbon monoxide, which in turn causes the removal of hydrogen from the methane. The water vapor is then reacted with the carbon monoxide to oxidize it to carbon dioxide, turning the water into hydrogen. The process is called Steam Reforming, also known as the Bosch process. The chemistry is: 1: CH4 + H2O —> CO + 3 H2 2: CO + H2O —> CO2 + H2

This reaction is favoured at low pressures but is usually conducted at high pressures (2.0 MPa). This is because high pressure H2 is the most marketable product, and pressure swing adsorption (PSA) purification systems work better at higher pressures. The product mixture is known as “synthesis gas” because it is often used directly for the production of methanol and related compounds.

HYDROGEN PRODUCTION FROM ELECTROLYSIS OF WATER When a direct current is run through water, oxygen forms at the anode (+) while hydrogen forms at the cathode (-). Typically the cathode is made from platinum or another inert metal. While this is a proven technology, it supplies only 5% of the World’s demand for hydrogen. The method presumes that an adequate supply of unallocated fresh water, (or desalinated sea water or medium depth oilfield brine) and a source of unallocated electricity can be found. In many areas, fresh water is already in short supply and additional draws on surface or near surface water may be impossible. Deeper sources may also be restricted. See “Water Well Analysis” in Chapter 18, Green Economy Petrophysics, to learn how to locate potential underground sources of water. The chemistry for electrolysis is pretty simple: 3: 2 H2O + electricity —> 2 H2 + O2 + heat Theoretical efficiency (electricity used vs. energetic value of hydrogen produced) is between 88 to 94% with no impurities in the water, much less if desalinization is needed. Energy costs of compression, storage, and transportation to market are also not included.

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HYDROGEN PRODUCTION FROM METHANE PYROLYSIS Natural gas (methane) pyrolysis is a onestep process that produces no greenhouse gases. Developing volume production using this method is the key to enabling faster carbon reduction by using hydrogen in industrial processes, fuel cell electric heavy truck transportation, and in gas turbine electric power generation. Pyrolysis is achieved by having methane (CH4) bubbled up through a molten metal catalyst containing dissolved nickel at 1,070 C. This causes the methane to break down into hydrogen gas and solid carbon, with no other by-products (except those from maintaining the reactor at the high temperature required). The chemistry is deceptively simple, but implementation is tricky. 4: CH4 + heat + catalyst —> C + 2 H2 The industrial-quality solid carbon may be sold as manufacturing feedstock or permanently landfilled; it is not released into the atmosphere and there is no ground water pollution in the landfill. Methane pyrolysis is in development and considered suitable for commercial bulk hydrogen production, assuming low-cost methane is available as both feedstock and heat source. Further research continues in several laboratories and at least one pilot project.

FIGURE 5: Well log from typical Mali natural hydrogen discovery area (Ref 1)

NATIVE HYDROGEN FROM SERPENTINIZATION REACTIONS The hydrogen in the Mali example may have come from a deep source from mantle degassing, a moderate depth source from rock crushing in faults, or a shallow source from chemical serpentinization. Serpentinization is a form of low temperature metamorphism driven largely by hydration and oxidation of olivine and pyroxene, creating serpentine minerals brucite, and magnetite. Under the unusual chemical conditions accompanying serpentinization, water is the oxidizing agent, and is itself reduced to hydrogen. This leads to further reactions that produce rare iron group native element minerals, such as awaruite and native iron, methane, and other hydrocarbon compounds, and hydrogen sulphide. During serpentinization, large amounts of water are absorbed into the rock perhaps during intense rainy seasons, increasing the volume, reducing the density and destroying the original

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rock structure. The density changes from 3.3 to 2.5 gm/cc with a concurrent volume increase on the order of 30 to 40%. The reaction is highly exothermic and rock temperatures can be raised by about 260°C, providing an energy source for the formation of non-volcanic hydrothermal vents. Hydrogen is produced during the process of serpentinization. In this process, water protons (H+) are reduced by ferrous (Fe2+) ions provided by fayalite (Fe2SiO4). The reaction forms magnetite (Fe3O4), quartz (SiO2), and hydrogen (H2). 5: 3 Fe2SiO4 + 2 H2O —> 2 Fe3O4 + 3 SiO2 + 3 H2 + heat fayalite + water —> magnetite + quartz + hydrogen Laboratory studies of serpentinization at high temperature and pressure show how methane could be produced, lending some credence to deep-seated gas and oil generation and migration.

6: 18 Mg2SiO4 + 6 Fe2SiO4 + 26 H2O + CO2 —> 12 Mg3Si2O5(OH)4 +4 Fe3O4 + CH4 forsterite + fayalite + water + carbon dioxide —> serpentine + magnetite + methane My grade 9 chemistry class didn’t get much past 2H2 + O2 —> 2 H2O, but equation 6 looks OK to me. Ocean seeps show both hydrogen and methane emissions. We just have to find them on land, complete with a hydrogen accumulation, as in the Mali example. There are more than 100 published reports of natural hydrogen seeps on land in a dozen countries, treated as curiosities across many years. Maybe they will lead to a new industry, just as the oil seeps of antiquity did. (Reference: Wikipedia)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Thanks to Denis Briere of Chapman Petroleum Engineering Ltd for contributing information and suggestions for this article, including illustrations in Figures 3, 4, and 5.

REFERENCES 1. On generating a geological model for hydrogen gas in the southern Taoudeni Megabasin, Bourakebougou area, Mali” ACS Letters, 12 June 2016 Denis Briere and Tomasz Jerzykiewicz, https://doi.org/10.1190/ice2016-6312821.1 2. Hydrogen and Hydronium, Chem-Libre, 2022 https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/ General_Chemistry/Book%3A_ChemPRIME_ (Moore_et_al.)/11%3A_Reactions_in_Aqueous_ Solutions/11.05%3A_Hydrogen_and_Hydroxide_ Ions 3. Hydrogen Technical Data, Production Methods, Serpentinization Various Wikipedia pages

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The (Forgotten?) Art of Geological Field Sketches Jon Noad, Stantec Consulting, University of Adelaide

INTRODUCTION The use of geological field sketches to illustrate geological concepts dates back further than geology itself. However, in recent times the digital camera seems to have dealt a blow to the art. However, a properly executed field sketch can often be superior to a photograph. First and foremost it can highlight the geological aspects of an outcrop in a way that a photograph seldom can. Many significant surfaces do not stand out when viewed, despite their importance geologically. Secondly a sketch allows a viewpoint that may not be possible to achieve in actuality, such as a bird’s eye view of an outcrop. The sketch can be drawn in a notebook and worked on until the illustrator is completely happy, proving the old adage that the geologist’s most useful tool is his or her eraser. Finally, drawing the outcrop in a notebook allows geologists to add as many notes as they choose, which are then preserved in a location that is easy to find when compared to thousands of digital photos.

FIGURE

1

A field sketch completed in the Pyrenees. It is not great, but still shows outcrops, bedding, interpreted structural geology and gives an overall feel for the setting.

In this “how to” guide, we will begin by introducing some basic categories of field sketches. The second part of the article explores how to capture some basic shapes: rocks, mountains, water and trees, focusing on developing simple shading techniques. There is no substitute for getting in lots of drawing practice, which can start at home using your CSPG calendar or other geological images from your digital camera (or the internet) as subjects. When starting a sketch, first examine what you are drawing. Where are the dark shades and the pale colours? Secondly, draw in the boundaries of the main blocks of colour and contrasting shades. Use the span of your outstretched hand to compare the

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apparent sizes of objects that are near and far away. Then fill in these colour and shade blocks using basic shading techniques (see Drawing Key Elements below). Your sketch does not have to be complex; what you leave out is just as important as what you put in, especially when highlighting geological features at the expense of irrelevant background detail. Table 1 provides hints and tips to help you produce better field sketches. Remember that anyone can draw. Start off with a few lines to capture the basic set up and then populate this template, using shading to bring out contrasts rather than simply drawing more lines.

TYPES OF FIELD SKETCHES There are six main types of field sketches, all of which can be used to highlight features that often blend into the background in a photograph. These include structural, stratigraphic, sedimentary structures, cyclicity, fossils, and non geological sketches. You can probably come up with a few more categories.

STRUCTURAL Annotated sketches are probably most useful in displaying structural data. They allow the positions and character of faults and folds to be overlain on the outcrop. The view of Banff shows the mountains, but an annotated field sketch provides key details of the thrusts that create the topography. Another example below where a sketch brings out the structural features. The line marks centre line between two pages.

FIGURE

FIGURE

2

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3 SEDIMENTARY

STRATIGRAPHIC

This sketch shows Jurassic scroll bars exposed on a wavecut platform. The structures are difficult to view in outcrop due to a lack of contrast but easily highlighted on a sketch.

Field sketches allow the geologist to append the stratigraphy to the outcrop in a very simple way. This view of the Grand Canyon includes information on the Formations exposed.

FIGURE

4

INTERPRETATION Three images of an outcrop in Dinosaur Provincial Park. The first is a photomontage, the second shows a summary of the facies and the third is a sketch highlighting the sedimentary structures.

OTHER SKETCHES You can sketch anything, but natural beauty and wildlife help to bring your field notebook to life. You will find that drawing forces you to observe everything from the shape of clouds, bed thicknesses, how animals’ legs work and so much more. Some examples are shown below.

Fossils come in all shapes and sizes. Shading is the key to give them threedimensionality. The Jurassic tree was sketched at Banff Traffic Circle. FIGURE

5

Landscapes and wildlife can be challenging to draw but are rewarding when you capture a likeness.

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DRAWING KEY ELEMENTS Several objects come up time after time when creating geological field sketches. These include rocks (surprise!), mountains, water and foliage of various kinds. Practice drawing these objects in a simple yet effective way. Often you will not have much time in the field to nail down the details, so concentrate on getting the “feel” right. Shading is usually key to getting these objects right.

In addition to these common objects, improving your representations of skies and clouds will help to bring your sketches to life. Learn about different types of clouds. Note that skies are lighter at the horizon and darken upward. Use wispy clouds where possible, to avoid drawing too much attention to them, and try to avoid hard edges. You can try shading, blending and erasing to pick out clouds. Remember that clouds may also be darker than the surrounding skies.

FIGURE ROCKS: begin with the outlines and add shading. Indicate the direction of a plane by the orientation of the shading lines. Imagine the direction that a raindrop would take across the surfaces. Next identify and add light and dark wedges, then add cracks as dark lines that follow the planes. Finally add the shadows created by the rocks.

FIGURE

6

WATER: the best place to start is by observing. What is dark and what is light? Use a side to side rocking motion with your pencil to create the impression of water. Reflections are critical to achieving a realistic water surface, as are points of light in the water. Consider what is at the bottom of streams, and that water flows over objects. All streams and lakes have dark, murky areas. Waves also need observations of shades.

7 MOUNTAINS: are typically represented by inverted Vs, while rolling hills use curved lines. Bring ridges out from the peaks, and add secondary detail to give the mountains more depth. Use sharply jagged lines to create snow caps or high grass lines. Draw rocks in the foreground to create contrast. Add trees as tiny, jagged triangles to help define scale. Shadows are very important to help to show the rugged nature of the topography, and can be achieved using basic hatching, spaced more closely for deeper shadows

TREES: establish a basic organic shape for the leaves, drawing in a trunk split into a couple of branches and outlining the whole thing in marker before adding smaller details. Look for the underlying shape of a tree. Is it a ball, a triangle, an ice cream cone or even a playing card club? Draw branches that taper as they reach the edges of the tree. Make the lines ragged. Make the branches diverge from the trunk in steps. Erase branches to show a tree in summer. Outline spaces in the foliage and use shadows to help to give a 3-D appearance. Use scribble, dots or shading to suggest leaves.

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CONCLUSIONS Field sketches are an incredibly useful tool for the geologist. You can capture far more data than you can in a photograph, and then use your sketch to explain concepts. I add annotated field drawings to many presentations and reports. You do not have to be an artist to collect basic data and display it in your notebook, but practice will be rewarded with better sketches. Reading basic art guides can also help to hone your skills. Observe light and shadow with an uncritical eye before starting to sketch. You will be surprised that water can range from white or almost black in colour, as can rocks and clouds. Getting the shading right, with approximately the right proportions, is a great start. There is no truer phrase in geology than saying that “a field sketch is worth a thousand words”.

TABLE

1

Ten top tips to help you to maximise the value of your field sketches. There is no substitute for solid practice. When drawing your thumbnail sketch, be aware of how the different elements in your sketch relate to one another – which point at the base of your drawing lines up with the highest peak, etc? Most importantly, draw freely and don’t worry about the outcome. No one is judging you except you.

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Technique

Comments

Hand position

Try not to rest your hand or palm on the paper, as your pencil lines will smudge. Use a fixative spray on completed sketches once back at home

What pencil to use

Ideally use a 0.5 HB propelling pencil, and a 2B pencil for shading

The importance of a thumbnail sketch

This will ensure a balanced sketch, and make you aware of potential challenges to completing a useful rendition of the geology

The use of colour values

Use three shades in your thumbnail, and a maximum of ten shades in your composition

The use of perspective

If possible, decide on a focal point (and vanishing point) for the sketch, in order to draw the viewer’s eye to the key elements. Things nearer to the viewer should be drawn in more detail

Drawing to scale

Many laymen must have wondered why artists hold up their brushes at arm’s length. The answer is to ensure that different elements of the field sketch are to scale.

Shading

Different shading techniques for different situations: line art, block shading and the use of shadow

Experiment with different styles

You will be surprised at the impact of applying elements of differing art styles, such as Japanese, Medieval, etc.

Annotations

Feel free to write on your sketch, and to use arrows to point to details or to tie text to parts of the drawing

Review your sketch

Does it show what you wanted. If not, why not? Start again using a different approach as an experiment

TRAILBLAZER AWARD The 2022 CSPG Patricia J. Lee Trailblazer Award goes to Don Lawton and Kirk Osadetz, who are deserving winners for their ground-breaking advances in our understanding of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) over the last two decades.

Don Lawton

Kirk Osadetz in Southern Alberta. Kirk Osadetz (Programs Development Manager at CMC) has helped to develop it into an international research and commercialization hub for CCS technologies. This site is now internationally recognized for its research on CCS monitoring. Here, small start-ups, large oil and gas companies, government entities and research groups collaborate to advance CCS monitoring and greenhouse gas emissions reduction technologies. The CMC-CaMI Joint Industry Partnership, now supported by 16 companies, has enabled cutting-edge research to be developed and scaled up to impact emissions management and monitoring.

They are key leaders at Carbon Management Canada (CMC), where they support projects to (1) improve understanding of geological storage of CO2, and (2) allow industry to compete and be responsive to the challenge of carbon abatement through CCS. Don and Kirk are well-known experts in CCS/ CCUS and have tirelessly worked to expand the usage of these technologies to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. CMC is a national, non-profit organization with roots deep in research and technology development that has supported 155 researchers and over 200 graduate students and postdocs. Today, the work of this community is contributing to the explosion of growth in CCS projects across Canada.

Dr. Lawton and Mr. Osadetz have also made noteworthy contributions to public policy and government regulations around CCS and emissions management frameworks provincially and federally, such as the CCS Regulatory Framework Assessment in Alberta.

In 2013, Don Lawton, Scientific Director of CMC and Professor Emeritus at the University of Calgary, started the Containment and Monitoring Institute Field Research Station (CaMI FRS)

The CSEG Recorder’s most recent issue has an article highlighting the CMC team’s work at the Field Research Station. LINK

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The Red Head Aeolian Sandstones of the Upper Triassic Fundy Basin, Nova Scotia, Canada K.T. Martyns-Yellowe1*, G.D Wach1, R.l. Silva1, 2, D.E Brown1, D.E. O’connor1, T.B. Kelly1 & Y. A. Kettanah1

ABSTRACT Triassic aeolian sandstone formations in various parts of the world have been reported to be prolific hydrocarbon reservoirs from which oil and gas have been produced (e.g Ormskirk Sandstone Formation, Sherwood Sandstone Group). In the Fundy Group of the Newark Supergroup, aeolian sandstones of the Fundy Basin comprises well sorted, red, quartzose aeolian sandstone characterized by very large to small scale sedimentary features. In the Minas subbasin, Nova Scotia, the Late Triassic Red Head Sandstone (RHS) is a remarkably well preserved section of aeolian strata in the Northern Segment of the Eastern North American Margin, at the type section at Red Head Point. The aeolian sandstone was deposited in an arid to semi-arid environment with its sediments sourced from a combination of alluvial and fluvial depositional means. In this study, we integrate a combination of outcrop sedimentological descriptions with petrographic and geochemical data to examine the stratigraphy, sedimentology, provenance and reservoir characteristics of the RHS.

Figure 1: Geologic map of Nova Scotia showing our study area of the Minas Subbasin (Red box). Also, the Avalon and Meguma terranes are juxtaposed along the Minas Fracture Zone, a zone of movement along pre-existing basement structure with arrows showing the major sinistral strike slip trend (figure modified from Keppie, 2000).

1. INTRODUCTION The Late Triassic Red Head Sandstone (RHS) is a well sorted, red, quartzitic sandstone characterized by very large to small scale sedimentary features. At its type section located on the northern shore of the Minas subbasin, Nova Scotia, at Red Head Point (Figure 1; Figure 2), the aeolian sandstone comprises approximately 33 m of red sandstones interpreted as deposited under primarily aeolian conditions within arid to semi-arid environments (Hubbert & Mertz, 1980, 1984; Mertz,1980; Mertz Jr. & Karl A., 1980; Olsen & Hubert, 1981; Nadon & Middleton, 1984; Martyns-Yellowe, 2015). The study location is unique as the outcrop presents a threewalled amphitheatre that allows for a near complete internal 3D visualization of the sandstone unit. Similar to the trend recorded in Mesozoic rift basins along the Eastern North American Margin (Withjack et al., 1995, 1998, 2009, 2012), the deposition of aeolian sandstones at Five Islands (Figure

2) marks the transition between Carnian-age alluvial and fluvial sedimentation of the Wolfville Formation and Norian to Rhaetian-age lacustrine sedimentation of the Blomidon Formation in the Fundy Basin, Nova scotia (Fowell & Traverse 1995; Olsen et al. 1989). The aeolian sandstones are interbedded with fluvial sandstones and playa redbeds (Olsen & Et-Touhami, 2008; O’Connor, 2016; Leleu et al., 2009, 2016; Leleu & Hartley, 2010) and represents the Upper Triassic transition between the fluvial/alluvial Wolfville Formation and playa lacustrine Blomidon Formation. The preserved stratigraphic architecture and depositional mechanism of the sandstone unit are attributed to winds similar to those of ancient and modern desert environments (Hubbert & Mertz, 1980, 1984; Mertz,1980; Mertz Jr. & Karl A., 1980; Olsen & Hubert, 1981; Leleu et al., 2009, 2016; Leleu & Hartley, 2010; Martyns-Yellowe, 2015; O’Connor, 2016). Outcrop observations

1 Basin and Reservoir Lab, Earth and Environmental Science Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. 2 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

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Figure 2: An aerial photograph showing the distribution of the key formations in the area along the northern shore of the Minas Subbasin. The red oval represents the location of our study section at Five Islands.

of the RHS type section shows a generally complex cross-strata configuration comprising facies associations including sand sheets, dune and interdune deposits with cross bed orientations consistent with deposition by prevailing north easterly winds (Mertz,1980; Hubbert & Mertz, 1980, 1984; Mertz Jr. & Karl A., 1980; Olsen & Hubert, 1981; Martyns-Yellowe, 2015).

2. BACKGROUND AND GEOLOGIC SETTING Located on the northern part of the central rift segment, the Fundy Basin is one of the rift basins of the eastern North American rift system that resulted from Mesozoic extension and break-up of the Pangaea supercontinent in the Middle Triassic (Withjack et al. 1995; Olsen 1997). The basin covers an area of approximately 16500 km2, containing about 6 -12 Km of non-marine clastic sediments of Anisian to basal Hettangian-age and theolitic basalt

flows of Middle Triassic to Early Jurassic age within the Newark Supergroup (Klein, 1962; Withjack et al., 1995; Wade et al.1996; Olsen 1997). The Fundy Basin comprises three contiguous structural components (Fundy, Minas, and Chignecto subbasins) all bounded by faults south of the Minas Fracture Zone (Olsen et al., 1989; Figure 1 and Figure 3). The large-scale segmentation of the border fault zone was responsible for the formation of these structural components (Olsen & Schlishe, 1990; Schlische, 1993) with the NE-striking border normal faults bounding the Chignecto and Fundy subbasins to the northwest. The east trending Minas subbasin is bounded by a series of normal, strike-slip, and oblique slip faults of the Minas Fracture Zone to the north (Keppie, 1982; Olsen & Schlishe, 1990; Withjack et al., 1995). According to Withjack et al. (1995, 1998), the Minas Fracture Zone played a role in the deposition of continental sediments at various stages of the evolution of the Minas subbasin. With a sedimentary thickness of 1050 m, a two-stage stratigraphic relationship exists in the Minas subbasin comprising upto 800 m of the Wolfville Formation and 250 m thick of the Blomidon Formation (Leleu & Hartley, 2010; Figure 4). Alluvial plain deposits of Carnian to Norian age make up the main body of the Wolfville Formation (Hubert & Florenza, 1988; Olsen, 1988; Figure 4), which are the oldest sediments in the Fundy Basin. The formation rests unconformably on Paleozoic metasedimentary strata of the Horton Bluff Formation (Hubert & Florenza, 1988). The Wolfville Formation comprises red to brown, coarse to fine grained sandstone, orange pebbly sandstone, conglomerates, and a few shale interbeds typical of alluvial, braided river deposits in a semiarid climate (Klein 1962; Hubbert & Florenza 1988; Leleu et al. 2009; Wach et al. 2011). The formation is exposed on both sides of the Minas subbasin.

Figure 3: Map of the Fundy Basin showing the three contiguous components (Fundy Subbasin, Minas Subbasin and the Chignecto Subbasin). The major bounding Minas Fracture Zone shows a sinistral strike-slip motion (Modified from Schlische, 1993).

The Blomidon Formation occurs stratigraphically above RHS and the Wolfville Formation (Figure 4) and is approximately 220m thick comprising over 100 thin lacustrine cycles of red laminated to massive mudstone (Ackermann et al. 1995). The formation comprises laterally continuous graded mudstone beds that range between 5 and 30 cm in thickness (Mertz & Hubert, 1990). The formation outcrops mostly on the northern shore of the Minas subbasin. According to Mertz & Hubert (1990), the age of the formation spans the Norian, Rhaetian and Hettangian age based on palynomorph assemblages.

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3. METHOD Integrated analysis of outcrop samples (Figure 5), petrographic thin section analysis (including point counts) geochemical (XRF) and scintillometer) data were used to characterize the sediments. The texture and elemental composition of the RHS from thin section and geochemical analysis respectively were compared against samples from the overlying playa- lacustrine mudstones of the Blomidon Formation.

4. RESULTS

Figure 4: Stratigraphic chart of the Mesozoic Fundy Group and corresponding age of each of the four main formations. From oldest to youngest are the Wolfville, Blomidon, North Mountain Basalt, and the McCoy Brook formations.

Outcrop and petrographic analysis of sandstone samples from the RHS supports aeolian transport with thin section and point count analysis revealing mature, sub to well-rounded grains with enhanced levels of primary porosity (Figure 6; Figure 7b). Mudstone samples from the Blomidon Formation show reduced matrix porosity and exhibit a predominance of matrix supported quartz, mica, and significant amounts of iron oxides (Figure 7a). The RHS plots between subarkose and sublithic arenites in the QtFL classification of Folk (1968) in Figure 8 and in the recycled orogenic field of the QtFL provenance indicator plot in Figure 9 with recalculated parameters after Ingersoll & Suczek (1979), and Dickinson (1985). Mapping geochemical analysis results from the sandclass plot (Herron, 1998; Figure 10) to petrographic analysis result of the RHS indicates that the RHS is mainly subarkosic. Thus, implying an abundance of quartz and lesser amounts of feldspars in the aeolian sandstone.

Figure 5: The RHS aeolian type section at Five Islands (study area) with numbers showing sample locations.

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Figure 6: A measured section of the Red Head Member aeolian sandstone, Five Islands, NS with corresponding pseudo gamma-ray (scintillometer) plot of the section. The red dots represent where samples were collected in the outcrop, with thin section images displaying their respective textures. The corresponding sample identification numbers are to the right of the gamma plot.

Figure 7: Photomicrograph comparing the grain size variation, mineralogical distribution with a poorly sorted, bimodal distribution and layering in the (a) Blomidon Formation mudstones (b) RHS.

Figure 8: QtFL classification of Folk (1968) applied to the RHS. The samples plot between subarkose and sublithic arenites.

5. DISCUSSION The occurrence of aeolian deposits in the Minas subbasin (Fundy Basin) at the transition between the Wolfville and Blomidon formations are characteristic of a semi-arid to arid domain (Hubbert & Mertz, 1980, 1984; Mertz Jr. & Karl A., 1980). The aeolian sandstones have been seen interbedded with fluvial sandstones and playa redbeds in various locations along the ramp margin to the south of the Minas subbasin and the faulted margin to the north of the Minas subbasin (Olsen & Et-Touhami, 2008; O’Connor, 2016; Leleu et al., 2009, 2016; Leleu and Hartley, 2010; Figure 11), and

represents a late stage in synrift basin fill that occurs between the two major synrift phases that resulted in the deposition of the Wolfville and Blomidon formations (O’Connor, 2016; Leleu et al., 2009, 2016; Leleu & Hartley, 2010). Hence, it represents a boundary strata (Slavador & Murphy, 1998) between the two major synrift phases. The cross bed orientation at the aeolian sandstone type section along the northern margin is consistent with deposition by prevailing north easterly winds (Hubbert & Mertz, 1980, 1984; Mertz Jr. & Karl A., 1980).

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Results from the petrographic and geochemical analysis of the RHS in this study suggests that the RHS is both texturally and compositionally mature, supported by an abundance of well sorted quartz sand grains with low proportions of feldspar. Provenance indicator triangles of detrital assemblage presented in the results of our analysis indicates that the RHS was derived from a continental block provenance and by plotting in the recycled orogenic field of the triangular diagrams of Dickinson (1985) further supports the aeolian sandstone being the product of a reworking of the underlying Wolfville Formation sandstone.

6. CONCLUSIONS

Figure 9: A provenance indicator plot after Ingersoll and Suczek (1979) and Dickinson (1985) for the RHS. The plot shows that the samples fall in the field of recycled orogenic provenance.

The Fundy Basin is located in the northern central rift segment of eastern Canada between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It is one of the rift basins of the eastern North American rift system that resulted from the Mesozoic extension associated with the break-up of the Pangaea supercontinent in the mid-Triassic. The Red Head Sandstone (RHS) represents the late stage of synrift basin fill in the Minas Subbasin comprising the older/basal alluvial and fluvial phase represented by the Wolfville Formation and overlying/younger playa lacustrine phase represented by the Blomidon Formation. Hence, it represents a transitional boundary between the two major synrift phases produced by drying of the climate and abundant sediment supply. Given the compositional and textural variation between the RHS, the overlying mudstones of the Blomidon Formation and the underlying alluvial/ fluvial Wolfville Formation sandstones, a combination of both petrographic and geochemical methods allowed for a more robust classification of the respective sedimentary units. Ensuring that finer grain sediments (very fine sandstones and mudstones) which are difficult to analyze through point count were included in the study.

Figure 10: Red Head Point sandclass plot after Herron, (1998) for sandstone and mudstone samples. Most of the sandstone samples (blue) plot in the subarkosic field.

Field sedimentological and lithological observation of the RHS and the Blomidon Formation at the type section indicates that the RHS possesses different sedimentary characteristics from the overlying very fine sandstone and mudstones of the Blomidon Formation. The aeolian sandstone of the RHS is distinguishable from fluvial sandstones of the underlying Wolfville Formation.

Figure 11: A Satellite image of the Minas Subbasin showing the major terranes, basin bounding fault with fault trend and a cross section of the Minas Subbasin through A-A’. The location of the Red Head study section is indicated by a red circle. To the left is an annotation of the basin fill pattern across A-A’.

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Based on the evidence presented, the RHS appears to represent a discrete stratigraphic formation, separate from the Blomidon and Wolfvill formations. The excellent reservoir quality of the RHS suggests great potential for a wide range of applications including emerging geothermal energy projects and geostorage projects.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I acknowledge the Principal Investigator, Professor Grant Wach and David Brown, Darragh O’ Connor, Dr. Ricardo Silva and Dr. Yawooz Kettanah for their contributions . I want to thank Philip Sedore for assisting with the XRF analyses and the entire team at the Basin and Research Lab for their support.

REFERENCES Ackermann, R.V., Schlische, R.W., & Olsen, P.E.1995. Synsedimentary collapse of portions of the lower Blomidon Formation (Late Triassic), Fundy rift basin, Nova Scotia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 32 (11): 1965-1976. Dickinson, W.R. 1985. Interpreting provenance relations from detrital modes of sandstones. In: Zuffa, G. G. (ed.) Provenance of Arenites. Reidel Publishing Company. Dordrecht. 331–361. Folk, R.L. 1968. Petrology of Sedimentary Rocks. Hemphill’s, Austin. 170. Fowell, S.J., & Traverse, A. 1995. Palynology and age of the upper Blomidon Formation, Fundy Basin, Nova Scotia. Review of Paleobotany and Palynology. 86: 211–233. Herron, M.M. 1988. Geochemical classification of terrigenous sands and shales from core or log data. Journal of Sedimentary Research. 58 (5). Hubert, J.F., & Mertz, K.A. 1980. Eolian dune field of Late Triassic age, Fundy Basin, Nova Scotia. Geology. 8: 516–519. Hubert, J.F., & Mertz, K.A., Jr. 1984. Eolian sandstones in Upper Triassic–Lower Jurassic red beds of the Fundy Basin, Nova Scotia. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology. 54: 798–810. Hubert, J.F., & Forlenza, M.F. 1988. Sedimentology of braided-river deposits in Upper Triassic Wolfville redbeds, southern shore of Cobequid Bay, Nova Scotia. Developments in Geotectonics. 22: 231–237.1 Ingersoll, R.V., & Suczek, C.A. 1979. Petrology and provenance of Neogene sand from Nicobar and Bengal fans, DSDP sites 211 and 218. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology. 49: 1217– 1228. Keppie, J.D. 1982. The Minas Geofracture. In Major structural zones and faults of the northern Appalachians. Edited by P. St. Julien and J. Beland. Geological Association of Canada. Special Paper. 24: 263-280. Keppie, J. D. (2000). Geological Map of the Province of Nova Scotia. Map ME 2000-1, 1:500 000. NS Department of Natural Resources. Minerals and Energy Branch. Kettanah, Y. A., Kettanah, M. Y., & Wach, G. D. (2014). Provenance, diagenesis and reservoir quality of the Upper Triassic Wolfville Formation, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Canada. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 386(1), 75-110. Klein, G.D. 1962. Triassic sedimentation, Maritime Provinces, Canada. Geological Society of America Bulletin. 73: 1127–1145.

Leleu, S. & Hartley, A.J. 2010. Controls on the stratigraphic development of the Triassic Fundy Basin, Nova Scotia: implications for the tectonostratigraphic evolution of Triassic Atlantic rift basins. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 167, 437–454, http://doi. org/10.1144/0016-76492009-092 Leleu, S., Hartley, A. J., van Oosterhout, C., Kennan, L., Ruckwied, K., & Gerdes, K. (2016). Structural, stratigraphic and sedimentological characterisation of a wide rift system: The Triassic rift system of the Central Atlantic Domain. Earth-Science Reviews, (158), 89-124. Martyns-Yellowe K.T. (2015). Reservoir characterization of eolian deposits in Mesozoic rift settings: Examples from the Minas subbasin, Nova Scotia. Dalhousie University ERTH 4511-01 Directed Reading Report. Unpublished Report. Mertz Jr., & Karl A. (1980). Sedimentology of the Upper Triassic Blomidon and Wolfville formations, Gerrish Mountain, north shore of the Minas Basin, Nova Scotia. MSc. thesis, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA, 198 p. Mertz, K.A. & Hubert, J.F. 1990. Cycles of sand-flat sandstone and playamudstone in the Triassic–Jurassic Blomidon redbeds, Fundy rift basin, Nova Scotia: implications for tectonic and climatic controls. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 27, 442–451. Nadon, G.C, & Middleton, G.V. 1984. Tectonic control of Triassic sedimentation in southern New Brunswick; local and regional implications. Geology. 12: 619-622. O’Connor, D. (2016). Facies Distribution, Fluvial Architecture, Provenance, Diagenesis, and Reservoir Quality of Synrift Successions from the Breakup of Pangea: Examples from the Fundy Basin and Orpheus Graben. Department of Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University, MSc Thesis. Olsen, P., & Hubert J. F. (1981). Eolian Dune Field of Late Triassic Age, Fundy Basin, Nova Scotia discussion And Reply. Olsen, P.E. 1988. Paleontology and paleoecology of the Newark Supergroup (early Mesozoic, eastern North America). In W. Manspeizer, ed., Triassic-Jurassic Rifting: Continental Breakup and the origin of the Atlantic Ocean and the Passive Margins, pp. 185-230. Development in Geotectonics, no. 22. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Olsen, P.E., Schlische, R.W., and Gore, P.J.W. 1989. Newark Basin, Pennsylvania and New Jersey; Stratigraphy (Field Guide): Field Trips for the 28th International Geological Congress. American Geophysical Union. Washington, DC. 69–152.

Olsen, P.E. & Schlische, R.W. 1990. Transtensional arm of the early Mesozoic Fundy rift basin: penecontemporaneous faulting and sedimentation. Geology, 18, pp. 695–698. Olsen, P.E. 1997. Stratigraphic record of the early Mesozoic breakup of Pangea in the LaurasiaGondwana rift system. Ann Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 25: 337–401 Olsen, P.E. & Et-Touhami, M (2008). Field Trip Guide #1 Tropical to subtropical syntectonic sedimentation in the Permian to Jurassic Fundy rift basin, Atlantic Canada, in relation to the Moroccan conjugate margin. Central Atlantic Conjugate Margins Conference Halifax, 121 pp. Salvador, A., & Murphy, M. A. (1998). International stratigraphic guide-an abridged version. Episodes, 22(4), 255. Schlische, R.W. 1993. Anatomy and evolution of the Triassic-Jurassic continental rift system, eastern North America. Tectonics. 12: 1026– 1042. Wach, G., Nickerson, & Vaughn, M.J. 2011. High Resolution Radar Stratigraphy (GPR) of Braided Channel Complexes in the Triassic Wolfville Formation – Controls on Reservoir Heterogeneity. Submitted for Honors Thesis. Wade, J.A., Brown, D.E., Traverse, A., & Fensome, R.A. 1996. The Triassic– Jurassic Fundy Basin, eastern Canada: Regional setting, stratigraphy and hydrocarbon potential. Atlantic Geology. 32: 189–231. Withjack, M. O., Olsen,P.E. & Schlische, R. W. 1995.Tectonic evolution of the Fundy basin, Canada: evi-dence of extension and shortening during passive-margin development. Tectonics,14, 390– 405. Withjack MO, Schlische RW, & Olsen PE. 1998. Diachronous rifting, drifting, and inversion on the passive margin of central eastern North America: an analog for other passive margins. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. 82: 817–835. Withjack, M. O., Schlische, R. W., & Baum, M.S. (2009). Extensional development of the Fundy rift basin, southeastern Canada. Geological Journal, 44, 631–65 Withjack, M. O., Schlische, R.W., & Olsen, P. E. (2012). Development of the passive margin of eastern North America: Mesozoic rifting, igneous activity, and breakup. In: D.G. Roberts and A.W. Bally (eds) Regional Geology and Tectonics: Phanerozoic Rift Systems and Sedimentary Basins, Volume 1B: Rift Systems. Elsevier, Amsterdam: 301-335.

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HONORARY MEMBERSHIP

Dr. Scott W. Tinker As a pioneering, international leader in bringing industry, government, academia, and non-government organizations together to address major challenges in energy, the environment and the economy, it is most fitting to welcome Dr. Scott W. Tinker as one our very first CEGA Honorary Members.

Dr. Scott W. Tinker is a pioneering, international leader in bringing industry, government, academia, and nongovernmental organizations together to address major societal challenges in energy, the environment, and the economy. Dr. Tinker presented the 2014 CSPG Honorary Address which according to the CSPG Annual Report provided a “refreshing and novel insight into the global mix of energy sources, market functions and production drivers such as affordability, reliability, environmental sustainability, and energy security”. At that time, he was interviewed by CSPG University Outreach which was published in the CSPG Reservoir. In 2019 he again delivered the CSPG Honorary Address, this time on “Energy, Carbon and Poverty: Seeking the Radical Middle”. A distinguished lecturer, Dr. Tinker is passionate about communicating, on a basic level, to people outside of his fields of expertise. His public outreach goal has been consistently to provide a spectrum of objective information so that people can better think for themselves about some of the difficult challenges we face regarding energy, the environment and the economy. In his visits to some 60 countries, Dr. Tinker has delivered over 1000 keynote and invited lectures. His public outreach writing has appeared from Forbes to Fortune to Scientific American. Scott co-produced and is featured in the award-winning energy documentary films Switch and Switch On. These have been screened in over 50 countries. Scott founded the nonprofit Switch Energy Alliance, whose educational materials appear from schools to board rooms globally. Tinker is the host of PBS Energy Switch, an energy and climate talk show appearing on over 200 stations in the United States and reaching 100 million households. He is

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also the voice of EarthDate, which is featured weekly on over 445 public radio stations in all 50 United States. In 2022, Dr. Tinker presented a very thoughtful TEDx talk on “The Dual Challenge: Energy and Environment”. Dr. Tinker is the Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology (Bureau), the State Geologist of Texas, and a Professor holding the Allday Endowed Chair in the Jackson School of Geosciences, at the University of Texas at Austin. In these roles, he has been part of attracting nearly $1 billion to the Bureau and the School. During his tenure at the Bureau, Scott has helped to envision and create major research programs including subsurface nanosensors (AEC), unconventional reservoirs (TORA and MSRL), carbon sequestration (GCCC), power option comparison (CEO), Texas resource evaluation (STARR), induced seismicity measurement and understanding (CISR and TexNet), amongst others, and grown one of the largest collections of cores and cuttings in the world. Scott is a well published researcher (carbonate stratigraphy and reservoir characterization, global energy resources and policy, unconventional oil and gas reservoirs, and nanotechnology). He has provided outstanding leadership in the earth sciences serving amongst a number of posts as President of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), American Geosciences Institute (AGI), the Association of American State Geologists (AASG), the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies (GCAGS), and the Austin Geological Society (AGS). He is an AGI Campbell Medalist, AAPG Halbouty Medalist, GCAGS Boyd Medalist, the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) Parker Medalist, and a Fellow of the Geological Society of America (GSA). He has, and continues, to serve on a number of Boards

and Foundations in industry and academia, such as: Shell’s Science Council, The Board of Trustees of Trinity University, a Trustee Associate for Southwest Research Institute, Brigham Exploration’s Board of Directors, and the Alumni Advisory Board of Earth and Environmental Systems at the University of Michigan. He speaks often with industry Board’s and C-Suites. Dr. Tinker has a passion for data. He finds it fun to look at data, discover basic trends, and combine these in ways that ferret out a new or insightful relationship or understanding. He particularly enjoys doing this with energy data and relating it to the environment and the economy. Dr. Tinker is passionate about raising money for science and research “so that really smart people can dive into what they are good at and bring new discovery to the world; for land conservancy; and for higher education more broadly”.

While possessing a passion for work, Scott is even more passionate about his family, his wife Allyson of 40 years and their four grown children and new grandson!. He loves the outdoors. Mostly hiking and observing, in his beloved Colorado Rockies where he lived for 20 years, the desert southwest where he did his Master’s and PhD field work, and in the Northwoods of Michigan where he grew up every summer. Scott is outgoing and passionate about friendships, many long-term, and many new. He is dedicated to travel, having visited and explored all 50 States, dragging along his children as well, many of the Canadian Provinces, and over 60 countries around the globe. He has found that engaging with people from different cultures has expanded his tolerance for human difference, and broadens and deepens his otherwise very privileged-by-birth perspective on the global challenges that we face.

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HONORARY MEMBERSHIP

Dr. A. Guy Plint CEGA welcomes Dr. Guy Plint as an Honorary Member of the Society, recognizing his outstanding contributions to the stratigraphy and controls on sedimentation in the Cretaceous deposits of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

Guy was born in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, and grew up in a small village in the Chiltern Hills, where he spent his childhood roaming the Upper Cretaceous Chalk and collecting silicified echinoderms, thus fostering an early interest in geology. Guy obtained his B.Sc. from the University of Reading in 1977, where his most influential mentor was Roland Golding, who encouraged his interest in sedimentology and ichnology. A Shell International Petroleum Company Studentship enabled him to pursue an independently-funded D.Phil. at Oxford, where he attempted to unravel the sedimentology and stratigraphy of the Middle Eocene strata of the Hampshire basin under the supervision of Dr. Harold Reading. Following defense of his thesis (1980), Guy worked briefly for the British Nature Conservancy Council, documenting Tertiary age Sites of Special Scientific Interest, before departing to take up post-doctoral fellowships at the University of New Brunswick (1981-82, funded buy UNB, and 82-84, funded by NATO), where he pursued studies of the Carboniferous rocks in the Cumberland Basin. An invitation from Dr. Roger Walker led to a further two years of post-doc work (1984-86) at McMaster University, where he was introduced to the Cardium and Dunvegan formations, and learned to love wireline logs. Unconformities and sea-level changes gradually displaced turbidites and debris flows. Guy was appointed to a tenured faculty position at the University of Western Ontario in 1986, where he has spent his entire career, teaching a variety of courses in sedimentology and stratigraphy, plus junior and senior field schools. Realizing the immense potential of the Western Canada Foreland Basin to provide the stratigraphic and sedimentary data to resolve basic questions regarding the controls on clastic sedimentation, Guy devoted most of his research to unraveling the stratigraphy of parts of the mid-Cretaceous succession of Alberta and British Columbia. Of his 33 graduate students, 29 (14 M.Sc. , 15 Ph.D.), plus four post-docs have worked in Western

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Canada. Because of steadfast support by his wife, Annemarie, Guy was able to devote about a month each year, for the past 38 years, to field-based research. In most projects, outcrop data were meshed with regional, log- and core-based stratigraphic frameworks, enabling big-picture reconstruction of stratal architecture and paleogeography. These student-centred studies, together with his own projects, have resulted, to date, in over 90 journal publications and book chapters dealing with the Cretaceous of the Western Canada Foreland Basin, and were strongly influential on chapters in the third and fourth editions of Facies Models. Many of his undergraduate and graduate students subsequently progressed to careers in the petroleum industry. Guy served as co-editor of Sedimentology (1994-98) and Editor of IAS Special Publications (1998-2002), and has also served as Associate Editor of the Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology (1990-92; 2002-present). He co-authored a paper awarded the CSPG Medal of Merit (2008), and was awarded the CSPG Douglas Medal in 2012. He has presented numerous short courses in sequence stratigraphy to industry and academic audiences, and was an AAPG Distinguished Lecturer in 2010, with tours in North America and Europe. At UWO, he was awarded (1997) the Florence Bucke Prize for Outstanding Research, and the Award of Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2015). The AAPG Centenary List of ‘Top 10 Landmark Papers in Siliciclastic Sedimentology’ included his 1988 paper: Sharp-based shoreface sequences and “offshore bars” in the Cardium Formation: Their relationship to relative changes in sea level. As a research scientist with recognition of the importance of field geology to the understanding of the construction of regional stratigraphic frameworks Guy is an outstanding recipient of Honorary Membership with the Canadian Energy Geoscience Association.

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2023 UPCOMING EVENTS INFORMATION

VISIT UPCOMING EVENTS

March 9th

MARCH March 2

nd

Thursday | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm MST

Online only

Geothermal Technical Division Online + In person

Thursday | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm MST

Geothermal Reservoir Characterization of the South Swan Hills Oil Pool, Alberta Speaker: Christopher Noyahr

Structural Technical Division Status Report on the Updated In-Situ Stress Chapter in Preparation for the CSPG 2027 Geological Atlas of the WCSB Speaker: Pat Mclellan

March 14th

Online + In person

Tuesday | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm MST

BASS Technical Division

Location: C SPG Conference Room, +15 level, 540-5 Ave SW, Calgary AB

The Guinness Book of Sedimentology: your guide to the world’s largest EVER sedimentary features

March 8th

Speaker: Jon Noad, Stantec Consulting

Wednesday | 11:30 - 1:00pm MST

Technical Luncheon

Location: CSPG Conference Room, +15 level, 540-5 Ave SW, Calgary AB

Geoscientist’s Role in the Expanding Energy Complex

March 15th

Speaker: Patrick Elliot, Carbon Alpha

International Technical Division

Location: C algary Petroleum Club, Devonian Room 319 5 Ave SW, Calgary, AB T2P 0L5

Online + In person

Wednesday | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm MST

World Carbon Sequestration: a (geological) Primer Speaker: Jon Noad, Stantec Consulting Location: CSPG Conference Room, +15 level, 540-5 Ave SW, Calgary AB

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2023 UPCOMING EVENTS INFORMATION March 16th

Online + In Person

April 20th

Thursday | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm MST

Thursday | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm MST

GeoWomen

GeoWomen

Understanding and Managing Conflict in the Workplace

Psychological Safety Savvy

Speakers: M ichelle Phaneuf, P.Eng., C.Med., ACC Partner – Workplace Fairness West Catherine McAteer, BSc, LLB Founder – Confluence Law Location: C SPG Conference Room, +15 level, 540-5 Ave SW, Calgary AB

March 18 - 19 th

th

Paleontology Technical Division

Speaker: Mairi Serpas | Manager – Mindfulicity Lana Bentley | Director, Strategy – Mindfulicity & YW Calgary Location: CSPG Conference Room, +15 level, 540-5 Ave SW, Calgary AB

April 21st Friday | 7:30 pm MST

Exploring for Algal Stromatolites in North America and Africa - the Journey Continues

Saturday | 9:00 am - 4:30 pm

A brief presentation will be made by Emily Bamforth

Lectures and Poster Displays

Speaker: Tako Koning, Geological Consultant

Various speakers

Location: Mount Royal University, Room B108

PALEO 2023

Sunday | 9:00 am - 12:00 noon or 1:00 - 4:00 pm Workshop - Requires registration

Location: Mount Royal University, Main Building, First Floor, Main Street, by Campus Store

APRIL April 12th Wednesday | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm MST

International Technical Division Cretaceous Heavy Oil Pools in Kazakhstan – Western Canada Geology, but Russian Regulation!

April 25th

Online + In Person

Tuesday | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm MST

Structural Technical Division Regional Structural style variations in the BC Foothills and foreland basin; implications for seismic risk from fluid disposal well activity. Speaker: Mark Cooper, Sherwood Geoconsulting Inc and University of Aberdeen Location: CSPG Conference Room, +15 level, 540-5 Ave SW, Calgary AB

Speaker: Brad J. Hayes Location: CSPG Conference Room, +15 level, 540-5 Ave SW, Calgary AB

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GEOLOGY IN MOTION: Accessing the Untapped Value of Satellite Imagery Dallin Laycock, Sean D.T. Fletcher1, Paul M. Bremner2, Erin Pemberton, and Richard A. Mackenzie3

Introduction Google Earth and other satellite imagery sources have been accessible for more than a decade, and have immense value spanning a wide range of applications. Military applications of satellite imagery have been a major addition to modern warfare that has been well documented in recent months, including identification of enemy positions, troop movements, terrain assessments, and weapons characterization. Agricultural use of satellite imagery has enhanced farmers’ ability to map crop yields, soil erosion, production forecasting, as well as monitor the needs and dispersal of animals. Geographers use satellite data to track urban development, population density, infrastructure planning, and land use changes. Satellite data is also a key contributor to disaster monitoring, identification, and relief planning. Among all these uses, what is the role of satellite imagery in geology? Have geoscientists been leveraging the inherent value contained in these powerful datasets?

Satellite imagery has become a valuable tool for research scientists. This is especially true of surficial processes with observable change, such as fluvial geomorphology, glacial retreat, and coastal stability. In addition, increasingly clever applications have started to emerge. Despite recent advancements in imaging, observing and monitoring surficial processes and landscape evolution, we believe there is even more value to be extracted for the geoscience community from satellite imagery. Last year, in an effort to engage with geoscientists in a fun way, we decided to look around Google Earth for interesting geology and post it to LinkedIn (Figure 1). Posts included locations around the world, and featured everything from structural geology to coastal geomorphology to carbonate sedimentology to salt glaciation (Figure 2). We eventually started making videos of dynamic surficial processes using historical imagery, and the reception was overwhelmingly positive. Videos started getting thousands of views

Figure 1: Our first LinkedIn post featuring satellite geology. Shows a small river in Northwest Territories, intersecting the coastline and creating a small delta. This was shown in middle school classrooms to help demonstrate how dynamic the earth’s surface can be.

and hundreds of comments. Educators at both the university and grade-school levels reached out, requesting access to the videos and supporting educational materials. We quickly realized there was a huge appetite for engaging geologic material. Later, we branched out into analyzing planetary satellite imagery, and started getting hundreds of thousands of views (Figure 3). This led to connections with many different geoscientists from around the world, suggesting topics for content. Eventually we connected with geoscientists from the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM) and NASA to collaborate on research projects, educational materials, conference presentations, and social media content. As we started working on these projects, we discovered several key areas to use publicly available satellite data to benefit the geologic community and the public: 1) Education, 2) Public Safety, and 3) Research.

Strathcona Resources Ltd., 2NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Heliophysics and Planetary Science Branch, Huntsville , AL, USA, 3Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

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Figure 2: Collection of some of our favorite and most picturesque locations found in Google Earth. (Upper left) Strike-slip fault located in China. (Upper right) River delta in Alaska. (Bottom left) Carbonate shoals in the Bahamas. (Bottom right) Salt glaciers in Iran.

Figure 3: Linkedin post featuring side-by-side comparisons of Mars and Earth glaciation. This post was one of the most popular geology posts on LinkedIn in 2021, and demonstrated how much appetite there is for satellite imagery to teach geoscience.

Education Geologic education can be very dry, especially at the gradeschool level. Memorization and mineral kits often bore learners, dull their sense of curiosity about earth science, and don’t promote critical thinking skills. Part of the problem is that most school teachers are not scientists, and don’t have the expertise or materials to teach geology in a more engaging way. We believe that satellite data, and videos such as the ones we created, can help fill that gap. We spoke with one middle school teacher from the Midwest who informed us she showed her class our video of a meandering river in South America. The class marvelled at how quickly the morphology of the river could change. We then sent her videos of coastal regression and prograding deltas. After which, she showed her class the image shown in Figure 1, and they were able to interpret how the meandering river intersected with a

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coastline and created a new delta. This is a university level interpretation, made possible in minutes through engaging educational material. Surely this suggests a better way to teach earth science, focusing on observation and critical thinking rather than memorization of various rock types and minerals. Figure 4: QR code

These videos are also beneficial for university connecting to our level education. Many of earth’s processes YouTube page, designed to share are too slow to be observed in real time, often our content with making it difficult for students to internalize how educators. such processes actually occur. Satellite imagery makes this possible in an engaging way, and helps solidify the concepts in students’ minds in a way that illustrations in a textbook can’t. Many educators have requested access to our videos for use in their lectures. In an effort to circulate these videos to as many classrooms as possible, we created a YouTube channel with the videos for easier access (Figure 4). Our hope is that many students at all levels can benefit from them.

Education and outreach through these videos becomes even more beneficial with the addition of annotations, narration, animations, and other tools to increase the educational value of the finished product. A recent example of this involved a video showing a house in North Carolina being washed into the sea during a storm. The video clip of the destructive storm was shown widely by news outlets, but with little supporting information. With a short video using satellite imagery, we explained the basic geologic context, and provided education for the public about barrier island systems and how a changing coastline resulted in the destruction of this particular house. There is a large appetite for similar videos, which can be used in a variety of ways. In response to Pandemic-related travel and gathering restrictions, many educators have started using Google Earth to create virtual field trips. These use a variety of techniques to use satellite data in conjunction with other visual media, such as 360° photography, virtual reality, and drone photography (Shami et. al 2022, Hoxey and Taylor 2022, Berg 2022, and Ortiz-Guerrero and Loizzo 2022). In addition to assisting students who would normally go out into the field, these virtual field trips possess the additional benefit of being accessible to students who might not otherwise be able to go out into the field. This includes students with disabilities and severe anxiety (Jones et al. 2022). We believe that a long term benefit to this method of teaching will include increased enrollment in geological courses from students with limited accessibility to the field, and create an enhanced sense of inclusion in the geosciences.

Public Safety Geologists play a role in helping people become smarter consumers. People commonly, and unknowingly, construct houses and buildings in unsafe locations, such as barrier islands, cut banks, flood plains, sea-cliffs, and other places that geologists know to be risky places to build. Geologic processes often seem too slow and rare to ever be an actual concern. Materials such as these videos can show just how fast the surface of the earth can change. By circulating these educational videos, we can help the public be smarter with their decisions and be better informed consumers and environmental stewards We have created multiple videos showing real-life footage of property damage from geologic processes, such as storms and floods. When shown with the geologic context, it serves to reduce public anxiety about the circumstances around these situations, and how to avoid them. Material such as this can help provide the public with context to understand climate change, sea-level rise, extreme weather, and how to properly assess the risk that they face depending on where they live.

Research

Figure 5: Images of a beach in Puerto Rico before and after Hurricane Maria and subsequent storms.

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While working on videos featuring sand dune migration, we inadvertently amassed a large dataset of the worlds’ most mobile dune fields. The obvious question became “can we use satellite data to determine the world’s fastest dune field?”. We reached out to a new professor at the University of Nebraska Omaha, who quickly established a methodology to answer that question (Schueth and Laycock, 2022). This study utilized publicly available satellite data and meteorological data, all for no cost. In addition, the study’s methodology is accessible enough to be used by anyone, scientist or not, to assess the risk of encroaching sand

dunes to their town or property. The result is a low-cost, accessible application of science with direct public benefit. Our LinkedIn posts also connected us with a biology professor in Puerto Rico, who had been working hard to restore foredunes which had been damaged or completely destroyed by Hurricane Maria. These dunes are important as protection and nesting grounds for sea turtles and are delicate environments. He reported that some of his sites had good sand accumulation, while others did not. As a biologist, he didn’t have the geologic expertise necessary to assess how best to trap the sand being transported by the wind along the coastline. Using satellite imagery, we were able to compare before and after storm images (Figure 5), as well as identify relationships between wind direction, beach orientation, accommodation, and river proximity. We also identified major barriers to sediment movement, such as man-made dams and jetties. These hypotheses were later tested with field work to provide additional supporting evidence. Results are now being implemented to improve dune restoration, which will help support the recovery of sea-turtle populations in the wake of Hurricane Maria (Barreto-Orta et al., 2019; Méndez-Tejeda et al., 2020; and Pérez Valentín). Other researchers from a variety of institutions have been using satellite imagery to look at a variety of topics, including mapping of harmful algal blooms, cloud computing in geomorphology, and even mapping beaver dams (Athithan et al. 2022, Fairfax et al. 2022, Hoxey and Taylor 2022). This level of advancement is encouraging, as we continue to strive to reach the potential these tools have for us as geoscientists.

Conclusion What started as a fun side project to help build our professional networks has evolved and grown into a multi-faceted, crossfunctional project, involving educators, geologists, and biologists. It has resulted in millions of collective views on social media, thousands of interactions with scientists from around the world, multiple conference presentations, and even research papers of real-world applications. This demonstrates that satellite data is a tool that had been previously under-utilized, and highlights the appetite for fascinating geologic content. Producing this content serves many purposes: It serves students by showing geologic processes in action, it serves the public in helping avoid geologic hazards, and serves the scientific community in the form of new and exciting research. We look forward to creating exciting new content and engaging with as many professionals and scientists as would like to be involved. In this spirit of engaging the geologic community, we will produce a recurring series of articles in the Reservoir entitled “Geology in Motion”. These will feature interesting observations from satellite imagery, focusing on observations that fit into the three areas described above. We invite collaboration on these articles, if you have an idea and would like to collaborate, please reach out to Sean Fletcher or Dallin Laycock on Linkedin.

References Athithan, V., Shin, S., Selvarajan, S., Wang,W., Leon, J. (2022). Visualizing and Monitoring Harmful Algal Blooms in Utah Lake Using Remote Sensing and Google Earth Engine. Geological Society of America Abstracts With Programs. Vol. 54, No. 5, 2022. doi: 10.1130/Abs/2022am-381793. Barreto-Orta, M., Méndez-Tejeda, R., Rodríguez, E., Cabrera, N., Diaz, E., Pérez, K. (2019). State of the beaches in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria (2017). Shore and Beach, V. 87, No. 1. Berg, C. (2022). Using Virtual Field Experiences to Showcase Local Geologic Processes, Visualize Human Impacts, and Model Scientific Thinking For Students in Introductory Geology Courses. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol 54, No. 5, 2022. doi: 10.1130/abs/2022AM-382489 Fairfax, E., Zhu, E., Clinton, N., Maiman, S., Shaikh, A., Ackerstein, D., Corwin, E. (2022). Eeager: A Neural Network Model For Automatically Identifying Beaver Complexes In Satellite And Aerial Imagery. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol 54, No. 5, 2022. doi: 10.1130/abs/2022AM-377687. Hoxey, A., Taylor, M. (2022). Google Earth Engine Cloud Computing Web Apps For Investigating And Teaching Fundamental Geologic And Geomorphic Concepts. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 54, No. 5, 2022. doi: 10.1130/abs/2022AM-382031 Jones, A., Petterson, R., Burmeister, K., Atchison, C., Finley, J., Skinner, S. (2022). Can Virtual Field Experiences Help Two-Year College (2yc) Students Better Manage Field-Related Anxieties and Achieve Course Learning Outcomes? Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol 54, No. 5, 2022. doi: 10.1130/ abs/2022AM-383369 Méndez-Tejeda, R., Pérez-Valentín, K., Barreto-Orta, M. Impact of Extreme Weather Events on the Beaches of Puerto Rico: The Case of Ocean Park, San Juan American Journal of Marine Science, 2020, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1-5. Ortiz-Guerrero, C. (2022). Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of ‘Rocks Really Rock!’- A Google Earth Electronic Field Trip Across Geologic Time. Geological Society of America Abstracts With Programs. Vol 54, No. 5, 2022. doi: 10.1130/ Abs/2022am-381284 Pérez-Valentín, J. M., & Müller, M. F. (2020). Impact of Hurricane Maria on beach erosion in Puerto Rico: Remote sensing and causal inference. Geophysical Research Letters, 47, e2020GL087306. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL087306 Schueth, J., Laycock, D. (2022). The Search For the World’s Fastest Sand Dune: Google Earth Historical Imagery as an Accessible Tool for Public Geomorphological Risk Assessment. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol 54, No. 5, 2022. doi: 10.1130/abs/2022AM-377153 Shami, M., Bethel, C., Nunez, E., Rayhan, S., Khandaker, N., Cabaroy, C. (2022). Integrating Remote Digital Tools Into Post-Pandemic Geologic Fieldwork to Effectively Disseminate Content Delivery and Assist in Overall Understanding of Various Geologic Phenomena: Summer 2022 Field Mapping Exercises. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol 54, No. 5, 2022. doi: 10.1130/abs/2022AM-379779

ORCID: Paul M Bremner: 0000-0002-3384-2613

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The Blue View: Industry Trends Through Woodmac’s Lens NORTH AMERICA IN CONTEXT: THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN 2023 FOR UPSTREAM – THE OIL SANDS 1. GROWS AND UNCONVENTIONAL CANADIAN PRODUCTION

PRODUCTION WILL GROW, THE CLEARWATER CONTINUES ITS RISE.

KEY – THE ARRIVAL OF 2. MANAGEMENT TMX IN THE LATTER HALF OF 2023

PIPELINE RELIEF ARRIVES & EMISSIONS ALLOWS FOR FORECASTED PRODUCTION GROWTH. OPERATORS ARE ON TRACK TO EXCEED MANDATED METHANE CUTS.

FRONT OF 3. FLARING MIND – THE PERMIAN GROWTH, M&A AND

IS FRONT AND CENTER FOR ALL THREE TOPICS.

CANADA UPSTREAM: n Unconventional production grows.

But rarely beyond single digits

The largest Canadian gas producers will continue to grow unconventional production next year, but will also experience the highest cost inflation pressure. Tourmaline Oil, the largest Canadian gas producer, will grow production by approximately 40,000 boe/d or 8%. CNRL and ARC will increase capital spending by 18% and 40% with production growth of 6% and 2%, respectively. Capital is also increasing for sustaining oil sands activity, but at a lower rate. • Whitecap is guiding for significant production growth following the transformative acquisition of ExxonMobil’s Montney and Duvernay acreage. Cenovus, after successive years of underfunding conventional production in Western Canada, is showing a significant 130% increase in capital spending while also upping oil sands 60%. But adjusting for recent acquisitions, no company is looking to grow production beyond single digits. The only exception are companies leading in the fast-expanding Clearwater play. • The Clearwater heavy oil play exceeded 100,000 b/d of production in 2022. Tamarack Valley, after a transformative

OIL SANDS 2023 GUIDANCE Source: Wood Mackenzie, company guidance. Bubble size reflects 2023 production size where MEG Energy midpoint guidance is 103 kbd and CNRL 717

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acquisition of Deltastream, will be looking to remain top operator in the play, while jockeying with Spur Petroleum for top status. Headwater Exploration, acquirer of Cenovus’s position in the play, will grow by 38% with production guidance of 18,000 b/d in 2023. n Canadian corporations outpace federal policy

on methane

The Canadian government has set emissions reduction targets for oil & gas producers at 45% by 2025 and 70% by 2030 based on 2012 emissions monitoring. Significant improvements in gas conservation, fugitive emissions management and flaring reductions have been undertaken by most oil and gas producing provinces and operators. In 2023, oil and gas producing provinces and operators will be ahead of the mandated methane targets. • Some early movers could hit the federal government 2030 target for their operations as early as next year. Peyto's vented, flared and fugitive methane emissions have fallen by 171,296 tonnes between 2016 and 2021. They were one of several large Canadian gas producers to ratchet up the corporate target ambition this year.

WESTERN CANADA NON-OIL SANDS GUIDANCE Bubble size reflects 2023 production size where Crescent Point midpoint

CASE STUDY: PEYTO METHANE EMISSIONS INTENSITY VERSUS CORPORATES AND GOVERNMENT TARGETS Source: Wood Mackenzie, company disclosures

• Outside of methane, current Alberta conservative policy could push back on Federal requirements, although TIER recently received equivalency to 2030. Details are expected to be revealed next year, we expect a tightening of TIER benchmarks in 2023 in the realm of 2%

• Higher growth rates come with execution challenges. Inventory depth and quality vary dramatically. Stay-flat mode allows companies to extend inventory life, so accelerating growth would re-ignite portfolio longevity questions. In some examples, core inventory life would be halved if growth is 10%, relative to holding output flat.

n Pipeline relief with TMX start-up

• Getting the balance right is critical. Some companies arguably hold too much inventory. For them, drilling faster should be a defendable strategy. ConocoPhillips is in this camp.

Hard to believe that Canada will finally be bringing new pipelines into service in 2023! The Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMX) will add 590,000 b/d of pipeline egress in late 2023. This will be much needed, as the latter half of 2022 has seen the return of Mainline apportionment, and major price differentials for WCS. TMX will allow for alternative market access for Canadian oil producers, contributing to improved WCS differentials.

US LOWER 48: n Operators will seek differentiation through growth

Business stability is the overarching theme for US shale in 2023 – predictable volumes and predictable strategy, regardless of price gyrations. Cash flow and shareholder distributions will undoubtedly remain the top priority across the wider sector. • Softer prices mean that formulaic variable dividends will drop. Six straight quarters of increased payments ended in Q3, and investors seemed agnostic to the inflection. Will that reaction prompt some management teams to reconsider the allocation of flexible capital? • Balance sheets looked better each quarter this year – debt reduction spending sank in Q3. The most financially stable E&Ps have options to stand out from the crowd, should they choose to. We believe some investors will tolerate slightly higher growth targets for sector leaders. Matador and Hess tested the waters without investor pushback, though both have promised higher distributions would accompany rig additions and increased volume. • We don’t expect double-digit growth but flattish guidance in 2022 could turn into high single-digit growth in 2023 for ultralow leverage E&Ps. Devon, Pioneer and EOG are in the best positions. They hold some of the fastest payback assets in shale and have the balance sheets to expand capex. The companies may revise initial guidance upwards during the year rather than a single bold announcement. M&A is definitely on the table too. (More on this below.)

n M&A will strike a different tone

The consistency in recent deal strategy has been remarkable, with asset bolt-ons stealing headlines. Operators like Civitas, Devon, Chesapeake, Silverbow, Earthstone and EQT have established sustainable and more resilient positions in their incumbent plays through M&A. Bolt-on deals from these six E&Ps alone account for nearly 30% of all the 2022 Lower 48 acquisitions and divestment market. Although the scale benefits of continued basin consolidation are established and understood – Diamondback has proven this with two bolt-ons in the last month too – the tide is showing early signs of shifting. • The biggest basins might be closing in on their ultimate corporate composition. Some of the most active Permian consolidators – Concho and Colgate – have already been taken over by larger companies or merged. Mega-private DoublePoint is now owned by Pioneer. Today, the top 10 Permian producers control over 80% of production. In early 2020, it was 60%. The Marcellus has seen the same consolidation story, with EQT doing US$8 billion of deals in the past two years alone. • Diversification is de rigueur. Recent moves by buyers like Northern Oil and Gas (NOG) and Continental might have been considered too bold just a year ago. NOG spent US$600 million in the Permian, taking it away from its core Bakken non-op roots. Continental’s privatization will allow much more exploration in the Delaware and PRB. New basin deals are on the table for Devon, although the bar is high. • Private valuations are too good to ignore. Public E&P valuations have been trending higher, with high-quality names trading at double what private companies are selling for. With such a wide gap – largely attributed to return of capital programs – it’s accretive for publics to keep buying. If the gap holds, even

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QUARTERLY USE OF 2022 FREE CASH FLOW Source: Wood Mackenzie, company filings

deals that stretch a buyer’s core strengths can create value. Note that it’s easier for an existing multi-basin E&P to defend stepping into a new region, versus a pure play making a similar move. • Avoid single-point failures. Being in multiple plays can help operators avoid acute logistical delays, recurring basis blowouts and general regulatory malaise. Portfolio diversification can also bring exposure to global pricing (LNG exports, for example). Marcellus players are studying Haynesville deals. Permian players with heavy oil exposure are evaluating new gas-rich stratigraphy too. n Will companies flare to maintain production?

Permian-associated gas production is growing. With an additional 1.3 bcfd of supply expected in 2023, challenges with Waha prices and gas takeaway capacity are bound to intensify. If production surprises to the upside, could companies boost flaring to prioritize monetising oil over progress on emissions? • It’s unlikely overall Permian flaring will materially increase. Recent work to reduce flaring is paying off: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data show flaring emissions for EOG and Chevron fell by 60% and 85%, respectively, from 2020 to 2021. Demonstrating ongoing progress against emissions targets, especially very visible sources like flaring, is too important for companies to backtrack on.

• While private companies have different stakeholders, most still must reduce flaring, especially if they plan to continue accessing capital markets. Mewbourne showed similar flaring emissions progress as EOG and Chevron over the same period. • Operators will shut in or defer volumes rather than flare. Diamondback did this in 2021 when the company deferred 850,000 boe to prevent flaring. But it’s unlikely we’ll see significant disruptions to Permian supply next year since there is still some incremental takeaway capacity available. What could change this? Delays to 2024 gas pipeline projects. • Greater disclosure and commitment to decarbonization: several Lower 48 E&Ps shared their environmental budgets in 2021. Most represented 2 to 4% of total upstream spend (US$10 million to US$200 million, depending on company size). • This spend was enough for popular abatement projects like pneumatic device replacement. However, as more operators eye eventual reductions to combustion emissions via electrification, capex spend will jump. Several innovations are possible, especially in the Permian. These include greater grid connection, microgrid buildout and small-scale renewable energy generation for field operations.

SCOTT NORLIN, GIT

RYAN TAYLOR, GIT & EIT

Research Analyst, Upstream Canada

Research Analyst, Lower 48 Upstream Research

Scott joined the Canadian Upstream Research team at Wood Mackenzie in June 2019. He is responsible for providing financial asset valuation and objective commercial analysis on company and play activity across Canada. His coverage ranges from North American large caps to junior private producers. He also covers CNRL and Cenovus for the corporate analysis team, providing high level company valuation and strategy analysis.

Ryan joined the Wood Mackenzie Lower 48 Upstream Research team in January 2022, based in the Calgary office. Since joining the company, he has been responsible for evaluating unconventional plays in Canada and the Lower 48, providing objective commercial analysis of play activity throughout Canada. Ryan’s key areas of focus include Canadian unconventional plays, heavy oil production, well cost and inflation modelling, and the oilfield service sector.

DISCLAIMER – THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS STATED BELOW ARE BASED ON WOOD MACKENZIE’S DATA, SOURCED FROM PUBLIC SOURCES ACROSS THE GLOBE AND OUR PROPRIETARY TOOLS SUCH AS LENS.

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