Since 1972 the “Roadside Geology” series has provided introductory information on the geology of states and small regions of the United States. The books provide a combination of maps, travel logs, photos and commentary for the geology that can be seen along highways or visited at parks and public viewing areas. They are popular with geologists and others who are interested in the Earth.
An article in the Denver Post discusses horizontal wells being drilled by Nobel Energy in the Niobrara Formation of Colorado. The wells go horizontal for about 9000 feet and cost about $8 million each.
The leading states for natural gas production during 2011 were: Texas, Louisiana, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Colorado. Together they produced 65% of US natural gas.
The Rio Grande Rift
April 13, 2012 | New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources
“The river’s course through southern Colorado and New Mexico is controlled by a geologic feature known as the Rio Grande rift, which formed when Earth’s crust stretched and thinned in an east-west direction starting about 36 million years ago (36 Ma). The stretching and thinning of the crust allowed hot mantle to well upward, creating youthful volcanoes, hot springs, and mineral deposits, as well as forming a topographically low area along which the river flows.”
“A newly released U.S. Geological Survey study of decreasing groundwater resources in the Denver Basin aquifer provides information on water movement within the system and how it responds to changes in climatic and human activities.” Quote from the USGS press release.
The-Vug.com has an impressive listing of mineral clubs organized by state. You might be surprised at how many clubs are listed and there is probably one that meets within a short drive of your home.
“Water-level declines began in parts of the High Plains aquifer soon after the beginning of substantial irrigation with groundwater in the aquifer area. This report presents water-level changes in the High Plains aquifer from the time before substantial groundwater irrigation development had occurred (about 1950 and termed “predevelopment” in this report) to 2009, from 2007-08, and from 2008-09. The report also presents change in water in storage in the aquifer, from predevelopment to 2009.” Quoted from the USGS report release.
The folks at MyTopo.com are now printing supersized topo maps – large enough make a huge 5′ x 8′ (or 8′ x 5′) map that will look fantastic on the wall of your office, conference room, lobby, cabin or den. These maps are custom-centered on any location that you pick using their online map-making tool. Lots of smaller sizes are also available.
We are affiliates of MyTopo.com and receive a commission on sales.
Raven Maps are beautiful examples of shaded-relief wall maps that display the elevation of a state in vibrant colors. These large maps look great in a classroom, den or office. Use one to mark the locations of your work or company.
Anadarko Petroleum estimates that the Niobrara Formation in the Wattenberg Field contains the equivalent of 500 million to 1.5 billion barrels of oil that can be tapped by horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. (See slides 11-15 in the .pdf document)
Part of an exploration map - Wyoming Geological Survey
The United States is the world’s leading consumer of diamonds, spending billions of dollars per year on the gem. Although domestic production is currently just a few hundred carats, there is a potential for production in several states.
An article in the Denver Post describes what the Colorado Geological Survey is doing to investigate minesubsidence problems in the Weld County area – where collapsing mines are damaging buildings, roads, utilities and more.
The Marshall University Center for Business and Economic Research has prepared: Taxation of Natural Gas: A Comparative Analysis. This publication reviews the many methods of taxing natural gas 19 different states. You might be surprised at how many ways natural gas is being taxed.
USGS has warned residents of the San Luis Valley in Colorado that a low-flying helicopter with a large boom extending from its nose will be making low-altitude traverses to collect geophysical data in a search for buried faults.
Some of the most spectacular Eocene fossils are found in the Green River Formation of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming where fish, insects, plants and animals were preserved in intermountain lakes while the Rocky Mountains were still growing.
An article in the Casper Star-Tribune reports that companies interested in the Niobrara Shale of Wyoming and Colorado are using seismic surveys to understand the stratigraphy.
The largest earthquake to strike Colorado since 1973 occurred at 11:46 PM last night near the community of Trinidad along the New Mexico border. A few buildings have been damaged by the M5.3 earthquake but early news does not report injuries or deaths. The area where the quake occurred has a history of small earthquakes.
Lake Powell is a reservoir on the Colorado River that was produced by the flooding of Glen Canyon. It is used as a water supply source for many areas in Arizona, California and Nevada. After ten years of drought the lake has risen rapidly in response to unusual amounts of water flow into the lake during June and July
USGS has published Assessment of In-Place Oil Shale Resources in the Eocene Green River Formation, Greater Green River Basin, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah.
The publication summarizes the Green River Formation with detailed descriptions, maps, cross-sections, resource estimates and more.
“More of the United States was in exceptional drought in July 2011 than in any other month in the past 12 years, according to the National Climatic Data Center. The worst of the drought is spread across Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and parts of Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, and Louisiana. But 26 percent of the lower 48 states experienced severe to extreme drought in July. On the other hand, about 33 percent of the contiguous United States experienced exceptionally rainy weather in July. The wet weather occurred largely in the Northern Plains and Western states.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.
Solar storms last week set off an auroral display that could be seen as far south as Colorado and Nebraska. Three videos filmed in Canada by Michael Ericsson can be viewed on MSNBC.
“Nearly 12 percent of the contiguous United States fell into the “exceptional” classification during the month, peaking at 11.96 percent on July 12. That level of exceptional drought had never before been seen in the monitor’s 12-year history, said Brian Fuchs, UNL assistant geoscientist and climatologist at the NDMC.” Quoted from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln news release.
“In September 2010, the Fourmile Canyon Fire broke out in the foothills west of Boulder, Colorado, scorching more than 6,000 acres (2,500 hectares) and forcing residents to evacuate. Ten months later, residents had to evacuate again, this time to flee floods. Stripped of vegetation, the slopes along Fourmile Canyon soaked up little of the water dropped by a thunderstorm. Instead, the runoff surged into local stream channels.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.
The High Plains Aquifer underlies some of the most important agricultural land in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. The Aquifer is in trouble because overpumping has dropped water levels in many areas over 100 vertical feet. This USGS report summarizes changes in the Aquifer from predevelopment to 2009.
A presentation at the National Speleological Society annual meeting featured the Elephant Mountain vapor caves. These caves have a constant temperature of 86 degrees Fahrenheit and are heated by hot springs. Other caves in Colorado have typical temperatures of about 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
A site near Snowmass Village, Colorado is one of the most prolific mastodon sites in the world. Between 45,000 and 150,000 years ago the site was a lake where large animals might have been trapped as they waded into deep mud.
Scientists had 70 days to search an old lake bed in Colorado for mammoths, mastodons and other fossils before the lake bed was filled with water and turned into a reservoir for Snowmass, Colorado.
Callan Bentley found some interesting features that might be sauropod footprints while visiting the Two Sisters dinosaur dig in the Jurassic Morrison Formation of Colorado.
Surface disturbance from oil and gas wells in one square mile, Weld County, Colorado.
Colorado and New Mexico are endowed with multiple energy resources: oil and gas, shale gas, coal bed methane, uranium, geothermal, wind, and solar, and thus represent a microcosm of issues that affect the Western United States. Increased demand for energy—renewable and nonrenewable—drives the intensified development of all forms of energy in the region.
Resource managers and other decisionmakers are expected to balance the benefits of the rapid development of energy resources in light of their potential effects on these other resources.
USGS evaluated snowmelt and runoff data in Colorado for the 1978 through 2007 water years. The analysis revealed that snowmelt and snowmelt runoff is now occurring earlier in the year.
Drillers hope that wells in the Niobrara Shale will yield similar quantities of oil and natural gas as wells in the nearby Bakken Formation. However, early results show Niobrara wells yielding at less than half the rate of Bakken wells.
An article in the New York Times explains how record snowpacks that have persisted into late spring are a flooding threat throughout the western United States.
“A team of scientists led by Rice University has figured out why the Colorado Plateau – a 130,000-square-mile region that straddles Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico – is rising even while parts of its lower crust appear to be falling.” Quoted from the Rice University press release.
USGS has a new free publication that describes the basin fill aquifers of the southwestern United States titled: “Effects of natural and human factors on groundwater quality of basin-fill aquifers in the southwestern United States-conceptual models for selected contaminants.”
Some companies are starting to doubt the initially optimistic opinions about the Niobrara Shale that has produced oil and natural gas in the Colorado, Western Nebraska and Wyoming area. Some recent wells have not been commercially viable and that has generated uncertainty.
Mark Northam, director of the School of Energy Resources at the University of Wyoming says that horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing allow drillers to “manufacture a reservoir” in the Niobrara Shale.
An article in the Billings Gazette explains how horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing are opening a bonanza of oil and natural gas from the Niobrara Shale in Colorado, Kansas and Wyoming.
The age of the Grand Canyon is not an easy question to answer. In this article, Wayne Ranney explores the age of the canyon and some of the ideas that have influenced those who have investigated this topic.
The formation of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado has always puzzled scientists. Some 600 miles inland and far removed from the nearest tectonic plate, the only comparable inland mountain range is the Himalaya, which scientists deduced were formed by the collision of the Indian plate with the Eurasian plate. But there really was no India slamming into North America. Quoted from The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences press release.
“The Colorado River provides water for about 25 million people and is used to irrigate 2.5 million acres of farmland. However, competition for this water is expected to increase as human populations dependent on this water are projected to increase to 38 million by 2020. Climate change is expected to further exacerbate water issues in this region.” Quoted from the USGS publication announcement.
The U.S. Geological Survey in 2010 completed an assessment of the undiscovered oil and gas potential of the Anadarko Basin Province of western Oklahoma, western Kansas, northern Texas, and southeastern Colorado.
An unusual entry into the Niobrara Shale is CNOOC Ltd., China’s largest offshore energy company. They are buying 1/3 of Chesapeake Energy’s Niobrara Shale assets for $570 million cash.
An article in the Denver Post reports that mining companies and government agencies have intensified their efforts to identify and characterize rare earth mineral resources in Colorado. The Colorado School of Mines, is establishing a center for strategic materials research which conduct rare earth element studies.
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