Cleveland Shale Research Articles

Testing of an Irati oil shale in a multi-stage fluidized bed retorting process

A Permian Irati oil shale from Brazil was tested in a 7.6cm diameter prototype of the Kentort II process which is a multi-stage fluidized bed retort containing pyrolysis, gasification and combustion zones. To facilitate comparisons, test conditions were maintained similar to those from a recent study utilizing a Devonian shale (Cleveland Member of the Ohio Shale) from Kentucky. The Irati shale was processed with all three zones of the process in operation and solid recirculation was used to transfer heat throughout the reactor. Generally, the Irati shale performed well in the process, but generation of fines was more prevalent. Oil yields averaged 112% of the modified Fischer assay despite the use of recycled solids to transfer heat to the pyrolyser. Due to the more aliphatic nature of the kerogen, carbon conversion to oil was significantly greater for the Irati shale compared to the Cleveland shale. Otherwise, gasification and combustion kinetics and hydrocarbon gas production were similar for the two shales.

Latest Devonian–Earliest Mississippian nearshore trace-fossil assemblages from West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland

Trace fossils are used in deposystem analysis of Late Devonian–Early Mississippian nearshore facies in the north-central Appalachian Basin. These nearshore facies resulted from separate transgressions during latest Devonian (Cleveland Shale) and earliest Mississippian (Sunbury Shale) time. Emphasis is placed on a well-exposed section at Rowlesburg, West Virginia, where the Oswayo, Cussewago Sandstone, and Riddlesburg Shale Members of the Price Formation are exposed.The Oswayo Member at Rowlesburg preserves an offshore-to-lower shoreface transition in a complex of euryhaline, protected-bay, lagoon, and possible estuarine facies. Cruziana is common and occurs along with Arthrophycus, Bifungites, Chondrites, Planolites, Palaeophycus, Rhizocorallium, Rosselia, Rusophycus, and Skolithos in intensely bioturbated mudstone, siltstone, and sandstone. These lithologies were deposited below fair-weather wave base and grade upsection to upper shoreface facies comprised of thick, horizontally-laminated sandstones with thinner, burrowed mudstone interbeds. Upper shoreface traces consist of Arenicolites, Cruziana, Diplocraterion, Dimorphichnus, Planolites, Thalassinoides, and Skolithos. Skolithos “pipe rock” sandstones occur at the toe of upper shoreface facies. Eastward the Oswayo Member grades into a restricted-bay facies and finally into beach and tidal flat facies near its stratigraphic wedge-out in eastern West Virginia and western Maryland. The Cussewago Sandstone Member at Rowlesburg overlies the Oswayo and is bounded at the top by a disconformity. The Cussewago contains Arenicolites, Isopodichnus, Phycodes, Planolites, and Skolithos in upper shoreface sandstones possibly related to deposition in deltaic or tidal channel systems.Regionally, the Riddlesburg Shale records a range of euryhaline environments in shallow-shelf, open-bay, and probable estuarine facies. The Riddlesburg Shale Member at Rowlesburg is comprised of dark-grey silty shales, siltstones, and hummocky cross-stratified sandstones. Trace fossils include Bergaueria, Bifungites, Fustiglyphus?, Helminthopsis, Planolites, and Skolithos. Lithofacies of the Riddlesburg Shale in West Virginia were markedly influenced by a syndepositionally active basement feature, the West Virginia Dome. Riddlesburg-age shoreface sandstones deposited on the crest of the Dome contain apparent omission surfaces with common Rhizocorallium and Arenicolites, Cruziana?, Planolites, and Skolithos.

Lower Pocono Coastal Embayments, in Western Maryland and Vicinity, Related to Latest Devonian Eustatic Sea Level Rise: ABSTRACT

New data from an exposure of upper Hampshire-lower Pocono in western Maryland document a transgressive-regressive sequence of three distinct depo-facies in this outcrop. A deltaic-alluvial plain facies of unfossiliferous Hampshire red beds is conformably overlain by a brackish fossiliferous facies of gray and green Pocono beds, disconformably overlain by a fining-upward, point-bar facies of unfossiliferous gray Pocono beds. The fossiliferous facies coarsens up from sideritic, Planolites-burrowed shales and siltstones bearing Lingula and Camaro-toechia to fine-grained, Skolithus-bearing sandstones. This subtidal to intertidal depo-facies accumulated in a protected, shallow, brackish bay affected only by tides and storms. An eastward-thinning, lower Pocono transgressive tongue occurs throughout the western Maryland area. This transgression, which halted the westward progradation of the Hampshire delta complex, resulted from a base-level rise. Resultant submergence of the delta complex created several estuaries and bays. Coastal sand barriers in West Virginia protected these embayments. Base-level drop caused westward regression, incision of major streams near their mouths, and some subaerial erosion of the emerged coastal area. Regional stratigraphy supports correlation of the lower Pocono transgression in Maryland with the latest Devonian transgression in Ohio (Cleveland shale) and Pennsylvania (Oswayo shale). The late Fammenian eustatic cycle (IIf) from the Devonian eustatic seamore » level curve may explain the lower Pocono transgression-regression. Locally, the Devonian-Mississippian boundary may be the disconformity beneath the Pocono point-bar facies.« less

Late Devonian ammonoids from Ohio and adjacent states

Three late Devonian ammonoid-bearing levels are described from the area of Cleveland, Ohio. These appear to represent the German Platyclymenia, Clymenia and Wocklumeria Stufen, clear evidence for which has been lacking previously in eastern North America. The lowest level, around the base of the Cleveland Shale, yieldsSporadoceras, Cyrtoclymenia, Platyclymeniaand a new species,Pleuroclymenia(?)ohioense. The middle level, near the top of the Cleveland Shale, bearsCymaclymenia, SporadocerasandPrionoceras. The highest level, just above the base of the Bedford Shale, hasPrionoceras quadripartitum. This species, and a fauna of the basal Bedford, have been located also in the area of Columbus, Ohio. AnEpiwocklumeria(?) sp. is recorded from Indiana. Attention is drawn to the international importance of the late Famennian and Lower Carboniferous ammonoid sequence which can now be recognized in Ohio.

Use of Sonic-Shear-Wave/Resistivity Overlay as a Quick-Look Method for Identifying Potential Pay Zones in the Ohio (Devonian) Shale

Summary Until recently, there were few wells drilled in the Ohio (Devonian) shale because of the low profit potential and difficulty in identifying potentially productive zones using the conventional openhole logging suite (compensated density/sidewall or count-rate neutron/gamma ray logs). However, with the incentive of higher prices for oil and gas, drilling, activity in the Ohio shale has increased dramatically. Operators now are drilling deeper to search for productive zones in the shale below the Berea sandstone. As was the case with occasional attempts to produce from this same interval in the late 1960's, finding productive zones using the conventional openhole logging suite is often unsuccessful. Identification of possible productive zones in the Ohio shale is facilitated greatly by adding a borehole-compensated sonic log (BCSL) to the conventional logging suite. The additional information available from a sonic log can be used to create a quick-look method for identifying potential pay zones in the Ohio shale. This paper discusses the Ohio shale, problems associated with finding productive zones, the theory of using sonic data in addition to the conventional suite of logs, and the sonic-shear-wave/resistivity overlay technique. Introduction There has been much debate as to the source of gas from the Devonian shales. The main issue is: Does the as come from the pore space of natural fractures or from the shale matrix itself? This question was discussed in the Proceedings of the 1935 Devonian Shale Symposium (complete with production models and correlative data to prove either concept), and more recently by Smith et al. It is not the intent of this paper to answer that question or to advocate either concept but to review past and present methods for finding productive intervals within the Devonian shales no matter what the source of the hydrocarbons. In the final analysis, it is not the resolution of theoretical arguments that will meet our energy requirements but finding hydrocarbon zones and producing them. Recent production records prove that there are commercially producible hydrocarbons in the Ohio shale and that productive zones can be found. This paper shows how to find possible productive zones using the sonic-shear-wave/resistivity overlay technique. Geological Background The Devonian shales of eastern and central Ohio consist primarily of the Olentangy and Ohio shales in ascending order. The Cleveland shale pinches out against the Chagrin member as the formation is followed eastward. Thus the Ohio shale in eastern Ohio usually has only two components-the Chagrin and Huron shale submembers. This composition of the Ohio shale is discussed in this paper. Completion records of wells drilled in the Ohio shale often refer to silt-type stringer below the Berea sandstone and above the Onondaga limestone by a variety of names such as Gantz, Thirty Foot sand, Gordon sandstone, Gordon 4th, and Gordon 5th. However, the name "Gordon" originally was used to identify an Upper-Devonian sandstone of Pennsylvania and West Virginia-Gordon, as originally used, implies the presence of a clean sand with a peak gamma ray log comparable to the Berea sitndstone-characteristics not customarily found in the "Gordon" wells of eastern Ohio. In the Ohio shale, gamma ray logs consistently show a shaley pattern below the Berea sandstone and above the Onondaga limestone. Within the Chagrin shale members are siltstone stringers showing no sandstone characteristics. It is probable that the term "Gordon," as used in completion records of Ohio shale wells, refers to a siltstone within the Chagrin shale member. it fractured zone within the Chagrin shale member, or a combination of the two. JPT P. 638^

Stratigraphy and Resource Assessment of Mississippian and Devonian Oil Shales of Northeastern Kentucky: ABSTRACT

Heightened interest in the organic carbon-rich shale of Mississippian and Devonian age as a source of oil has resulted in intensive leasing along the shale outcrop belt in Kentucky. Twelve cores of shale from Lewis and Fleming Counties were examined and analyzed in an effort to relate details of stratigraphy to the oil-rich horizons and to outline areas of minable potential resources. Formations of interest are the Sunbury Shale (Lower Mississippian) and the Ohio Shale (Upper Devonian). The generalized stratigraphy (Lower Mississippian through Upper Devonian) is, in descending order: Borden Formation, Sunbury Shale, Berea Sandstone, Bedford Shale, and Ohio Shale. Useful key markers in the sequence are the Three Lick Bed and the Foerstia zone, which are both in the Ohio Shale. The Three Lick Bed divides the Ohio Shale into the Cleveland Member, above, and the Huron Member, below. The Ohio Shale is underlain by Silurian Bisher Limestone and Crab Orchard Formation. Organic content is high in the Sunbury Shale and in the upper part of the Cleveland Member of the Ohio Shale. In cores, the total thickness of the Sunbury ranges from 12.0 to 18.4 ft (3.7 to 5.6 m). The combined thickness of Berea Sandstone and Bedford Shale ranges from 28 to 122 ft (8.5 to 37.2 m). The Cleveland shale ranges from 50 to 65 ft (15.2 to 19.8 m). Assuming a stripping ratio of 2.5 to 1, more than 2.9 × 106 acre-ft (3.6 × 103 cu hm) of shale having a Fischer-assay oil yield greater than 11 gal/ST (38 l/MT) is minable by means of existing methods. A conservative estimate of the amount of the potential strippable shale-oil resource in these two counties is more than 2 × 109 bbl. End_of_Article - Last_Page 897------------

Fluctuations in a late devonian-early Mississippian phytoplankton flora of Ohio, U.S.A

Fossil diversity and abundance fluctuations of Late Devonian (Famennian)—Early Mississippian (Tournaisian) phytoplankton assemblages were determined in a stratigraphic sequence of samples in Barberton test core 3, from northeast Ohio. Both diversity and abundance were relatively high during deposition of the lower Chagrin Shale (Upper Devonian) and both decreased during deposition of the upper Chagrin Shale. The overlying Cleveland Shale (Upper Devonian) is characterized by sharply increased abundance with a corresponding (although less marked) increase in diversity; in contrast, both abundance and diversity were at relatively low levels during deposition of the Lower Mississippian Bedford Shale, the uppermost unit of the sequence. These trends agree with the phytoplankton periodicity model presented by Tappan, which indicates large-scale extinction at the end of the Devonian. Many of the acritarch and prasinophycean algal taxa have restricted stratigraphic occurrences within the section studied, making them useful for local and perhaps worldwide correlation. The stratigraphically restricted taxa provide a basis for the proposal of five biostratigraphic zones within the Upper Famennian (Upper Devonian) and a portion of the Lower Mississippian. In ascending order occur: the Gorgonisphaeridium ohioense Assemblage Zone, the Acriora petala Assemblage Zone, the Muraticavea enteichia Range Zone, the Cymatiosphaera labyrinthica Range Zone, and the Navifusa drosera Assemblage Zone.

Phytoplankton Abundance and Diversity During the Late Devonian and Early Mississippian of Ohio: ABSTRACT

The Upper Devonian Chagrin and Cleveland Shales contain a diverse and abundant organic-walled microplankton assemblage of acritarchs and leiospheres with associated spores, whereas the Lower Mississippian Bedford Shale phytoplankton assemblage is greatly reduced. Ten-gram samples were examined at intervals of 10 ft or less for the entire 573 cores through the 3 formations, to determine microplankton abundance and diversity. In these samples, spores are the most abundant element, followed by leiospheres and then acritarchs. More than 50 species of acritarchs and leiospheres, mostly new, have been identified in 62 samples of the Upper Devonian section, whereas one Gorgonosphaeridium species occurs abundantly in all Upper Devonian samples and is present in most Lower Mississippian samples. General acritarch diversity decreases slightly up-section in the Chagrin Shale, and increases slightly in the basal Cleveland Shale; the decrease is more marked in the upper Cleveland Shale, and is most notable in the Bedford Shale. Acritarch abundance also lessens up-section through the Upper Devonian formations, with minima in the upper fourth of the Chagrin Shale and the upper half of the Cleveland Shale. Acritarchs are very scarce in the Bedford Shale. As total phytoplankton abundance shows a marked decrease up-section, from the middle of the Chagrin Shale to the top of the Bedford Shale, a drop in net primary productivity is indicated for the Late Devonian and Early Mississippian of Ohio. End_of_Article - Last_Page 812------------

Distribution of the Cleveland Black Shale in Ohio

The authors present evidence that the variable thickness of the Cleveland Shale (Late Devonian) from northern to southern Ohio displays a pattern resulting from the entry into a black mud environment of some clastic sediments introduced by distributing currents flowing westward from the Catskill delta.

Diademodus hydei, a new fossil shark from the Cleveland Shale.

Summary. Diademodus hydei, a new genus and species of shark from the Cleveland Shale, is described and figured from the holotype in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. About 40 centimetres in length, the fish is an adult male with well‐developed claspers; it shows a combination of hybodont and cladoselachian characteristics. The teeth are many‐cusped and bilaterally symmetrical, with the outer cusps longer than the inner; they approach more closely to the sculpturing of the scale pattern than in orther primitive sharks. A comparison with the contemporaneous Cladoselache and Ctenacanthus clarki suggests that Diademdus is an early and not distant offshoot from the primitive chondrichthyan stock, the main line of which led through Ctenacanthus and the hybodonts to the modern elamobranchs; Cladoselache is a specialized side line of this main stock and is not an appropriate ancestral type for the Chondrichthyes.

Berea Sandstone in Eroded Cleveland Shale

Previous articleNext article FreeBerea Sandstone in Eroded Cleveland ShaleWilbur Greeley BurroughsWilbur Greeley Burroughs Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Geology Volume 22, Number 8Nov. - Dec., 1914 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/622192 Views: 98Total views on this site PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

The Huron and Cleveland Shales of Northern Ohio

Previous articleNext article FreeThe Huron and Cleveland Shales of Northern OhioCharles S. ProsserCharles S. Prosser Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Geology Volume 21, Number 4May - Jun., 1913 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/622066 Views: 298Total views on this site Citations: 3Citations are reported from Crossref PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Jiří Bek, Shya Chitaley, Léa Grauvogel-Stamm Occurrence of spores from an isoetalean lycopsid of the Polysporia-type in the Late Devonian of Ohio, USA, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 156, no.1-21-2 (Jul 2009): 34–50.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2009.04.008Philip S. L. Anderson Biomechanics, functional patterns, and disparity in Late Devonian arthrodires, Paleobiology 35, no.33 (Apr 2016): 321–342.https://doi.org/10.1666/0094-8373-35.3.321Philip S. L. Anderson Shape variation between arthrodire morphotypes indicates possible feeding niches, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28, no.44 (Dec 2008): 961–969.https://doi.org/10.1671/0272-4634-28.4.961

The age of the Cleveland shale of Ohio

The age of the Cleveland shale of Ohio

Dean's "Palaeontological Notes"Palaeontological Notes. I, On Two New Arthrodires from the Cleveland Shale of Ohio.Palaeontological Notes. II, On the Characters of Mylostoma, Newberry.Palaeontological Notes. III, Further Notes on the Relationships of the Arthrognathi.Bashford Dean

Previous articleNext article FreeReviews of Recent LiteratureDean's "Palaeontological Notes" Palaeontological Notes. I, On Two New Arthrodires from the Cleveland Shale of Ohio. Palaeontological Notes. II, On the Characters of Mylostoma, Newberry. Palaeontological Notes. III, Further Notes on the Relationships of the Arthrognathi. Bashford Dean C. R. E.C. R. E. Search for more articles by this author PDF Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The American Naturalist Volume 35, Number 413May, 1901 Published for The American Society of Naturalists Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/277937 Views: 48 Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Descriptions of New Species of Diplodus Teeth from the Devonian of Northeastern Illinois

Previous articleNext article FreeDescriptions of New Species of Diplodus Teeth from the Devonian of Northeastern IllinoisC. R. EastmanC. R. Eastman Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Geology Volume 7, Number 5Jul. - Aug., 1899 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/608425 Views: 138Total views on this site Citations: 7Citations are reported from Crossref PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Anthony L. Swinehart, Matthew M. J. Hoenig, Michal Ginter A New Addition to the Devonian Elasmobranch Fauna of Michigan, U.S.A., The American Midland Naturalist 184, no.11 (Jul 2020).https://doi.org/10.1674/0003-0031-184.1.109Christophe Hendrickx, Octávio Mateus, Ricardo Araújo A proposed terminology of theropod teeth (Dinosauria, Saurischia), Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 35, no.55 (Sep 2015): e982797.https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2015.982797Susan Turner, Walter Youngquist Late Devonian phoebodont (Pisces: Chondrichthyes) from the Confusion Range; Utah, Geobios 28 (Jan 1995): 389–392.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-6995(95)80144-8John G. Maisey Gnathostomes (Jawed Vertebrates), Short Courses in Paleontology 7 (Jul 2017): 38–56.https://doi.org/10.1017/S2475263000001252John A. Long Late Devonian chondrichthyans and other microvertebrate remains from northern Thailand, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 10, no.11 (Mar 1990): 59–71.https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.1990.10011790Jane Gray Evolution of the freshwater ecosystem: The fossil record, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 62, no.1-41-4 (Jan 1988): 1–214.https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-0182(88)90054-5Arthur Smith Woodward XXVIII.— The affinities of the Palæozoic Pleuracanth sharks, Annals and Magazine of Natural History 5, no.2727 (Aug 2009): 323–326.https://doi.org/10.1080/00222934008527051

III.—The Upper Devonian Fishes of Ohio

Under the true Carboniferous strata of Ohio, that is below the base of the Berea Grit, lies a mass of shale of varying colour many hundred feet in thickness. The uppermost fifty or sixty feet are often red or reddish, and have been separated with the name of the Bedford Shale. The next layer, of about the same thickness, is usually black or at least very dark and bears the name of the Cleveland Shale. Below this again is a greenish mass 500 feet or more in thickness, known as the Erie Shale. Another dark bed follows—the Huron Shale—beneath which is the great limestone base of the Devonian in Ohio, the Corniferous.