Salina Basin Research Articles

A Model for Managing Reservoir Water Releases

AbstractTwo surface reservoirs in California's Salinas Basin are used to increase recharge of valley aquifers. Under the assumptions of zero price elasticity of demand for groundwater, unregulated groundwater withdrawals, and the objective of economic efficiency, the management criterion is to maximize the present value of expected aquifer recharge where the value of a unit of recharge is the associated reduction in pumping costs. A cyclical Markov dynamic programming management model is developed; optimal strategies are obtained. Results indicate the optimal strategy is relatively stable within the realistic range of alternative groundwater demand growth rates. The marginal value function for reservoir capacity is obtained by parametric analysis.

Geochemistry and Deposition of Lower Salina Group, Southwestern Ontario and Michigan: ABSTRACT

Calcite, dolomite, insoluble residue, and clay minerals of lower Salina (A1 and A2) and upper Niagaran rocks of southwestern Ontario and Michigan were analyzed. Analysis of variance, trend surface analysis, and factor analysis were carried out on the above constituents, as well as on color and oil and gas production. Dark units contain more carbonate and calcite than light units. Light units contain more dolomite than dark units. Dark units typically contain a 13.4 A clay, whereas light units more typically contain a 10.8 and 9.4 A clay. Light units are associated with proposed marine outlets from the Salina basin. Light/[dark + light] ratios show very good correlation with reported oil and/or gas production. Dark carbonate units (suggesting a restri ted lagoon) lie behind (east of) the known reef arc. High-dolomite-content light units may be related in origin to a shallow-water, subaerial environment currently termed supratidal. End_of_Article - Last_Page 856------------

Forest City Basin of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa

The Forest City basin of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa is the area in which the first oil and gas production west of the Mississippi River was found. Production near Paola, Kansas, followed within a few years of the birth of the oil industry at Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1859 Initial movements of the Ozark uplift and the Chautauqua arch began in Late Ordovician time. Attendant subsidence in the north Kansas area formed an ancestral basin which was bisected later by the Nemaha anticline forming the Salina basin and an unnamed basin on the east. Post-Mississippian, pre-Atokan peneplanation of the entire area took place before renewed activity along the Nemaha anticline uplifted the area west of the anticline while downwarping east of the Nemaha scarp formed the Forest City basin. Thus it is defined as a Pennsylvanian basin. Movement along the Nemaha anticline may have begun during the late Early Ordovician but certainly it was mobile during Early Mississippian time and continued to be active intermittently until at least the early Permian. The Cherokee and Forest City basins were separated by a low arch until middle Cherokee time when the Forest City basin filled with sediments and the two basins linked across the Bourbon arch. Northeast-trending folds developed after Mississippian deposition whereas previous structural orientation was northwestward.

Sedgwick Basin: ABSTRACT

The Sedgwick basin is a moderate-size basinal structure, approximately 10-12,000 sq. mi. located in south-central Kansas. The basin is bounded on the east by the Nemaha anticline and on the west by the Pratt anticline. It is actually an embayment connected to a major Oklahoma structural basin. The northern boundary is poorly defined. It is separated from the Salina basin by lithologic changes within the rock section. These changes are the primary causes of a large number of producing zones. This paper deals with past and future prospects of the area with respect to these changes in lithologic types. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1561------------

Forest City Basin of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa: ABSTRACT

The Forest City basin of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa is the area of the first oil and gas production west of the Mississippi River. Production was found near Paola, Kansas, within a few years of the birth of the American oil industry at Titusville, Pennsylvania. Initial movements of the Ozark uplift and the Chautauqua arch began in Late Ordovician time. Attendant subsidence in the northern Kansas area formed an ancestral basin which was later bisected by the Nemaha anticline, forming the Salina basin on the west and an unnamed basin on the east. Post-Mississippian, Pre-Atokan peneplanation of the entire region took place before renewed activity along the Nemaha anticline uplifted the area west of the anticline while downwarping east of the Nemaha scarp formed the Forest City basin. Thus, it is defined as a Pennsylvanian-age basin. Movement along the Nemaha structure may have begun as early as pre-St. Peter time but certainly during Early Mississippian time and continued intermittently until at least the Early Permian. The Cherokee and Forest City basins were separated by a low arch until middle Cherokee time when the Forest City basin filled with sediments and the two basins joined across the Bourbon arch. Northeast-trending folds developed after Mississippian deposition, whereas previous structural orientation had been toward the northwest. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1564------------

SILURIAN FISH FOSSILS IN THE SALINA BASIN

New Silurian cyathaspid fish localities have been found in the Wills Creek formation of West Virginia and Maryland. Late Silurian fishes had been reported previously from the same states, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. In the Salina basin, occurrences are restricted to the eastern margin, chiefly in or near the red clastic facies. Eurypterids of the same basin have a different distribution pattern and are found principally in argillaceous carbonates.

Pre-Desmoinesian Isopachous and Paleogeologic Studies in Central Mid-Continent Region

Major tectonic features of the central Mid-Continent area are outlined and their relation to present thickness and distribution of pre-Desmoinesian strata is discussed. Cambro-Ordovician Arbuckle group thickens southward from zero along the Nemaha and Central Kansas uplifts to nearly 7,000 feet in southern Oklahoma. The Simpson, with maximum thickness of 3,000 feet in southern Oklahoma, thins northward by convergence and overlap of younger units to extinction in northwestern Kansas. Viola-Fernvale thins northward from 1,500 feet in Anadarko basin to 200 feet in southern Kansas, and thickens to 400 feet in Salina basin. The Sylvan-Maquoketa is limited to two areas, one in Oklahoma, the second in northeastern Kansas. Maximum thickness in Oklahoma is 600 feet, in Kansas about 150 feet. Distribution of Hunton resembles that of Sylvan; maximum thickness exceeds 1,500 feet in Oklahoma and 650 feet in Forest City basin. Woodford-Chattanooga lies with regional unconformity on units from Precambrian through Hunton. A 600-foot maximum is postulated for the Anadarko basin; 50-100 feet covers eastern Oklahoma and Kansas. Mississippian limestones are widespread with 4,000 feet in Anadarko basin, 1,600 feet in Hugoton embayment, and zero in northern Kansas. Lower Pennsylvanian Springer is limited to a narrow belt in Anadarko and McAlester basins with maximum of 4,000 feet near Ardmore. Overlying Morrow overlaps Springer, reaching maximum of 1,500 feet in McAlester basin and more than 4,300 feet in Anadarko basin. Distribution of Atoka resembles that of Morrow with 5,000 feet maximum in the Anadarko basin and approximately 8,000 feet in the McAlester basin. Widespread Desmoinesian sediments rest with marked unconformity on Atokan and older rocks. Epeirogenic movements were mild throughout early Paleozoic with geosynclinal development in southern Oklahoma. Eustatic changes produced major unconformities and offlap-overlap relations. Strong warping occurred in post-Hunton, pre-Chattanooga time. Major orogenic movements are post-Mississippian, pre-Desmoinesian with maximum movement in late Morrowan. Final structural development took place in late Cretaceous and early Tertiary. Throughout much of Paleozoic time, the axis of maximum deposition in southern Oklahoma paralleled the Wichita-Amarillo trend in the Wichita embayment.

Oil and Gas Possibilities in Central Nebraska Basin: ABSTRACT

The Central Nebraska basin comprises an area of more than 25,000 square miles bounded on the west by the Chadron-Cambridge arch, on the east by the Table Rock-Nehawka-Richfield arch, on the north by the Sioux uplift, and on the south by the Kansas-Nebraska line. For all practical purposes this basin is a northern extension of the Salina basin of Kansas. The area is extensively mantled with variable thicknesses of Cenozoic rocks resting on Cretaceous, Permian, and Pennsylvanian. End_Page 211------------------------------ The Pennsylvanian rests on Precambrian at the margins of the basin but within the basin variable thicknesses of pre-Pennsylvanian sedimentary rocks are known to occur in thicknesses varying from small amounts up to more than 1,000 feet. Basement rocks are reached in the basin at depths of about 4,500 feet or less. The number of significant tests drilled in this basin to date is comparatively small and is certainly inadequate to disprove this large area. The only oil production in this basin to date is in the southwestern part where some Pennsylvanian production has been developed. Adequate reservoir rocks are known to be present in the pre-Pennsylvanian sediments in many parts of the basin. Ground-water mineralization in the pre-Pennsylvanian sedimentary rocks is generally low but thi condition is not believed to be completely unfavorable so far as the possibility of commercial accumulation of petroleum is concerned. The complex geologic history of the region presents some interesting possibilities for the accumulation of oil or gas in commercial amounts. End_of_Article - Last_Page 212------------

Paleozoic History of the Central Nebraska Basin and Its Relation to Anticipated Oil and Gas Exploration: ABSTRACT

The western part of the Central Nebraska basin, which appears to be a northward extension of the Salina basin of Kansas, has been the scene of active leasing and seismographic investigations during the past year, particularly in Harlan, Phelps, Kearney, Buffalo, Sherman, Valley, eastern Custer, and eastern Dawson counties and an active drilling campaign in this area is anticipated. Most of the interest seems to be localized within a broad band along the western side of the basin where the truncated edges of the pre-Pennsylvanian Paleozoic formations are overlapped by the Pennsylvanian and west thereof where there are stratigraphic trap possibilities in connection with Lower Pennsylvanian sands that may wedge out against the pre-Cambrian surface as it rises in the Cambridg arch. The known distribution, stratigraphy, and lithology of the pre-Pennsylvanian formations within this basin are discussed and the probable Paleozoic history of the region reviewed. The Pennsylvanian lithology, distribution, and facies changes are outlined. It is concluded that suitable reservoir rocks occur at reasonable drilling depths in connection with formations of several geologic ages although oil source possibilities and local structural conditions are hard to evaluate. Important unconformities at the base of the Mesozoic, at the base of the Pennsylvanian, and at the base of the Simpson present some interesting possibilities but also suggest that the region should not be condemned on the basis of a comparatively few tests that may not be located to test more than one possibility dequately. End_of_Article - Last_Page 2606------------

Correlation of Radioactive Logs of the Lansing and Kansas City Groups in Central Kansas

Abstract Although the Lansing-Kansas City groups constitute one of the more important producing horizons of Central Kansas, exploitation has been hindered by inability to consistently identify and correlate the various productive intervals. A study of gamma ray-neutron logs and core data indicates that definite zones exist which are related to production and which may be generally correlated over an appreciable portion of Central Kansas. A suggested system of zoning and nomenclature is developed and illustrated, along with examples of its specific application in overall evaluation and in development of zonal production characteristics. General adoption of the suggested system should aid appreciably in the future development of commercial Lansing-Kansas City production in Central Kansas. It is probable that similar systems might be developed for other regions where production is obtained from various uncorrelated and unnamed zones in thick pay intervals. Generalized Geology of Central Kansas The most important large subsurface feature in Central Kansas regarding oil production is the Barton Arch, which is part of the Central Kansas uplift. The Barton Arch is a buried ridge of Pre-Cambrian granite running northwest-southeast, near which the majority of Central Kansas oil fields have been found. To the northeast of this arch, the granite dips sharply into the Salina Basin and similar basin areas to the west and south are termed the Hugoton Embayment and Anadarko Basin, respectively. This report deals primarily with the region of the Central Kansas Uplift and its southwestern flank. Fig. 1 indicates the general location of subsurface structural features along with the oil and gas fields of Central Kansas. Above basal granite lies the Cambro-Ordovician Arbuckle Dolomite which is the principal oil producing zone in Central Kansas. This formation, as well as those higher in the section, reflects the general underlying granite structure; however, the Arbuckle top is an erosional surface and most oil producing structures are probably topographic hills.

Upper Ordovician Shales in Central Kansas

Shales approximately equivalent in age to Maquoketa beds in Iowa and to Sylvan strata in Oklahoma form the topmost Ordovician over much of central Kansas. They normally consist of two members: (1) an upper dolomitic gray shale, which is siliceous and cherty in some areas, and (2) a lower soft flaky shale. These beds are thickest in the central part of the Salina basin and also in a belt extending north-south through western Harvey County. They disappear on the flanks of the Nemaha arch and of the Central Kansas uplift, probably because of truncation, and also thin and disappear in the region of northern Sedgwick County, probably because of non-deposition in places, coupled also with some truncation. Possible sources of the shaly material include the Central Kansas uplift, Ozark dome, and volcanic dust dropped by winds into the muddy upper Ordovician seas.

The Salina Basin of North-Central Kansas

The Salina basin, a pre-Pennsylvanian structural feature lying in north-central Kansas between the Nemaha granite ridge and the Barton arch, is shown to contain a thick pre-Pennsylvanian section. This section is divided into seven distinct lithologic units, three of which are definitely correlated with known strata elsewhere, and four given new names applicable in the Salina basin. The Welch chert as described by Moore is concluded to be a deposit of residual chert formed in place from the Mississippi lime.