Sandstone Pipes Research Articles

Evidence of prehistoric liquefaction in Kuwait and implications for the seismic vulnerability of the Arabian Gulf Countries

This paper presents and analyzes paleo-liquefaction features found in the State of Kuwait. The features are cemented sand and gravel-filled dikes of Pleisto–Holocene age with appearance and composition similar to typical “sandstone pipes.” The significant age difference between the cemented dikes and the surrounding loose sand, the size and spatial distribution of the dikes, and the local geologic and hydrologic setting all suggest that the feature probably results from a single large event of seismic origin. Likely hypotheses include shaking during large earthquakes or seiching of tsunami-like waves. Additional research is needed to identify the exact cause of these dike formations, which is important for the purpose of improving seismic risk and vulnerability assessment of the Arabian Gulf countries. The search may also help explain the disappearance of an ancient civilization that lived in the same region approximately seven thousand years ago.

DEPOSITIONAL CONSTRAINTS ON THE LOWER CRETACEOUS STIKES QUARRY DINOSAUR SITE: UPPER YELLOW CAT MEMBER, CEDAR MOUNTAIN FORMATION, UTAH

A new mass death assemblage in Lower Cretaceous strata of east-central Utah contains well-preserved skeletons representing an ontogenetic series of individuals of Utahraptor , and at minimum two iguanodont grade ornithischian skeletons. The dinosaurs were entombed in ovoid-lensoidal, fine-grained sandstone sills linked by sandstone pipes and/or dikes and another basal lensoidal mass with scattered and broken iguanodont and sauropod bones and to an underlying gravelly sandstone bed. Exposed in the excavation high-walls are syndepositional normal-faults bounding graded ripple strata. Multiphased fluid over-pressurization in an artesian setting creating the structures. Trapping, killing, and subsequent burial mechanism was generated by variations of pressure in a localized artesian spring system that breached the surface and is the first such mechanism documented with numerous dinosaur victims.

Giant sandstone pipes record basin‐scale liquefaction of buried dune sands in the Middle Jurassic of SE Utah

AbstractGiant sandstone pipes crop out over a 20 000 km2 area of SE Utah. They range from metres to decametres in diameter and crosscut more than 100 m of continental sediments. New and published observations, encompassing all known pipe localities in SE Utah, suggest that the pipes formed by upward movement of groundwater, sand and sediment blocks in response to liquefaction of buried dune sands. Pipe formation was most likely triggered by seismicity during a phase of Cordilleran shortening and regional tectonic reorganization in the late Middle Jurassic. The depth of liquefaction recorded by the pipes far exceeds depths usually considered in earthquake engineering.

Paleomagnetic and rock magnetic evidence for a secondary yet early magnetization in large sandstone pipes and host Late Middle Jurassic (Callovian) Summerville Formation and Bluff Sandstone near Mesita, west central New Mexico

Processes responsible for the acquisition of ancient yet secondary magnetizations are important facets of the geologic history of rocks and, when the age of such magnetizations can be estimated with confidence, provide useful information on the ancient geomagnetic field. In west central New Mexico near Mesita, on the Colorado Plateau, hematitic sandstone and siltstone beds of the Middle Jurassic (Callovian) Summerville Formation and overlying Bluff Sandstone are host to numerous large (up to 100 m2 in map area) pipe‐like sandstone bodies. The pipes are as strongly cemented by hematite (colors range from 10R 6/6 to 10R 3/4) as the host strata; paleomagnetic data from them and their host strata are interpreted to indicate that these rocks have been remagnetized, probably in association with sandstone pipe formation. Reverse polarity magnetizations isolated in both alternating field and thermal demagnetization from pipes are well grouped and are similar to, and not statistically distinct from, those in adjacent host strata. The grand‐mean direction for 16 sites (7 sites in sandstone pipes and 9 in host strata), corrected for slight (5°) west‐northwest tilt of the strata, is D = 163.0°, I = −44.3° (α95 = 2.7°, k = 169). This direction yields a pole position of 72.8°N, 135.7°E (dp = 2.1°, dm = 3.4°). Assuming a modest (i.e., ∼5°) clockwise rotation of the Colorado Plateau, the pole lies at 68.7°N, 143.8°E. Median destructive fields for the remanence in pipes and host strata are typically 40–50 mT; over 90% of the remanence is “unblocked” or removed during changes in the magnetic mineralogy by temperatures of ∼400–450°C. Isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM) acquisition data, and thermal demagnetization of “saturation” IRM, however, demonstrate that the dominant magnetic phase is of high coercivity and relatively high (above 600°C) laboratory unblocking temperatures in both sandstone pipes and host strata, yet it does not appear to contribute significantly to the characteristic remanent magnetization. The similarity in demagnetization properties between pipes and adjacent host strata, the absence of a well‐defined high unblocking temperature remanence that is more typical of hematite‐cemented detrital strata, and the essentially uniform reverse polarity of the remanence are all interpreted to indicate that pipes and host strata contain secondary, yet early acquired magnetizations and that magnetization acquisition continued after pipe injection. We propose that acquisition of the secondary magnetization took place in the presence of alkaline, high pH brines formed by the dissolution of the underlying gypsum‐dominated Lower Jurassic Todilto Formation strata and therefore the remanence is early in age. On the basis of a comparison with Summerville and Morrison (Middle and Late Jurassic) paleomagnetic poles from rocks on the Colorado Plateau, we interpret the secondary remanence in Summerville strata and sandstone pipes near Laguna to be latest Middle to Late Jurassic in age. If realistic, this interpretation further emphasizes the importance of fluid‐rock interaction in the acquisition of secondary magnetizations.

The Scott Field, Blocks 15/21a, 15/22, UK North Sea

Abstract The Scott Field straddles Blocks 15/21 and 15/22 on the southern flanks of the Witch Ground Graben in the Outer Moray Firth Basin, UKCS. The oil field is developed in the highly productive Upper Jurassic Humber Group sandstones of Oxfordian to Kimmeridgian age. The field was discovered in 1983, sanctioned in 1990, and produced first oil in 1993. The field structure, effectively a large southwards tilted fault block, is compartmentalized into a series of four main pressure isolated fault blocks by mid to late Jurassic faulting. The Kimmeridge Clay Formation provides both the top seal and the source of the trapped hydrocarbons. Fluid contact, overpressure and compositional trends suggest that the trap was filled primarily from the north. Some trap-defining faults were already active during the deposition of the reservoir intervals. Well data indicate that the development of accommodation space was technically controlled during this period, with subsidence occurring more rapidly in the western areas of the field. The Scott Field reservoir consists of two major sand packages, the Scott Sandstone Member and the Piper Sandstone Member, bounded above and below by marine flooding surfaces. The late Oxfordian Scott Sandstone Member consists of a westwards prograding marine shoreface sandstone overlain by aggradational and retrogradational back-barrier deposits. Above this, the Mid Shale is a regionally extensive flooding event separating the Scott Sandstone Member from the overlying Piper Sandstone Member. The early Kimmeridgian Piper Sandstone Member consists of stacked mass flow sandstones, overlain by a shoreface/back-barrier system. Lateral facies changes and thickness variations significantly affect reservoir distribution in both Scott and Piper intervals. The best reservoir quality occurs within the coarsest grained, highest energy facies, particularly the shoreface and proximal washover deposits. At the crest of the field, 10400 ft TVDss, multi-Darcy permeabilities and porosities of 20% are common. However, reservoir quality declines progressively downflank due to increased quartz cementation and compaction. The Scott Field currently produces from 23 wells supported by 20 water injectors. Current modelling is aimed at targeting bypassed oil to increase ultimate recovery. The field has presently produced 300 MMSTB of oil from forecast reserves of 440 MMSTB with an estimated ultimate recovery factor of c. 46%.

Appraisal geology of the Saltire Field, Witch Ground Graben, North Sea

Saltire is a structurally and stratigraphically complex field that lies within the Witch Ground Graben. It is located 200 km northeast of Aberdeen, Scotland in UK North Sea Block 15/17. Three sandstone reservoirs contain an estimated 224 × 10 6 BBL of oil-in-place within a 2500 acre closure. The field was discovered in 1988. Subsequent appraisal drilling incorporated 3D seismic and detailed stratigraphic studies to produce the coherent geological reservoir models needed for development planning. Field production will begin in 1993. The Upper Jurassic section contains the Piper and Galley sandstone reservoirs which occur within a broad, E-W-orientated fault terrace. Northerly closure results from a down-to-the-south normal fault. Southern and westerly closures result from Piper sandstone erosional truncation and Galley sandstone pinch-out. Both reservoirs have easterly dip closure. The Piper Formation is a fluvial to wave-influenced deltaic marine sequence of latest Oxfordian to mid-Kimmeridgian age. It is up to 280 ft thick. The reservoir is fault separated into Main and Western areas with API oil gravities of 42.5° and 38°, respectively. The Galley sandstone reservoir contains 42.5° API gravity oil and occurs within the northeast area. It is a deep marine turbidite sequence of late Kimmeridgian age and has a maximum reservoir thickness of 205 ft. An Early Cretaceous sandstone reservoir occurs within the upper Valhall Formation. It comprises two marine turbidite sandstones of late Barremian to early Aptian age, with up to 95 ft of composite thickness. The reservoir has three-way dip closure, pinches out by onlap to the north and contains 33° API gravity oil.

Stable isotopic ratios and origins of the carbonates associated with cold seepage at the eastern Nankai Trough

Two types of cold-seeps were located at the eastern Nankai Trough: (1) seeps on sediment-covered seafloor of 3800-3600 m in depth at the toe of the accretionary prism, and (2) those between 1900 and 2100 m, situated on the backthrust of the accretionary prism covered with rough outcrops of calcareous sandstones. Fragments of sandstone pipes or chimneys cemented with calcite were recovered from type-1 seeps, whereas in type-2 seeps, massive carbonate-cemented sandstones and silty sandstones were obtained, many of which contain cemented fragments of different lithologies and textures, including dense aggregates of fossilCalyptogena-type clam shells. The carbon isotopic ratios of the carbonates in these sediments range from −36 to −56‰ PDB. The carbonates formed by mixing between isotopically light carbonate ions derived from biogenic methane carried from depth in advecting fluids and heavy marine sedimentary carbonates. Sharp isotopic gradients in carbon, and sometimes also in oxygen, from the mixing processes are still retained across the walls of the sandstone pipes from type-1 seeps, whereas the isotopic ratios of the samples from type-2 seeps exhibit variation patterns related to lithologies and textures, and confirm the presence of several generations of carbonate cement within a single specimen. These facts and the oxygen isotopic ratios of live and fossil clam shells recovered from the survey areas suggest that the cold-seeps started at least during the last glaciation and have experienced repeated destruction and reformation due to episodic supply of methane-rich fluid of different isotopic ratios and/or temperature.

The Ivanhoe and Rob Roy Fields, Blocks 15/21a-b, UK North Sea

Abstract The Ivanhoe and Rob Roy Fields are located in the Outer Moray Firth Basin, seventy nautical miles off the northeast coast of Scotland. The Ivanhoe Field was discovered in 1975, and the Rob Roy Field in 1984. The reserves in both fields occur in tilted fault block traps of Upper Jurassic, Piper Sandstone Formation. Estimated total recoverable reserves amount to 100 MMBBL and 62 BCF. The fields are separated by a water corridor approximately 1 km wide. Both fields contain two reservoir sandstone units, an upper and lower, locally termed the Supra Piper Sandstone and Main Piper Sandstone respectively. The reservoirs in both fields exhibit excellent rock' properties with porosities up to 28% and permeabilities of several Darcies. Each field is developed via a subsea manifold surrounded by a cluster of production and injection wells, of which two were pre-drilled on Ivanhoe and six pre-drilled on Rob Roy. This allowed rapid achievement of the 60 000 BOPD plateau oil production rate soon after commissioning of facilities in July 1989. The two subsea manifolds are tied into a single subsea production manifold which connects with a Floating Production Facility. Crude oil is exported to the Claymore A Platform and gas to the Tartan A Platform.

The Chanter Field, Block 15/17, UK North Sea

Abstract The Chanter Field is located 11 krn southeast of the Piper Alpha platform location in Block 15/17. The field was discovered by the 15/17–13 well, which tested 37.8° API crude from Galley sandstone turbidites and 52.1& API gas-condensate from the shallow marine sands of the Piper Formation. The Galley sandstone reservoir is overpressured, whereas the Piper sandstone reservoir is normally pressured. The bulk of the field occupies the culmination of a structural terrace on the downthrown side of the main E-W fault forming the northern margin of the Witch Ground Graben in this area. It has dip closure to the east, south and west and fault closure to the north. The 'main block' gas-water contact of 13 080 ft TVSS in the Piper sandstone and the oil-water contact of 12 240 ft TVSS in the Galley sandstone were deduced from wireline pressure measurements and have not been encountered in wells. Estimated proved reserves of 4.6 MMBBL of crude oil and condensate liquids and 20.8 BCF of gas will be produced through a cluster of wells tied back to the Piper Field by a subsea pipeline.

Development geology of the Piper Oilfield

The Piper Oilfield lis in the UK Block 1517, 125 miles northeast of Aberdeen, Scotland. The field is situated on a shelf south of the East Shetland platform, and near the eastern end of the Moray Firth Basin. The field was discovered in January 1973 from a seismicly mapped structure and confirmed as a major oilfield during the year with five appraisal wells and one exploratory well. A steel platform with 36 well slots and space for two drilling rigs was centrally located over the field in 474 ft. of water in June, 1975, and made ready for production drilling by October 10, 1976. Commercial production was established December 7, 1976, when the P1 well came on stream at more than 30 000 b/d. Production is currently 290 000 stb/d of 37°C API, low sulphur oil and original recoverable reserves are estimated to be 618 million barrels. Production is from the Upper Jurassic Piper Sandstone, a high-energy, marginal marine and marine, shallow, shelf sandstone with gross thickness of 165–454 ft. The field comprises three parallel, tilted fault blocks on the north edge of the Witch Ground Graben. Blocks I and II cover 7149 productive acres and have oil columns of 1312 ft. from 7200 ft. subsea to a common oil-water contact at 8512 ft. subsea. Block III to the southwest borders the Witch Ground Graben and contains a small accumulation with separate oil-water contact at 9199 ft. subsea. A combination of favourable geological and engineering conditions together with extensive use of seismic data before and during development drilling has resulted in high production rates and the need for only one centrally located platform to maximize the recoverable reserves from Piper oilfield.

Piper Oil Field: ABSTRACT

The Piper field lies in UK block 15/17 near the eastern part of the Moray Firth Basin, 125 mi northeast of Aberdeen, Scotland. The field was discovered in December 1972. Five appraisal wells and one exploratory well were drilled in 1973. A steel platform with 36 well slots and space for two drilling rigs was centrally located over the field in 474 ft of water in June 1975, and readied for production drilling by October 1976. Production is from the Upper Jurassic Piper Sandstone, a high-energy, marine sandstone with gross thickness, 177 to 453 ft (56 to 138 m); net sand, 132 to 378 ft (40 to 115 m); net oil sand, 132 to 296 ft (40 to 90 m); average net oil sand, 160 ft (49 m); average porosity 26%; permeabilities 200 to 1,200 md in lower energy bioturbated sands, 2,000 to 0,000 md in higher energy sands. The reservoir is sealed by Kimmeridge shale over most of the field and by Upper Cretaceous marlstones along some fault scarps. The main area of the field, a gently folded fault block dipping 5° northeast and a downthrown northwest-southeast fault block, covers 6,300 acres (2,550 ha.), has a common oil-water contact at 8,512 ft (2,594 m) subsea, and a gross reservoir column 1,300 ft (396 m), which is 7,200 ft (2,195 m) subsea to the oil-water contact. A small accumulation on a parallel fault block on the southwest has a separate oil-water contact at 9,199 ft (2,804 m) subsea. The P1 production well spudded October 10, 1976, established commercial production December 7, 1976 at more than 30,000 B/D, restricted by 5½-in. tubing. The P7 well complet d in April 1977 produced more than 50,000 BOPD, restricted by 7-in. tubing. Twenty-four wells have been drilled, four as water injectors to support an active water drive. Production is 300,000 BOPD and recoverable reserves are estimated to be 700 million bbl. Extensive use of seismic data and excellent cooperation by partners in the consortium and the United Kingdom regulatory bodies allowed maximum use of production and new well data to improve subsequent development. End_of_Article - Last_Page 489------------

Alteration of Sandstone Pipes, Laguna, New Mexico: Reply

Research Article| June 01, 1968 Alteration of Sandstone Pipes, Laguna, New Mexico: Reply GEORGE H MEGRUE; GEORGE H MEGRUE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS (MEGRUE) Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar PAUL F KERR PAUL F KERR DEPARTMENT GEOLOGY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK, NEW YORK (KERR) Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information GEORGE H MEGRUE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS (MEGRUE) PAUL F KERR DEPARTMENT GEOLOGY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK, NEW YORK (KERR) Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 17 Nov 1967 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Copyright © 1968, The Geological Society of America, Inc. Copyright is not claimed on any material prepared by U.S. government employees within the scope of their employment. GSA Bulletin (1968) 79 (6): 791–794. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1968)79[791:AOSPLN]2.0.CO;2 Article history Received: 17 Nov 1967 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation GEORGE H MEGRUE, PAUL F KERR; Alteration of Sandstone Pipes, Laguna, New Mexico: Reply. GSA Bulletin 1968;; 79 (6): 791–794. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1968)79[791:AOSPLN]2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract No Abstract available This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

Alteration of Sandstone Pipes, Laguna, New Mexico

Near Laguna, New Mexico, numerous vertical, cylindrical, collapsed, and brecciated bodies with down-faulted cores occur as distinctive geological features. They are believed to be breccia-pipe structures in sedimentary strata. Uranium-bearing pipes of the Woodrow and Jackpile deposits in the northern Laguna district are exposed in upper Morrison strata. Pipes in the southern Laguna district crop out predominantly in the Summerville and Bluff formations but thus far have not been found to be uranium-bearing. The structural similarity between the pipes of the two areas suggests a common origin. The red Summerville Formation within the breccia cores of the southern Laguna pipes is bleached white or greenish-white. Optical examination of thin sections and fragments discloses alteration of the potassic and sodic feldspar to kaolinite and sericite, accompanied by a removal of hematite cement and the introduction of abundant, upward-migratory calcite. Silicification may be observed in a few places. X-ray study of the clay matrices indicates that the Summerville siltstones are altered from predominantly montmorillonite-kaolinite mixtures to chlorite, illite (hydromica), mixed-layer montmorillonite-illite-chlorite, kaolinite mixtures. X-ray spectrochemical analyses confirm the optical and X-ray data. The structure, mineralization, and alteration features associated with the pipes indicate structural collapse with accompanying penetration by ascending hydrothermal solutions.

Depositional Features of Dittonian Rocks: Pembrokeshire compared with the Welsh Borderland

AbstractThe Dittonian Stage in Pembrokeshire comprises the Lower Marl Group (higher beds), the Sandstone-and-Marl Group, and the Upper Marl Group (at least lower half). These formations cannot be distinguished lithologically from Dittonian strata of the Welsh Borderland 100 miles away along the depositional strike.Cyclothems of intraformational conglomerate (scoured surface below) → sandstone → siltstone with concretions recur vertically in each area. The conglomerates in both districts consist of intraformational siltstone and concretionary debris. Flat-bedding, primary current lineation, planar cross-bedding, trough cross-bedding, and ripple-drift bedding are common to the sandstones. Suncracked siltstones abound in both Pembrokeshire and the Welsh Borderland. Slumped bedding, sandstone pipes, and animal burrows are the structures penecontemporaneous with deposition in each area.The Dittonian strata of the Welsh Borderland are shown to be probably floodplain deposits, by reason of their close similarity to the modern sediments of the Colorado Delta floodplain and Colorado River. The occurrence of an identical facies in Pembrokeshire suggests the even wider extent of this floodplain in early Lower Old Red Sandstone times, when the sea lay far to the south of both areas.

Sandstone Pipes of the Laguna Area, New Mexico

Strata of Jurassic age contain cylindrical bodies of sandstone called pipes. They cut gently dipping strata in the Summerville Formation, Bluff Sandstone, and Morrison Formation near Laguna, Now Mexico. The pipes range from a few feet to a few hundred feet in height, and from a few inches to 130 ft in width. Petrographic studies of the material in the pipes and of the enclosing strata show that the pipes are composed of reworked subarkosic sandstone derived from the uppermost units cut by the pipes. Some pipes are composed of brecciated sandstone and mudstone in a fine-grained matrix. The wall rocks sag downward around the pipes, and the pipes are bounded by one or more ring faults. The bottoms of the pipes are in sharp contact with the little-deformed underlying beds. The pipes formed during a period of gentle regional folding, and for the most part are located in belts near synclinal axes. Pipes originated during deposition of the uppermost sandstone units that contained them. They probably formed by gravitational foundering of sand into the underlying water-saturated mud. Some of the foundering may have been aided by solution and removal of underlying gypsum.

Spring Pits and Sandstone Pipes

Spring Pits and Sandstone Pipes

Sandstone Pipes in Carboniferous Limestone, Anglesey

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IV.—On Sandstone Pipes in the Carboniferous Limestone at Dwlban Point, East Anglesey

The low, but rocky headland of Dwlban Point forms the western corner of Red Wharf Bay, on the east coast of Anglesey; and is on the coastline of the principal tract of Carboniferous rocks in the island, not very far from the boundary fault which runs out to sea beneath the sands of the bay. The Carboniferous Limestone near the Point is for the most part a light-grey, crystalline rock, with abundant crinoids, corals, and other marine fossils. There are, however, four beds of sandstone, varying from 2 to 9 feet thick, and some of the Limestone itself also contains scattered grains of quartz. The sandstones are clean white rocks, generally fine, but with occasional thin seams of small pebbles.