Date of Award
12-2010
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Geological and Environmental Sciences
First Advisor
Dr. David A. Barnes
Second Advisor
Dr. Duane R. Hampton
Third Advisor
Dr. William B. Harrison, III
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Campus Only
Abstract
Geological carbon sequestration (GS) in deep saline reservoirs will play an important role in carbon emissions mitigation. The Mid-Late Cambrian Mount Simon Sandstone is an important deep saline GS target in the Michigan basin and elsewhere in the Midwest. This study addresses the geological controls on reservoir quality in the Mount Simon and presents revised and more reliable estimates of GS capacity in the Michigan basin relative to previous studies. Reservoir quality in the Mount Simon is fundamentally controlled by both spatial distribution of favorable primary facies and diagenetic alteration. As much as 805 feet of the Mount Simon in western Michigan comprises fine- to coarse-grained, quartzose sandstone deposited in open marine, foreshore and shoreface depositional environments. Reduced reservoir quality occurs in other facies in the basin comprising offshore marine, shaley and bioturbated facies and carbonate prone facies deposited in platform or shoal environments, mostly in eastern Michigan. Decreases in reservoir quality also occur where the Mount Simon is buried below about 6,500 to 9,000 feet in the subsurface. The storage capacity estimate is about 41.5 gigatonnes.
Recommended Citation
Kelley, Stephen R., "Geological Controls on Reservoir Quality for Carbon Sequestration in the Mount Simon Sandstone, Michigan Basin, USA" (2010). Masters Theses. 372.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/372