November Reservoir 2015

CSPG OFFICE

#110, 333 – 5th Avenue SW Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 3B6

Tel: 403-264-5610

Web: www.cspg.org

Please visit our website for all tickets sales and event/course registrations Office hours: Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm

The CSPG Office is Closed the 1st and 3rd Friday of every month.

OFFICE CONTACTS

Membership Inquiries

Tel: 403-264-5610 Email: membership@cspg.org

Technical/Educational Events: Biljana Popovic

Tel: 403-513-1225 Email: biljana.popovic@cspg.org

Advertising Inquiries: Kristy Casebeer

Tel: 403-513-1233 Email: kristy.casebeer@cspg.org

Sponsorship Opportunities: Lis Bjeld

Tel: 403-513-1235 Email: lis.bjeld@cspg.org

Conference Inquiries: Candace Jones

Tel: 403-513-1227 Email: candace.jones@cspg.org

CSPG Foundation: Kasandra Amaro

Tel: 403-513-1234 Email: kasandra.amaro@cspg.org

Accounting Inquiries: Eric Tang

Tel: 403-513-1232 Email: eric.tang@cspg.org

Executive Director: Lis Bjeld

Tel: 403-513-1235, Email: lis.bjeld@cspg.org

EDITORS/AUTHORS

Please submit RESERVOIR articles to the CSPG office. Submission deadline is the 23rd day of the month, two months prior to issue date. (e.g., January 23 for the March issue).

To publish an article, the CSPG requires digital copies of the document. Text should be in Microsoft Word format and illustrations should be in TIFF format at 300 dpi., at final size.

CSPG COORDINATING EDITOR

Kristy Casebeer, Programs Coordinator, Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists

Tel: 403-513-1233, kristy.casebeer@cspg.org

The RESERVOIR is published 11 times per year by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists. This includes a combined issue for the months of July and August. The purpose of the RESERVOIR is to publicize the Society’s many activities and to promote the geosciences. We look for both technical and non-technical material to publish. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in part or in full without the consent of the publisher. Additional copies of the RESERVOIR are available at the CSPG office.

No official endorsement or sponsorship by the CSPG is implied for any advertisement, insert, or article that appears in the Reservoir unless otherwise noted. All submitted materials are reviewed by the editor. We reserve the right to edit all submissions, including letters to the Editor. Submissions must include your name, address, and membership number (if applicable).The material contained in this publication is intended for informational use only.

While reasonable care has been taken, authors and the CSPG make no guarantees that any of the equations, schematics, or devices discussed will perform as expected or that they will give the desired results. Some information contained herein may be inaccurate or may vary from standard measurements. The CSPG expressly disclaims any and all liability for the acts, omissions, or conduct of any third-party user of information contained in this publication. Under no circumstances shall the CSPG and its officers, directors, employees, and agents be liable for any

or expense arising in any manner whatsoever from the

or

of any third-party user.

Printed by McAra Printing, Calgary, Alberta.

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CSPG BOARD

PRESIDENT

Tony Cadrin president@cspg.org Tel: 403.303.3493

PRESIDENT ELECT

Greg Lynch • Shell Canada Ltd presidentelect@cspg.org Tel: 403.384.7704

PAST PRESIDENT

Dale Leckie pastpresident@cspg.org

FINANCE DIRECTOR

Astrid Arts • Cenovus Energy directorfinance@cspg.org Tel: 403.766.5862

FINANCE DIRECTOR ELECT

Scott Leroux • Long Run Exploration directorfinanceelect@cspg.org Tel: 403.802.3775

DIRECTOR

Mark Caplan conferences@cspg.org

DIRECTOR

Milovan Fustic • Statoil Canada Ltd. publications@cspg.org Tel: 403.724.3307

DIRECTOR

Michael LaBerge • Channel Energy Inc. memberservices@cspg.org Tel: 403.301.3739

DIRECTOR

Ryan Lemiski • Nexen Energy ULC youngprofessionals@cspg.org Tel: 403.699.4413

DIRECTOR

Robert Mummery • Almandine Resources Inc. affiliates@cspg.org Tel: 403.651.4917

DIRECTOR

Darren Roblin • Kelt Exploration corprelations@cspg.org Tel: 587.233.0784

DIRECTOR

Jen Russel-Houston • Osum Oil Sands Corp. Jrussel-houston@osumcorp.com Tel: 403.270.4768

DIRECTOR

Eric Street • Jupiter Resources street@jupiterresources.com Tel: 587.747.2631

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Lis Bjeld • CSPG lis.bjeld@cspg.org Tel: 403.513.1235

Message from the Board

A message from Brett Norris, Chairman of the CSPG Foundation

An Update from the CSPG Foundation

The CSPG Foundation is the charitable arm of the CSPG that was established in 1978 by some visionary CSPG members during the CSPG’s 50th anniversary, originally conceived to endow an income to finance aspects of the CSPG Outreach Program, particularly the Student Industry Field Trip (SIFT). The CSPG Foundation (formerly called the Educational Trust Fund, or ‘ETF’) is charged with developing and stewarding donations to “fund programs that inspire and advance education, foster technical excellence and encourage awareness of petroleum geoscience” (CSPG Foundation Mission Statement). The CSPG Foundation is an independent organization, separate and distinct from the CSPG, complete with a separate board of trustees and deed, but nonetheless represents the more than 3,000 CSPG members. This arrangement is necessary to maintain the charitable designation of the CSPG Foundation.

As the CSPG member’s charitable outreach arm, the Foundation is fully occupied with our core business of funding outreach initiatives that the members find worthwhile and that are consistent with the vision of the CSPG and CSPG Foundation. These outreach activities cover a broad scope, from grade school student and teacher awareness and education right through to university undergraduate and graduate student and thesis awards.

During the previous fiscal year (ending August 31, 2015), the CSPG Foundation awarded approximately $149,000 to various educational and outreach requests. This is a 142% increase over the prior year. University-affiliated recipients received the majority of the funding. The programs that receive funding include bursaries, scholarships, field study grants, donations to Canadian universities, and grants to external organizations engaged

in geoscience outreach. Not all requests are funded. The criteria for funding requests have changed through time. If the requests do not meet our mandate, or if available funding is limited for the fiscal year, some requests may not be granted. Criteria for funding can be found on the CSPG Foundation website (www.cspg.org/ foundation).

There continues to be great demand for additional funding as reflected in the doubling of individual donations this past fiscal year. However, we cannot continue to fund these programs without ongoing support by donations from CSPG members, funding from the CSPG and other corporations. As a member of the CSPG, this is your Foundation, and it exists to ensure that your donated funds are managed effectively and distributed according to the needs and wishes of you, the donors and CSPG members.

Our board currently consists of eight trustees. Typically, many of the trustees are former directors or executive of the CSPG, which provides a coherency that best serves the CSPG members. The current board includes Stan Lavender, Andrew Fox, Tom Sneddon, Kathleen Shannon, Jassie Kang (Treasurer), Kirk Osadetz (Secretary), Kyla Poelzer (Vice Chair), and myself, Brett Norris (Chairman). The trustees have worked hard this past year to provide better governance, focus on our role and financial metrics as a charity, increase our transparency to donors, create a strategic plan, as well as bring in new trustees with specific skills needed on the board. While this may not seem like interesting information, it is vitally important to the sustainability and relevance of the CSPG Foundation. More information about the CSPG Foundation,

(... Continued on page 7)

CORPORATE SPONSORS

SAMARIUM

CSPG Foundation

geoLOGIC systems ltd.

DIAMOND

AGAT Laboratories

TITANIUM

Tourmaline Oil Corp.

APEGA

Alberta Energy Regulator

PLATINUM

Weatherford Canada Partnership

Cenovus Energy

Loring Tarcore Labs Ltd.

Imperial Oil Resourcess

GOLD

IHS Global Canada Limited

SILVER

Suncor Energy

Seitel Canada Ltd.

Devon Energy Corp

Enerplus Corporation

Nexen ULC

MEG Energy Corp.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd

Husky Energy Inc.

BRONZE

Talisman Energy

Long Run Exploration

Qatar Shell GTL Limited

Osum Oil Sands Corp.

Chinook Consulting

Exxonmobil Exploration Co. Ltd.

Pro Geo Consultants

Belloy Petroleum Consulting

Paradigm

CSEG Foundation

MJ Systems

Core Laboratories

Crescent Point Energy Trust

GLJ Petroleum Consultants Ltd.

(... Continued from page 5)

the trustees, the programs that are funded, applying for grants, and making donations can be found on the CSPG website (www. cspg.org/foundation).

The trustees and the many beneficiaries of the Foundation funding would like to thank the CSPG members for their past donations. We look forward to continuing

to build our ability to achieve our goals, and by extension, the goals of the CSPG organization and its members. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the current trustees for their dedication and energy. It is a privilege to serve as the Chairman of such an excellent group, and to be part of the CSPG which in itself is a great and enduring organization.

TECHNICAL LUNCHEONS NOVEMBER LUNCHEON

The “New” Hydrogeology: Renewed Importance of Water to the Petroleum Industry in the 21st Century

SPEAKERS

Brad Hayes

Petrel Robertson Consulting Ltd

Jamie Wills

Waterline Resources Inc.

11:30 am

Wednesday, November 4th, 2015 Calgary, TELUS Convention Centre

Macleod Hall C/D Calgary, Alberta

Please note: The cut-off date for ticket sales is 1:00 pm, five business days before event. [Wednesday, October 28, 2015]. CSPG Member Ticket Price: $45.00 + GST. Non-Member Ticket Price: $47.50 + GST.

Each CSPG Technical Luncheon is 1 APEGA PDH credit. Tickets may be purchased online at www.cspg.org

ABSTRACT

Our presentation focus is twofold: to launch the new Hydrogeology Division of the CSPG, and to highlight the fundamental importance of water to current and future oil and gas development. It is applicable to a wide audience, including company directors, senior financial and technical managers, project-based geoscience and engineering staff, and operations staff including risk-based decision makers and environmental specialists.

Water has always been an essential component of petroleum exploration and development. In exploring for conventional oil and gas pools in the mid- to late 20th century, we needed to understand regional aquifers as drivers for the migration and trapping of oil and gas deposits. Produced waters had to be managed, and waterflood schemes put into place. As heavy oil and oil sands projects emerged, large water volumes were required for thermal recovery and bitumen processing.

At the turn of the 21st century, we switched our focus to finding and understanding “tight” reservoirs, many in hydrocarbon-saturated, basin-centred (Deep Basin) settings. A decade into this new game, our success at exploiting tight reservoirs using horizontal wells and multi-zone frac completions depends on our ability to access large water volumes and secure disposal zones to support field operations, particularly for highvolume slickwater fracs.

At the same time, changing climate patterns and increasing demands for water for agricultural and domestic uses has focused societal concerns on water availability and quality over the long term. It is thus increasingly complex for the petroleum industry to secure long-term water supplies, and to safely and economically dispose of produced and flowback waters. Other considerations, such as the risks posed by aging infrastructure to useable water resources, the environment, and to other key receptors, place additional pressure on industry to manage the collective liability.

It is often stated “no water, no project”. Thus, as an industry we must develop a much more comprehensive understanding of water resources – the “New” Hydrogeology of the 21st century. Saline waters in deep aquifers, non-saline groundwater, and surface waters are all in play. Our renewed discipline must incorporate the knowledge of petroleum and physical hydrogeologists, contaminant hydrogeologists, and surface water hydrologists. Those whom embrace the new water paradigm will maximize their individual and corporate success.

The first steps are being taken to address these issues, including the completion of integrated regional water resource assessments as a framework to understand, plan, finance, manage, and execute asset-lifetime water management from the boardroom to the field. In our presentation we’ll review some of these efforts, tools and drivers. We will also suggest how the renewed CSPG Hydrogeology Division can play a lead role in successfully addressing 21st century water issues in the WCSB and around the world.

BIOGRAPHIES

Brad Hayes - Brad Hayes is President of Petrel Robertson Consulting Ltd., a consulting firm engaged by clients including industry, government agencies, and legal and financial organizations, to address conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon exploration and development.

Much of Brad’s work on unconventionals during the past few years has focused on characterization of subsurface aquifers as potential water source and disposal zones. He has led PRCL in regional subsurface aquifer projects in Horn River Basin, the BC Montney fairway, Central Mackenzie Valley and Deh Cho areas of NWT, and several projects in Alberta. Much of this work has been done with members of the Integrated Water Resources team, including Waterline Resources, Foundry Spatial, and Kerr Wood Leidal.

Brad received a PhD from the University of Alberta, and a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto, and has been with PRCL since 1996. Brad is an active member of the CSPG, and served as its President in 2001. He is also a member of AAPG, GAC, and APEGBC, and currently sits on APEGA Council. He is also on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Society for Unconventional Resources.

Jamie Wills - Mr. Wills is president and co-founder of Waterline Resources Inc., an Alberta and BC-based hydrogeology and environmental consulting firm providing services to the industrial, commercial and government sectors in western Canada.

Jamie has almost 30 years of experience on groundwater exploration, development and management, including water resource and contaminant hydrogeology projects in Western Canada and internationally. He has extensive experience on regional assessments, including preparing baseline and EIAs for in-situ projects in Alberta’s oil sands regions. He is increasingly being asked by clients to assist them with strategic water management plans for unconventional plays, as well as risk management associated with aging O&G infrastructure.

Jamie received a B.Sc. in honours geology, and a M.Sc. in hydrogeology, from the University of Waterloo. He is a past-President of the Canadian Chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists. He has chaired and presented at numerous conferences over the last several decades, most recently hydrogeology sessions at GeoConvention 2015.

TECHNICAL LUNCHEONS NOVEMBER LUNCHEON

Muddy clinoforms and the influence of aggregated mud clasts

SPEAKERS

Dallin P. Laycock| ConocoPhillips

11:30 am

Tuesday, November 17th, 2015

Calgary, TELUS Convention Centre

Macleod Hall D Calgary, Alberta

Please note: The cut-off date for ticket sales is 1:00 pm, five business days before event. [Tuesday, November 10, 2015].

CSPG Member Ticket Price: $45.00 + GST.

Non-Member Ticket Price: $47.50 + GST.

Each CSPG Technical Luncheon is 1 APEGA PDH credit. Tickets may be purchased online at www.cspg.org

ABSTRACT

Mudstones comprise nearly two thirds of the sedimentary rock record, and despite their abundance, relatively little attention has been given to understanding them, and misconceptions about mudstone deposition have long persisted. The Carlile and Niobrara formations of the Colorado Group provide a unique dataset to study mudstones and understand their formative processes. The Carlile and Niobrara were deposited in a distal shelf environment in the Cretaceous Interior Seaway during the latter part of the Greenhorn Transgressive-Regressive Cycle and the beginning of the Niobrara Transgressive-Regressive Cycle. They are dominated by mudstone, with variable amounts of interbedded siltstone and sandstone. Detailed cross sections show that in certain localities of Eastern Alberta, they form a shoreline detached clastic wedge that displays a complex series of clinoforms.

The presence of clinoforms is indicative of bedload transport of sediment, including bedload transport of silt, sand, and hydrodynamically equivalent mudstone aggregate grains. Such aggregates are well documented in laboratory experiments and modern environments, but are rarely observable in the rock record due to significant compaction that often destroys

the aggregates. The Carlile Formation contains abundant mudstone aggregates, which are observable in thin section.

Statistical grain size analyses of these aggregates show the median aggregate size to be very fine sand, with the largest mudstone aggregate measured to be 0.522 mm in diameter (coarse sand). In the measured samples, the mudstone aggregates form approximately 55% of the sample volume, suggesting that this mudstone would more accurately be described as a sandstone in regard to depositional behavior. Chemical analyses of the aggregates indicate that they have different compositions from the mud matrix encasing them, suggesting sediment transport of the aggregates over potentially large distances. Multiple possibilities exist for their creation, but are likely derived intrabasinally from erosion by subaqueous currents or wave erosion of muddy substrates. As a whole, the data from the Carlile and Niobrara Formations demonstrate an association between stratigraphic geometries, sedimentological processes, geochemical trends, and their associated reservoir properties.

BIOGRAPHY

Dallin Laycock - Dallin Laycock works as a geologist at ConocoPhillips, where he specializes in mudstone stratigraphy and sedimentology. He received his Bachelor of Science in Geology from Brigham Young University in 2009. While at BYU, he coauthored a book designed to educate the public about the geology of Utah’s national parks. To date this book has sold over 50,000 copies, and is one of the best selling items in the National Park visitor centers. Dallin studied mudstones at the University of Calgary where he received his PhD in 2014. Dallin’s thesis presents a detailed look at the sedimentary processes involved with mudstone deposition, with associated stratigraphic architecture, and mineralogical variation. This project earned him the award for Best Student Oral Presentation at the 2013 CSPG Convention, as well as the CSPG Best Graduate Thesis Award for 2014. .

TECHNICAL LUNCHEONS DECEMBER LUNCHEON

Glacier Gas - Impact of continental glaciation on sedimentary basins

SPEAKER

Steve Grasby Geological Survey of Canada

11:30 am

Tuesday, December 08th, 2015 Calgary, TELUS Convention Centre Macleod Hall ABC Calgary, Alberta

Please note: The cut-off date for ticket sales is 1:00 pm, five business days before event. [Tuesday, December 01, 2015].

CSPG Member Ticket Price: $45.00 + GST. Non-Member Ticket Price: $47.50 + GST.

Each CSPG Technical Luncheon is 1 APEGA PDH credit. Tickets may be purchased online at www.cspg.org

ABSTRACT

Northern hemisphere continents were covered by ice sheets up to 4 km thick during the last glacial period. Until recently the impact this had on sedimentary basins has been largely ignored. The underlying bedrock was exposed to both the lithostatic load of ice in addition to tremendous sub-glacial water pressures. This has a significant transitory effect on underlying sedimentary basins. Where overlying more porous and permeable units, subglacial waters were injected into underlying sediments, reversing continental-scale fluid flow systems. Therefore relic pressure distribution patterns in the modern basins reflect gradual recovery of the basin hydrodynamics flow system in response to offloading of ice, and are not related to longer term fluid migration that drove oil and gas migration. Injection of fresh waters also flushed saline fluids from the rock systems, creating conditions more suitable for methanogenesis and in some cases has initiated biogenic formation of economic methane accumulations. Fresh waters injection has also lead to subsurface dissolution of evaporite beds and the formation of salt collapse features. Post glaciation establishment of new flow systems has led to gradual flushing of these glacial waters from sedimentary basins, in some areas they still represent a significant source of potable water that may not be readily be replenished by modern recharge. At the other extreme, glacial waters that have dissolved

salt beds now discharge as saline springs along the basin margins. Highly overpressured conditions, developed in response to subglacial water pressures, also provide opportunities to examine the response of shales to extreme cases of fluid injection that may inform discussion on issues ranging from shale gas development to nuclear waste repositories.

BIOGRAPHY

Steve Grasby - Since completion of his Ph.D at the University of Calgary in 1997, Dr. Grasby has worked at the Geological Survey of

Canada on both source rock analyses as well as groundwater issues across western and northern Canada. He has led and participated on several regional groundwater projects, including southern Manitoba, Alberta, the Okanagan Valley, and currently the Nanaimo Lowlands. In addition he has conducted extensive research on the biogeochemistry of thermal and mineral springs across Canada, including several of the northern most known springs in Canada’s High Arctic. He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of his research in 2012.

DIVISION TALKS PALENTOLOGY DIVISION

A re-evaluation of the horned dinosaurs Chasmosaurus and Vagaceratops (Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae) from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian)

Dinosaur Park Formation of western Canada

SPEAKER

James Campbell

Ph.D. student, University of Calgary

7:30 PM

Friday, November 20, 2015

Mount Royal University, Room B108

ABSTRACT

Ceratopsids, or horned dinosaurs, have skulls characterized by nasal and postorbital horncores of variable size, and an extensive shield-like frill projecting over the neck. The ceratopsid Chasmosaurus is known from the Upper Cretaceous Dinosaur Park Formation

(DPF) of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. The two valid species, Chasmosaurus belli and Chasmosaurus russelli, have been distinguished by differences in cranial ornamentation, and their purported temporal separation in the DPF, with C. russelli replaced by C. belli over time. In the DPF, Chasmosaurus is replaced by another ceratopsid, Vagaceratops irvinensis.

A phylogenetic analysis of skulls previously referred to Chasmosaurus revealed no distinction between C. belli and C. russelli. However, these two species can be distinguished statistically by the shape of the posterior margin of the frill. Skulls of C. belli and C. russelli were also arranged into a growth series, which revealed overlapping ontogenetic ranges consistent with two taxa. However, the purported temporal separation of these taxa in the DPF is unsupported here, suggesting the presence of only one species. Morphological differences amongst Chasmosaurus skulls are interpreted as representing individual variation within one species, C. belli.

The reassignment of two previously referred Chasmosaurus skulls toVagaceratops indicates that these taxa are more closely related than previously thought. The reassignment of these specimens to V. irvinensis also extends the temporal range of this taxon in the DPF by approximately 300,000 years, overlapping with C. belli.

BIOGRAPHY

James is originally from Ottawa, where he completed his B.Sc. (2011) and M.Sc. (2014) in Earth Sciences at Carleton University. For his B.Sc. with Dr. Claudia Schröder-Adams, James

examined a fossilized assemblage of foraminifera, which served to better constrain the age of a Cretaceous marine basin (Eagle Plain Basin, Yukon Territory) – part of the northern end of the Western Interior Seaway. During his fieldwork in the Yukon, he also discovered a fossil vertebra of a marine reptile, which turned out to be the first plesiosaur fossil from that territory. For his M.Sc. with Drs. Schröder-Adams and Michael Ryan, he conducted a systematic re-evaluation of the horned dinosaurs Chasmosaurus and Vagaceratops from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta. For his doctoral work with Dr. Jason Anderson at the University of Calgary, James is re-visiting plesiosaurs and will study their palaeobiogeographic distribution and latitudinal variation therein throughout the Western Interior Seaway during the Cretaceous. On the side, James enjoys camping, marathon running, and playing the bagpipes.

INFORMATION

This event is presented jointly by the Alberta Palaeontological Society, the Earth Science Department of Mount Royal University, and the Palaeontology Division of the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists. For details or to present a talk in the future, please contact CSPG Palaeontology Division Chair Jon Noad at jonnoad@hotmail.com or APS Coordinator Harold Whittaker at 403-286-0349 or contact programs1@albertapaleo.org. Visit the APS website for confirmation of event times and upcoming speakers: http://www.albertapaleo.org/

DIVISION TALKS INTERNATIONAL DIVISION

International Division Talk

Wednesday November 18th, 2015 | 12:00 Noon

Nexen Annex Theatre

Main Talk

Upper Jurassic Carbonate/Siliciclastic Cyclothems at Cabo Espichel, Portugal and their Significance to the Recent Oil Discoveries in the Flemish Pass Basin, Newfoundland

Speaker: Craig Boland, Boland Exploration Consultants

Rock Shot

“ Between the Rivers”- Mesopotamia; Arches to Ziggurats

Speaker: Scott Gardiner, Glencore

For more information regarding the International Division Technical Talks please visit www.cspg.org

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PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS RESOURCES AND RESERVES

| By Tom Sneddon, M.Sc., P.Geo. | FGC, Director of Geoscience APEGA

Businesses can live or die based on how they manage their inventory. For oil and gas companies, inventory means how much oil and/ or gas they retain in the ground to sell in the future and the cost of producing it for delivery to a market. Every petroleum geologist, in partnership with fellow professionals in geophysics and petroleum engineering, is engaged in evaluating resources and reserves through the search, discovery, delineation, volumetric measurement, and geological characterization of potential reservoirs.

However, the story does not end with the evaluation. The information must go first to a company’s corporate reserves committee of its board of directors, which bears the bulk of the responsibility for its disclosure. Then, the committee reports it in a standardized form to the investing public who will ultimately decide whether to invest in that company.The quality and quantity of the information that the company provides determines whether there will be adequate risk capital available to support drilling a single prospect or an entire portfolio. This is the primary reason the petroleum geology profession exists and why the quality control of geoscience data is so important.

Before 2002, every company had its own way of generating and delivering investment information to the public. Beginning in June of that year, the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers (Calgary Chapter) (SPEE) codified rules for formal evaluation of resources and reserves based on industry best practices: the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook (COGEH). In September 2003, the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) issued National Instrument 51-101 (NI51-101) – a parallel regulatory framework that confirmed the COGEH rules as a technical standard. COGEH became the principal standard for resources and reserves reporting.

At the same time, APEGA published the Professional Practice Standard for Evaluation of Oil and Gas Reserves for Public Disclosure. This practice standard cites COGEH and NI51-101 as the technical and financial regulatory standards that Professional Members must follow, and COGEH lists the APEGA practice standard as Appendix E in Volume 1. Alone, the rules, industry standards, and professional practice standard lack cohesion. Together, the three entities have become a world-class standard for resources and reserves reporting.

What drove these organizations to publish these fixed standards of disclosing information? During the 1990s, several natural-resource reporting scandals rocked the Vancouver, Toronto, and Alberta stock exchanges (VSE, TSE and ASE, respectively). The worst of these scandals was the Bre-X affair – in the 1990s, this Calgary-based exploration firm reported large reserves of high-quality gold in Indonesia, knowing the amount was actually insignificant.While Bre-X was not involved with the petroleum industry, the event affected everyone who sought funding for natural-resource exploration and development. Public outrage over this scandal resulted in a thorough reform of public company financing. That action was instrumental in forcing the merger of the VSE, TSE, and ASE in to a much more heavily regulated set of entities. The most prominent presently active institutions today are the TSX and TSX Venture Exchange. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission tightened its rules, and the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) created the National Instrument series to keep the stock exchanges under tighter rein.

In the dozen years since the reform measures were implemented, the credibility of oil and gas resource and reserve reports has increased steadily. The ASC issues an annual progress report that tracks how many NI51101 reports its staff rejects or returns to their authors for revisions and how many resource or reserve figures it reduces. The number of rejected or returned reports has dropped dramatically, and those who cheated have been exposed and fined. The worst abusers of securities law often endure jail time, as ASC’s website shows. To date, no one

has received that punishment for inaccurate reserves reports. The regulatory system has also become more sophisticated as oil and gas exploration and development technology have advanced. Since 2001, the CSA published numerous revisions to NI51-101. Similarly, SPEE published many revisions to COGEH confirming the efficacy of new methods. Because of all of this, the time has arrived for a new edition of the APEGA Professional Practice Standard.

APEGA will release version 2.0 of the renamed Professional Practice Standard for Evaluation of Oil and Gas Resources and Reserves for Public Disclosure in the first quarter of 2016. It will reflect changes to the financial regulatory regime and changes to how APEGA and its Members in the petroleum and natural gas industry go about their business. What has not changed is the obligation of Professional Members to govern their conduct by vigourous application of the APEGA Code of Ethics and the Engineering and Geoscience Professions Act.

Like version 1.0, the new practice standard will stress changes to the definition of resources and reserves classification, as well as improvement to technical evaluation of reservoir mechanics and fluid characterization, and ethical disclosure of information to both government agencies and the public. As technical professionals, petroleum geologists must constantly strive for public trust. When Members authenticate their reports (posted on CSA’s SEDAR website) and include technical information in news releases, the public is reassured that professional geoscience is reliable.

I will write more about authentication in a future Reservoir article. If there are specific authentication issues, please contact me through the Reservoir and I will include them in the next article.

The diagram shows the relationship between the three regulatory instruments.

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

| Anastomosing Channels of the Alexandra River in flood conditions. Icefields Parkway.

Photo by: Ryan Simpson

INAUGURAL MOUNTJOY CARBONATES CONFERENCE

| By Alex McNeil Ph.D., P.Geo. | Senior Geologist- Carbonates Osum Oil Sands Corp.

The CSPG-SEPM inaugural Mountjoy Meeting took place August 23rd-28th at the Banff Centre and the AER Core Research Facility in Calgary, Alberta. Named in honour of Dr. Eric Mountjoy, the purpose of the meeting was to bring together geoscientists from industry, government, and academic institutions that are conducting applied research on topics related to the characterization and modeling of carbonate reservoirs. Given his reputation as a professor and supervisor of over fifty graduate theses from the 1960s through to the early 2000s, it was of no surprise that Eric would have wished that the meeting specifically include the opportunity for students and early career professionals to demonstrate their research.

The meeting kicked-off Sunday evening at the Banff Centre with an Icebreaker which was a great way for participants to meet each other and old acquaintances to catchup. We had wonderful weather and the view of the mountains surrounding the Banff Centre was topped off when a magnificent bull elk with an incredible rack of antlers wandered by. Approximately 45% of the 115 delegates came from outside of Canada from countries that included the United States, Brazil, England, Scotland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, France, Spain, Qatar and China, so seeing such wildlife was an extra treat. Approximately 60% of the meeting delegates were from industry, with the remainder being academics and students (nearly 20% students). The male to female demographic was approximately 65% male and 35% female.

On Monday morning the technical portion of the meeting commenced with introductory remarks from the Technical Chairs Alex MacNeil and Jeff Lonnee, followed by a formal welcome from CSPG President Tony Cadrin. The third Technical Chair of the meeting, Rachel Wood, was unable to attend because of extenuating circumstances - she was conducing fieldwork in Siberia!

Technical sessions on Monday and Tuesday focussed on dolomitization, diagenesis, fluid flow in carbonate reservoirs, and unconventional carbonate reservoirs. There were far too many talks and posters to summarize, but several presentations and posters revolved around the characterization of dolomitized reservoirs at various scales, from seismic to the fine pore scale. There were also important presentations on play concepts and the use of seismic for evaluating different types of dolostone reservoirs. From the Sverdrup Basin to modeling of dolomitized Miocene carbonates in Egypt, and the modeling of fractured Jurassic carbonates in Kurdistan, the sessions delivered key findings on various research topics that are of significant importance to our science. Tuesday afternoon included a number of talks and posters on unconventional carbonate reservoirs, especially those in the United States, which impressed upon the audience the need for integrated studies that include high-resolution sequence stratigraphy, petrophysical, and geochemical characterization at many different scales.

On Tuesday evening a formal banquet in honour of Eric Mountjoy took place. Hosted

by former students Eva Drivet and Richard (Dick) Walls, the evening consisted of several presentations. Tony Cadrin, as President of the CSPG, started off the evening followed by Dr. Rick Sarg who spoke on behalf of the SEPM. Rick, as a student of Lloyd Pray, had the opportunity to meet Eric when he was conducting his Ph.D. studies on Permian evaporites in New Mexico, and recounted how Eric had suggested they use a portable rock saw to get better samples from the field – with great success. He remembered how students referred to Lloyd, Eric and Robin (Bathurst) as the “three musketeers”. The presentations continued with Drs. Roger Macqueen, Hairuo Qing, Mark Mallamo, and Ben Rostron. These presentations, which reminisced on Eric’s career and his contributions to the science, were complemented by letters read aloud from former students including Ian Macintyre, Noel James, Pat Lee, and the Principal of McGill University Susan Fortier. Two common themes emerged from the presentations… the “state” of Eric’s office at McGill, which apparently culminated in the collapse of several bookshelves while Eric was in his office, and his gentle character that fostered the development of so many young geology students and lifelong mentorship. The evening was very special indeed and a wonderful tribute to his legacy. Anita Mountjoy was present not only for the banquet but the entire meeting, which was wonderful.

On Wednesday we took a break from the technical sessions and headed out into the field. Five field trips were offered, varying

(... Continued on page 16)

from a guided tour of the famous Walcott Quarry of the Burgess Shale, Cambrian aged stromatolites, fossil beds at Mt. Stephen, to more technical field trips including Devonian stratigraphy and vuggy porosity at Canmore and a guided tour of hydrothermal dolomite localities in the region. An unexpected twist was dense smoke in the area due to forest fires in Washington State and western Canada, which obscured views of the mountains and added a bit of suspense to the day, but in the end did not hamper the success of the trips.

The technical sessions resumed Thursday with presentations on vuggy and fractured carbonate reservoirs in the morning and carbonate modeling presentations in the afternoon. From fracture and reservoir characterization talks that focused on subsurface fields, to studies of the Madison Formation with amazing cliff-side exposures, and a presentation from Lundin Petroleum on the recent multi-billion barrel Johan Sverdrup oil field discovery in the North Sea, the morning was certainly “action packed”. The enthusiasm carried on in the afternoon with a range of talks highlighting the latest advancements in pore-scale modeling, including the importance of wettability on the predictive capability of pore-scale models, to larger scale modeling studies related to hydrothermal circulation and diagenesis as well as alternative surfacebased modeling methods. The day concluded with a presentation on detailed carbonate studies from the Sergipe-Alagoas Basin in northeastern Brazil.

Although the technical sessions concluded Thursday, the meeting continued on Friday

with a core workshop at the Alberta Energy Regulator Core Research Facility in Calgary. Several presentations and core displays gave participants the opportunity to see a wide range of carbonate reservoirs with data about their exploration and/or production histories. Both conventional and unconventional reservoirs of various ages were shown, and probably the most exotic was focused on Oligocene carbonates from Kurdistan. Not everyone attended the core workshop – a number of participants opted instead to take part in a two-day field trip examining Devonian platform and off-platform stratigraphy exposed in the mountain ranges between Banff and Jasper, led by John Weissenberger, Murray Gilhooly, and Pak Wong.

So what’s next? By all accounts the inaugural meeting was very successful and a Special Publication is expected to follow. Bigger picture, the SEPM-CSPG Mountjoy Meetings are planned to be industry-applied carbonate science meetings that take place every four years in rotating venues, with the intent to highlight the latest advancements in research. There is a strong desire to stagger the meetings with the Bathurst Carbonate Meetings, so the plan is to have the next meeting in 2017 followed by a meeting in 2021. Stay tuned for details on the next Mountjoy meeting!

Group photo of the participants at the inaugural Mountjoy Carbonate Conference

The Wednesday field trip that went to Grassi Lakes has a group discussion on the nature of vuggy porosity and subsurface reservoir performance issues.

2015 – CSPG MIXED GOLF TOURNAMENT RAINOUT

| By David Middleton & Brenda Pearson 2015 co-chairs, CSPG Mixed Golf Committee

The 26th Annual CSPG Mixed Golf tournament was to be held at Lynx Ridge Golf course on 21 August, but torrential rain, lightning, strong winds and temperatures around 6° C caused the first ever cancellation of the tournament. I was most pleased that virtually every golfer showed up at the course, ready to tough out the day in the rain and cold.While we discussed alternatives with the course management, including delaying, rescheduling, or outright cancellation, the tough decision to scratch the event was made.

Looking over the golf course, with standing water on the fairways, water on the greens, and the occasional whitecap on the ponds, the golf course did the sensible thing and officially cancelled the tournament. Golfers stayed warm and dry in the clubhouse enjoying coffee and breakfast sandwiches sponsored by MJ Systems. As a result, rain-check’s for the golf portion of the event were issued to all players at the course for 18 holes of golf and are good until end of 2016. We would like to thank geoLOGIC systems, who kindly sponsored drinks at the bar to keep the golfers entertained. We would also like to thank the hardy souls from I.H.S, BrokerLink, and AGAT that were prepared to provide hospitality at the

tent holes on the course, but who ended up back in the clubhouse. While the tournament was cancelled, we did manage to hand out prizes for the mulligan draw (Visa gift card) and the courseissued gift certificates were drawn for. Other donated draw prizes were Belloy Petroleum’s weekend survival kit of a cooler filled with beer, and Cabra’s wine gift basket.

We would like to gratefully acknowledge and thank our sponsors of the event for their great support to the CSPG Mixed Golf Tournament this year, especially during such tough times for our industry. Our gold level sponsors were geoLOGIC Systems and GLJ Petroleum Consultants, our silver sponsors were AGAT Laboratories, Canada BrokerLink, Chinook Consulting, I.H.S, and MJ Systems. Hole sponsors for the day were Belloy Petroleum Consulting Ltd, Birchcliff Energy, ProGeo Consultants, and Sproule Associates. Little Rock Printing donated all our printing for the tournament, and their support is gratefully acknowledged.

While we did not get to enjoy the day freezing, drenched and hypothermic, every golfer was grateful to meet their colleagues, mix with the sponsors, and meet new people while staying

warm and dry, until it was time to wrap up and head back to work.We did manage to raise over $1300 from the sale of mulligans that are used to support the CSPG Foundation; to support the educational and outreach activities of the CSPG.

I would like to thank the many sponsors, golfers, and the greens-keeping, pro shop and catering team at Lynx Ridge Golf course and especially the fine organizing committee of co-chair Brenda Pearson (registration), Darin Brazel (sponsorship), Norm Hopkins (trophies), Jeff Boissonneault (signage), Penny Christensen (Prizes) and our CSPG office support from Kristy Casebeer.

We will be sending out a short survey to all participants, looking for your feedback and ideas on the tournament date, timing and location, with an open mind on how to improve the event for next year. Unfortunately, weather will always be the tricky element in every event, but hopefully we will not see snow on the day of the tournament, as we did this year!

We look forward to your attendance at next year’s tournament tentatively planned for on Friday, 19th August 2016 as we celebrate the 27h Annual Tournament.

26th Annual CSPG Mixed Golf Tournament

RACE AND FUN RUN, SEPT 23TH 2015

| By Armin Schafer, Race Director

This year mother nature was on our side and the weather was perfect for running (no snow on the ground, no broken branches or power outages.. An enthusiastic group of 77 runners finished the race Out of the 102 who were registered to run. This year the 5K had 37 runners, while the 10K had 61 runners.

The south side of the river from Crowchild to Edworthy was completed a few months ago, so we were able to go back to our old route, all along the south side of the river, now paved all of the way. Our race volunteers, decked out in bright orange safety vests, aided the runners in negotiating the route. Once again distances were marked uniquely in geologic time to assist, or perhaps confuse, the participants. Like every year it’s great to see a mix of competitive and first time runners. This year timing was done by Zone4 using ankle/wrist bracelets. The start line was moved to the previous year’s finish line to enable a chip start instead of a gun start. As a result, the times will be more accurate, as a start time and a finish time is used for each racer. The bracelets are also used in triathlons so they are waterproof, which

turned out to be a good think as one person took a shower with their bracelet still on. To see individual times, please go to http://new.zone4.ca/results and click on the CSPG/CSEG 10K/5K Road Race & Fun Run – Overall and Age Groups links.

We returned to The Calgary Curling Club for the post race awards party, where the mix of racers and volunteers enjoyed plenty of cold beverages and a pasta dinner. The evening was topped off with door prizes, awards and of course our now infamous sock-toss. Through great sponsorship and strong participation, we are once again able to contribute to our designated charity the YMCA strong kids foundation!

A special part of the evening was a brief memorial to Mike Cardell. Mike was on the race committee for 6 years and was the Race Director for 4 years. Mike’s life ended far too soon as he died at the young age of 63 years old, from Pancreatic Cancer. We had a moment of silence followed by a Cheers for Mike and the opportunity to write something on a poster with several pictures of Mike on it that we presented to Marnie Cardell.

I would like to thank all the volunteers and sponsors who helped make this event a success! We have acknowledged our sponsors on a separate page. Thank you also to all the runners. It was a pleasure cheering you in at the finish line.

Finally a huge thank-you to our group on the committee that made this all work: Jocelyn Frankow, Tina Donkers, Shirley Fleming, Chris Savels, Tim Burk, Baltej Sidhu, Shawna Christensen and Kristy Casebeer at the CSPG office. As well, thanks to Nick Wiggins and the staff at the Eau Claire YMCA for their continued hospitality.

For more information on category winners, run times and placement, please see http://new.zone4.ca/results

We look forward to seeing you next year for the 28th annual; race date will be Wed, September 21, 2016.

Thank you.

Armin Schafer, Race Director.

Winners

GeoConvention 2016

With low commodity prices and an ever changing economic and business environment, it is imperative that the industry optimize the way in which it operates. Whether enhancing recovery methods, finding the optimal path for a horizontal well or maximizing the return of capital employed, Optimizing Resources, the theme for GeoConvention 2016, is key to success.

Please join us and contribute as speaker, exhibitor or sponsor.

In recognizing the business environment which we are operating in, GeoConvention is pleased to announce heavily discounted delegate rates for the 2016 program! We will be hosting the best integrated content as we have always done but will do so at reduced rates to ensure the best possible opportunity for all our partner society members to attend. Registration will open in early December with early bird pricing planned though the month of January.

2015 ANDREW D. BAILLIE AWARDS

The CSPG Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2015 Andrew D. Baillie Award.The award is given for the best student geological poster presentation and the best student geological oral presentation at the annual GeoConvention.

The Baillie award commemorates Dr. Andrew Dollar “Andy” Baillie (1912-2001) whose geological career spanned five decades. His petroleum career began with the British

American Oil Company (the precursor to Gulf Canada) in 1953. After retiring from Gulf, Andy spent more than 20 years pursuing his passion for teaching geology in a variety of ways. His technical skills and desire to share his knowledge made him an invaluable asset to the geological community.

In 1997, to celebrate his lifetime of geological achievements, the CSPG awarded Andrew Baillie the Stanley Slipper Gold Medal for “life-long accomplishments and outstanding contributions to petroleum geology in Canada and abroad”. He was an inspiration to literally hundreds of geologists who came under his influence, however fleetingly, during his life. Andy was an active member of the CSPG and had a particular interest in the CSPG Educational Trust Fund.The award in his name was established in 1992 by the CSPG Executive as a technical recognition award.The idea of accompanying cash prize was instituted by a donation from Andy himself. His family ensured this tradition will continue with a commemorative gift to the CSPG Educational Trust Fund following his passing. The award recognizes excellence in technical presentations by students and encourages a level of technical prowess worthy of Dr. Andrew D. Baillie.

The recipient of this year’s best student poster presentation is Leanne Tingley from the

University of Calgary.The GeoConvention 2015 award committee selected her presentation entitled “A Study of Jurassic Paleoenvironment and Paleoclimate in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin Using Foraminiferal Assemblages”, to be the best of an excellent group of student posters at the 2015 convention.

Paul Durkin from the University of Calgary was granted the award for the best student oral presentation for his presentation entitled, “Paleochannel migration history and characterization of resulting point bars, counter point bar, and abandoned channels from an Upper Cretaceous fluvial meander belt, Dinosaur Park Badlands, Alberta”.

The 2015 Baillie awards were presented at the September 15th CSPG Technical Luncheon by CSPG Foundation Chairman Brett Norris.

Andrew D. Baillie

Below: Brett Norris (Right) presenting awards to Paul Durkin (left) and Leanne Tingley (middle)

2015/2016 Core Workshops and Field Trips

Lower Cretaceous (Mannville) and Jurassic Sandstone Reservoirs in Core and Outcrop (includes cores/outcrops from part or all of Nordegg, Sawtooth-Rock Creek-Niton, Fernie-Nikanassin, Fox Creek, Ostracod, Ellerslie, Glauconitic and Upper Mannville (Notikewin/Falher/Colony reservoirs) of western Alberta

These courses are directed at geoscientists, engineers and technologists who have at least a rudimentary working knowledge of Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous stratigraphy in southern and western Alberta and need to understand how changing evolving paleogeography, depositional facies, petrographic compositi on and burial history impact log response, reservoir performance and production capability of these economically important oil and gas reservoirs.

West

Five Core Workshop (core only) ................. December 15-17, 2015.......$1200 Cdn

3 days lecture/workshop with 20+ cores examined from Hoadley -Strachan, Pembina, Gilby-Medicine River, Caroline, Kaybob, Edson and Peco production districts).

Southern Plains Core Workshop (core only)............January 12-14, 2016....$1200 Cdn

3 days lecture/workshop with 20+ cores examined from Grand Forks, Taber, Countess -Lathom, Crossfield, Drumhellar, Manyberries , Strathmore, and Cessford production districts).

West

Central (Nordegg) Field trip/ Core Workshop....... May 16-19, 2016..$1600 Cdn

2 day field trip (includes transportation, lunches and shared accomodation) and 2 day core workshop (16 core) from "South o f Twp 45" W5 production districts.

Space Limited.. Maximum 15 registrants per course (discount rates for students and unemployed).

Workshops conducted at the EUB Core Facility, 3545 Research Way N.W, Calgary.

Instructor. Lorne Rosenthal completed his MSc. and Ph.D. research on Cretacous clastics of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and h as over 35 years experience in exploration and development. He has led and co -instructed over 100 field trips, shorts courses and core workshops while working as independant consultant or in conjunction with CSPG, AAPG, University of Calgary, Brandon University and University of Manitoba.

For further information, please contact lrosenthal@rainyday.ca (587 -998-8488)

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Course Description

Resources and reserves are largely misunderstood by all but a small portion of the engineering community and yet they are a v ital scorecard for oil and gas companies. Understanding the principles, the timing of reports, as well as ensuring the best informati on is provided are critical to appropriate evaluations. All disciplines need to be involved in this process. This short course is designed to provide geoscientists with the information they need to provide effective input to these evaluations. This 1 day course will cover the regulatory requirements of evaluations, resource and reserve categorization, risk, productio n forecasting and the impact of pricing. Practical examples from conventional and unconventional reservoirs in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin will be used as learning tools.

Instructor Information

Dave Russum has spent his career finding and developing oil and gas for E&P companies (Amoco and Crestar Energy) and providing independent evaluations and advice (Geo -Help Inc., AJM Petroleum Consultants and Deloitte). His background provides a very broad view of the industry and the expansion of unconventional activity. He is a former Technical Director of the CSPG and a me mber of the CSPG, AAPG and APEGA. He is currently Director of Geoscience for Deloitte Resource Evaluation and Advisory where he and his team provide geoscience services in North America and on a global basis.

Andrew Botterill is a graduate of the University of Calgary with nearly 15 years of experience in reservoir engineering with AJM Petroleum Consultants and Deloitte. He is a former partner in AJM Petroleum Consultants and is currently a Senior Manager in Deloitte’s Resource Evaluation and Advisory practice. He has evaluated oil and gas assets for more than 160 international and d omestic clients. He is an expert in probabilistic resource evaluation and provides advisory services for many clients particular ly in the area of mergers and acquisitions. Andrew also leads the team that prepares Deloitte’s quarterly oil and gas price forecasts.

GO TAKE A HIKE

Wood Buffalo National Park: Salt Plain Overlook and Evaporite Scarp

By Chris L. Schneider and Andres Altosaar

Geology and geomorphology of Wood Buffalo National Park has been greatly impacted by the dissolution of evaporite minerals in the subsurface and, at places, at the surface. The presence of a sizeable scarp along the edge of the Salt Plain is one feature that the displays the effects of anhydrite hydration and gypsum dissolution on the geology and surficial morphology of the Park.

The Chinchaga Formation gypsum scarp forms the boundary between two major surface regimes within the park. The karstedupland involves evaporite dissolution in the subsurface, which resulted in a dense concentration sinkholes in the Keg River Formation dolostone. In the karstedlowland, large-scale collapse of the Keg River Formation from underlying evaporite dissolution resulted in paleo-sinkholes, brecciation, and deformation. Modern sinkholes and caves in the karstedlowland originate from remnants of dissolving, subsurface gypsum and collapsed carbonate.

Although not readily observable from the overlook, the geomorphology of the upland also includes glacially-derived features: long eskers with a distinct flora and small clusters of drumlins, where not interrupted by sinkholes. Exposed bedrock surfaces often bear glacial striae. In the lowland, glacial features in the landscape are not as apparent, although till, glacial striae, and varvesare commonly observed at most outcrops.

The gypsum scarp and the surrounding vicinity contains several geological features worth noting: glacial striaeon the Keg River Formation bedrock surface at roadside gravel pits; the dolostone talus-covered slope hiding the gypsum scarp, origin unknown; the salt plains at the base of the scarp, and the freshwater and saline springs issuing from the base of the slope. Sinkholes and geomorphology of the lowland can be observed from the overlook. Although these features appear close, the apparent distance observed from the viewpoint is deceiving, so they are best observed with

Trailhead: Salt Plains Viewpoint. Drive to the Salt Plains Overlook; from here, you can observe the features of the overlook, walk to the base of the slope to the salt plain, and/or back-track to some roadside gravel pits to observe the Keg River Formation dolostone.

Distance: Approximately 500 m along switchback trails. Please stay to the trail and please tread carefully when exploring the salt plain, as this is a fragile environment.

Elevationloss: cephalopods

Figure 1. General map of the region. The trailhead is on Parson’s Road, well marked with good signage and directions.

Figure 2: The view from the Salt Plains Overlook.

Figure 3: A rill discharges into the Salt River on the Salt Plain. The footprints of several species record visits to this spot.

Figure 5 (above): A salt spring south of the terminus of the Salt Plain Viewpoint path. A freshwater spring is less than 100 m to the south of this spring.

Figure 4 (left): Glacial striaeon the bedrock surface of the Keg River Formation at a gravel pit along Parson’s Road.

National Park. Thus, the stratigraphy for the eastern portion of the Park has been reconstructed from outcrop, aided by data in Norris (1963) and Richmond (1965).

Outcrops of the La LocheFormation and the Fitzgerald Formation exist outside of the park along the Slave River. The Chinchaga presumably overlies the Fitzgerald Formation, but this contact has not been observed in outcrop.

The Chinchaga Formation outcrops at several places in the Park. Where the outcrop has not altered to gypsum, the Chinchaga Formation is laminated, translucent blue anhydrite. Where the anhydrite has hydrated, Chinchaga outcrop is generally granular to heavily fractured, laminated to chaotic-textured gypsum, and is locally brecciated.

The Keg River Formation is a fossiliferous dolostone. The gradational contact between the Chinchaga and Keg River formations is observable in a few places, such as at Little Buffalo Falls. Keg River dolostone ranges from open marine, fossiliferous floatstone to stromatoporoid-coral floatstone to rudstone of biostromesand reefs. Fossil preservation is generally very good for dolomitization. At some localities, the rock has been brecciated because of post-Devonian karst processes.

Elsewhere in the park, the gypsum scarp is exposed without the talus cover. The scarp locally preserves the contact between the Chinchaga Formation and a metre-scale remnant of Keg River Formation. At one locality, a greenish-hued and cold freshwater stream discharged from a talus pile at the base of one cliff and meandered through a small valley to disappear into a cave at the base of another point along the cliff. If you wish to visit the exposed gypsum and anhydrite cliff, please contact the park staff for more information. Otherwise, the contact between the Keg River and Chinchaga formations can be seen outside of the park at Little Buffalo Falls.

Slave Point Fm: Fossiliferous to biostromal limestone and dolostone; laminated limestone; breccia

Acknowledgements:

Slave Point Fm: Fossiliferous to biostromal limestone and dolostone; laminated limestone; breccia

Slave Point Fm: Fossiliferous to biostromal limestone and dolostone; laminated limestone; breccia

NyarlingFm(Muskeg + Ft Vermilion fms):

Anhydrite and gypsum; minor dolostone, shale, and halite

NyarlingFm(Muskeg + Ft Vermilion fms): Anhydrite and gypsum; minor dolostone, shale, and halite

NyarlingFm(Muskeg + Ft Vermilion fms):

NyarlingFm(Muskeg + Ft Vermilion fms): Anhydrite and gypsum; minor dolostone, shale, and halite

Anhydrite and gypsum; minor dolostone, shale, and halite

Keg River Fm: Fossiliferous to biostromal dolostone and dolomitic limestone; breccia

Keg River Fm: Fossiliferous to biostromal dolostone and dolomitic limestone; breccia

Keg River Fm: Fossiliferous to biostromal dolostone and dolomitic limestone; breccia

Chinchaga Fm: Anhydrite and gypsum; minor dolostone, shale, halite

Keg River Fm: Fossiliferous to biostromal dolostone and dolomitic limestone; breccia

Chinchaga Fm: Anhydrite and gypsum; minor dolostone, shale, halite

Chinchaga Fm: Anhydrite and gypsum; minor dolostone, shale, halite

Chinchaga Fm: Anhydrite and gypsum; minor dolostone, shale, halite

Fitzgerald Fm: sandy dolostone

Fitzgerald Fm: sandy dolostone

Fitzgerald Fm: sandy dolostone La LocheFm: “granite wash” sandstone

La LocheFm: “granite wash” sandstone

La LocheFm: “granite wash” sandstone

Fitzgerald Fm: sandy dolostone

La LocheFm: “granite wash” sandstone

We would like to thank M. Grobe(Alberta Geological Survey), B. Collins (University of Alberta), S. Irwin (Wood Buffalo National Park), P. Vermeulen(Suncor), and J. Bever(Suncor) for field assistance.

References:

Norris, A.W. (1963): Devonian stratigraphy of northeastern Alberta and northwestern Saskatchewan; Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 313, 168 p.

Richmond,W.O. (1965): Paleozoic stratigraphy and sedimentation of the Slave Point Formation, southern Northwest Territories and northern Alberta; Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University, 565 p.

Figure 7 (above): The gypsum scarp exposed at some distance to the south of the Salt Plains viewpoint.

Figure 9:The discharge point of the same small stream from a talus pile at the base of the same cliff, further south.

Figure 7 (above): The gypsum scarp exposed at some distance to the south of the Salt Plains viewpoint.

Figure 8: A small freshwater creek disappears into the base of the anhydrite and gypsum cliff of the Chinchaga Formation, at some distance south of the Salt Plains Viewpoint.

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AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

HONORARY MEMBER Lisa Griffith

Lisa Griffith earned her undergraduate degree from Rice University in 1977, and her M.Sc. in Geology from the University of Calgary in 1981. She joined CSPG in 1980, and sat on her first committee in 1988: the Graduate Students Awards Committee. The next year, she worked on the Conference Field Trip Committee. In 1995, Lisa travelled with the CSPG Link Tour of Universities as a Guest Lecturer after winning the award for Best Oral Presentation at the CSPG-CWLS convention. She returned to the Graduate Students Awards Committee from 1996 to 1998, earning a Volunteer award in 1999. In 2001 Ms. Griffith started a two year term as the Assistant Financial Director/Financial Director. As part of those responsibilities, she also participated in the Educational Trust Fund as a Director. During that same time period, Lisa travelled to Canadian universities giving lectures, and guest co-edited the CSPG Bulletin v.50. In 2003 she was awarded Best Integrated Core Presentation at the annual convention.Ms.Griffith was a 2005 Convention Committee Member, and earned a Volunteer Award in 2007 for her work on the Convention Tech Committee as a Core Conference Organizer. Her three year term on the Executive centred on her 2008 Presidential year, where she strengthened the society with her strong interpersonal skills. She received the H.M. Hunter award for her commitment to CSPG volunteer activities in 2013.

Lisa started her career at Esso in 1980 as a Geologist, where she interpreted Beaufort and East Coast seismic, and successfully drilled her first stepout discovery. In 1985, she moved to Amerada Hess, where she held roles as a Lead Development Geologist, then as Regional Clastics Coordinator. Starting in 1992, she spent two years with W. R. May as a Consulting Geologist, assessing and making recommendations for drilling and workover candidates, before joining PanCanadian/Encana,

where she worked from 1993 to 2002. As part of her duties as a Geologist/Senior Clastics Specialist, Lisa began mentoring, and teaching courses and field trips. She was instrumental to the PanCanadian Centre of Excellence, which trained young geoscientists to be ready for fast paced corporate life. In 2003 and 2004, she worked as Chief Geologist for GEDCO, where she recruited clients, completed projects, and taught courses and core workshops. In 2004 Lisa started her own business, Griffith Geoconsulting, where she worked with more than 20 different client companies assessing acreage, completing pool studies, recommending drilling locations, and putting together plays. From 2010 through 2013, Ms. Griffith worked at Enerplus Resources as a Senior Staff Geologist, mapping established pools, drilling horizontal wells, and coordinating geologists’ training. Throughout her career, Lisa has been an excellent mentor to dozens of young geoscientists, as well as a more formal teacher and field trip leader.

In addition to her activities at the CSPG, Ms. Griffith has been an active volunteer in the community. She was the president of United Way’s Bed Race Committee in the 1980s, the Treasurer of Crescent Heights Community Association in the 1990s, and a Board Member of the Festival Chorus in the 2000s, as well as participating in various choirs, fitness centres, book clubs, and organizing annual block parties for her neighbourhood.

Lisa has published more than 10 abstracts for conference oral presentations, poster displays, and core displays, as well as two papers on the Cardium Formation. She has been teaching for almost 30 years, including courses on clastic exploration and pool development, basic core description, and development risk assessment. Ms. Griffith is known for her love of geology and her love of nature, which come together in her passion for leading field trips.

Lisa Griffith is a highly respected geologist who has demonstrated a strong work ethic, expertise and passion in her chosen profession. She is always generous with her time and experience, willing to mentor junior staff and explain geological concepts to engineers. Lisa has had a commitment to share knowledge and be involved with the geoscience community, including lectures at all levels from elementary schools to CSPG conventions. She is dedicated to giving back to her profession and has devoted countless hours of her valuable time to volunteering for the committees and organizations that cater to geoscientists.The CSPG is pleased to award Lisa Griffith Honorary Membership status.

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 18th

SPEAKERS: MATT GOLOMBEK

Mars Exploration Rover Project Scientist

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

California Institute of Technology

DON HLADIUK

Past-President

Royal Astronomical Society of Canada

DOORS OPEN: 4:30 PM

APPETIZERS/CASH BAR: 5:00 PM

EVENT: 6:00 PM

ARTS COMMON

205 - 8th Avenue SE Calgary AB

Adults: $25.00

Students: $10.00

Children (12 & under) FREE

www.cspg.org