March/April Reservoir 2020

In This Issue...

Into the Depths: A Temporary Exposure of the Bow River Thalweg Go Take a Hike Business, Finance and the Professional Geoscientist

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This year we celebrate the integration of geology across Canada, an opportunity we only get once a decade!

The theme for the 2020 CSPG Core Conference is “Igniting Geoscience Across Canada”, where we look to bring together all disciplines of geology. The committee is looking forward to expanding the breadth of content for the 2020 Core Conference, where we will include examples from all facets of geoscience, whether it is sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic. We encourage those who may be working in mineral exploration, academic research and reservoirs old and new to present their ideas in a more casual environment at this coming years conference, and to showcase the understanding of the rocks that established the resources that provide for us throughout Canada.

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CSPG COORDINATING EDITOR

Emma MacPherson, Communications Coordinator, Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists Tel: 403-513-1230, emma.macpherson@cspg.org

The RESERVOIR is published 6 times per year by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists. 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.

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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 injury, loss, damage, or expense arising in any manner whatsoever from the acts, omissions, or conduct of any third-party user.

PRESIDENT Jen Russel-Houston

PRESIDENT ELECT Neil Watson

Osum Oil Sands Corp. president@cspg.org

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PAST PRESIDENT Marty Hewitt

FINANCE DIRECTOR Kelty Latos

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RESERVOIR ISSUE 2 • MARCH/APRIL 2020

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

MARCH/APRIL 2020 – VOLUME 47, ISSUE 2

MONTHLY SPONSORS...............................................................................................4 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR....................................................................................6 TECHNICAL ARTICLE Business, Finance and the Professional Geoscientist.............................................7 Into the Depths: a Temporary Exposure of the Bow River Thalweg......................8 Go Take a Hike.........................................................................................................11

UPCOMING EVENTS

FRONT COVER Metamorphic Complex, British Columbia.

Uplifted granitic and granodioritic gneisses of the Valhalla Core Complex tower over Mulvey Lakes at Gimli Peak to the west of Slocan. Exhumation of these possibly Precambrian units is believed to have been coeval with deformation in the foreland to the east. The presence of a hiker peeking over the prow provides a sense of scale.

Photo by Jenn Martin

Technical Luncheon................................................................................................15 Division Talks...........................................................................................................17

SOCIETY NEWS 2019 Stanley Slipper Gold Medal Award ...............................................................32 2019 Medal of Merit Award.....................................................................................34 2019 H.M. Hunter Award.........................................................................................36 2019 Tracks Awards.................................................................................................38

RESERVOIR ISSUE 2 • MARCH/APRIL 2020

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

M Tom Sneddon

Professional Geologist (Alberta), Professional Geoscientist (B.C.) retired recently as Director of Geoscience and Outreach for APEGA, has been a member of the CSPG for over 40 years, and has pursued a career in geoscience since his university days. He has two degrees – both from Alberta: initially from the University of Calgary in 1969 (B.A. Geography), and from the University of Alberta (M.Sc. in Water Resources, Dept. of Civil Engineering, 1981). His initial industry experience was with Amoco Canada in 1967-69 as a “Geophysical Professional Assistant” for seismic data management, processing, and seismic section preparations.

Tom has taken his broad geoscience experience – over 30 years of earth sciences experience, including experimental watershed research, hydrology, hydrogeology, environmental geology, oil and gas prospect development, drilling programs, and extensive field work in minerals exploration and development – in both government and industry, and applied it to the promotion of professionalism within the geosciences, through his role at APEGA.

arch winds and April showers bring forth the May flowers.

Great little ditty, however in Canada it is more like March blizzards and April slush, but, happily, with the same outcome. Next month we will know for sure. Two things happen in April that illustrate both phenomena: that last big snowstorm in the midst of university final exams and something similar for the APEGA Annual Conference bring forth the May GeoConvention! Your humble editor hopes you all endured the former and met the Abstract Deadline for the May Festival of Geoscience. We at CSPG HQ look forward to seeing you there.

In spite of blizzards, slush and deadlines, we have several interesting articles for your late winter reading pleasure, including the first of the promised articles on geoscience project funding from our colleagues representing the banking community. The link between doing geology in the field and either academic or industrial work remains a healthy bank balance. They didn’t tell us that in university, did they?

of active geology: the erosive forces of big floods and cultural sedimentation patterns left over from the 2013 flood.

Urban geology at its most relevant.

Spring is the season for not only GeoConvention, but a string of conferences, workshops and the like. The Core Conference. We have full coverage for 2020. Then, that other Spring ritual, the Professional Development seminars and courses. We have the announcements.

We include a late winter idyll of the coming summer, so why don’t you take a hike with Georgia Hoffman and Philip Benham? We have the scoop. We also have the scoop on the March/April technical luncheons. Division Talks and annual awards to our best and brightest colleagues bestowed by the Society.

Enjoy this edition’s articles and please honour our sponsors since they make this publication possible. If you have a great idea for a Reservoir short technical note or op-ed, get it into print. Your contributions are always welcome.

In this edition, John Noad instructs us with his take on living on the edge

Readers of The RECORDER, The Source, the CSPG Reservoir, and The PEG have seen Tom’s numerous articles on the role of the professional geoscientist.

Book Cliffs Utah

World class outcrop analogue for shoreface-deltaic, fluvial, and tidal-estuarine sandstone reservoirs.

Now booking company-specific, applied geological field trips.

Contact: Dr. Simon A.J. Pattison pattison@bookcliffsgeology.com www.bookcliffsgeology.com

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T.I.H. Consulting Ltd. Geologic Well-Site Supervision

1602 – 5th St N.E. Calgary, AB. T2E 7W3 Phone: 403-233-7729 www.tihconsulting.com e-mail: tih@shaw.ca

RESERVOIR ISSUE 2 • MARCH/APRIL 2020

TECHNICAL ARTICLE

BUSINESS, FINANCE AND THE PROFESSIONAL GEOSCIENTIST By: Nesbitt Burns Geoscience Team at BMO World Markets Why is it that governments across Canada (with two exceptions) insist that anyone who earns their keep as a geoscientist needs to go through: • the rigmarole of four successful years at hard labour at a university • a further four years at hard labour as a Geoscientist in Training under the supervision of a tough taskmaster, and • pass a professional practice and ethics test before one is legally able to call oneself a geologist, geophysicist or environmental geoscientist? Then annually one pays a (stiff ) fee to continue to do so, including a pledge to keep one’s scientific and social credentials up to date? All this just to call oneself a Professional Geoscientist/ Geologist/Geophysicist?

The reasons are many, but they boil down to a single word: “Trust”.

The Canadian economy depends on a continuous and reliable stream of energy, metallic and industrial minerals to sustain thirty-seven million souls (and counting).

In a country with eight dark months of life threatening winter and four months of tough dog sledding, it is essential that we can heat and light our homes, feed our children and pay for our global supplies of food and clothing we rely on other countries to supply. The people who keep our homes warm and lit and provide employment producing cash are the professional geoscientists and engineers, supported by business people who know how to sell and ship what we geo’s produce to those inside and outside of Canada who are willing to buy those products.

Canadians can function in the world because we have a market economy that we can all trust. It supplies what we need and can equally supply our products to customers on time and at a price everyone

RESERVOIR ISSUE 2 • MARCH/APRIL 2020

can afford. The geoscientist’s piece of that action involves the wise investment of capital supplied by individuals and institutions like banks and pension funds.

The capital so obtained must then be used to supply enough free cash flow to: • replace the reserves of energy and minerals that we produce • pay the bank loans, and • provide dividends and enhanced share value to investors after everyone in the production system gets paid.

Including us.

The investor must trust the producing companies and all the people they employ.

So too, the banks must trust the producing company to pay back their loans and other credit instruments on time and reliably. If anyone cheats and behaves unethically or performs their service in an unskilled way, the system breaks down.

Companies go broke and working people lose employment. Governments lose tax revenues. The economy goes into recession.

In Alberta, we know this all too well. Yes, unethical and incompetent behaviour isn’t restricted to private sector entrepreneurs. It applies to politicians and public servants as well.

In Canada, there are two main economic regulatory institutions; the securities commissions and the banks. There are many other regulators involved whose role as well is to ensure that performers in the natural resources exploitation sectors remain ethical and competent in their operations to minimize negative impact on the public at large. The securities commissions and the banks work together to ensure the money needed by the miners and petroleum producers is obtained in an as honest and fair way as humanly possible.

Evaluation Engineers and National Instrument 51-101 (NI51-101) for public disclosure of resources and reserves information in Canada, published by the Canadian Securities Administrators. The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta publishes the professional practice standard that covers application of COGEH and NI51-101 and governs the generation of the resources and reserves information to be released to the public. The reliability and trustworthiness of the geoscientists and engineers who provide information for their company’s board of directors is thus assured to be both ethical and competent.

Over the next several editions of the Reservoir, we will explore how the geoscience professions interacts with the securities administrators and with the chartered banks in Canada. Historically, this has been an effective relationship which provides an adequate degree of information for investment purposes, in return for obtaining the financial resources that companies need to grow and prosper.

Whenever this relationship sours, the entire economy suffers.

We begin this series with a discussion of how a chartered bank operates in the oil and gas investment and credit spaces. The authors then explore why the banks employ registered professionals to conduct their analyses and evaluations to ensure they have the trust of the public they serve.

The basic ground rules for the oil and gas industry are embodied in the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook (COGEH), published by the Society of Petroleum

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TECHNICAL ARTICLE

INTO THE DEPTHS: A TEMPORARY EXPOSURE OF THE BOW RIVER THALWEG

By Jon Noad, Sedimental Services

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nglewood might not seem the first choice for a fascinating morning of geological fieldwork, but site visit in 2018 organized by Bluebird Contracting Services yielded up a wide variety of sedimentary features, most occurring along the thalweg of the Bow River. A thalweg is the line joining the lowest points along the entire length of a stream bed in its downward slope, defining its deepest channel (Wikipedia). The deepest points along this path tend to occur on the outside of the river bends, and are termed pools, while the shallows between the bends, often forming the white water reaches, are riffles.

Figure 1: View of the dammed Bow River in Inglewood, looking west towards downtown

Rebuilding Harvie Passage

Figure 2: The Bow River diverted southward to allow work to continue on the northern side of the river where the thalweg was located

Recent excavations along the Harvie Passage section of the Bow River, on the outskirts of Inglewood, allowed unprecedented access to one of these pools.

This stretch of the Bow River was infamous for its weir, constructed in 1975 and known as the “drowning machine”. A decision was taken in 2010 to make the site safer and more accessible for recreational kayakers, rafters and other water users, by building a series of lower gradient pools and rapids.

Construction was well underway when the 2013 flood caused extreme erosion, high sediment levels and ultimately created a new river channel (Calgary Sun 2016).

This led to a change in project plans, with cofferdams built to isolate portions of the river, to allow work to be undertaken “in the dry”. Cofferdams are watertight enclosures pumped dry to permit construction work below the waterline.

The work was completed in 2018, but construction of a series of concrete barriers in a large cofferdam, designed to create safe yet exciting water flow paths, led to a surprising exposure of bedrock at the base of the Bow River channel. Once the cofferdams were completed, all the water was pumped out of an area of around 600 square metres. Fish and Wildlife were on hand to collect and release any fish caught in the rapidly falling water levels.

As the remaining pool shrank in size, several large trout, up to a metre in length, sought sanctuary beneath the flaggy bedrock, necessitating mild electroshocks to stun them into the open. All of the fish were safely returned to the river. Other fish species included minnows, but the relatively swift current in this reach meant that less mobile fish, such as pike, were not encountered.

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Figure 3:The thalweg pool which trapped the golf balls. Note that a protective layer of cement has been plastered atop the outcropping Paskapoo Sandstone

Figure 4: Rippled Paskapoo sandstone, interpreted as having been deposited in a crevasse splay

Figure 5: Sandstone with massive appearance, due to the homogeneous grain size

Bedrock river bed Once the water was gone, around 20 m2 of bedrock was exposed in the pool. The beds were gently folded but relatively flat lying, with a typical thickness of around 50 cm, but reaching more than 120 cm in some beds.

They were light grey in colour, comprising very fine grained, flaggy sandstone, very

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TECHNICAL ARTICLE

River or Lake Lower Elbow Glenmore Reservoir Upper Elbow Nose Creek Bow River

Kananaskis River

Golf course Calgary Golf and Country Club Lakeview GC Earl Grey GC Elbow Springs GC Glencoe GC Fox Hollow GC Calgary Elks Lodge and GC Shaganappi GC Valley Ridge GC Canmore Golf and Curling Club Banff Springs Hotel GC Kananaskis Country GC

well cemented, with a sucrosic appearance, containing black specks, probably made up of haematite. The cement is thought to be calcite, and the sandstone was extremely well indurated as a result.

Many of the sandstone beds were massive, probably due to their homogeneous grain size. Trough cross-bedding, wavy bedding and occasional, well preserved climbing ripples were also recorded. Thin dark grey mudstone layers separated some of the sandstone beds, and were occasionally reworked as small, well rounded intraclasts.

Fossils found included wood fragments and two bivalves, possibly oysters. Some simple subvertical burrows were also observed.

The overall depositional setting was interpreted as a braided fluvial deposit, almost certainly belonging to the Paskapoo Sandstone, which is Paleocene in age.

Nearby outcrops of the Paskapoo can be observed at Beaver Flats, some 4 km downstream, and along Nose Creek, as well as elsewhere in and around Calgary.

The Paskapoo is the beige sandstone used in many of Calgary’s buildings, especially those dating back to the 1920s and 30s.

A load of old balls Of additional interest were the contents of the pool, the deepest part of the Bow in this reach. In addition to a variety of fish, literally hundreds of golf balls were removed from

Proximity to river High Medium Medium Low Low High High Low Medium Medium High High

the basal level of the river course at this locality. This raised an interesting question as to the source of the golf balls. There are many golf courses bordering rivers in the region, some of which have holes that run alongside or even cross portions of the river.

My romantic imagination pictures some of these golf balls making their way downriver all the way from Kananaskis and Banff, but despite their relative buoyancy, it would be difficult for them to bypass Ghost Dam. More likely is that most were dunked into the river at the Calgary, Fox Hollow and Calgary Elks courses, fairly close to Harvie Passage, with maybe a few extra whacked into the river from the gardens of homes bordering the river. It wasn’t possible to examine the golf balls, but the logos might have helped to identify the provenance of these extremely well rounded clasts. A future Masters project perhaps?

Their presence also has some implications for flow along this section of the river. Golf balls tend to saltate in moderate currents due to their relatively low density, typically around 1.15 to 1.27 g/mL. This is less than the density of some seawater, meaning that golf balls can float in very salty water (with a maximum density of around 1.36 g/mL). It also means that golf balls are very mobile in flowing water, and likely to accumulate only in the pools along the thalweg, and only then if there is a trapping mechanism like

Figure 6: Mudclast breccia (analogue to McMurray Formation)

Figure 7: Coral preserved in Mississippian block incorporated into the manmade dam

Figure 8: Environmental officer with one of the trout trapped in the thalweg

Figure 9: Hudson River, near Edgewater Golf Range (CNN).

(Continued on page 10...)

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TECHNICAL ARTICLE (Continued from page 9...) overhanging rock outcrops to trap them. A statistic from CNN suggests that 300 million golf balls are lost in the United States every year, with the majority dumped into water hazards.

Extraformational geology Concrete has been used to construct a series of barriers in the river which will divert flow and create a variety of high and low water channel features. An estimated 24,000 tonnes of rock is being brought in from Exshaw to help to bulk out the barriers, comprising Mississippian limestone. A particularly fine fossil coral was discovered among the boulders already cemented in place.

Many of the pebbles and boulders making up the bedload of this stretch of the Bow River are well rounded, Mississippian (Banff Formation and others) limestone clasts, along with common Cambrian

metaquartzites of the Gog Formation.

These are thought to have been transported and deposited in glacial times, and then slowly reworked downstream during flood periods. Normal flow is considered insufficiently powerful to move the majority of these clasts, and the transported load is mainly fine silt grade, as evidenced by the sediment deposited as overbanks during the 2013 flood.

Thank you to Bluebird for allowing access to the site.

Carpe Diem Overall the variety of sedimentological features on display should remind us that geologists sometimes need to seize the day. Temporary outcrops, like the reported Mazama ash beds encountered during excavations on 17th Avenue, and these fascinating data along part of the Bow River thalweg, demonstrate that there is always something to learn from any outcrop, however fleetingly it may be exposed.

GEOCONVENTION LUNCHEON May 11th, 2020 | Hyatt Hotel, Calgary, AB Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists presents Peter Tertzakian, Executive Director of ARC Energy Research Institute.

Peter is an economist, investment strategist, advisor, author podcaster and public speaker on issues vital to the future of energy and Canada’s role in meeting evolving energy demand. With over 30 years of experience, his holistic knowledge of physics, innovation, finance and economics allows him to give audiences thought provoking advice on how to think about pressing issues on the transition to sustainable energy solutions.

Sponsored by:

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Table of 10:

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RESERVOIR ISSUE 2 • MARCH/APRIL 2020

TECHNICAL ARTICLE

GO TAKE A HIKE St. Mary River (south of Fort Macleod, AB) Georgia Hoffman and Philip Benham

Trailhead: Drive about 40 km south from Fort Macleod on Highway 2, turn east onto Highway 505, and after about 15 km turn east from the top of St. Mary Dam at the sign for the Lower St. Mary Campground. A short interpretive trail leaves from the parking lot at the top of the dam. Enjoy the interpretive trail and then drive down to the campground and park at the day-use area. There is no formal trail there; just walk along the river bank.

Distance: Roughly 1 km, depending how far you want to go.

Elevation change: None along the river. About 40 m if you walk from the interpretive trail at the dam to the campground.

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This hike takes you through outcrops of the Late Cretaceous (early Maastrichtian) St. Mary River Formation below the St. Mary Reservoir.

Signs along the interpretive trail at the top of the dam give an overview of the dam's construction and natural setting and you will have excellent views of the St. Mary River valley below. You can then head down to the day-use area at the campground, park, and walk south along the river.

The sediments of the St. Mary River Formation were deposited by braided rivers that flowed eastward from the tectonically active mountains to the Bearpaw Sea (Hamblin, 1998, 2004), which was part of the Western Interior Seaway. The St. Mary River strata grade from brackish-water deposits at the base to freshwater deposits in the upper part. The beds in the hike area are part of the freshwater sequence (Nadon, 1993, 1994; Riley, 2003). For comparison, one can visit the time-equivalent beds of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation in the Drumheller area. The Horseshoe Canyon deposits are much richer in coal and were deposited in swamps, tidally influenced estuaries, and coastal plain environments.

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Deposition of the St. Mary River Formation began near the onset of magnetochron 32n-r1, which lies at the base of the Maastrichtian (Lerbekmo and Lehtola, 2011; Voris et al., 2018). On the basis of palynology samples, A. R. Sweet suggested an absolute age of 69-72 Ma for the strata in the hike area (Sweet, pers. comm. in Riley, 2003).

Figure 1: Google Map of St Mary Dam Site. Note main access on Highway 505.

Figure 2: Outcrops of the St. Mary River Formation across from the campground. The exposed strata consist of finegrained sandstones interbedded with siltstones, silty mudstones, and minor carbonaceous shales that were deposited by crevasse splays and overbank floods.

Figure 3: View from the interpretive trail at the top of the dam (red dot) showing the hike route (yellow line), the day-use area (blue dot), the area across from the spillway (green dot), and the exposure adjacent to the spillway (magenta dot).

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(Continued on page 12...)

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TECHNICAL ARTICLE (Continued from page 11...)

Much like the Horseshoe Canyon Formation with which it interfingers, the St. Mary River Formation is fossiliferous. Remains of the plants and animals that lived on the low-relief floodplain were buried and preserved by repeating sheets of crevasse splay and overbank sediment (Nadon, 1993, 1994). The siltstones in the hike area have yielded a variety of plant fossils, especially aquatic plants that lived in the floodplain's lakes and ponds. Shells of freshwater molluscs, bones and teeth of herbivorous and carnivorous dinosaurs, and a variety of trace fossils have also been found in the hike area (Riley, 2003).

The dam was constructed at the upstream end of a deeply incised meander. The portion of the river that surrounds the campground was cut off by the dam and became an oxbow lake. As you walk along the quiet water there, look for beavers in the water as well as yellow-bellied marmots and ground squirrels along the banks.

Below the spillway the river resumes its unimpeded flow. Bedding planes are well exposed along this stretch of the river. Look for blocks of sandstone displaying Ophiomorpha-like burrows and possible dinosaur tracks. Sandstone blocks are abundant on the gravel bars in the spillway area, along with boulders of a wide variety of high-grade metamorphic rocks from the Canadian Shield that were carried southwest by the continental ice sheet during the Ice Age. Dinosaur descendants (in the form of pelicans) and fishermen frequent the river below the spillway today, which is a good spot for both to fish.

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Figure 4: Plant fossils from the hike area, including leaves and rhizomes of Quereuxia angulata (described as Trapago angulata by Stockey and Rothwell, 1997). Quereuxia was an aquatic plant with rosettes of leaves that floated on the surface of freshwater ponds.

Figure 5: Modern Trapa (water caltrop) as drawn by paleoartist Maija Karala (2014). Trapa forms rosettes of leaves much like those of Quereuxia (top left). This similarity could be due to convergent evolution (where adaptations to similar environment or ecological niches result in similar forms, such as in dolphins and in the unrelated paleo-marine reptiles known as ichthyosaurs), so it is not certain that Quereuxia and Trapa are closely related (Stockey and Rothwell, 1997).

Figure 6: A bed of Unio-like freshwater mussels. Unionid mussels still live in rivers throughout the world today, including those of Alberta.

Phylogenetic studies suggest they evolved in East Asia during the Jurassic and reached North America by the mid-Cretaceous (Bolotov et al., 2017). They are morphologically variable (about 300 taxa are known in North America alone) and can occur locally in abundances sufficient to raise the pH (through elevated levels of calcium carbonate). This change in pH would assist in the preservation of more soluble organic debris such as dinosaur eggshells (Tanke et al., 2001). A similar process likely explains their presence in the cemented sideritic beds that are common in late Cretaceous strata around Alberta.

Figure 7: Burrows are common in the sandstone beds of the hike area. Some resemble Ophiomorpha, a form-genus (trace fossil) that would imply marine or marginal marine influence.

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TECHNICAL ARTICLE

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Figure 8: The vertically oriented tubes are root traces (rhizoliths) or burrows in a block of “churned” fine-grained sandstone.

Figure 9: The late Cretaceous was marked by the retreat of the Western Interior Seaway that spanned Laurentia from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. This is shown by the paleogeographic maps above, (A) at 75 Ma during the Sevier Orogeny in the late Campanian, and (B) at 65 Ma during the Laramide Orogeny in the late Maastrichtian. The St. Mary River Formation was deposited at about 70 Ma, roughly the mid-time between the two maps. By the end of the Cretaceous, Laramidia (western North America) and Appalachia (to the east) were reunited, restoring the east-west movement of species across the continent. However, Gates et al. (2012) speculate that the topographic growth of the Rockies and the subsequent zonation of vegetation led to reduced geographic ranges for dinosaurs and an associated diversification of species in that area. The red star indicates the hike area. Maps courtesy of Ron Blakey, Colorado Plateau Geosystems.

Figure 10: Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorynchos) relaxing below the spillway. Based on the fossil record, the evolution of birds began in the late Jurassic.

However, modern forms evolved primarily between 60 and 53 Ma in the ecological voids created by the end-Cretaceous extinction event.

Figure 11: Cast of a three-toed dinosaur footprint from the hike area. The size and shape suggest an ornithopod, likely a duckbill dinosaur. The St. Mary River Formation is well known for its preservation of dinosaur tracks (Voris et al., 2018). The weight of the animals compressed the original sediment, resulting in varying levels of subsequent cementation. The tracks are then revealed by differential erosion. The St. Mary River Formation has also yielded fragments of theropod and ornithopod dinosaur eggs. For those interested in dinosaur eggs, we suggest exploring Devil’s Coulee in the Oldman Formation near Warner (www.devilscoulee.com). There, site tours will take you to hadrosaur (duckbill dinosaur) eggs that are so well preserved that they still contain tiny bones. Dinosaur eggs are found in clusters (nests) and colonies, highlighting the behavioral and biological connections with their avian descendants.

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TECHNICAL ARTICLE (Continued from page 13...)

Figure 12: Construction of the new spillway in the 1990s created extensive exposures of upper St. Mary River Formation strata.

During that time a few cores from the geotechnical drilling were obtained by the Geological Survey of Canada and the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology for palynological sampling and other research.

Note the fluvial channel (above the white dashed line) that cut through the flat-lying crevasse splay deposits. Overlying the channel are recessive finer-grained strata that reflect quieter depositional conditions.

12 References Bolotov, I. N., Kondakov, A. V., Vikhrev, I. V., Aksenova, O. V., Bespalaya, Y. V., Gofarov, M. Y., Kolosova, Y. S., Konopleva, E. S., Spitsyn, V. M., Tanmuangpak, K., and Tumpeesuwan, S., 2017; Ancient river inference explains exceptional oriental freshwater mussel radiations; Scientific Reports, v. 7, p. 2135; doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-02312-z.

Gates, T., Prieto-Marquez, A., and Zanno, L., 2012; Mountain building triggered Late Cretaceous North American megaherbivore dinosaur radiation; PLOS One, v. 7, no. 8, e42135. (10.1371/journal.pone.0042135).

Hamblin, A. P., 1998; Edmonton Group / St. Mary River Formation: Summary of literature and concepts; Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 3578, 29 p.

Hamblin, A. P., 2004; The Horseshoe Canyon Formation in southern Alberta: Surface and subsurface stratigraphic architecture, sedimentology, and resource potential; Geological Survey ofa Canada, Bulletin 578, 180 p.

Karala, Maija, (2014); Flora in the time of chasmosaurs: Botany for paleoartists, part IV; Available from: https://hummingdinosaur.wordpress.com/2014/10/19/flora-in-the-time-of-chasmosaurs-botany-for-paleoartists-part-iv/.

Lerbekmo, J. F. and Lehtola, N., 2011; Magnetostratigraphy of the Bearpaw and Blood Reserve formations on the St. Mary River: Evidence for the effect of the Sweetgrass Arch; Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, v. 59, p. 1-6.

Nadon, G. C., 1993; The association of anastomosed fluvial deposits and dinosaur tracks, eggs, and nests: Implications for the interpretation of floodplain environments and a possible survival strategy for ornithopods; PALAIOS, v. 8, p. 31-44.

Nadon, G. C., 1994; The genesis and recognition of anastomosed fluvial deposits: Data from the St. Mary River Formation, southwestern Alberta, Canada; Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 64, p. 451-463.

Riley, Michael G., 2003; Paleobotany and paleoecology of the St. Mary River spillway locality (late Campanian / early Maastrichtian), Cardston, Alberta; Unpublished M.Sc. thesis, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, 120 p.

Stockey, Ruth A. and Rothwell, Gar W., 1997; The aquatic angiosperm Trapago angulata from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) St. Mary River Formation of southern Alberta; International Journal of Plant Sciences, v. 158, p. 83-94.

Tanke, D. H. and Brett-Surman, M. K., 2001; Evidence of hatchling and nestling-size hadrosaurs (Reptilia: Ornithischia) from Dinosaur Provincial Park (Dinosaur Park Formation: Campanian), Alberta, Canada; In: D. H. Tanke and K. Carpenter (eds.), Mesozoic vertebrate life: New research inspired by the paleontology of Philip J. Currie, p. 206-218; Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 577 p.

Voris, J. T., Zelenitsky, D. K., Therrien, F., and Tanaka, K., 2018; Dinosaur eggshells from the lower Maastrichtian St. Mary River Formation, southern Alberta, Canada; Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 55, p. 272-282.

GO TAKE A HIKE REQUEST FOR SUBMISSIONS:

Now that the compiled volume of past CSPG Go Take a Hike (GTAH) articles is published, we are refocusing on new articles for the CSPG Reservoir. We especially want to fill geographic gaps in Alberta and the adjacent provinces. Central and northern Alberta are currently poorly covered, and there are no submissions for the geology around Edmonton. Southeastern and southwestern Alberta are also underrepresented. British Columbia, Saskatchewan and the Territories are a largely untapped “goldmine”. When writing, try to focus on one main theme such as Sedimentology, Mountain Building, History of Life, Quaternary or Modern Processes, Environmental Geology, or Igneous/Metamorphic Geology. Although Alberta remains the centre of attention, we are happy to receive submissions for areas in other provinces and throughout the world.

Before you start to write, please check with series editor Philip Benham (Philip.Benham@shell.com) to ensure that there is no duplication of articles.

Philip will provide guidance and a template to use so that all hikes will have a similar format. If you wish to try your hand at an article but don’t have a location in mind, Philip can provide suggestions. He notes that theses with field components and previously published technical articles can be converted to GTAH format without too much effort, and he hopes that will this trigger inspiration for some of you. GTAH is intended to be a ‘living’ project and CSPG is looking at an ongoing digital presence for articles after their publication in the Reservoir. Stay tuned!

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TECHNICAL LUNCHEON

Cretaceous Revenant in Arctic Alaska – Giant Oil Accumulations Hidden in Plain Sight SPEAKER David W. Houseknecht | U.S. Geological Survey

Time: 11:30 am doors open Date: March 25, 2020 Location: Hyatt Hotel, Imperial Ballroom 5/7/9, 700 Centre Street SE, Calgary AB T2G 5P6 CSPG member ticket price: $46.50+gst Non-member ticket price: $55+gst Please note: The cut-off for ticket sales is 4:00pm, March 18, 2020 The CSPG RJW Douglas Medal Award will be presented to Carol Evenchick at this event

ABSTRACT Between 1944 and 2013, more than 150 exploration wells penetrated the shallow Aptian to Cenomanian Nanushuk Formation, mostly on the way to deeper objectives in some of the most prospective areas of the Alaska North Slope. Although oil was discovered in a few Nanushuk stratigraphic traps and one structural trap, recoverable volumes were insufficient to elevate the formation to “main objective” status. That perspective changed abruptly when an apparent 2013 discovery defined by a 3-D seismic amplitude anomaly on the Colville River delta was followed by two significant tests of the reservoir in 2015 – a vertical well flowed 2,160 barrels of oil per day (BOPD) and a nearby 2,000-ft lateral flowed 4,600 BOPD, both from a Nanushuk stratigraphic trap at approximately 4,100 ft depth. 3-D seismic mapping and subsequent delineation drilling confirm the presence of an oil pool more than 40 miles long and generally less than 3 miles wide containing a 650-ft oil column; recoverable oil estimates for this PikkaHorseshoe accumulation range up to more than one billion barrels. Production may begin as early as 2022.

Prompted by this success, a 2002 “show well” 30 miles west of Pikka-Horseshoe was followed by discovery and delineation

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wells in 2016–2019 in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA).

Recoverable oil from the Nanushuk Formation is estimated in the range of 400 to 750 million barrels of oil from these Willow and West Willow accumulations.

The regional setting of these discoveries is well known. A giant Aptian to Cenomanian clinothem, comprising topset facies in the Nanushuk Formation and foresetbottomset facies in the Torok Formation, covers about 150,000 mi2 of the western Alaska North Slope and adjacent Beaufort and Chukchi shelves. Oil-prone source rocks and the clinothem are draped across the Barrow arch, a structural hinge between the Colville foreland basin and Beaufort Sea rifted margin. Stratigraphic traps lie in a favorable thermal maturity domain along multiple migration pathways across more than 10,000 mi2.

Sediment from the Chukotkan orogen (Russia) filled the western Colville basin and spilled over the Beaufort rift shoulder, forming east- and north-facing shelf margins. Progradational shelf margin trajectories in the west change abruptly to “sawtooth” trajectories at midclinothem, the result of reduced sediment influx and greater marine influence. Two endmember stratigraphic trap types are interpreted in Nanushuk basal topsets in the eastern part of the clinothem: (1) lowstand systems tracts, inferred to reflect forced regression, include a narrow, thick progradational stacking pattern perched on a sequence boundary on the upper slope; and (2) highstand progradational systems tracts include a broad, thin wedge of shingled parasequences above a toplap surface. Both include stratigraphically isolated sandstone units sealed by mudstone. Trap geometries in Torok foreset and bottomset facies in the same area include basin-floor fan, slope-apron, and slope-channel deposits that pinch out upslope and are sealed by mudstone.

Although Torok oil-saturated sandstone has been penetrated by numerous wells in the region, low permeability and reservoir compartmentalization have impeded successful production thus far.

Amplitude anomalies in both 2-D and 3-D seismic data suggest that dozens of exploration targets remain untested in northeastern NPRA, in both the Nanushuk and Torok Formations. Similar potential likely exists in western NPRA and adjacent offshore areas, although seismic and well control are dated in those areas so greater risk is assumed. Considering that economic viability in Arctic Alaska is directly related to distance from infrastructure and depth, it is likely that Nanushuk targets will drive exploration in a stepwise fashion westward in the foreseeable future.

BIOGRAPHY Dave Houseknecht is a senior research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Reston, Virginia with a focus on basin analysis, geological controls of petroleum resource occurrence, and petroleum resource assessment.

This work mainly is concentrated in Arctic Alaska and adjacent regions. He frequently represents the USGS scientific perspective on petroleum resources in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, other areas of Alaska, and the global Arctic to the Administration and Congress. Dave joined the USGS in 1992, serving as Energy Program Manager through 1998 and then moving to a research position. Previously, Houseknecht was a professor of geology at the University of Missouri (1978-1992) and consultant to the oil industry, working on domestic and international projects. He received geology degrees from Penn State University (Ph.D. 1978, B.S. 1973) and Southern Illinois University (M.S. 1975).

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TECHNICAL LUNCHEON

Application of Outcrop Analogues to Characterize Mudstone Reservoirs: Examples from The Duvernay Formation in Alberta-Canada and the Woodford Shale in Oklahoma-USA SPEAKER Henry Galvis-Portilla | University of Calgary

Time: 11:30 am doors open Date: April 15, 2020 Location: Hyatt Hotel, Imperial Ballroom 5/7/9 | 700 Centre Street SE, Calgary AB T2G 5P6 CSPG member ticket price: $46.50+gst Non-member ticket price: $55+gst Please note: The cut-off for ticket sales is 4:00pm, April 8, 2020 The CSPG Stanley Slipper Gold Medal Award will be presented to Jim Gray at this event

ABSTRACT Organic-rich mudstone reservoirs are intrinsically heterogeneous at a variety of scales (mm-to-km). In the subsurface, the expression of this heterogeneity can cause variations in drilling and stimulation efficiencies, consequently affecting the well productivity. To analyze the range of spatial variability and to assist in constraining subsurface stratigraphic models, outcrops provide an inexpensive alternative to capturing reservoir architectural information while bridging the scale gap between seismic and well data.

In this presentation we examine two prolific Devonian mudstone reservoirs of north America, where outcrop studies provide insights into the influence of facies characteristics on reservoir quality variability. Exposed strata equivalent to the Duvernay Formation and the Woodford Shale are featured. These two examples illustrate the utility of combining traditional field geology with modern techniques to extract quantitative spatial information relevant for subsurface applications. From outcrops we extract information from facies descriptions, UAV -drone- photogrammetry, hand-

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held spectral gamma ray, thin section petrography, fracture scanlines, and geochemical analysis (XRD, XRF, TOC).

The extracted quantitative data is georeferenced and statistically analyzed to compare with subsurface well cores and logs.

In the Duvernay case study we document the transition from a carbonate reef buildup to off-reef organic-rich mudstones; a depositional model of reciprocal sedimentation is applied to explain the spatial variability in thicknesses and geometry of limestone debris beds alternated with the high-TOC mudstone beds. In the Woodford Shale study, we document in several outcrops the erosional relationship with its underlying unit, establishing that paleo-topography had a significant impact on sedimentation of the overlying transgressive Woodford Shale. Finally, for both examples, the Duvernay and the Woodford, outcrop mechanical stratigraphy is used to visualize how fractures might evolve during artificial fracturing.

characterization of the Duvernay Shale combining sedimentology, geochemistry and petrophysics. He is an active member of CSPG, AAPG, SPE and SEPM, and regularly presents papers at technical conferences.

After this talk you will see outcrops differently as they offer hands-on access, ‘windows’ to visualize our subsurface reservoirs, and a motivation to get away from office.

BIOGRAPHY Henry Galvis-Portilla graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Geology from the Universidad Industrial de Santander in Colombia in 2011. He began his career working on the stratigraphy and petroleum potential of Cretaceous mudstones in Colombia. Henry worked on R&D having the opportunity to study the La Luna Formation as an unconventional reservoir. In 2016 Henry went to the University of Oklahoma to pursue a MSc in Geology. There he studied the Late Devonian Woodford Shale in outcrops and cores. Then, Henry moved to Canada in the fall 2017 to start his PhD in Geosciences at the University of Calgary.

Currently, he is working on the multi-scale

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DIVISION TALKS

BASS TECHNICAL DIVISION TALK Permeability Logs from Machine Vision SPEAKER Grant Sanden | Enersoft

Time: 12:00 pm Date: March 11, 2020 Location: geoLOGIC Room (2nd Floor), Aquitaine Tower, 540-5th Avenue S.W., Calgary ABSTRACT High resolution data acquisition and availability are growing at a phenomenal rate. Coupled with advanced data analysis and data-mining algorithms, valuable information can be extracted and used to optimize processes, designs, and decisions for the industry. For example, high resolution formation micro-resistivity images (FMI) have been utilized by the Center for Computational Geostatistics (CCG) to generate porosity and permeability logs over the full length of a well through a technique called micromodeling. The methodology has been extended to use data acquired by Enersoft from high resolution robotic machine vision including super high-resolution

photographs and hyperspectral shortwave infrared (SWIR) scans. From these two data sources, it is possible to classify rock into well-known lithology, compute volume of shale (VSH), extract grain size information, and assign porosity on a pixel-by-pixel basis. VSH and porosity are used as conditioning data in geostatistical simulation to populate 3-dimensional well-bore size micro-models that run the full length of a well. Correlation between VSH and permeability is assessed at a pixel-scale to compile functions and assess percolation thresholds for assigning vertical and horizontal permeability to the micro-models. Finally, flow-based upscaling with periodic boundary conditions is applied over reasonable vertical intervals, usually 10 cm, along the well-bore micro-models to generate effective permeability logs.

and a proven record as an entrepreneur. In 2013 he founded Enersoft, with the mission of exploiting on emerging technologies to improve the science and practice of resource discovery. Over the past 6 years Enersoft has developed various software and hardware solutions that have been combined into a multi-sensor robotized geological machine vision platform capable of measuring key geological properties faster, at higher resolution and at lower costs than existing alternatives, enabling reservoir understanding at an unprecedented level of detail. Enersoft has won numerous awards including First Place at Energy New Ventures and Outstanding Startup from the Alberta Science and Technology Leadership Foundation.

BIOGRAPHY Prior to founding Enersoft, Grant had over 15 years of experience in various petroleum engineering and geoscientific roles working for or with 7 of the 11 largest independent oil companies in the world,

VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION EVENT National Volunteering Week is April 19-25, 2020 To celebrate our wonderful volunteers, CSPG will be having a casual get-together.

If you are a current volunteer and haven’t received your invitation by March 23, please contact Kasandra.Amaro@cspg.org or 403-513-1234

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DIVISION TALKS

HEAVY OIL/OIL SANDS DIVISION TALK Geomechanical Effects in Thermal Applications and Why is it Important SPEAKER Erfan Sarvaramini | GLJ Petroleum Consultants

Time: 8:00am Date: March 4, 2020 Location: Halliburton Training Centre, 1800, 6457th Ave, SW, Calgary AB March 4, 2020, 8:00am ABSTRACT Geomechanical effects during thermal operations can be significant due to creation of aggregated dilatant shear bands in unconsolidated oil sands from thermally induced stresses. This often leads to substantial modification of the fluid transport properties, such as formation permeability and porosity affecting the well performance. Additionally, it is well recognized that thermal processes can result in rotation of the principal stresses impacting the preferential shear dilation paths and steam chamber growth. This talk reviews the essential aspects of geomechanics effects in thermal operations.

The experimental and theoretical evidences of the geomechanically induced stresses and dilation, stress reorientation,

and preferential dilations paths will be presented.

BIOGRAPHY Erfan Sarvaramini is a geomechanics consultant with GLJ petroleum consultants. Erfan holds a Ph.D. degree in Geomechanical Engineering with on a focus on the hydraulic fracturing modeling and characterization of tight hydrocarbon reservoirs in Western

Canada. For the past 10 years, Erfan has been employed in the development of novel simulation technologies for characterizing geomechanical behavior of hydraulically stimulated reservoirs and deep underground waste disposals. Erfan has presented his contribution to the field of geomechanics and hydraulic fracturing at over forty international conferences and has authored several articles in a number of internationally recognized journals.

Go Take a Hike Go Take A Hike is a compendium of 83 hikes in beautiful natural areas around Alberta and Eastern BC with a focus on the geological story of the outcrops and natural processes that are encountered along the way.

$50 +gst Available for Sale through the CSPG office Call 403-264-5610 to purchase your copy today!

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DIVISION TALKS

HYDROGEOLOGY DIVISION TALK Climate Change: Current Politics, Sociology, And Science SPEAKER Jerry Osborn | University of Calgary

Time: 12:00 noon Date: March 26, 2020 Location: geoLOGIC Classroom, 540-5 ave SW, +15 level, Calgary AB ABSTRACT Climate change is a component of a broader culture war being waged in North America.

In one camp are environmentalists, almost all (but not all) climate scientists, and a few politicians; in the other camp are probusiness and/or free enterprise outfits or governments and the fossil fuel industry.

These two camps both have good things to say, but they talk at each other rather than to each other, about different things, and neither side listens much to the other. Each side tends to regard the other as pernicious and hypocritical, with good reason. Trying to make sense of all this are the masses in the middle, who wonder how there could be scientists on both sides of a scientific issue and why a few degrees of warming are such a big deal.

While the culture war perseveres, the science in support of anthropogenic warming is robust, and has been strengthened by new studies published in 2019. Evidence for the mainstream theory (mainly increasing greenhouse gases, along with other human effects) includes anomalous rate and magnitude of current warming, simultaneous tropospheric warming and stratospheric cooling, decreasing outwardbound longwave radiation at wavelength bands at which greenhouse gases absorb such radiation, increasing amounts of longwave radiation received at the earth’s surface, and results of experiments with earth system models, including (a) generally successful hindcasting and (b) comparison of past model projections to observations.

There is no robust alternative hypothesis to explain current warming; claims of a solar cause are specious as solar irradiance

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is and has been generally decreasing.

Consequently, skepticism/denial generally takes the form of attempts to discredit the practice of or conclusions of mainstream science; these attempts are sometimes temporarily successful and may improve the practice of mainstream science.

Skepticism is amplified by circulation of fake news, particularly in the oil patch.

Judging from available evidence, climate modeling is successful enough that projections of future climates should be taken seriously (as general, not precise, indicators). A business-as-usual scenario is projected to lead to about 5° of warming over pre-industrial by 2100; a quick-change scenario in which CO2 emissions start to decline very soon and are near zero by 2050 leads to a projection of perhaps 1.5° warming by 2100. Many observers suspect the century will end with 4° of warming, which big-picture scientists think will result in intolerable living conditions in some parts of the world, massive migrations away from coasts (with consequent conflicts), loss of agricultural land, extinction of a sizable proportion of the world’s species, a more acidic ocean, exacerbation of water scarcity, and a many-trillion-dollar dent in the world economy (“Imagine something similar to the Great Depression of 1929 hitting the world, but this time it never ends”). A wild card in these considerations of the future is the degree of technological and economic success of carbon sequestration.

a Ph.D. from Berkeley, he moved north in search of real glaciers. His main line of research has been Holocene and latest Pleistocene glacial and climate history of the North American Cordillera. He is very interested in philosophy of science and relations between science and society. He has two young grandchildren whom he hopes to teach cross-country skiing and the merits of listening to Bob Dylan music, and meanwhile he continues to search for the perfect pumpkin pie recipe.

The current situation in Canada is that a majority of the population sees climate change as a serious problem for which some kind of action should be taken, but they are not ready to take that action. The question of what decisions society can/should/ will make in the next few decades remains intractable.

BIOGRAPHY Jerry Osborn is a Professor Emeritus of Geoscience at the University of Calgary, specializing in surficial and Quaternary geology. Originally from California with

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DIVISION TALKS

INTERNATIONAL DIVISION TALK Application of AVO in Lower Magdalena Valley Basin of Colombia SPEAKER

intervals.

Nilanjan Ganguly | Canacol Energy

Time: 12:00 noon Date: March 19, 2020 Location: geoLOGIC systems room, +15 level Aquitaine Tower, 540-5th Avenue S.W., Calgary ABSTRACT Authors: Nilanjan Ganguly, Luz Rodriguez, Andrew Willis, Stephen Hiebert, Sean Johnston, Patricia Gavotti, Ken Umbach | Canacol Energy The Lower Magdalena Valley (LMV) Basin is a prolific hydrocarbon province in Northern Colombia. Historically, over 240 wells have been drilled in this basin, based on over 24,000 km of 2D and 7,000 sq. km of 3D seismic. There have been at least 20 significant gas discoveries, ranging in size from 20 to 435 BCF; as well as numerous smaller discoveries.

The LMV basin is a fore-arc basin that originated as a consequence of the convergence of the Pacific and South American plates. The basin is underlain by continental crust and is bounded to the west by the Sinu-San Jacinto accretionary prism. The primary reservoirs are the continental and marginal marine sands of the Eocene to Lower Miocene Cienga de Oro (CDO) formation. The CDO is overlain by the thick marine shales of the Porquero formation, which acts as a very effective top-seal. However, isolated sand bodies within the Porquero have also been tested as productive reservoirs.

To date, Canacol has drilled 17 exploration wells in the LMV basin, leading to 14 discoveries with an exploration success rate of ~82%. The success rate is even higher (~93%; 14 out of 15) for those prospects that showed AVO support.

The success of the exploration program demonstrates how modern technology can open up opportunities in a mature hydrocarbon province like the LMV. Use of extensive 3D seismic, thorough structural mapping and careful use of seismic attributes have not only uncovered sweet spots in proved reservoirs but have also opened up new play types.

BIOGRAPHY Nilanjan Ganguly received his B. Sc. degree in Geological Sciences from Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur, India) and M. Sc. in Geophysics from University of Victoria.

Over the past 21 years, he has worked as an explorationist on various international and frontier basins. His work has spanned projects over Gulf of Mexico, West Africa, Middle East, East Africa and South America.

His professional interests include AVO, seismic attributes and inversion.

Over the past several years Canacol Energy has been actively exploring for gas in the LMV. Using 3D seismic and techniques like Amplitude Variation with Offset (AVO), Canacol has achieved a very high exploration success rate. Use of AVO has not only identified sweet spots in proven reservoirs but has also opened up new play types in previously overlooked reservoir

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DIVISION TALKS

INTERNATIONAL DIVISION TALK NW Peru forearc basins - Geological overview through time SPEAKER Oswaldo Angulo, Angle Directional Inc.

Time: 12:00 noon Date: April 22, 2020 Location: geoLOGIC systems room, +15 level Aquitaine Tower, 540-5th Avenue S.W., Calgary ABSTRACT The provinces of Piura and Tumbes located at the northern border of Peru with Ecuador and the Pacific Ocean, all time structurally active region as the Nazca Plate submerges into the South American Plate conforming scenarios for forearc basins development starting in the Cretaceous. The Talara and Tumbes basins are known worldwide with 150 years of oilfield history where the first well in South America spudded in 1863 at Zorritos, then by 1920 nearly 1000 wells had been drilled on both basins.

The biggest in all counts is the Talara basin where forearc siliciclastic sedimentation started late Cretaceous over Pennsylvanian metamorphic rocks, and then the thickest and more prolific Eocene sediments completed the sequence occupying an area up to 28,000 km2 both onshore and offshore. Then the whole province is covered

by Quaternary deposits with the name of Tablazos.

The northerner and younger Tumbes basin which continues into the Progresso basin in Ecuador with primarily Miocene sediments which thickness up to 7100 metres onshore and 6200 m offshore were deposited in a 30 million years’ time period. There is a high hydrocarbon potential in many undrilled prospects and objectives of the largely unexplored Tumbes Basin, primarily offshore.

Lancones basin containing arc-related felsic and mafic volcanic rocks which makes it an excellent target for exploration of volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits as the massive Cu-Zn-Au-Ag concentrations at Tambogrande from the Cretaceous.

This territory is a very rich region with lots of natural resources, history and culture.

First land where the Spaniards conquered Peru, founding Piura as the first city in South America. Westernmost point of the continent at Punta Balcones. At Cabo Blanco the cold Humboldt Current, with its rich plankton Pacific Ocean waters, deflects west as northern warm current occupies the area with many beautiful beaches, world famous surfing, major Merlin fishing, and where perhaps comes the best ceviche in the world.

BIOGRAPHY Oswaldo Angulo received his B.Sc. degree in Geological Sciences from the Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria (Lima, Peru). He has worked in the Oilfield in various services starting as Mudlogger in Peru, Brazil and Argentina then after spending 3 years in a Core Lab here in Calgary, he did MWD here then LWD in the Louisiana and Texas offshore region. Then he took Log Analysis Training (SLB) mainly to support Quadcombo LWD operations for measurements in the Gulf of Mexico and Deep Water Brazil.

For the last 15 years he is being Directional Drilling primarily in Western Canada in different plays as the Upper and Lower Shaunavon, Cardium, Montney, Charlie Lake and Banff Formations among others.

Outside of petroleum industry are the other two forearc basins of the region. The Sechura basin with its remarkable Miocene phosphates at Bayovar being exploited through an open-pit mine. Finally, The

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DIVISION TALKS

OPERATIONS DIVISION TALK High-Resolution Ultrasonic Imaging Service Identifies Fractures, Improves Wellbore Stability and Helps to Optimize Completions in Oil-Based Mud Applications SPEAKER Justin Gouveia, Sr. Technical Sales Advisor, HALLIBURTON | Sperry Drilling

Time: 12:00 pm Date: March 18, 2020 Location: geoLOGIC Room (2nd Floor), Aquitaine Tower, 540-5th Avenue S.W., Calgary ABSTRACT High-resolution ultrasonic images from logging-while-drilling (LWD) technologies enable the identification and evaluation of fractures in oil-based mud (OBM) applications.

Real-time assessment of borehole shape and size provides valuable insight into borehole conditions, aiding wellbore stability by enabling adjustment of drilling parameters through visualization of borehole breakout and enlargements. Identification of borehole enlargement, when combined with

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identification of fractures clusters, allows operators to optimize their completion program by aiding selection of zones of interest, and identifying the best placement of completion equipment such as packers.

This talk will discuss examples of highresolution images from a 4¾-in. ultrasonic imaging LWD service in OBM where the identification of fractures, bedding features and borehole breakout enhanced reservoir understanding and provided an improved understanding of borehole conditions. The high-resolution images demonstrate the potential for the LWD service to be the primary imaging solution in applications where the deployment of comparable wireline technologies is deemed too costly or risky.

BIOGRAPHY Justin Gouveia has 9 years of oil and gas experience working for Halliburton. A graduate of the University of Calgary’s Oil & Gas Engineering degree back in 2011, Justin’s experience ranges from M/LWD Field Engineer to Technical Sales Advisor with Sperry Drilling in Western Canada.

He is mainly focused on supporting Sperry’s unconventional clients where new technologies have been trialed and implemented for long term sustainability.

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DIVISION TALKS

OPERATIONS DIVISION TALK Wellsite Location Selection Through Collaboration: 3D Desktop Scouting with Geospatial Tools SPEAKERS Richard Deis, A.L.S., P.Eng., Matthew McAdam, A.L.S. | Challenger Geomatics Ltd.

Time: 12:00 Noon Date: April 15, 2020 Location: geoLOGIC systems room, +15 level Aquitaine Tower, 540-5th Avenue S.W., Calgary ABSTRACT Integrating the use of the latest Geospatial tools allows for efficient comprehensive review and optimize of wellsite location selection at the desktop level; allowing team groups (Civil Earthworks, Geology, Power, Pipeline, facilities Engineering) to collaborate in real time and voice their interests to ensure the best decisions are made prior to field mobilization.

These tools can be used for a wide range of scopes, from the review of the general character of a potential land asset, and high-level construction cost estimating, to detailed location selection, sizing and drilling layout.

In this presentation we will review different geospatial topographic data available: • LiDAR ground elevation data, and full feature datasets.

• Aerial Imagery o Satellite Imagery o Panoramic Helicopter Photos o UAV / Drone Imagery • 3D Laser Scanning • Wetland and Watercourse Data

• Augmented Digital Plans and Maps • Pre-Construction Earthworks Design / Grading Plans The use of digital tools throughout a wellsite life cycle will also be evaluated. (construction, machine control / guidance, as built, reclamation).

BIOGRAPHIES Richard Deis A.L.S., P.Eng.,is a graduate of the University of Calgary, with a degree in Geomatics Engineering. His work as a Professional Land Surveyor at Challenger Geomatics has taken him on travels across the Canadian Arctic, and Western Canada.

He has worked in the Geomatics Industry, primarily for the Oil and Gas Sector for the last 15 years. Much of that time has been spent developing and using the latest Geospatial tools for wellsite, plant-site, and water reservoir location selection.

Matthew McAdam A.L.S, has worked as an Alberta Land Surveyor and Project Manager at Challenger Geomatics Ltd since 2013. He has received an B.ASc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Windsor and a M.Sc.E in Geomatics from the University of New Brunswick. He has spent time in the automotive industry designing suspension components for Tier 1 and OEM manufactures. HE now primarily works in the Alberta Oil and Gas sector providing geomatics/survey services. He has worked on projects including the Kearl Oil Sands and Kaybob Duvernay.

And how it can be used and shared: • 3D visualization • Real time pad design and cut / fill calculations • Augmented UAV pointcloud • Cloud Based webmapping and GIS

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PALEO 2020 Mount Royal University, 4825 Mount Royal Gate, SW, Calgary, Alberta Presented in conjunction with the CSPG Palaeontological Division and Mount Royal University Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Lectures and poster displays– Saturday March 21, 2020, 9:00am-4:30pm Workshop— Sunday, March 22, 2020, 9:00am to 12:00 noon or 1:00pm-4:00pm

Saturday events are free to the public

Fossil displays and activities of interest to a wide audience including families Sunday workshop requires pre-registration and a fee SPEAKER SCHEDULE

WORKSHOP

All talks to be held in Jenkins Theatre, lower level Mount Royal University

Mount Royal University, Lab B213

Saturday, March 21

9:00 am Opening statements by APS President Cory Gross and Symposium instructions by APS Program Coordinator Harold Whittaker 9:15 am History of waste and how it has changed the world over the past 3.5 billion years Dr. Stan Stancliffe is a Keynote speaker. He has spent 25 years as a researcher and an oil and gas geoscientist.

Sunday, March 22

9:00am to 12:00 noon OR 1:00 pm– 4:00 pm

Curation of Fossil Collections In this workshop, participants will be immersed in the basics of curating a fossil collection.

Participants will be introduced to: Part 1: Collecting and Recording Locality Data Part 2: Curation Topics including: 10:30 am Adapting to life in the soup: the fauna of the Cretaceous Up- Accession Numbers/Numbering and Applying Numbers per Chalk to Specimens Jon Noad, Gran Tierra Energy - Display and Storage Labels - Cataloguing Specimens 11:00 am Using new fossil data to solve old stratigraphic problems around the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary, Mackenzie Moun- Specimen Storage tains, NWT Part 3: Cataloguing Your Fossil Collection by Computer 10:15 am Coffee Break

Robert MacNaughton, Geological Survey of Canada

11:30 am Upper Cretaceous Wapiti Formation of Northern Alberta, Canada as a unique window into the continental vertebrate fauna of boreal Laramidia during Bearpaw times Dr. Corwin Sullivan, University of Alberta 12:00 Noon Lunch Break and Poster Display 1:00 pm Histopathology of a pachycephalosaur frontoparietal dome Aaron Dyer, University of Alberta 1:30 pm Late Pleistocene vertebrate faunas along ever-changing ice fronts on the Canadian plains: mixed messages about the past Dr. Michael C. Wilson, Douglas College & Simon Fraser University

2:00 pm Poster Session *Poster presenters are requested to be with their posters.

3:00 pm Relocation of 1913-1914 American Museum of Natural History ankylosaur quarry and retrieval of new bones found therein This talk will tie in closely with the workshop session– Curation of Fossil Collections Darren Tanke, Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology

The workshop will be relevant to Darren Tanke’s presentation at 3:00 pm on Saturday, March 21.

Presenter: Wayne Braunberger is the Past President of the Alberta Palaeontological Society and a retired oil and gas geologist.

Cost: $10 per person REGISTRATION Please register by emailing hgwhittaker@shaw.ca. or by registering at one of the monthly meetings.

Specify morning, afternoon or either session.

Registration deadline is March 15, 2020

3:30 pm Integrated paleoecological and paleoenvironmental records from a new exceptional fossil deposit in Alberta: the Early Jurassic Ya Ha Tinda Lagerstätte Dr. Rowan C. Martindale, University of Texas at Austin 4:30pm Closing Remarks Harold Whittaker, APS Program Coordinator

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PALAEONTOLOGICAL DIVISION TALK Where the Wild Things Are: Palaeontology and Partnership in Grass-lands National Park, Saskatchewan SPEAKER Dr. Emily Bamforth, Royal Saskatchewan Museum, T. rex Discovery Centre, Eastend, Saskatchewan

Time: 7:30pm Date: April 17, 2020 Location: Mount Royal University, Room B108 ABSTRACT Fossil Tourism is certainly not a new concept. As early as the 17th century, holidaying gentry would flock to the south coast of England to collect ‘curios’, such as ‘snakestones’ (ammonites), ‘devil’s toenails’ (a type of bivalve) and ‘verteberries’ (fossils of fish and ichthyosaurs). Today, people are still drawn in their thousands to places like Dinosaur Provincial Park to see, and sometimes to collect, fossils of charismatic animals such as dinosaurs in their natural habitat. While fossil tourism provides unparalleled opportunities for scientific outreach, public education, and the raising of awareness for fossil resources, it also has a more problematic site. Increased visitation to paleontologically significant areas can lead to the unintentionally damage of fossils, their illegally collection or intentional vandalism. Nowhere has the question of how to balance conservation with visitor experience been more evident than in Canada’s provincial and national park systems.

Grasslands National Park (GNP) in southern Saskatchewan, along with its partners and stake-holders, has been striving to find that balance. GNP was established in 1981 to protect the na-tive grassland ecosystem.

The East Block of GNP in particular is an area long known for its fos-sil resources.

Geologist George Mercer Dawson collected the first dinosaur fossil in Canada from what is now the East Block in 1879. Since then, the latest Cretaceous dinosaurbearing rocks known as the Frenchman

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Formation have yielded fossils of T. rex, Triceratops, Edmonto-saurus, several dromaeosaur species, Thescelosaurs, pachycephalosaurs, ornithomimids, and the giant caenagnathid ‘terror chicken’, Anzu. Microvertebrate fossils from GNP’s Frenchman Fm include sixteen species of turtle, twenty-one species of fish, freshwater sharks, salaman-ders, frogs, lizards, crocodiles, champsosaurs, marsupial and eutherian mammals, and an en-demic species of toothed bird called Brodavis.

GNP also contains one of the best and most ex-tensive exposures of the CretaceousPaleogene (K-Pg) Boundary, the geological signature of the dinosaur mass extinction, in North America. The boundary contains amber inclusions with rare insect fossils, the first of this age to be found in the country. Above the boundary, the earli-est Paleocene Ravenscrag Formation contains exquisitely well-preserved fossil leaves, a signa-ture of plant recovery and a treasure trove of paleoclimate information following the extinction. The East Block also features fossil-bearing early Miocene-aged rocks, very rare in Canada, known as the Wood Mountain Formation.

Despite the scientific significance of its fossil deposits however, the first two decades of GNP’s existence saw very little paleontology research conducted, largely because of concerns that fossil collection would disrupt the delicate ecosystem. It was not until the 2000s that a renewed effort by the Royal Saskatchewan Museum (RSM) and McGill University to explore and docu-ment the palaeontological resources in GNP brought the Park’s fossils back into focus. Attaining permits to collect the fossil material led to discussions with Parks Canada about the need to col-lect palaeontological resources in order to protect them, as well as how the ecological impact of collection could be minimized.

These discussions led to the establishment of a GNP Paleontol-ogy Team, comprised of members from Parks Canada GNP, the

Figure 1: A vista known as ‘The Million Dollar Viewpoint’ in the East Block of Grasslands National Park, overlooking deposits of the latest Cretaceous dinosaur-bearing Frenchman Formation and the earliest Paleocene Ravenscrag Formation.

Figure 2: Participants in Grasslands National Park’s ‘Fossil Fever’ program, run in partnership with the Royal Saskatcehwan Museum.

Royal Saskatchewan Museum (RSM), McGill and other outside institutions, to discuss issues related to paleontology in the Park. In 2014, a formal Memo of Understanding was established between the RSM and GNP, establishing guidelines about how palaeontological resources in the Park were to be dealt with.

Since 2010, visitation numbers in Grasslands National Park have skyrocketed, largely due to increased public awareness (Continued on page 26...)

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DIVISION TALKS (Continued from page 25...) and to a new campsite and visitor centre being built in the East Block. The new focus on paleontology – a type of fossil tourism - in GNP has been significant and greatly beneficial. In partnership with the RSM, it has led to the development of a hugely successful public program known as ‘Fossil Fever’. Additionally, more fossils are being found by knowledgeable amateurs in the backcountry, who report their findings.

However, with the dra-matic increase in number of people visiting the backcountry, sensitive fossil sites previously protected by their remoteness are now being discovered and sometimes disturbed. In 2017, the vandalism and partial poaching of a high-profile fossil from the Park brought the issue to a head. The GNP Paleo Team is now working to mitigate these issues by providing more education, in-formation and signage about fossil collection legislation, more site monitoring, and more public awareness about the importance of leaving fossils in their original geological context.

Grasslands National Park provides an excellent example of how professional and amateur paleontologists, government organizations and the general public can work together to help bal-ance research, visitor experience and protection of valuable fossil resources on protected lands.

References: 1.Parks Canada Mandate from Parks Canada 2013-14 Report on Plans and Priorities, Pg. 3 2.Parks Canada, Guiding Principles and Operational Policies, Part II, Section 3.2.8

Biography Dr. Emily Bamforth is a vertebrate paleontologist with the Royal Saskatchewan Museum (RSM), working out of the RSM’s T. rex Discovery Centre in Eastend, SK. Dr. Bamforth’s research in Eastend focuses mainly on palaeoecology, involving the study of fossil plants and animals, as well as sedimentology and paleoclimatology,

to understand ancient ecosystems. Dr. Bamforth received a BSc in evolutionary biology from the University of Alberta in 2005, with an under-graduate thesis on 38 million-year-old fossil snake hibernacula from Wyoming. She went on to do a MSc in Precambrian Invertebrate Paleontology at Queens University with Dr. Guy Narbonne, exploring Ediacaran taphonomy and paleoecology at Mistaken Point in Newfoundland. In 2008, she began her PhD at McGill University under the supervision of Dr. Hans Larsson, exploring preextinction biodiversity trends immediately prior to the K-Pg extinction in Saskatchewan. She received her doctorate in 2014, the same year she began working for the Royal Sas-katchewan Museum. Dr. Bamforth has published numerous papers and conference abstracts of Ediacaran and Cretaceous paleontology. She is the recipient of several academic, teaching and community engagement awards, including the Regina YWCA’s 2019 Women of Distinction Award for Science.

PALAEONTOLOGICAL DIVISION TALK In addition to the main presentation by Emily Bamforth, Tako Koning will provide a brief presentation.

Tyndall Limestone in Your Neighborhood SPEAKER Tako Koning, Professional Geologist and APS member

ABSTRACT The Tyndall limestone is the famous and iconic building stone from the Late Ordovician (450 mil-lion years old) Red River formation which outcrops near the town of Tyndall, approximately 30 km northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Tyndall limestone, also known as Tyndall Stone, is used extensively throughout Canada as an ornamental building stone. The limestone was de-posited in a shallow marine environment. It is fine grained and cream coloured with pervasive mottling of darker dolomitic limestone. The highly distinctive and beautiful mottled appearance is due to the extensive presence of trace fossils known as Thalassinoides which are fossilized tracks, trails and borrows left

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behind by burrowing organisms, such as worms and crustaceans, which bur-rowed through the limestone during or just after its deposition.

This presentation will show select locations in downtown Calgary, the Beltline and Sunnyside - Kensington where Tyndall limestone is used to decorate the sides of buildings and for ornamen-tal purposes.

The Tyndall is highly fossiliferous in these locations. These fossils represent life which flourished in a tropical environment on an ancient sea floor. A variety of fossils have been observed including cephalopods, nautiloids, gastropods, brachiopods, rugose corals, and large (up to 25 cm diameter) circular fossilized algae (Receptuculites) which is sometimes refer-red to as the “sunflower coral”.

Biography Tako Koning is Holland-born but Canadaraised with many years of experience working as a ge-ologist in the oil industry in Canada. He has also lived and worked in Indonesia (7 years), Nige-ria (3 years) and Angola (20 years). Tako has a B.Sc. in Geology from the University of Alberta and a B.A. in Economic from the University of Calgary. He continues to be fascinated by geolo-gy and palaeontology. This is his second presentation to the Alberta Palaeontological Society. His first was last year with a talk on “Algal Stromatolites From Precambrian to Present Day”.

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STRUCTURAL DIVISION TALK Special topics in natural fracture development: expansion seams and hybrid fractures SPEAKER William Jamison, The Upper Crust Inc.

Time: 12:00 pm Date: March 12, 2020 Location: Province Rooms (2nd Floor), Schlumberger Canada 200, 125 - 9th Ave SE Calgary ABSTRACT Natural fracture systems can play a pivotal role in the development of many hydrocarbon reservoirs. They can enhance, or degrade, the overall permeability of conventional reservoirs. They can disperse the hydraulic fractures used to stimulate shale reservoirs. They can, potentially, compromise the caprock integrity for oilsands development.

Fig 1. Expansion seams in Haynesville Fm. Natural fracture systems are more broadly important because they are a dominant deformation mechanism in the upper crustal level of the earth. They accommodate strain in the rocks and can provide insight into the stress conditions that existed in the subsurface at the time(s) of deformation. This presentation highlights two fracture types that reflect unusual stress conditions, viz. expansion seams and hybrid fractures.

Expansion seams are bed-parallel clusters of short extension fractures that are commonly observed in source-rock shales. They typically occur in zones that are several mm to several cm thick. These features have been noted in the geological literature since the mid-1800’s, where they are referred to as “beef” in shales due to their resemblance to mottling textures seen in beef.

Unconventional shale gas and oil drilling, and the large volume of shale core that was obtained and examined, brought about a resurgence of interest in these features (e.g. Cobbold et al., 2013). A variety of

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mechanisms have been suggested for the origin of these features (e.g. seepage forces, force of crystallization), many relying on the development of high overpressures within the shales associated with the conversion of kerogen to oil or gas (catagenesis). This presentation focuses on my hypothesis (Jamison, 2013), which is based in the concept that the relative magnitudes of the total principal stresses can change due to increases in the pore fluid pressure under the conditions of uniaxial strain.

In compressional tectonic settings, bedparallel slip surfaces can occur within or in lieu of expansion seams. These slip surfaces are effectively an expression of the Hubbert & Rubey (1959) model for thrust sheet movement. In unconventional shale reservoir stimulations, the larger of these slip surfaces could impede the vertical growth of hydraulic fractures.

Hybrid fractures. There is a large volume of rock mechanics literature addressing the development of shear fractures and

Fig 2. Hybrid fracture concept (from Ramsey & Chester, 2004) extension fractures. A number of authors have proposed the existence of hybrid fractures that have attributes of both extension and shear fractures (e.g. Hancock, 1985). However, rock mechanics tests that confirm hybrid fracture development are very limited (Ramsey & Chester, 2004) due (Continued on page 28...)

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DIVISION TALKS (Continued from page 27...) to the complexity of a testing procedure that requires the application of both tensile and compressive stresses to the rock sample.

Natural fractures developed in the Cardium sandstone in several outcropping foothill folds display characteristics similar to the laboratory hybrid fractures (Jamison, 2016) which could provide an indication of mixed compressional and tensile in situ stresses in the subsurface at the time of the fracture development and/or displacement. The “hybrid” features observed in the Cardium sandstone bear evidence of open apertures or dilatant gouge in the subsurface, which means they should be very good conduits for fluid movement.

REFERENCES Cobbold, P.R., Zanella, A., Rodrigues, N., and Loseth, H., 2013, Bedding-parallel fibrous veins (beef and cone-in-cone): Worldwide occurrence and possible significance in terms of fluid overpressure, hydrocarbon generation and mineralization: Marine & Petroleum Geol., 43, 1-20.

BIOGRAPHY William (Jamie) Jamison is a consulting structural geologist.

He received his B.S. (physics) from Georgia Tech, M.Sc. (geology) from University of Calgary and PhD from Texas A&M University. He spent 13 years in research and exploration with major oil companies (Arco Canada, Cities Service, Amoco) and 6 years as an associate professor at MUN before establishing his consulting company, The Upper Crust Inc., in Calgary in 1996. Since then he has conducted studies for over 50 companies.

His primary interests are fold-and-thrust systems and fracture development.

STRUCTURAL DIVISION TALK The Geometry of Hydrocarbon Fields in Fold and Thrust Belts, with Analogues from the Western Canadian Cordillera.

Hancock, P. L., 1985, Brittle microtectonics: principals and practice: Journal of Structural Geology, 7, 437-457.

SPEAKER

Hubbert, M.K. and Rubey, W.W., 1959, Role of fluid pressure in mechanics of overthrust faulting: I. Mechanics of fluid filled porous solids and its application to overthrust faulting: Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 70, 115-166.

Time: 12:00 pm Date: April 2, 2020 Location: Province Rooms (2nd Floor), Schlumberger Canada 200, 125 - 9th Ave SE Calgary

Jamison, W.R., 2013.

Bed-parallel expansion seams and shear surfaces in shales. CSPG geoConv.

ABSTRACT

Jamison, W.R., 2016. Fracture System Evolution within the Cardium Sandstone, Central Alberta Foothills Folds. AAPG Bulletin, 100, 1099-1134. [awarded “2017 Best Recent Publication” by the Structural Geology and Geomechanics Division of AAPG] Muehlberger, W.R.., 1961. Conjugate joint sets of small dihedral angle, J. Geol., 69, 211-209 Ramsey, J. M., and Chester, F. M., 2004, Hybrid fracture and the transition from extension fracture to shear fracture: Nature, 428, 63-66.

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Andrew C Newson, Moose Oils 2014 Ltd

Understanding the geometry of a structure in any fold and thrust belt is the key to exploration success. The relative position of the rocks does control the four key elements required to make a prospect: source, seal, reservoir and timing. Earth scientists working on these geometrically complex structures develop their knowledge by mapping the surface geology, interpreting the borehole logs and mapping the seismic reflectors.

This knowledge can be enhanced by using suitable analogues, such as those found in the Western Canadian Cordillera. Here the surface geology is easily accessible and exhibits a wide variety of geometry. There is a large publicly available well database and there exists a history of close collaboration

among the geological, geophysical and petrophysical communities. One part of this fold and thrust belt that has many good analogues is an area 60 km southwest of Calgary, that broadly encompasses the Moose, Quirk Creek, Highwood and Turner Valley structures. (Figure 1) This presentation will focus, to start with, on the Moose structure. This oil and gas field was initially drilled in the 1920’s and 30’s looking for shallow oil production on a well-defined surface anticline with surface gas seeps. It was not until 1959 that an improvement in the understanding of the structural geometry of the anticline led to the drilling of the gas condensate discovery well 16-6-23-6W5m. In this well, the productive Mississippian, Turner Valley formation was intersected after having drilled through the Cambrian, Cathedral formation in the hanging wall of the Moose Mountain low angle thrust fault.

After an additional four development wells had been drilled, the field was tied into a pipeline in 1986. During the next 10 years an improved interpretation of the geometry of Moose was developed.

This was due to a variety of factors.

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Figure 1. Looking northeast over a 3D Model of the Moose, Quirk Creek, Highwood and Turner Valley structures in the Western Canadian fold and thrust belt. Elevation ranges from +500 to -3000m.

At one level the adoption of new geophysical acquisition and process techniques increased the ability to image the reservoir geometry more exactly.

In addition, improved software was available to analyse the petrophysical logs with more accuracy to determine the geometry and quality of the reservoir.

Lastly, the understanding of this complex structure had progressed due to the close integration between industry, academia and the national and provincial geological surveys. This work resulted in the drilling of 16 more wells on the Moose structure between 1998 and 2008, which tripled the gas condensate production from the Moose field.

Because of the recent development drilling, a large amount of modern digital well data was made available, which included all the image and dip logs acquired by the present and past operators. This data was then used in a series of twelve detailed dip sections, drawn every 2,000m along the strike of the Moose field. In addition, the twelve sections were linked together by two sub parallel strike sections along the crest of the structure. These fourteen sections have provided a greater understanding of the geometry of the reservoir formation and how it varied in the dip and strike direction.

We can clearly see how a change in the interpretation of the distribution of the folds

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and faults on this structure contributed to the subsequent hydrocarbon discoveries in the Moose structure.

Because of the detailed work on this structure, we can use the Moose structure as an analogue to frame our review of the other structures in the area, including the productive Quirk Creek and Turner Valley structures and the non-productive Highwood structure. Furthermore, these structures individually or linked together could provide suitable analogues for exploration and development opportunities in fold and thrust belts around the world.

BIOGRAPHY Andrew has many years of experience in the geological and geophysical evaluations of fold and thrust belts. He is a Professional Geological Consultant registered in the province of Alberta. Since graduating from London University, he has worked as a structural geologist specializing in the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbon prospects in fold and thrust belts around the world.

After making some early discoveries in New Zealand in the Taranaki basin, he moved to Canada to work on projects in the folded and thrusted Foothills of Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon and NWT. Since then he has worked domestically and

internationally and has developed an international reputation for evaluating these complex structural styles.

As a consultant, Andrew has been involved with projects for over 45 clients among the major, independent and junior oil and gas companies. These consulting projects have involved work in the fold and thrust belts of many different countries including Albania, Kurdistan, Morocco, PNG and Turkey. More recently, he has worked on projects that involved geo steering wells into the overturned limbs of the folded Cardium formation in the Alberta foothills.

At present Andrew is working with software developers to provide geological input into the development of a deterministic fracture density algorithm. This included extensive research in government data bases for complete image logs suitable for reprocessing. These will then be used to integrate the fracture density calculation with completion and production data.

Through Moose Oils 2014 Ltd, he teaches in-house workshops on fold and thrust play evaluation techniques and regularly leads field trips for industry. He is closely involved in developing balanced cross section and dipmeter analysis software packages to assist in the structural interpretation of fold and thrust plays.

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GEOLOGICAL MODELING AND ANALYTICS DIVISION TALK Direct estimation of SAGDable volumes from geological models using oilsands net pay connectivity criteria for ranking and planning SPEAKER David Garner, TerraMod Consulting and BJT Associates david@terra-mod.com

CO-AUTHOR Sasan Ghanbari, Emerson

Time: 12:00 pm Date: Thursday, March 26, 2020 Location: Husky Conference Room A, 3rd Floor, +30 level, South Tower, 707 8th Ave SW, Calgary, Alberta SUMMARY Athabasca oilsands field development planning involves many decisions that rely on integrated subsurface characterization using geomodel based applications. At early stages, the resources favourable for in-situ extraction are assessed to infer the best development areas. Later planning stages involve horizontal well placement and pad locations for final decisions on project scale for each tranche. Geological modeling is generally a catalyst for improved development decision making under technical and economic criteria when using best practices for an oilsands type field.

Using sound geological concepts which includes deposition, stratigraphy and structure, the current industry best practice for modeling reservoir heterogeneities related to flow is to apply a hierarchical workflow of simulation of facies first, followed by property simulations within each modeled facies. Fluid distributions as well as flow and mechanical properties are dependent on the characterization by each facies. For oilsands models accounting for known physical behavior, percolation and capillarity, when distributing properties in 3D such as permeability and fluid saturations by each facies facilitates

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reasonable physical responses in thermal or hybrid flow models (Garner et al., 2014; Martinius et al., 2017). These heterogeneous models can be used for evaluation of resources in place, for evaluating net pay and connectivity criteria related to in-situ recovery, ranking models and associated mappable uncertainties. Direct estimation of recoverable resources from static models without flow simulation is possible with properly constructed geomodels and specific connectivity criteria that relates to the steam assisted gravity drainage or hybrid processes (Garner, et al. 2005; Garner et al., 2014). Commonly used terms are SAGDable bitumen, net continuous bitumen, and net connected pay. Our goal is to have a screening method fairly correlated to thermal flow simulation that can be scaled for comparisons, across well pair slots, pad drainage areas, or large delineation areas. There are numerous other methods, not cited here, to estimate 3D connectivity for late stage development after well pair elevations and slot locations are fixed. It is worth noting that conventional calculations of net pay volumetrics on a cell-by-cell basis without accounting for appropriate connectivity are poorly correlated with the thermal simulations and lead to bad decisions.

Methods and Workflow Best practice issues will be briefly summarized for geomodelling workflows to account for the requirements of the thermal reservoir engineering and to honour geological concepts. These impactful steps include choices on grid designs, facies log quality, porosity, horizontal and vertical permeability, and saturation distributions and trends. Other parameters, volume of shale and geomechanical properties may be considered.

Regarding the connectivity workflow, we illustrate conceptual thermal flow paths in Figure 1. When mudstone or shale interbeds exist, irregular steam chambers will form as

the result of these heterogeneities. Interbeds between the injector and producer can prevent local communication causing a non-uniform startup. This relates to step one in our scripting. Horizontal mudstone beds can act as barriers, preventing steam chamber growth, increasing pressures locally and creating hotspots or flashing in the producers. For this process of defining the top of the connected bitumen pay column, we consider mud beds or thief zones as step two in our approach. We also note that at the top of a thick zone, the mudstone or shale can act as a pressure seal on the reservoir, or as a cap rock which is an evaluation outside the scope of this presentation.

Step one is the establish steam circulation step (Figure 2). To define continuous bitumen pay zones based on SAGD development criteria we define a base of continuous bitumen elevation from the lowest high quality interval using bulk oil weight, BOW>0.10 over an entire interval or 5-8 meters. The thickness sensitivities depend on model artefacts and reservoir geometry. Step two is to define a top of net continuous bitumen elevation above the well pair circulation interval. The top criteria are low BOW (e.g. <=0.06) over a minimum thickness (e.g. >1.5 m). Scenario sensitivities are typically applied. Low BOW is ambiguous in that it can indicate either low porosity with high saturation in mudstones or wet, high porosity thief zones. An optional third step to differentiate the type of top is to similarly check the elevation for a defined thickness (1-2m) and width (25-50m) of low vertical permeability since Kv is the dominant gravity flow factor. This differentiates wet thief zones from muds and can be used to assess the impacts and type of reservoir.

The results using stochastic models can be summarized into probability maps of Top, Base continuous bitumen, gross and net thickness, hydrocarbon pore thickness maps, etc.

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Best practices can improve dynamic simulation results and the ability to correlate static models with flow response. Our goal is to identify sufficient reservoir quality and thickness for the SAGD-like process to be both effective and economical with an understanding of risk and uncertainty.

Understanding reservoir heterogeneities is import to reservoir management, planning and mitigation.

References Garner, D., Lagisquet, A., Hosseini, A., Khademi, K., Jablonski, B., Strobl, R., Fustic, M. and Martinius, A. [2014] The Quest for innovative technology solutions for insitu development of challenging oil sands reservoirs in Alberta. 2014 World Heavy Oil Congress, WHOC14-139.

Garner, D., Wheeler, TJ, Mus, E., and Richy, J-F. [2005] Uncertainty Quantification and Ranking for SAGD Well Pair Placement in the McMurray Oilsands, Canada (abstract), AAPG International Convention, Paris, Sept 11-14.

Martinius, A.W., Fustic, M., Garner, D.L., Jablonski, B.V.J., Strobl, R.S., MacEachern, J.A. and Dashtgard, S.E. [2017] Reservoir characterization and multiscale heterogeneity modeling of inclined heterolithic strata for bitumen-production forecasting, McMurray Formation, Corner, Alberta, Canada, Marine and Petroleum Geology, 82, 336–361.

Biography David Garner is a Specialist in Applied Geostatistics and Geomodeling. He has held positions in R&D for Statoil, was a Geomodeling Advisor with Chevron Canada Resources and Characterization Specialist for ConocoPhillips Canada.

Through TerraMod Consulting, he worked on integrated field studies in North and South America, North and West Africa, and the Middle East. Mr. Garner holds two geophysics degrees, a B.S from Washington and Lee University and an M.S. from Cornell University. In 2006 he received a Citation in Geostatistics from the University of Alberta. He currently serves as a co-chair for the Geological Modeling and Analytics Division of the CSPG. He previously served on the board of directors and was general chair for three Gussow conferences, “Advances in Applied Geomodeling for

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Figure 1. A purely conceptual thermal flow path is illustrated. Convective flow gives way to conductive heating above local mud barriers and beyond the flanks of the steam chamber.

Hydrocarbon Reservoirs: Closing the Gap I, II and III”.

Sasan Ghanbari is currently principal geoscientist at Emerson. Sasan has extensive experience in offshore exploration and in the Canadian Oil Sands. He has also worked on various field studies and geostastical subsurface modeling in North America, South America, and the Middle East. This work includes analyzing relevant data such as regional studies and uncertainty analysis to build realistic geological, geostatistical and reservoir simulation models. Sasan has been working with Emerson since 2004. He earned a degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Alberta and is a Professional Engineer.

Information

Figure 2. Criteria for computing net continuous bitumen pay from geomodel (Garner et al., 2005)

There is no charge for the division talk and we welcome non-members of the CSPG. Please bring your lunch. For details or to present a talk in the future, please contact Weishan Ren at renws2009@gmail.com.

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SOCIETY NEWS

2019 STANLEY SLIPPER GOLD MEDAL AWARD The Stanley Slipper Gold Medal is amongst the highest honours awarded by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists.

The medal is presented annually for outstanding contributions to petroleum exploration and development either in Canada or by Canadian-based petroleum geologists working internationally. The contributions of the winner of this award may encompass one or more activities including initiating and/or leading exploration or development programs, making significant discoveries on new or existing exploration trends, applying new technologies to exploration and exploitation, and teaching and/or training of petroleum geologists. In contrast to other C.S.P.G. awards, the Stanley Slipper Gold Medal Award recognizes, in part, accomplishments in business and in the broader petroleum industry through the application of the knowledge of petroleum geology. The award is limited to individuals.

Candidates must be alive at the time of their selection. The winner must be a petroleum geologist and a C.S.P.G. member.

The recipient of the Stanley Slipper Medal for 2019 is James (Jim) Kenneth Gray, best known for his role in the founding of Canadian Hunter and co-leading it during the 1970’s through the early 2000’s. To adapt Jim’s 2005 citation from the Canadian Business Hall of Fame “Mr. Gray is an exploration geologist who, for 50 years, was engaged in the oil and gas exploration business in Western Canada.

In 1973, Mr. Gray co-founded Canadian Hunter Exploration Ltd. which became one of Canada’s larger natural gas producers.”

Jim was born in 1933 in the gold mining town of Kirkland Lake, Ontario where his father was a mine manager for Noranda Inc. Jim recalls spending time prowling around the assay office and learning about rocks and geology. He attended school at Ridley College in St. Catherine’s, Ontario.

With a B.Sc. in geology from the University of British Columbia in hand in 1956, he moved to Calgary and began his petroleumrelated career with Great Plains, a subsidiary of British-owned Burmah Oil, where he had

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previously worked as a summer student in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. There he cut his teeth on Devonian reefs, spending numerous months on wellsite duty in the mud and cold of central Alberta. Field work in the Peel Plateau and Richardson Mountains added to the charm. Jim attributes several dry holes to this phase of his life during which he learned the ropes of mapping, geophysical integration, engineering, economics and prospect promotion.

In 1964 Jim was hired by Kerr-McGee Corp.

Two years later he was responsible for the discovery of the South Clive Field in central Alberta, an important Devonian reefal accumulation with initial reserves of 50 million barrels. The find was made through the use of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia as an analog.

It was at Kerr-McGee that Jim began his long association with John Masters (our first Slipper Award winner in 1989). Jim often comments that their relationship proved that two plus two can actually add up to five (and maybe even six from time to time).

In 1972 Jim recognized the potential of a very large natural gas accumulation beneath the Suffield Block, a 1,000 section military reserve in southeastern Alberta. Acting as a “concerned citizen”, he convinced then-Premier Peter Lougheed that the government should drill 44 wells on the property. These penetrations verified the presence of two trillion cubic feet of gas and provided both the basis for the formation of the Alberta Energy Company (A.E.C.) and the justification for authorizations for additional natural gas exports from Canada.

1973 brought a major transformation involving Jim’s resignation from Kerr-McGee and the establishment of Canadian Hunter Exploration Ltd. in partnership with Masters.

Their early months might be characterized as having been “on a wing and a prayer”, i.e. no money!

Their realization that the Deep Basin play within the western part of the Cretaceous section of the Western Canadian Sedimentary

Basin contained many trillions of cubic feet of natural gas was the basis for the growth of CanHunter in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.

The intersection of the mountain-parallel Deep Basin fairway with east-west-trending productive reservoirs trends in the Lower Cretaceous section led to the discovery of numerous natural gas accumulations, including the giant Elmworth Field. In that region near the Alberta - B.C. border, a 5,000 square mile tract had been evaluated by 40 earlier dry holes and had been written off by the industry. Through the recognition of bypassed pay and crafty land accumulation strategies, gas reserves with economically attractive flow rates were attained over significant areas. This set the stage for an even more regional pursuit of the play, the buildup of a huge land position and additional reserves and production. The technical story of the Deep Basin was fully described in 1984 in the A.A.P.G.’s Memoir 38.

Perhaps equally as remarkable was the ability of Jim and John to convince corporate investors of the merits of and opportunities presented by this play concept. Their initial promotional efforts in Calgary were met with disbelief and led to frustration. Their early capital ultimately came from outside the oil and gas sector. After many pitches, access to funding was obtained from the mining conglomerate Noranda. This was facilitated through Jim’s residual links to the business community in eastern Canada.

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This out-of-sector lifeline was essential to the growth of CanHunter and ultimately paid off handsomely for the initiallyskeptical Noranda. It was only after direct proof of success was in hand that the rest of the petroleum industry realized that this was the “real McCoy” and, in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, many companies jumped in with both feet.

Canadian Hunter was well known as an innovative and creative company. The company encouraged its staff to challenge paradigms in order to discover additional plays and leads. Spirited multidisciplinary discussions around the lunch table were the forum for challenge and reply, as documented in the Masters’ classic 1980 book “The Hunters: Searching for Oil and Gas in Western Canada”. Joint teams of geologists, petrophysicists and engineers successfully conspired to unlock the secrets of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin.

Over the twenty-eight years of his involvement with Canadian Hunter, Jim served in the positions of Executive Vice President, President and C.E.O., and Chairman. He was widely seen as the business face of the company, meeting with his industry counterparts as well as government and making the connections needed to progress CanHunter’s plans. In many ways he was the ideal counterpart to Masters who visualized the possibilities. Jim made them happen.

Indeed industry leader Dick Haskayne said of Jim’s role in the industry “He’s really a spark plug in this place”.

After several cycles of new management, the company was ultimately purchased by Burlington Resources in December 2001 for $3.4 billion. It is now remembered as a birthplace for both innovative concepts and modern working relationships. Many of the more senior members of the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists spent a portion of their formative years at CanHunter and went on to use their skills and business acumen in other contexts. Indeed two of our recent Slipper Award winners – Roger Smith and Dick Walls – were disciples of CanHunter. Their geological and business knowledge, gained in part through Jim’s influence has, in turn, been passed along to younger generations.

Jim is also a role model for all of us. He is

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and always has been physically active.

Over twenty-three years he has logged over 300,000 lengths of the pool of the “new” Eau Claire YMCA as a “cross-Canada” project.

He was instrumental in the Y’s construction and is an Honourary Life Director. Indeed the facility is now named “The Gray Family Eau Claire YMCA” in recognition of his involvement. John Masters remarked in 1980 that “Jim has played just about every sport in existence, except maybe women’s field hockey” and that his favourites at that time were skiing and mountain hiking.

Jim’s business acumen is also widely sought.

He was a Director of Canadian National Railway for fourteen years and remains as Director Emeritus with them. Other directorships over the years have included Emera, Hudson’s Bay Co., Brascan (now Brookfield) and Temple Energy Inc. He is Honourary Chair of the Canada West Foundation, a Calgary-based organization that promotes discussion on political, economic and social issues. Jim is currently Chairman of the Energy Group of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. He is passionate about Canada’s economy, Canada’s energy future, Calgary’s role in that context, and the ongoing energy transition.

Jim’s many contributions to the community go far beyond the normal bounds of volunteering. He was the originator and, for many years, a prime mover behind Flare Square and the Canadian Petroleum Exposition (forerunner of the Global Petroleum Show) first held in 1966 at the Calgary Stampede. He invented and led, for its first few years, the Petroleum Resources Communication Foundation. He was an essential motivator and financial supporter of the Calgary Indian Friendship Centre.

To quote John Masters “He is a friend of cabinet ministers and premiers. He is one of Calgary’s most effective fund raisers for community and political purposes. There is, in fact, nothing he cannot or will not turn his titanic energy to as soon as he is convinced that there is a good social purpose.”

Although written in 1980, these words still ring true today.

Over the intervening years Jim has been the Chair of the 16th World Petroleum Congress when it was last held in Calgary in 2000.

He has played a role in the development of social policies in opposing video-lottery

terminals and was a proponent of the construction of an upgraded railway line to the oil sands in Fort McMurray. He has worked with the Awali Group, associated with the Aga Khan, in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Most recently Jim has been vocal in his requests for a more thoughtful approach to the construction of Calgary’s Green Line light rail transit project on the basis of a geological assessment of its routing and design. He has not slowed down.

Jim has been honoured with many awards.

In 1991 he was presented with an Honourary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Calgary. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1995. 2001 was a banner year as he was both inducted into the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame and named the inaugural Energy Person of the Year by the Energy Council of Canada. In 2002 he was invested as a Member of the Alberta Order of Excellence. In 2004 he was inducted into the Calgary Business Hall of Fame and induction into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame followed shortly thereafter in 2005. He was recently named Lifetime Achievement Philanthropist by the Association of Fundraising Professionals in Calgary. He founded “The Top 7 over 70” project on the local scene!

Finally, and perhaps most important from his own perspective, Jim is enthusiastic about promoting the role of young people in every aspect of our society – from business and professional organizations through to social and athletic activities.

Jim, together with John Masters, were interviewed by their longtime collaborator Larry Meckel as a part of the A.A.P.G.’s 100th Anniversary Project. That interview (90 minutes in two parts) can be accessed in the GeoLegends Interviews component of the anniversary website at https://100years. aapg.org Jim Gray’s inexhaustible energy, his many accomplishments and his continuing commitment certainly make him a deserving recipient of the C.S.P.G.’s Stanley Slipper Gold Medal for 2019.

Jim will be presented with the Stanley Slipper Gold Medal at the April 15 CSPG Technical Luncheon. Tickets may be purchased at www.cspg.org

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SOCIETY NEWS

2019 MEDAL OF MERIT AWARD

T

he Medal of Merit has been awarded since 1952 and is the most prestigious and oldest technical award of the society. The medal is awarded annually for the best peer reviewed paper on a geological subject related to the petroleum geology or the geology of energy generation and extraction, of Canada. The stated objectives of the Medal of Merit Award are: to promote the preparation and publication of geological papers of high quality, to give honorable recognition to works of merit, and by means of suitable publicity, to bring the attention of the members and of the public to the activities of the geological petroleum profession by awarding the Medal of Merit annually for the best paper.

well illustrated, concise and is an excellent reference for subsurface workers.

This work is an important contribution to Canadian petroleum geology as it highlights the continued importance on fundamental geologic controls on production trends and exploitation strategies in unconventional resource plays such as the Montney Formation.

Kerrie Bann

The Medal of Merit is awarded to a paper published during the previous publication year, in this case for peer reviewed papers published in 2018.

The paper awarded the Medal of Merit for 2018 was written by written by I.P. Proverbs, K.L. Bann, C.M. Fratton, C.J. Frostad and A. Juska and is entitled “Facies architecture and sequence stratigraphy of the Lower Triassic Montney Formation, NE British Columbia: Fundamental controls on the distribution of ‘sweet spots’ in a world-class unconventional reservoir.”

The paper was published in the Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, Vol 66, No. 1, p. 237-258 (March 2018).

The paper provides a comprehensive review of the Triassic Montney Formation stratigraphic architecture and facies which includes observations and interpretations from core to field scale in Northeastern British Columbia. The work shows that the youngest Montney strata in NE B.C. were deposited as a series of aggradational to progradational fine-grained clastic clinoforms which control reservoir thickness. Facies range from proximal prodelta to distal shelf and are shown to have a fundamental control on porosity and permeability. The authors demonstrate by integrating these observations with reservoir fluid, pressure, production data the unconventional play and sweet spots can begin to be understood. The paper is

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Peter Proverbs Peter holds a B.Sc. Hons. in geology and geography from McMaster University and is a Sr. Staff Geologist at Tourmaline Oil Corp. where, for the past eight years, he has been part of a multidisciplinary team responsible for the growth and development of the company’s unconventional Montney assets in northeastern B.C. He has over 35 years of experience generating exploration and development prospects in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, beginning at Petro-Canada, followed by positions at Anderson Exploration, Devon Canada, and Huron Energy Corp., where he was a founding member of a successful private, exploration startup that was sold to Tourmaline in 2012.

His main professional interest is in the application of regional geological analysis, incorporating sedimentology, sequence stratigraphy and petrophysics, with the aim of generating practical and comprehensive exploration models. Peter and is a member of the CSPG, AAPG, SEPM and IAS.

Kerrie received a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Wollongong in Australia in 1999. Her main interests are ichnology and sedimentology she has worked on numerous successions around the globe including many from the North West Shelf Australia, the Timor Sea, The South China Sea and Florida. She has also worked on numerous reservoir intervals within Alberta and British Columbia, including extensive work on the Montney, the Wilrich, the Falher, the Viking, the Horn River formations and others. She currently resides in Calgary where she works as an ichnofacies analyst.

Chris Fratton Chris graduated from the University of Toronto with an M.Sc. in structural geology in 1998. Chris has been consulting in the geological sciences for over twenty years and has been involved in a wide variety of exploration fields including gold,

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uranium, precious metals, diamonds, and oil and gas. Chris’s main focus over the last fifteen years has been specializing in the study of tight and unconventional formations within the deep basin – with a focus on integrating petrological data into petrophysical, ichnological and sedimentological models. He currently resides in Fernie B.C., with his wife and daughter.

Andrea Juska

Colin Frostad

Andrea Juska graduated from SAIT’s Exploration Technology program and has been a Technologist at Tourmaline Oil Corp. for 10 years. Andrea is an avid surfer, at home in Calgary you will find her surfing the standing river waves near the Louise bridge downtown and in Kananaskis.

She is also the Volunteer Coordinator for the Alberta River Surfing Association and helps organize their annual SLAM festival.

Colin holds a bachelors and Masters of Science in Geology from the University of Calgary and is currently the Vice President, Exploration of Tourmaline Oil Corp. He served as Exploration Manager of NEBC / Peace River High and NEBC geologist for Tourmaline since 2009. Prior to Tourmaline he worked on the Montney Formation in the greater Groundbirch area as a geologist at Duvernay Oil Corp.

He started his career at Anadarko Canada where he developed the Wild River field, mapping and completing multiple Cretaceous sands.

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SOCIETY NEWS

2019 H.M. HUNTER AWARD The H.M. Hunter Award was originally created to recognize CSPG members who have contributed long term distinguished service to the Society. As such the focus was on volunteers more in the latter part of their careers and who likely had served in a variety of capacities. However distinguished service is not limited to long term service members, so the original concept has been modified to also recognize outstanding volunteer efforts of the Society's younger members. The H. M. Hunter Award now recognizes: • a longer term CSPG member (20+years) who has contributed to the Society on an on-going basis in a volunteer capacity in a variety of portfolios and/or singular outstanding service. This would include an outstanding individual who has not received a major service award recently and if they have been recognized in the past, have contributed to provide great service to the Society since that time.

Special consideration is given to those 'behind the scenes' i.e. 'unsung heroes' whose contributions have not been adequately recognized. Such longer-term members have gone above and beyond and by doing so have promoted our profession and the Society.

named after Mr. H. (Harry) M. Hunter who was a founding member of the Alberta Society of Petroleum Geologists. He had one of the longest volunteer careers of the founding members. Harry Hunter served as ASPG Secretary-Treasurer in 1929, as Business Manager in 1935 and 1937, and as President in 1939. Harry Hunter was the only founding member present at the final meeting of the ASPG where they overwhelmingly agreed to change their name to the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists. This award is named in honour of Mr. Hunter's work in the early days of the Society, on the Executive and his subsequent volunteerism. The award is a wall clock chosen to represent the time members have given to the Society. The originator of the award, Astrid Arts, designed the original clock. The current version of the award is a plaque-style, slate, wall clock with the CSPG logo in the center and the name of the winner on a brass plate.

Mark Caplan

• a shorter term CSPG member (10-20 years) for exceptional performance, who has gone above and beyond, a rising star as a volunteer to the Society, and who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the CSPG. Both awards are of equal merit and recognize exceptional volunteer commitment to the Society. The CSPG is built on a legacy of service by members and so strives to recognize and encourage such recipients. There is no restriction as to the number of times an individual may win this award. Nor does this award have to be awarded in either category each year or at all in the unlikely situation of no worthy nominees in a given year.

History of the H.M. Hunter Award First awarded in 2004, this award is

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Mark Caplan first became involved with the CSPG in 1999 as a session co-chair for the precursor to GeoConvention. He found this very rewarding from technical and academic perspectives. Since then he has been a GeoConvention session co-chair on countless occasions. In 2008 he and his co-chair Steve Donaldson, were approached to take over running

the Basin Analysis and Sequence Stratigraphy (BASS) Technical Division.

They enthusiastically agreed and have been successfully running the division with their talented committee ever since.

More recently, Mark has been providing young professionals with career advice, such as how to write resumes and search for work in the petroleum industry. He has also been an editor and technical reviewer for the Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology (BCPG) since 2016. One of Mark’s greatest achievements was as an associate editor and technical reviewer of the BCPG Montney Special Edition in 2018 along with Tristan Euzen and Tom Moslow. This was an amazing experience as he was able to learn a lot about the Montney from all the experts. His passion for helping young professionals extends to students. He has been a member of the CSPG thesis awards committee since 2015. In 2016 he became a co-chair of the joint CSPG/AAPG oil sands theme at the AAPG/CSPG joint conference in Calgary. Mark was also invited by Dale Leckie to join the CSPG Board of Directors as Conferences Director from 2014 to 2016, and because he was enjoying himself so much, was invited to continue serving on the Board as Education Director from 2016 to 2018. These were very rewarding years as Mark got to work with many talented individuals both on the Board and also in the CSPG office. Lastly, Mark is currently a co-chair of the Gussow 2020 conference.

Mark received his B.Sc. in Geology from the University of Wales in 1989, holds a M.Sc. in Geology from the University of Alberta in 1992 and continued his geological curiosity by obtaining a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in 1997. He is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta. Since 2017, Mark has also been on the advisory board of the Integrated Petroleum Geoscience Master’s program at the U of A. Mark has over 22 years of geological experience working international conventional and Canadian oil sands assets for TOTAL, Shell Canada, Athabasca Oil Corporation and Partners Energy Development Corp. Mark currently works at Cenovus Energy as a

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geologist seconded to Human Resources to help bolster technical talent development.

Mark is also currently learning about data analytics. During his spare time, Mark enjoys travelling in France, wine tasting, hiking, skiing and hanging out with his family.

Michael Webb Michael Webb began volunteering with the CSPG in 2004, when the division chairman invited him to join the (now

defunct) Sedimentology Technical Division committee. For three years, Michael worked with other committee members to organize monthly technical talks for the division. Shortly after that, Michael began his long-term tenure on two CSPG committees, the Thesis Award committee and the Technical Luncheon Committee.

He joined the CSPG’s Thesis Award Committee in 2005, and despite being buried underneath 400-page Ph.D. dissertations every fall, finds his work there very rewarding. This volunteer position is surely one of the best places to read and appreciate the latest graduate student research in geoscience from across Canada.

the luncheons. Along with the chance to bring in top-notch speakers for our CSPG membership, he especially values the relationships he has established with his fellow committee members and the CSPG staff.

Between 2004 and today, Michael served in several other short-term volunteer roles with the CSPG, such as being a technical session chair at GeoConvention, a volunteer field course instructor for the Heavy Oil and Oil Sands Technical Division, and an occasional technical reviewer for articles published in the CSPG Bulletin. He is also serving on the planning committee to help organize the Gussow 2020 conference to be held in October 2020.

Michael served on the CSPG Board as the Director of Technical Outreach for 2017 and 2018, during which he was also cross-appointed to serve as a Trustee of the CSPG Foundation. He left the Board in 2019 to serve as the Chairman of the CSPG Foundation and has recently started another 3-year term. (For those that don’t know, the CSPG Foundation is the charitable arm of the CSPG that manages an endowment of approximately $1.6M and releases annual disbursements to the CSPG that fund a large portion of our Outreach activities.)

Michael earned a B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the University of Alberta, and then travelled south to the University of Wyoming to conduct research and earn a Ph.D. on fluvial systems and paleontology. He is currently a Geoscience Advisor for Suncor Energy’s In Situ group. Prior to joining Suncor, he spent five years with Imperial Oil as a geologist and five years with Petro-Canada as a geologist and manager, working on clastic depositional systems in North Dakota, Wyoming, southern Alberta, Beaufort Sea/Mackenzie Delta, and in the Athabasca Oil Sands.

Michael joined the CSPG’s Technical Luncheon Committee in 2010, helping to select speakers and organize the script for

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SOCIETY NEWS

2019 TRACKS AWARDS The Tracks Award is presented to CSPG members and friends of the CSPG to recognize specific meritorious service to the Society through committee or other volunteer work. The objective of this award is to recognize individuals who have set standards of volunteer excellence within the Society of whom we can follow, be proud of, and derive benefit. This award distinguishes members and friends who have excelled at a particular volunteer position by an exceptional committee function, initiating new and innovative ideas or making a significant effort that goes beyond that of the usual volunteer.

The award is specific to a particular event or major contribution.

team. He has been an active member of the CSPG Core Conference committee since 2017.

Tom is currently the co-chair for the CSPG Core Conference as well as a member of the University of Calgary Alumni Association, Recent Graduate Committee.

During the three years that Tom has been volunteering with CSPG, Tom has moved from the planning committee into a chair role alongside Christa Williams. Together, Tom and Christa helped plan the 50 years of Core Conference celebration in 2019.

As part of these celebrations, Tom and Christa presented a historical lookback on core conference and what the data on past presentations could tell us about the everchanging nature of oil and gas exploration.

After tapping into the student CSPG membership for volunteers on archive research, Tom and Christa compiled the data gathered and presented the trends that appeared. Tom has also helped push for greater industry participation as well as identifying additional avenues for conference sponsorship, while maintaining the technical focus that embodies the CSPG Core Conference.

Thomas Plumridge Thomas Plumridge is a business development geologist with Freehold Royalties. Upon graduation from the University of Calgary in 2011, Tom joined PennWest as a junior geologist working on various development projects for six years.

During this time, Tom oversaw projects in the Cardium, Bluesky and Upper Manville, including drilling some of the first 30-40 leg multi-lateral HZ’s in the Peace River Bluesky. After leaving PennWest in 2017, Tom began working at Rife Resources and Freehold Royalties as a contract geologist assisting with the Lloydminster heavy oil asset and the evaluation of mineral royalty asset acquisitions. Tom now works full-time as a business development geologist within the Freehold Royalties US acquisitions

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Christa Williams Christa Williams is a passionate Geologist with over 14 years of experience in Conventional Oil, Waterflood and Natural Gas plays across the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. Mrs. Williams has

held the role of Senior Geologist at Trident Exploration from 2017-2019 and Project Geologist at Enerplus Resources from 2005-2016. Christa has been recognized for technical excellence and leadership in core programs workshops and special analyses, designed to evaluate and optimise play potential. Mrs. Williams holds a Bachelor of Science (Geology) from the University of Calgary and is a member of CSPG, APEGA and CWLS. Mrs. Williams became a CSPG member in 2005 and started to volunteer within the CSPG in 2008, presenting core description techniques as part of the Student Industry Field Trip (SIFT). She joined the CSPG Core Conference Committee in 2017 and went on to become the Co-Chair for the committee in 2018 and 2019. She remains an active volunteer for several societies, currently holding the role of Web-Site & Publications Chair with the CWLS (20172020) and is Co-Chair for the 2020 CSPG Core Conference.

In addition to her committee responsibilities, she continues to be involved in other aspects of the Geoscience community. In the spring of 2019, she colead with Jon Noad, a field trip to Dinosaur Provincial Park as part of the CSPG SIFT program.

Most recently, Christa initiated and co-developed, with Tom Plumridge an historical look-back, presentation and database for the Inaugural 50th Anniversary of the CSPG Core Conference. This historical catalogue has quantified 50 years of conference abstracts, presentations and contributions made at the Core Conference since 1969. It is a passion for the truths of the subsurface that are revealed by understanding the rocks, that fuels Mrs. Williams drive to pursue the science of geology. Christa is extremely grateful to all the committee members she has worked with, for their continued support and dedication to Geology and the CSPG.

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Upcoming CSPG Courses & Field Courses March 30-31, 2020

Introduction to Geosteering

Instructor: Janelle Springer, ROGII geoLOGIC Classroom - Aquitaine Tower | CPD Credits: 12 April 30, 2020

Oil Reservoir Engineering for Geoscientists Instructor: Kamal Malick, P.Eng, TAQA North geoLOGIC Classroom - Aquitaine Tower | CPD Credits: 7.5 May 1, 2020

Gas Reservoir Engineering for Geoscientists Instructor: Kamal Malick, P.Eng, TAQA North geoLOGIC Classroom - Aquitaine Tower | CPD Credits: 7.5 May 6, 2020 - Field Course

Structural Geology Transect in the Eastern Canadian Rocky Mountains, Calgary (AB) to Field (BC) Instructor: Normand Bégin, Nanook Geo-Exploration Inc. | CPD Credits: 9 May 14, 2020

3D Printing in Geoscience and Engineering: Emerging Technology in Education, Research, and Communication Instructors: Sergey Ishutov, Kevin Hodder, Rick Chalaturnyk, University of Alberta geoLOGIC Classroom - Aquitaine Tower | CPD Credits: 7.5

WCSB Devonian Carbonate Core Workshop: Essential guide to depositional settings and lithologies, with examples from the Clive Leduc CO2 CCS Instructors: Eva Drivet, Drivet Geological Consulting Ltd. David Hills, Enhance Energy Inc AER Core Research Centre | CPD Credits: 7.5 May 15, 2020 - Field Course

Field Trip to Grassi Lake - Devonian Leduc equivalent: New perspectives for CO2 CCS

Instructors: Eva Drivet, Drivet Geological Consulting Ltd. David Hills, Enhance Energy Inc. | CPD Credits: 9.5 May 20-21, 2020

Basics of Geomodeling – An Overview 2020 Instructor: David Garner, TerraMod Consulting CSPG Classroom - Aquitaine Tower | CPD Credits: 16 June 8-11, 2020

Subsurface Data Analysis, Geomodeling and Geostatistics Instructor: David Garner, TerraMod Consulting CSPG Classroom - Aquitaine Tower | CPD Credits: 26

E a r l y b i r d r at e s av a i l a b l e Register today at cspg.org/education

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