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TENTH V.E. McKELyE^ RORU/^. ON>^

MINERAL AND ENERGY RESOURCES, 1995

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* *1AS. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 1108

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GENERAL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Monday, February 13

8:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. 

6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.

Tuesday, February 14

7:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m. 

9:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m. 

12:15-2:15 p.m.

2:15p.m.-5:20p.m. 

9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. 

12:00 noon

Wednesday, February 15

7:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m. 

9:00 a.m.-12:00 noon

12:00-2:00 p.m. 

2:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. 

9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. 

6:00 p.m.

Thursday, February 16

7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. 

9:00 a.m.-l 1:30

11:30-1:30 p.m. 

1:30-5:00 p.m. 

5:00 p.m.

Friday, February 17

8:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

8:00 a.m. 

8:45 a.m.

Registration WCC Registration Desk, Omni Shoreham Hotel 

Icebreaker and Poster/Computer Displays Ambassador/Regency Gallery

Registration WCC Registration Desk

Talks: Introduction to Energy and the Environment Regency Ballroom

Luncheon (Secretary of the Interior BRUCE BABBITT is invited to speak)

Palladian Room (ticket is needed)

Talks: Availability and Quality of Energy Resources Regency Ballroom

Poster Sessions, Computer Displays Ambassador/Regency Gallery

Science Video Theater opens WCC Executive Room

Registration WCC Registration Desk

Talks: Environmental Effects of Natural Energy Occurrence Regency

Ballroom

Luncheon "John Wesley Powell's 1869 Grand Canyon Expedition"

Palladian Room (ticket is needed)

Talks: Environmental Effects of Energy Extraction and Utilization

Regency Ballroom

Poster Sessions, Computer Displays, Exhibits Ambassador/Regency Gallery

Science Video Theater WCC Executive Room

Close of Poster/Computer Sessions and Exhibit/Display area

Registration WCC Registration Desk

Student Participation: Posters on Energy/Environmental Issues Birdcage

Walk

Lunch Open

Panel Discussion on Energy and the Environment Regency Ballroom

Conclusion of formal sessions of Forum

ll:45a.m. 

12:30-1:00 p.m.

Tour of USGS National Center, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive,

Reston, VA

Pick-up of participants at Omni Shoreham Hotel and stops on Capitol Hill

Arrive at USGS National Center. Groups will see a slide show and visit

stops such as map printing plant, geology and water laboratories, library,

cartography section, Earth Science Information Center, and Director's

Office.

Lunch

Alternate bus departures for D.C./Dulles Airport

Cover art. Oil and gas wells, land use, and land cover in southeastern Louisiana. Green=wetlands; 

blue=water; oranges and yellow=forest, agricultural land, and rangeland; rose=urban or built-up land; 

brown=barren. Front cover: Mississippi Delta. Back cover: New Orleans and points south. Compiled by 

Roland J. Viger and Christopher J. Schenk.
ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENTAPPLICATION OF GEOSCIENCES TO 

DECISION-MAKING

PROGRAM AND SHORT PAPERS

Edited by L.M.H. Carter

TENTH V.E. MCKELVEY FORUM ON 

MINERAL AND ENERGY RESOURCES, 1995

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 1108
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

BRUCE BABBITT, Secretary

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Gordon P. Eaton, Director

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1995

Free on application to U.S. Geological Survey, Information Services

Box 25286, Federal Center

Denver, CO 80225

Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and 

does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government

Library of Congress No. 91-640066

Organizing Committee for the 1995 McKelvey Forum:

Chair: Dudley D. Rice

Co-chairs: Timothy S. Collett, Thaddeus S. Dyman, and Richard M. Pollastro

Program: 

Timothy S. Collett 

Robert B. Finkelman 

Thomas D. Fouch 

Joseph R. Hatch 

Melody Holm 

Peter J. McCabe 

Janet K. Pitman 

Dudley D. Rice 

Richard B. Wanty

Publicity:

Thaddeus S. Dyman 

Karen J. Franczyk 

Shirley A. Oscarson

Logistics: 

James D. Brewton 

George M. Garcia 

Vito F. Nuccio 

Richard M. Pollastro

Computer support: 

James D. Brewton 

Raymond C. Obuch

Editorial: 

Lorna Carter

Student Participation: 

Laurel M. Bybell 

Sharon S. Crowley 

Thaddeus S. Dyman 

Jane R. Eggleston 

Robert B. Finkelman 

Kathleen K. Krohn 

Eleanora I. Robbins 

Jane B.Russell 

Susan Russell-Robinson 

Laure G. Wallace 

Susan C. Wells

Tour:

Jane R. Eggleston 

Robert B. Finke^an 

John R. Keith 

Kathleen K. Krohn 

Susan Russell-Robinson
FOREWORD

Clearly, "Energy and the environment Application of geosciences to decision-making "is a very timely topic for the Tenth 

McKelvey Forum. We as a Nation and as a member of the global community must consider both the increasing demand for energy 

and the global environmental impacts and concerns associated with energy extraction and use. We need to better understand how 

we can apply our knowledge about the earth sciences to the difficult decisions that lie ahead.

The U.S. Geological Survey is the Nation's premier earth science research and information agency and maintains a long tradition of providing "Earth Science in the Public Service." I know of no other agency in the world that offers the same combination 

of expertise in geology, hydrology, and mapping. But in this world, all that scientific expertise is not enough: To use science to 

solve real-world problems, we are dependent on partnerships with policy-makers and decision-makers. The USGS, a bureau of the 

U.S. Department of the Interior, is involved in the unbiased pursuit of earth science questions the answers to which are an invaluable resource to the Nation. Through outreach efforts such as this forum, we are reshaping and refocusing our efforts to be even 

more relevant and responsive to the earth science information needs of 

the Nation.

As a Nation we face serious questions concerning our energy 

resources and the environment. Many of these ideas will be addressed 

by scientists from the USGS and other government agencies at this 

year's McKelvey Forum:

 What are the energy resources of the future?

Can we sustain or even increase our domestic oil production? 

Is technology available at a reasonable price to recover sufficient 

quantities of natural gas?

Do we have sufficient knowledge about coal quality to justify 

increased usage?

 What are the environmental effects of undeveloped energy 

resources?

What are the conditions of natural occurrence for oil, gas, and

coal?

How does their natural occurrence impact the atmosphere, water

quality, and climate change?

 What are the environmental effects of energy resource development?

How are the atmosphere, water quality, and the marine ecosystem affected by our increasing energy use?

How is geologic information used in formulating regulatory

policy?

Basic earth science research and information from the USGS are 

essential in shaping policies regarding domestic and foreign energy 

resources, for making wise decisions about the environment, including 

the use of Federal lands, and for maintaining a healthy domestic energy 

industry. In these changing times of reengineering and downsizing of 

the Federal Government, we need to look at new ways to partner with 

others who are involved with and interested in energy and environmental issues. We need to form partnerships with other Federal and State 

agencies so that topical, regional, and local knowledge can be used to 

achieve an integrated approach in addressing important energy and 

environmental issues.

The USGS is looking to increase its active partnerships with all of the Interior bureaus that are charged with regulating or 

managing our Nation's lands and energy and mineral resources. We also want to expand our contacts with Federal agencies beyond 

the boundaries of the Department and State agencies. Successful partnering will require all of us, the Federal agencies and our colleagues in the States, industry, and the academic community, to sit down and work together to ensure that we can respond to the 

earth science questions the American public wants answered.

We look forward to your participation in the 1995 McKelvey Forum. The exchange of ideas and information at this forum 

will be the foundation for those essential future partnerships.

Gordon P. Eaton 

Director
VINCENT E. McKELVEY

The McKelvey Forum honors Vincent E. McKelvey, U.S. Geological Survey geologist (1941-1978) and ninth Director 

(1971-1978) for his leadership of the Survey and his many contributions to understanding mineral and energy resources and the 

application of earth science information to public policy.

Vince started with the Survey's Strategic Minerals Program and then led a major study of the geology 

and phosphate resources of the Phosphoria Formation 

in the Rocky Mountains. The work yielded new concepts of the origin of phosphate deposits and petroleum source rock from ocean upwelling of nutrients, 

and also new thoughts about the relation between civilization and natural resources. He later started a program to estimate the petroleum resources of the 

United States. To help clarify debates on this difficult 

subject, he developed a method of classifying mineral 

reserves and resources that took into account the 

degrees of uncertainty both in occurrence and in economic viability. The graphical representation of this i 

concept has been broadly applied and is widely 

known as the "McKelvey Box." In discussing 

resources, he repeatedly emphasized that although 

nature created mineral deposits, humans create 

resources. People discover deposits hidden beneath 

the Earth's surface, develop new uses for materials 

not usable before, and learn how to extract minerals 

from deposits once considered too deep or too lean.

Vince believed strongly that geologic knowledge should be put to good use in national affairs. 

Towards that end he established in the early 1970's an 

interdisciplinary office of earth science applications 

to help the Nation tackle the many problems affecting 

our environment.

Vince McKelvey served as an advisor on many 

national and international issues that involved the 

earth sciences leasing policy for oil, gas, and sulfur 

on the outer continental shelf; national petroleum 

independence; and, particularly, negotiations on the 

Law of the Sea treaty. His great personal integrity 

and his dedication to objectivity made him especially

effective in this role. As Director he laid down ethics guidelines for the Survey's staff and also defined and widely articulated the 

USGS's role as a research organization for identifying and evaluating alternatives but not advocating policy positions.

A society's wealth depends on the use it makes of raw materials, 

energy, and especially ingenuity.

 VE. McKelvey

Dallas L. Peck 

Director, 1981-1993
Energy and the Environment Application of Geosciences to Decision-Making

Tenth V.E. McKelvey Forum on Mineral and 

Energy Resources, 1995

WASHINGTON, D.C, FEBRUARY 13-16, 1995 

PROGRAM OF LECTURES AND DISCUSSIONS

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13,1995

8:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. Registration; WCC Registration Desk,

Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C.

6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. Icebreaker - Ambassador/Regency Gallery

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14,1995

7:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Registration. Note: Opening session at 

9:00 a.m. in Regency Ballroom

OPENING SESSION: INTRODUCTION TO 

ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

9:00 a.m. 

9:05

9:15 

9:45

10:15 

10:45 

11:15

11:45 

12:15 p.m.

Welcome Dudley D. Rice, 

U.S. Geological Survey

Introduction John Filson, Acting 

Chief Geologist, and Robert M. Hirsch, 

Chief Hydrologist, U.S. Geological Survey

Program Introduction: Getting the equation 

right Balancing available Earth assets 

against environmental consequences 

Gordon P. Eaton, Director, 

U.S. Geological Survey

What has driven the mix in U.S. energy

demand Supply and demand or

regulation?

Bonnie A. McGregor and

Thomas S. Ahlbrandt

Energy resource assessments: Who cares? 

David W. Houseknecht

COFFEE BREAK, POSTER SESSION, 

COMPUTER DISPLAYS

Effects of energy utilization on the 

environment Historical and future 

Robert M. Hirsch

Geospatial data in a digital world 

Nancy Tosta

Adjournment of session;

FORMAL LUNCHEON Palladian Room

(Secretary of the Interior

BRUCE BABBITT is invited to speak)

TUESDAY AFTERNOON SESSION:

AVAILABILITY AND QUALITY OF

ENERGY RESOURCES

2:15p.m. Introduction T.S. Ahlbrandt and 

R.C. Milici, Session chairs

2:20 Energy realities of the world A projected 

role for fossil fuels 

Charles D. Masters

2:50 Oil and gas resources of the United

States How much is left and where is it? 

Donald L Gautier and Gordon L Dolton

3:20 Is "unconventional" gas a sustainabl* energy 

source?

Dudley D. Rice, Ronald C. Charpentier, 

Thomas D. Pouch, and James W. Sfhmoker

3:50 COFFEE BREAK, POSTER SESSION, 

COMPUTER DISPLAYS, 

SCIENCE VIDEO THEATER

4:20 Assessing the Nation's coal resources 

Is it really a burning question? 

H.J. Gluskoter

4:50 Coal quality A Clean Air Act pers'iective 

Robert B. Finkelman

5:20 p.m. Adjournment of oral session

6:00 p.m. POSTER SESSION, COMPUTER

DISPLAYS, SCIENCE VIDEO THEATER 

CLOSE FOR THE DAY

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15,1995

7:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Registration

WEDNESDAY MORNING SESSION:

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF 

NATURAL ENERGY OCCURRENCE

9:00 a.m. 

9:05

Introduction J.M. McNeal, Sessior chair

Natural variations in atmospheric CT>2 

Does what we know hurt us? 

Eric T. Sundquist

V
9:35 Atmospheric methane and other energyrelated trace gases Effects on global 

warming and ozone 

RonaldS. Oremlandand 

Keith A. Kvenvolden

10:05 The paradigm of rapid climate change A 

current controversy 

Joan Fitzpatrick

10:35 COFFEE BREAK, POSTER SESSION, 

COMPUTER DISPLAYS, 

SCIENCE VIDEO THEATER

11:00 Natural radionuclides in earth, air, and water, 

and the effect on human health 

Linda C.S. Gundersen andZoltan Szabo

11:30 Water-quality degradation associated with 

natural energy sources 

YousifK. Kharaka and Richard B. Wanty

12:00 noon Adjournment of session:

FORMAL LUNCHEON - Palladian Room 

"John WesleyPowell's 1869 Grand Canyon 

Expedition"

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON SESSION:

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF 

ENERGY EXTRACTION AND UTILIZATION

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16,1995

2:00 p.m. 

2:05

2:35 

3:05

3:35

4:00

4:30

5:00 

6:00 p.m.

Introduction Gail Mallard, Session chair

Our future energy use Environmental 

concerns beyond the year 2000 

Peter J. McCabe

Effects of energy resource development 

on lakes What do we need to know? 

John T. Turk

How can geoscientists help policy makers 

assess the impact of energy extraction on 

marine ecosystems? 

H.A. Karl, R.L Bemknopf, D.R. Soller, 

andP.S. Chavez,Jr.

COFFEE BREAK, POSTER SESSION; 

COMPUTER DISPLAYS, SCIENCE 

VIDEO THEATER CONTINUE

Consequences of energy use on water quality 

Mary Jo Baedecker, William Back, and 

Charles A. Cravotta, III

A little learning is a dangerous thing 

But how do we apply our geoscience 

knowledge to the regulatory process? 

Lorraine H. Filipek and James K. Otton

Adjournment of oral sessions

FINAL CLOSE OF POSTER SESSION, 

COMPUTER DISPLAYS, AND 

SCIENCE VIDEO THEATER

7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. 

9:00 a.m.-l 1:30

11:30-1:30 pan. 

1:30-5:00p.m.

3:00-3:30 

5:00 p.m.

Registration

Student Participation Posters on 

Energy/Environmental Issues 

Birdcage Walk

Schools participating: McGogney 

Elementary School, Washington, D.C. 

(grades 4, 5, 6); Langston Hughes Middle 

School, Reston, Va. (grade,-' 7 & 8); 

Navajo Community Colleg-j, Shiprock, N. 

Mex.

Lunch Open

Panel Discussion on Energy and the 

Environment, moderated by KEN BODE, 

Host of Washington Week in Review

Panel members:

 Mr. Thomas Bechtel, Director, 

Morgantown Energy Technology Center, 

U.S. Department of Energy

 Mr. Daniel Becker, Chief, Global 

Warming and Energy Program, 

Sierra Club

 Mr. Michael German, Senior Vice 

President, American Gas Association

 Gen. Richard Lawson, President, National 

Coal Association

 Dr. Jeremy Leggett, GREENPEACE

 Dr. Dale Nesbitt, Economist and Senior 

Vice President, Decision Focus, Inc.

 Dr. Nahum Schneidermann, Chevron 

Overseas Petroleum

 Mr. Reginal Spiller, Deputy Assistant 

Secretary for Gas and Petroleum 

Technology, U.S. Depa-tment of Energy

COFFEE BREAK

Conclusion of formal sessions of 

Tenth McKelvey Forum

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17,1995

8:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Tour of USGS National Center, Reston, Va.

8:00 a.m. Pick-up of participants at 

Omni Shoreham Hotel and 

stops on Capitol Hill

8:45 a.m. Arrive at USGS National Center. Groups 

will see a slide show and v;sit stops such as 

map printing plant, geology and water 

laboratories, library, cartography section, 

Earth Science Information Center, and 

Director's Office.

ll:45a.m. 

12:30-l:00p.m.

Lunch

Alternate bus departures fir 

D.C./Dulles Airport

VI
ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENTPOSTER SESSIONS

[Contributors: American Association of State Geologists, 

Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of 

Land Management, Minerals Management Service, National 

Biological Survey, National Park Service, National 

Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of 

Surface Mining, U.S. Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of 

Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Forest 

Service , U.S. Geological Survey, State Geological Agencies, 

and Exploration and Consulting Geologists]

[Some of these listings share poster space]

USCS Energy and Environmental Program 

Information Transfer

Easy access to coal quality information: COALQUAL 

The new USGS coal quality CD-ROM database 

Linda J. Bragg, Charles L Oman, Susan J. Tewalt, and 

Robert B. Finkelman

CD-ROM publication of the 1995 National Assessment of 

Oil and Gas Resources of the United States 

Ken Takahashi and Donald L Gautier

Geological and geophysical information from the 

National Petroleum Reserve Alaska on CD-ROM 

as a tool in support of geoscientific decision-making 

David J. Toy lor and Frederick N. Zihlman

Availability and Quality of Energy Resources 

Domestic Conventional

Cretaceous and Tertiary coals and coal-bearing rocks of the Western United 

States A bibliography of U.S. Geological Survey data for 

resource estimation, quality determination, and 

reclamation potential evaluation 

Ronald H. Affolter and Joseph R. Hatch

The future of oil and gas in northern Alaska 

Kenneth J. Bird, Frances Cole, David G. Howell, and Leslie B. Magoon

Federal and State coal availability/recoverability studies in

Eastern United States A new approach to coal resource assessment 

M.D. Carter, T.J. Rohrbacher, GA. Weisenfluh, N. Fedorko, A.G. Axon, 

C.G. Treworgy, H. Cetin, D.D. Teeters, R.I. Geroyan, R.S. Sites, and 

N.K. Gardner

Coal resource assessment in the Western United States Factors for 

consideration in the management of Federal lands 

R.D. Hettinger, LR.H. Biewick, Karen Bryant, M.S. Ellis, 

DA. Ferderer, MA. Kirschbaum, C.L Molnia, LN.R. Roberts, 

S.B. Roberts, G.D. Stricker, and W.D. Watson

Forest planning and oil and gas resources How they work together 

Melody R. Holm and John S. Dersch

Interagency cooperation for mineral leasing and operations on Federal lands 

Gary W. Horton

Oil in California Quality, availability, and environmental conce-ns 

Caroline M. Isaacs, Leigh C. Price, Lorry A.. Beyer, Kenneth J. Bird, 

James R. Herring, Margaret A. Keller, Paul G. Lillis, Leslie B. Magoon, 

David Z. Piper, Richard G. Stanley, and Marilyn A. Tennyson

Energy studies on Native American lands funded by U.S. Department of 

Energy Gas resources and sandstone reservoirs of the 

Wind River Reservation, Wyoming 

Ronald C. Johnson, Romeo M. Flares, and William R. Keefer

Energy resources on lands of Native Americans Cooperative 

investigations by the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Bureau of I dian 

Affairs, and Tribal governments 

E.A. Merewether, Bruce D. Smith, and Stephen A. Manydeeds

Conventional energy resources from the Federal Outer Continentil Shelf, 

U.S.A. 

Pulak K. Ray and George Carpenter

Energy resources and environmental issues in the U.S. Gulf Coast 

C.J. Schenk, R.J. Viger, andR.M. Pollastro

Energy studies on Native American lands funded by U.S. Department of 

Energy Near-surface methane and hydrocarbon occurrence, Southern 

Ute Indian Reservation, Colorado, and Jicarilla Apache Indiar 

Reservation, New Mexico

Robert S. Zech, Jennie L Ridgley, Kimberley I. Cunningham, 

G. Michael Reimer, A. Curtis Huffman, Jr., Steven M. Condon, and 

Bill S. Larson

Domestic Unconventional

Resource and climate implications of natural gas hydrates 

William P. Dillon, James S. Booth, Timothy S. Collett, Keith A 

Kvenvolden, DwightF. Coleman, Myung W. Lee, William J. Winters, and 

Kristen Fehlhaber

Low-permeability (tight) gas reservoirs An environmentally acceptable 

major source of energy for the 21st century? 

B.E. Law, C.W. Spencer, RA. Crovelli, J.W. Schntoker, R.T. Rjder, 

W.M. Sutherland, andK.H. Frohne

Coalbed methane From hazard to environmental concern and untapped 

energy resource

Dudley D. Rice, Richard B. Wanty, Charles W. Byrer, andDitra W. 

Kruger

World Energy

World petroleum resources 

Charles D. Masters

International coal-related activities of the U.S. Geological Survey and their 

environmental applications 

John R. SanFilipo and Peter D. Warwick

Environmental Effects of 

Natural Energy Occurrence

Atmospheric methane flux from coals 

J.L Clayton, J.S. Leventhal, and D.D. Rice

Is increasing atmospheric CO2 really a harbinger of global warning 

A perspective through geologic time 

Charles W. Holmes

VII
Methane budget and global change in coastal wetlands 

Joel Leventhal

South Florida ecosystems studies Geochemical history of ecosystem 

conditions and variability

E.C. Spiker, A.L Bates, LP Gough, J.R. Herring, C.W. Holmes, R.K. 

Kotra, H.E. Lerch, W.H. Orem, and V.C. Weintraub

Springtime emission of methane from north temperate lakes 

Robert G. Striegl and Catherine M. Michmerhuizen

Environmental Effects of 

Energy Extraction and Utilization

The effects of oil-field brines on aquifers Tracing the movement of brines 

using geochemical tools 

Marvin M. Abbott

U.S. Bureau of Mines research into the environmental 

effects of energy resource development

T.E. Ackman, R.F. Chaiken, A.G. Kirn, S.J. Schatzel, D.E. Siskind, and 

MA. Trevits

Acid rain

O.P. Bricker and K. C. Rice

Energy-related selenium and vanadium contamination in San Francisco 

Bay, California Effects on biological resources? 

Cynthia L Brown and Samuel N. Luoma

Hydrogeology and potential of intrinsic bioremediation at a 

manufactured gas plant, Charleston, South Carolina 

Bruce G. Campbell, Matthew D. Petkewich, James E. Landmeyer, and 

Francis H. Chapelle

The effects of oil-field brines on aquifers Brine disposal in the East Poplar 

oil field, Fort Peck Indian Reservation, northeastern Montana 

Steven D. Craigg and Joanna N. Thamke

Potential impact of oil and gas drilling operations on Carlsbad Caverns 

National Park, New Mexico

Kimberley 1. Cunningham, G. Michael Reimer, Harvey R. DuChene, 

Edward J. LaRock, Sandra L Szarzi, and Josh M. Been

State coal resources and extraction Impacts on the economy and 

environment 

Heinz H. Damberger

Environmental aspects of carbonate use in energy generation 

Jane R. Eggleston and Robert B. Finkelman

Multi-criterion decision analysis for comparing hydropower and 

environmental impacts from operation of Glen Canyon Dam, 

northernmost Arizona 

Marshall Flug

Reclaiming the scars of energy's past Examples from the 

National Park Service 

Bruce Heise

Oil spills in Prince William Sound, Alaska 

Keith A. Kvenvolden and Paul R. Carlson

Using geomorphology in mapping for oil spill planning* 

Robert Pavia and Jacqueline Michel

Red slime, oily films, and black rocks Sensing the iron bacteria that make 

neutral streams look acid

Eleanora I. Rabbins, John E. Anderson, Melvin H. Podwysocki, 

Harry M. Edenbom, Jane R. Eggleston, Douglas Gr-rwitz, 

Robert L Kleinmann, Arnold W. Norden, Margaret E. Passmore, 

Byron J. Prugh, Jr., Mark R. Stanton, Palmer C. Sweet, and 

Timothy M. Vandyke

Radionuclides Energy resources and environmental h azards 

R. Randall Schumann, Sigrid Asher-Bolinder, Warren I. Finch, 

Linda C.S. Gundersen, James K. Otton, Douglass E. Owen, 

Charles T. Pierson, G. Michael Reimer, and Robert A. Zielinski

The effects of oil-field brines on aquifers Geophysical applications in oil 

field environmental studies 

Bruce D. Smith andAldo T. Mazzella

Environmental impacts of oil and gas pipelines 

H. G. Wilshire

USGS-Navajo Community College Cooperative Study

Environmental significance of New Mexico coal quality data 

Stephanie Begay, Suzette Martin, and Steven C. Semken

PAPERS REPRESENTING 

PANEL MEMBERS' VIEWPOINTS

Fossil energy technologies for the 21st century 

Thomas F. Bechtel

The outlook for the natural gas industry 

Michael I. German

Application of geosciences to decision-making It's ai idea worth trying 

and long overdue 

Richard L, Lawson

Geoscienlists, fossil fuels, and climate change A defector's view 

Jeremy Leggett

Ten reasons why natural gas prices will not rise 

Dale M. Nesbitt

Global geologic and economic aspects of oil and gas resources 

Nahum Schneidermann

The gas and oil industry in the year 2024 A question of the road not taken 

Reginal W. Spiller

VIII
Tenth V.E. McKelvey Forum on Mineral and Energy Resources, 1995

Energy and the EnvironmentApplication of Geosciences to Decision-Making

Program and Short Papers

Edited by L.M.H. Carter

PAPERS RELATED TO TALKS IN ORDER OF ORAL PRESENTATION

What Has Driven the Mix in

U.S. Energy Demand 

Supply and Demand or Regulation?

Bonnle A. McGregor and Thomas S. Ahlbrandt, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA 22092 and 

Denver, CO 80225

The Nation's fossil energy consumption and production 

have both more than doubled in the last 40 years reflecting 

the Nation's increasing need for energy resources (fig. 1). 

The highest level of energy consumption in the United States 

yet known occurred in 1993. Oil (40 percent), gas (25 percent), and coal (23 percent) currently account for about 88 

percent of this consumption, whereas nuclear accounts for 8 

percent, hydroelectric <4 percent, and geothermal and all 

other sources about 0.2 percent (EIA, 1994a). Domestic production of energy has not met domestic consumption needs 

for at least 30 years, and the gap is increasing (fig. 1). Among 

oil, gas, and coal, significant shifts in domestic energy consumption and production have taken place during the past 

two decades. Both coal and gas, on an energy equivalent 

basis, individually exceeded oil in domestic production hi 

1993, with coal 31 percent, natural gas 29 percent, and oil 22 

percent (EIA, 1994b) (fig. 2). Net imports of oil have risen 

to their highest level in 15 years, and rose 15 percent from 

1992 to 1993 alone (EIA, 1994b). Coal production has 

nearly doubled from 1970 to present (from about 600 million 

short tons to about 1 billion short tons produced annually). 

Although domestic oil and gas production has generally 

declined since 1970, natural gas production has increased

since the mid-1980's. Natural gas is expected to p'ay an 

increasing domestic role in response to both environmental 

concerns and anticipated major contributions from "unconventional" (or continuous-type) natural gas accumulations. 

Such continuous-type accumulations are not localized into 

individual fields; rather they are widespread anc1 often 

involve very large volumes which require a large nunber of 

wells to develop. This paper provides a brief historical perspective particularly for the past two decades for these significant energy shifts in a complex world of changing 

supply, demand, policies, and regulations.

Some economists argue that industrialized societies 

move to increasingly efficient energy resources in a cyclic 

manner, moving from sources such as wood to coal t~> oil to 

natural gas and ultimately to non-carbon-based energy 

sources on a 100- to 200-year cycle (Nakicenovic, 1993). 

Other economists argue for a much more complicated process involving demand, supply, and regulations, and argue 

that we actually may be moving to increased reliance on coal 

resources (EIA, 1994b). Domestic supplies or reserves of oil, 

gas, and coal, for example, are different, and their retraining 

quantities are extensively debated. From figures 1 and 2, our 

society clearly has demanded and will continue to demand 

increasing quantities of energy if annual growth rates of real 

gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.2 percent (EIA, 1994b) 

are realized.

Due to factors such as extreme fluctuations hi commodity prices, particularly oil prices, wasteful oil and gr^ field 

practices, and perceived national needs, government regulation of energy markets has been part of our history from the 

turn of the century. Although the United States began 

importing oil hi 1948, the 1973 oil embargo by the OPEC

1
nations strongly affected our Nation which responded by 

passing legislation designed to encourage new domestic oil 

production by a two-tiered pricing of lower priced old oil and 

higher priced new oil. The desire to gain higher prices for 

new oil resulted in record high levels of drilling in the late 

1970's and early 1980's. Oil price deregulation during the 

early 1980's permitted world market forces to control oil 

prices, and the United States has returned to a period of reliance on OPEC oil at levels comparable to that of the early 

1970's (ElA, 1994a).

Regulations have also strongly impacted natural gas 

supply, demand, and prices. Natural gas exploration and 

development have historically been secondary to oil development due to high costs and complexity of transportation 

and marketing of natural gas. These regulations resulted in 

federally regulated interstate gas pipelines but essentially 

unregulated intrastate pipelines. The natural gas supply 

shortfalls in 1977 and 1978 resulted in The Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978, which was designed to deregulate natural 

gas on a 10-year schedule, extend Federal regulation to all 

pipelines, and give incentives to certain classes of resources 

such as "unconventional" gas (NPC, 1992). Section 29 of the 

1980 Windfall Profits Tax provided tax credits for production of coalbed methane, low-permeability reservoirs, and 

gas from Devonian shales. These tax credits were graduated 

and substantial; for example, tax credit on coalbed methane 

was 90 cents per MMBTU (million Btu) as compared to 52 

cents per MMBTU for tight gas reservoirs by the end of 

1992, when the credit was terminated. Drilling for such 

"Section 29" gas wells was increased during the late 1980's 

and early 1990's. Such wells that commenced drilling prior 

to January 1,1993, in a designated low-permeability or coalbed gas reservoir, qualified for the tax credit, which remains 

in effect for that gas produced through the year 2003.

By contrast, coal resources are not supply-restricted 

domestically, but their use has environmental consequences 

that have strongly impacted coal development. The Power 

Plant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 was developed in 

response to perceived natural gas shortages. It prohibited 

switching from oil to gas and the use of oil and gas as primary fuel in newly built large power generation plants. Coal 

use has soared in the last two decades, but the most significant change in use reflects compliance with the Clean Air 

Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA 90), which have stringent 

sulfur dioxide emission restrictions. Compliance has caused 

a shift of production from east of the Mississippi to west of 

the Mississippi, such that since 1988, Wyoming has been the 

largest coal producing State (Coal Data, 1991). Many western States have substantial coal resources, particularly low 

sulfur coal resources such as those in the Powder River Basin 

of Wyoming. Compliance with CAAA 90 gives utilities 

options to bring coal-fired generating units into compliance, 

including use of low-sulfur coals or displacement of coalfired units with either natural gas or renewable fuels. Relatively low costs of natural gas in the late 1980's and early

1990's have resulted in conversion to natura1 gas and erosion 

of coal's 1990 share of 53 percent of the domestic electricity 

generation (EIA, 1993). Clearly policy and regulations 

imposed by CAAA 90 and other laws impact coal quality 

issues and promote use of low-sulfur coal aM natural gas.

A significant amount of the new nanral gas resource 

additions will come from "unconventional" accumulations, 

also called continuous-type accumulations, such as low-permeability gas reservoirs and coalbed methrne. Since deregulation of the oil and gas industry in the 1980's, policy 

decisions have increasingly affected the energy industry, 

particularly encouraging use of natural gas by tax incentives 

such as Section 29 to produce "unconventional" hydrocarbon resources. However, there are associated costs. For 

example, coalbed methane is currently ar important and 

growing natural gas resource, but on a per-11MBTU basis, a 

coalbed methane well generates 38 times tl <; waste water of 

that generated by production from a conventional onshore 

gas well (Lawrence and others, 1993). Similarly, the electricity generated by alternative energy sources, such as windmills near San Francisco, Calif., is tlree times more 

expensive than electricity produced by conventional fossil 

fuel electric generators in California (Muni, 1994).

The potential impacts of increased energy use both for 

coal and for natural gas will likely impact western Federal 

lands substantially, as major "unconventional" and conventional resources are known to exist in Wyoning, Utah, Montana, and New Mexico. For example, USG°, in cooperation 

with DOE (U.S. Department of Energy), estimates an inplace unconventional natural gas resource in the Green River 

Basin in Wyoming at more than 10 time? larger than the 

recent USGS/MMS (Minerals Management Service) estimate of the entire recoverable conventional natural gas 

resources in the United States (Law and Spencer, 1993); 

however, the amount of recoverable resource is debated. The 

National Petroleum Council (NPC, 1992) 1 ^s estimated that 

most of the Nation's natural gas resources by the year 2010 

will come from such unconventional resources. In many 

cases, these continuous-type resources are distributed over a 

wide area, as opposed to conventional resources, which are 

localized in distinct fields. The majority of conventional 

undiscovered oil and natural gas resources will likely be 

found on federally managed lands and waters (Dolton and 

others, 1990), and thus the Federal Government and their 

policies have increasingly played a significant role in energy 

development.

REFERENCES

Coal Data, 1991: National Coal Association, 1130 17th Street 

N.W., Washington, D.C., 94 p.

Dolton, G.L., Mast, R.F., and Crovelli, R.A., 19^0, Estimates of undiscovered conventional resources of oil and gas for federal 

lands, and for Indian and Native lands of th? continental United
States: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 90-705, 64

p., 2 plates. 

EIA, 1993, Annual energy outlook 1993 with projections to 2010:

DOE/EIA-0383(93), January 1993, 214 p. 

 1994a, International energy outlook 1994: DOE/EIA0484(94), July 1994, 79 p.

-1994b, Annual energy review 1993: DOE/EIA-0384(93),

July 1994, 383 p.

Law, B.E., and Spencer, C.W., 1993, Gas in tight reservoirs An 

emerging major source of energy, in Howell, D.G., ed., The future of energy gases: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1570, p. 233-252.

Lawrence, A.W., Miller, J.A., Miller, D.L., and Linz, D.G., 1993, 

An evaluation of produced water management options in the 

natural gas production industry, in Proceedings, SPE/EPA Exploration and Production Environmental Conference, San Antonio, Texas, March 7-10: Society of Petroleum Engineers 

Paper 26004, p. 581-595.

Munk, N., 1994, Mandate power: Forbes, August 1994, p. 41-42.

Nakicenovic, N., 1993, The methane age and beyond, in Howell, 

D.G., ed., The future of energy gases: U.S. Geological Survey 

Professional Paper 1570, p. 661-676.

National Petroleum Council, 1992, The potential for natural gas in 

the United States: National Petroleum Council, 1625 K Street 

N.W., Washington, D.C., v. I-VI, 2002 p.

Energy Resource Assessments: Who Cares?

David W. Houseknecht,

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA 22092

The American way of life is fueled by an energy mix 

comprising a variety of natural resources. American consumption of energy has risen steadily throughout our history, 

and although the proportions of energy fuels have changed 

through the years, the energy mix has been composed predominantly of fossil fuels (more than 90 percent in recent 

years). The remainder of our energy mix comprises nuclear 

(7 percent), hydropower, geothermal, and various renewable 

energy sources (3 percent collectively).

In the United States, energy is so dependable and so 

inexpensive that it has truly become a "transparent" commodity that most Americans take for granted. Only in 

times of crisis does the American public become acutely 

aware of the finite nature of energy resources and the 

degree to which our daily lives depend on a reliable and 

inexpensive supply of energy. Notable examples of such 

crises include the OPEC embargo of the early 1970's 

(blocks-long lines of cars at gas stations), Desert 

Shield/Storm (partly the result of our energy dependence 

on the Middle East), and the "closing" of Washington, 

D.C., and the Federal Government for entire days during 

the winter of 1993-94 (partly because of inadequate

natural gas supply and (or) pipeline infrastructure). In 

truth, the transparency of our energy supply is a testament 

to the unparalleled success of the American energy sector.

Our Nation's energy mix is a reflection of complexly 

interwoven issues that can be considered in four general categories: (1) Scientific characterization of the energy 

resource base; (2) Technologies for energy extraction and 

use; (3) Economic viability of energy resources development; and (4) Social acceptability of various energy-use scenarios. These issues are seldom independent. For example, 

social pressures toward a cleaner environment favor 

increased use of renewable resources such as solar and wind 

power, the principles of which are scientifically well characterized; but we currently lack the technologies to make these 

renewable resources economically viable at scales that 

would significantly modify our energy mix.

Energy resource assessments provide significant input 

to each of these issues by providing information essential to 

answering several fundamental questions, including: What 

kinds of energy resources are present? How much of each 

resource is present? Where are the resources located? What 

is the quality of the resources? Are the resources available 

for development? Are the resources recoverable with current 

technology? Is development of the resources socially acceptable? What would be the environmental impacts if the 

resources were developed and used?

Historically, energy resource assessments have been 

conducted by a variety of public and private organizations 

employing a variety of methods, and they have produced a 

variety of results and products. Results have been used 

extensively as a basis for funding exploration and development programs, for planning energy transportation and processing systems, for constraining models of economic 

exchange among regions of the Nation and the world, for 

estimating utility supply and demand projections, and for 

strategic planning within both the private and public sectors.

The digital revolution has made it possible for energy 

resource assessments to have a greater impact on a variety of 

"downstream" applications. Results of energy resource 

assessments incorporated in geographic information systems 

(GIS) allow direct application to land-use management at 

virtually any scale. For example, the U.S. Geological Survey 

oil and gas assessment GIS includes Federal land-management boundaries, and already is being used by Federal agencies for land-use planning.

Who cares about energy resource assessments? Everyone cares, at some level. To citizens and policy makers 

directly involved in the energy sector and in Federal land-use 

management, energy resource assessments are essential 

tools of the trade. However, to average citizens whose direct 

exposure to energy is a light switch or a gasoline pump, 

energy resource assessments are as transparent as, but no less 

important than, the energy itself.
Consumption and Production, 1949-1993

100i i i i i i i i

Z

75

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All time high

Consumption

Production

1950

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i l i i i i i i i i i l i i i i i i i i i l i i 

1960 1970 1980 1990

By Source, 1993 

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By Major Source, 1949-1993 

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electric 

power

Hydroelectric 

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i i i i i i i i

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 Petroleum Natural Coal Nuclear Hydro- Geothermal

gas electric electric and other

power power

Note: Because vertical scales differ, graphs should not be compared.

Figure 1 (McGregor and Ahlbrandt). Energy consumption by source (EIA, 1994b). Note an all time high domestic consumption of energy in 1993, 65 percent of which comes from oil and natural gas.
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Geospatial Data in a Digital World

Nancy Tosta, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Reston, VA 22092

Over the last decade many agencies, at all levels of 

government and within the private sector, have begun to 

use digital technology tools to manage and analyze data 

related to locations on the surface of the Earth. These 

data are referred to as geospatial data.

The recent rapid spread and growing sophistication of 

technologies such as geographic information systems (GIS) 

have led to dramatic increases in demands for digital 

geospatial data, as well as increasing requirements for a 

work force with skills in computers, networking, and digital 

geospatial data management The distribution of GIS tools 

has also fostered an environment where digital geospatial 

data may be created by almost anyone, rather than under 

the purview of a few centralized government agencies. This 

trend is resulting in a multitude of data sets, which are often 

difficult to locate, and which, when found, may be unusable 

because of unknown or unacceptable quality.

Land managers and resource scientists find themselves 

faced with the daunting task of learning new technologies 

and new tools for data collection, while concurrently 

attempting to reorganize and integrate existing data for digital use. GIS tools are causing fundamental shifts in concepts of data organization. These technologies are not 

simply application tools, but systems for the organization 

of information based on geography. Data collected at a 

given location, whether map, textual, or sample data, photographs, or even specimens, can be digitally scanned or 

encoded. Analysis of the site where these data were collected may be done electronically, with access to all these 

data referenced to a common location.

As the technologies have evolved, so too have issues 

about data sharing, data quality, data ownership, and data 

access. Many institutional and technical issues are heatedly 

debated in public forums related to GIS and the information 

infrastructure.

The concept of a National Spatial Data Infrastructure 

(NSDI) has gained favor recently, in many ways as a vision 

for bringing some much needed organization to the current 

geospatial data confusion. The NSDI is planned as an 

umbrella of technologies, policies, standards, and organizations as well as individuals that contribute to the collection, management, distribution, and use of geospatial data. 

Numerous U.S. Geological Survey employees, from all 

Divisions, are currently participating in activities to help 

evolve the NSDI. The Federal Geographic Data Committee 

(FGDC) is charged with leading the effort to develop the 

NSDI and is staffed by the National Mapping Division.

Current activities within the NSDI include developing 

a geospatial data clearinghouse to facilitate finding and

accessing data, conceptualizing and building a framework 

data set, and preparing standards. Aspects of the clearinghouse include use of a geospatial metadata standard for 

cataloging and documenting geospatial data, as well as use 

of Wide Area Information Servers (WAIS) and Mosaic 

(World Wide Web) as means for serving and searching for 

data on the Internet. Federal, State, and local government 

agencies are working to define a common digital geospatial framework data set that can serve as a foundation for 

additional collection and analysis of geospatial data. This 

effort recognizes that data requirements may vary by 

geography and not necessarily be consistent nationally. A 

variety of standards are under development to facilitate the 

collection, transfer, and use of geospatial data. The USGS 

chairs subcommittees under the FGDC with responsibilities for coordinating geologic, water, and base cartographic data.

The ability to integrate information about the environment is improving dramatically. This is the result of a proliferation of digital technology tools; more coordination in 

the development, maintenance, and sharing of digital 

geospatial data sets; and improved means to find, manage, 

and access geospatial data remotely and electronically. 

Issues that are spatial in nature, whether they be assessments of biodiversity or studies of ecosystems, infrastructure development, pollution, population growth, or the 

distribution and use of energy resources, can benefit from 

the use of digital geospatial data analysis techniques. Further, the ability to electronically plot the results of digital 

spatial analyses has become a powerful means for conveying information. Results of analyses can be customized as 

maps for more effective communication to a variety of 

audiences.

The future promises more capability in technology and 

data integration. Current research is focused on identifying 

options for interoperability among different data formats 

and databases that will allow for more efficient network 

management and distributed processing.

Additionally, multi-media, or the ability to integrate 

sound, video, and textual information with mapped data, is 

improving and will become common in the organization 

and use of environmental data. Finally, visualization and 

virtual reality may provide means to examine the environment and the Earth from angles never before imagined.

The challenges to improve the efficiency and use of 

digital geospatial data remain to be overcome. These 

include lack of technical knowledge, an unwillingness to 

adopt standards that will benefit a broad community of 

geospatial data users, organizational inertia, and behavioral 

constraints. But the value of the technology for managing 

and analyzing information about the Earth and its resources 

has been proven. It is only a matter of time before all earth 

science organizations recognize that digital geospatial data 

are indispensable to their activities.
Energy Realities of the World 

A Projected Role for Fossil Fuels

Charles D. Masters, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Reston, VA 22092

There is a lot of oil and gas in the world. Numerically, 

we can consider that we have already discovered sufficient 

resources (that is, we have Reserves 1,103 billion barrels of 

oil and 5,136 trillion cubic feet of gas) for more than 50 years 

of continuing substantial production. Of course, demand will 

increase to challenge any arithmetic calculation, but we have 

a lot of Undiscovered Resource potential to balance against 

the demand increase. Specifically, we believe that the Ultimate Resources of recoverable conventional oil in the world 

are slightly in excess of 2 trillion barrels of which we have 

consumed, to date, about 700 BB (billion barrels). And, for 

gas, in a BTU sense, about an equal amount of resource 

energy exists, of which we have only used less than 1/2 as 

much as oil, or some 300 BBOE (billions of barrels of oil 

equivalent).

In a resource sense, then, we have remaining about 3/4 

of our oil and gas endowment (a little more of the remainder 

being gas rather than oil), but these resources stand against 

an increasingly energy-hungry world seemingly determined 

to consume as much as it can as quickly as it can. This means 

that the number of decades of dominant fossil fuel use ahead 

of us may be less than the history of petroleum energy use 

and discovery that is behind us. Though 3/4 of petroleum 

resource production remains ahead of us, only about 1/3 of 

Ultimate Resources remain Undiscovered, presenting us 

now with a rather comprehensive understanding of resource 

occurrence and quantity for these remaining years of 

consumption.

Perhaps the most important realization from our studies 

was the early recognition that, for oil, the Middle East is 

unique; and that, for gas, only one other basin has comparable resources West Siberia Basin and the Kara Sea extension. This limiting expectation permits us to hypothesize that 

the quantitative distribution of world petroleum is established, though we must acknowledge a clearer perception for 

oil resources than for gas. The gas data are much less complete than those of oil because of the lesser market activity of 

gas, and as such is somewhat short on Resource credits. We 

do not concur with those, however, who would go on to say 

that there is, perhaps, double the amount of recoverable conventional gas resource relative to oil. Most commonly, numbers of this greater dimension also include so-called 

Unconventional Resources of gas, which may be present in 

large quantities but which are dispersed and difficult to 

recover, leading to high costs and low rates of production. 

Only a few of the unconventional resources are presently in 

production, and that under subsidy in the United States, so 

we believe the resource data to be most informative if the

conventional and unconventional resource values a^e kept 

separate, until such time as the existing economic and deliverability problems are resolved.

The World Energy Resources Program was established 

about 15 years ago to address the obvious reality of increased 

U.S. reliance on imported energy first oil and then gas. The 

understanding of world petroleum occurrence was also 

sought, as a measure of economic well-being, so we were 

obliged to initiate the study and evaluation of all potential 

petroleum basins both large and small. Initially, we 

focused our attention on aggregations of data by principal 

countries, but we are now in the process of more specific recognition of individual basins; we have, in fact, rendered a 

resource judgment on all basins on the basis of Reserves and 

Undiscovered Resources. Clearly, only a very few basins, 

such as the Middle East and West Siberia, are richly 

endowed with oil and gas and that fits well the statistical 

expectation of the occurrence of geologic resources. The fact 

that most of it is located in the Northern Hemisphere, however, requires explanation.

The richest oil zone occupies a latitudinal telt that 

includes the Middle East, North Africa, Gulf of Mexico, and 

Southeast Asia. Altogether, they account for 68 percent of 

the world's oil and gas. Geologically, this east-we-t zone 

developed under the influence of an equatorial climate, 

favorable to the development of source rock, of carbonate 

reservoirs, and of salt seals all important to the generation 

and entrapment of petroleum. The surprising aspect of world 

petroleum occurrence is the paucity of oil and gas fond and 

expected in the Southern Hemisphere relative to the northern 

continents. Again, the answer would appear to relate to climate, the explanation being that the Northern Henrsphere 

has significant Paleozoic oil occurrences, the geology of 

which was derived when the continents were in a more 

southerly position in Paleozoic time. The Southern Hemisphere, on the other hand, remained proximal to th<? south 

polar region until the northward continental movements 

began in late Mesozoic time, thus positioning the northern 

parts of Gondwana continents in the equatorial belt as 

defined by the 30° latitudes. Only 4 percent of the world's oil 

and gas is found in the South Gondwana area, whe^-as 23 

percent is located in the Boreal region to the north of the 

equatorial geography.

This concept of a preferred location for oil and gas 

resources is critical to our contention of having established 

the distribution of oil and gas resources. Clearly, data 

development has been much less in areas of fewer 

resources because incentive for more activity is tacking. 

Some would say, not enough exploration has been accomplished to determine the essential minimal occurrence of 

petroleum resources in the world. We might concur with 

the resource expectation doubt raised by the limited exploration in the Southern Hemisphere, were it not for the 

Realms Hypothesis (Klemme and Ulmishek, 1991), which 

yields a rationale for the geographic occurrence of
petroleum. Given the hypothesis, however, and our understanding of the geology, and its consistency with the climatic limitations, we believe that the petroleum resource 

occurrence as currently understood well represents the geologic distribution of petroleum resource futures.

The reality obtains then that most of the world's oil is 

in the Middle East and that by early in the 21st century, 

say 2015, 50 percent of the world's oil will come from 

OPEC and mostly the Middle East. It is also true, though, 

that the largest occurrences of unconventional oil some 

600 BB, an amount equal to the reserves of the Middle 

East are in the Western Hemisphere in Venezuela and 

in Canada. Both resource occurrences are presently being 

produced in modest quantities and will remain as such, 

because of the general low prices of world oil, until such 

time as a national security incentive encourages their 

development.

Because the origin of big natural gas most commonly is 

related to the same geologic elements that produce oil, the 

distribution of the two resources is very similar. The largest 

occurrences are reported in the FSU and in the Middle East, 

just as for oil, with North America remaining in third place. 

Together, the big three account for 75 percent of the estimated Ultimate Resources of conventional natural gas. The 

futures occurrence of natural gas is more restricted, in that 

the United States has produced almost half of all the gas ever 

produced, thus markedly reducing the futures potential in 

this country. The United States used to produce more than 20 

TCF (trillion cubic feet)/yr of natural gas but now produces 

about 17 TCF/yr with steadily declining reserves and production capability. Owing to the enormous exploration and 

development activity in the United States, we are the only 

maturely developed major petroleum region in the world and 

are not likely, in any significant way, to reverse the reality of 

declining production (Riva, 1994). We have not had a discovery year in excess of 1 TCF for 30 years except for Prudhoe Bay, whose resources, for now, have no economic 

market.

Given USGS concepts of resource distribution and 

quantities, Bookout (1989) of Shell Oil Co. has presented a 

plan, extending into the 21st century, of possible petroleum 

supply and demand (fig. 1). In his view, petroleum production peaks about 2020, and within that same time frame, considering a modest growth in coal production and non-fossilfuel energy, energy demand can be essentially met. From 

about 2020, and out to 2100 and beyond, he considered that 

technology and price will add an additional 450 BBOE to the 

assessed resource values, and to some degree, tar sands and 

oil shale will enter the market, but energy from conventional 

petroleum resources will decline steadily such that, by 2100, 

energy from coal will exceed that from all of the other fossil 

fuels unconventionals included. The energy gap between 

supply and demand, for which we have no planned replacement, will become reality before mid-century and will

continue to grow, by the end of the century, to a dimension 

at least equal, at that time, to the dwindling supply of fossil 

fuels.

Such a projection, of course, does not define the future, 

but it does point clearly at the arithmetic of resources as compared to a Demand Scenario; and it challenges our ingenuity 

to meet the needs of the future through energy resource 

enhancement, the work of geologists and engineers, or perhaps through demand reduction, a task for us all.

REFERENCES

Bookout, J.F., 1987, Two centuries of fossil fur J energy: Episodes, 

v. 12, no. 4, p. 257-262.

Klemme, H.D., and Ulmishek, G.F., 1991, Effective petroleum 

source rocks of the world; Stratigraphic distribution and controlling depositional factors: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 75, no. 12, p. 1809-1851.

Masters, C.D., Attanasi, E.D., and Root, D.H., 1994, World petroleum assessment and analysis, Proceedings of the 14th World 

Petroleum Congress, Stavanger, Norway, Preprint: New York, 

John Wiley.

Riva, J.P., 1994, Domestic natural gas, past, present, and future: 

CRS Report for Congress 94-504 SPR, 21 p.

Oil and Gas Resources of the Urrted States 

How Much Is Left and Where Is It?

Donald L. Gautier and Gordon L. Dolton, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CC 80225

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation 

with the Minerals Management Service (M^ *S), has recently 

completed a study of the possible additions to oil and gas 

reserves of the United States. The USGS has responsibility 

for resource estimates onshore and in Srte waters; since 

1982, the MMS has had responsibility for resource evaluation in the Federal offshore. Although the USGS has been 

responsible for evaluating resources of the United States for 

more than one hundred years, the scope, detail, and degree of 

documentation make this assessment the most comprehensive and accessible such study ever attempted. Results and 

documentation of the assessment of potential additions to 

reserves have been compiled in digital forrat and are available in traditional hard copy summary publications, as files 

on CD-ROM, and as digital data accessible via the Internet. 

Because the study was based upon a digital Geographic 

Information System (GIS), the results of tH study, the documentation, and much historical oil and ga~ information can 

be accessed through the GIS. For any specified land area,
350

1940 1980 2020 2060 2100

Figure 1 (Masters). Distribution of consumption of world energy resources out to 2100, showing fossil fuel consumption declining to half 

of demand. Coal consumption held constant in last 40 years. Modified from Bookout (1989).

ownership, or land-use category for which a plan-view 

boundary can be specified, past history of oil and gas activity 

and possible future activity can be interpreted. This 

information is expected to be of considerable value to landuse planners, land-management agencies, oil and gas 

interests, environmental impact analysts, economists, strategic planners, and others.

Three broad categories of resources were evaluated by 

the USGS in this study: (1) undiscovered oil and gas in discrete pools and fields; (2) "unconventional" accumulations 

of oil and gas in continuous-type deposits such as gas in lowpermeability (tight) sandstones, coalbed gas, and oil or gas in 

self-sourced shale reservoirs; and (3) growth of reserves in 

fields discovered prior to the onset of this assessment project 

(circa 1992).

Each of these resource categories required a different 

assessment strategy. Undiscovered, conventional oil and gas 

accumulations were estimated by means of play analysis. A 

play, for the purposes of the National Assessment, is a set of 

geologically similar, known or postulated oil and (or) gas 

accumulations. In play analysis, geologists with local expertise combine available geologic information and concepts 

with historical results of exploration, discovery, and production data to estimate sizes and numbers of accumulations 

remaining to be found. Unconventional resources in continuous-type deposits were evaluated by means of new methodologies developed for this study, in which well-performance

information from existing wells was extrapolated probabilistically to undrilled but geologically similar areas. Anticipated growth of reserves in known fields was estimated by 

extrapolation of growth trends observed in historical 

reserves data from known fields. Approximate cost curves 

were developed for all estimated potential additions on a 

region-by-region basis. Results are reported in terms of 

sizes, numbers, depths, and hydrocarbon type and quality of 

undiscovered accumulations. Unconventional accumulations are evaluated separately and reported in terms of 

expected estimated ultimate recoveries of wells within each 

play. Additions to reserves resulting from field growth are 

calculated on a region-by-region basis and evaluated in 

terms of price and supply.

Results are reported by State, by play, by province, 

by region, and nationally, as well as by hydrocarbon type 

(that is, oil and gas), field size, depth, and anticipated performance of any producing wells in the plays. Estimates 

have been made of the fractions of resources existing 

within Federal land categories. In addition to input data 

and analytical output, documentation consists of a series 

of texts describing methodologies used in assessment of 

various resource categories, detailed play descriptions, 

digital province and play maps, exploration history maps 

by play, and a series of graphs, tables, and charts, showing 

details of the exploration, discovery, and production history for each play.
Is "Unconventional" Gas a 

Sustainable Energy Source?

Dudley D. Rice, Ronald C. Charpentier, 

Thomas D. Fouch, and James W. Schmoker, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO 80225, and 

Emil D. Attanasi, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Reston, VA 22092

Natural gas is expected to become an increasingly 

important source of energy because of economic, environmental, and energy security factors. The U.S. natural gas 

resource base is large and diverse. Besides proved reserves 

considered to be producible under current economic and 

operating conditions, about 46 percent of the possible additions to reserves are estimated to occur in "tight" sandstones, 

coal beds, and shales (National Petroleum Council, 1992). 

These "unconventional" sources accounted for about 10 percent of the natural gas production in 1992. They are forecasted to account for 17 percent of the production in the year 

2000, 22 percent in 2010, and 59 percent in 2030. The U.S. 

Geological Survey is currently evaluating the potential of 

these "unconventional" gas resources.

Until recently, "unconventional" gas was considered to 

be a resource of the future because its development 

depended on advanced technology which would require 

higher prices. However, because of a production tax credit 

(Section 29 of the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act), production has been established, major technology advances 

have been made, and these gas resources are now being 

developed. Although large resource estimates are given for 

"unconventional" gas, the main concerns for their sustainability are (1) recoverability constrained by price and technology, and (2) the environmental impacts of their 

development.

The geologic and production attributes of "unconventional" gas resources are briefly described herein and illustrated in figure 1. More details are provided in Law and 

Spencer (1993), Milici (1993), and Rice and others (1993). 

The key characteristic of this resource is that the gas generally occurs in continuous accumulations of large area! extent 

(fig. 1).

The largest "unconventional" gas resource potential is 

in low-permeability ("tight") sandstones. Permeability is the 

property of a rock that allows for movement of fluids. Gas 

accumulations in "tight" sandstones are commonly continuous and widespread and are characterized by (1) occurrence 

downdip from water-saturated rocks, (2) lack of obvious trap 

and seal, (3) crosscutting of rock boundaries, (4) abnormal 

pressure (high or low), and (5) close association with source 

rocks.

Coalbed methane also occurs in continuous, widespread accumulations which have the following properties: 

(1) large amounts of gas are generated in coal beds, (2) gas

is stored on internal surfaces of coal, (3) gas content 

increases with rank and depth, (4) permeability is in fractures 

(cleats) and decreases with increasing depth (fig. W), (5) 

cleats are water saturated, and (6) reservoirs are abnormally 

pressured (high or low). Shale gas is similar to coalbed methane, but the organic matter is less concentrated in shale.

The production characteristics for "tight" gas sandstones, coal beds, and shale are similar. Gas occurs in widespread accumulations whose locations are generally known, 

and few holes are truly "dry." Thus the exploration risk is 

very low. However, production rates and ultimate recoveries 

for individual wells within a single accumulation are highly 

variable because of the heterogeneous nature of the reservoirs. For gas accumulations in "tight" sandstones, the water 

production rates are generally low, except in the updip transition zone to water-saturated rocks (fig. 1A). For coalbed 

methane and shale gas, significant amounts of water are 

commonly produced from wells, especially during the early 

stages of production.

Potential additions to gas reserves from "tight" sandstones may be as much as 250 TCP (trillion cubic feet). 

These resources occur in the Rocky Mountain, Gulf Coast, 

Midcontinent, and Appalachian areas. Production statistics 

are only available for those reservoirs classified as "tight" 

according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

(FERC). Many other reservoirs are also "tight," but statistics 

are not available. Production from "tight" reservoirs 

increased from 68 BCF (billion cubic feet) in 1978 to 1,251 

BCF in 1992 and accounted for about 7 percent of total production in 1991. Much of the development of gas from 

"tight" reservoirs was stimulated by the production tax 

credit, but activity has continued since its termination in 

1992. Development is expected to increase in the future.

Recoverable resources of coalbed methane may be as 

much as 50 TCP. A major part of the resource is in the Rocky 

Mountain area, followed by the Eastern Interior region. 

Coalbed methane production has increased dramatically 

from about 26 BCF in 1987 to 535 BCF in 1992, to account 

for about 3 percent of the gas production. Reserves of coalbed methane increased from about 3.6 TCP in 1989 to more 

than 10 TCP in 1992, to make up about 6 percent of the total. 

Drilling declined in 1992, prior to the end of the tax credit, 

because many of the more favorable areas had been developed. However, production rates continued to increase 

because of the long-term effects of dewatering. Dewatering 

reduces the reservoir pressure and allows the gas to be 

released from the coal matrix. New development will probably take place in the Appalachian area where (1) development has been hindered by barriers such as ownership of the 

gas, and (2) large amounts of methane are emitted to the 

atmosphere from underground mines.

Additional gas reserves from shale may be as much as 

40 TCP. In 1990, the production from shale was about 0.2 

TCP and is projected to increase. Most of the activity has

10
-10's of miles-

*j^-*« iKM^4>Ty=U;Jt<:i= *trfJ^il^^"$*&**W#y*^

^yijfUjf-nj: fij=-,ijSSfc £ :&i*fp:iir:i:;=-ife^=*iiSBS.^^^=l:T»-5=! = !=*f===1ki.-==SE.J«1E fc.=5

-10's of milesRecharge

Area of increased fracturing

_______A.

B

Figure 1 (Rice and others). Schematic diagram showing geologic setting of A, continuous-type "tight" gas sandstone accumulation, and 

B, coalbed methane accumulation. Shale gas accumulations are similar to those of coalbed methane.

been in Michigan and Appalachian basins, although potential exists in other basins.

Several environmental issues bear on the possible 

future development of "unconventional" gas resources. 

Because these accumulations are widespread and the reservoirs are heterogeneous, a large number (as many as tens of 

thousands for a single accumulation) of closely spaced wells, 

as well as accompanying infrastructure of roads, pipelines, 

and the like, will be required to develop the resource. The 

greatly increased human activity could adversely affect land 

use of private and public lands, and also decrease the quality

and quantity of other resources, such as water. Such environmental concerns play a part in the Rocky Mountain area, for 

example, where Federal and Native American lands that may 

contain a significant "unconventional" gas resource are in 

some areas inaccessible to exploration. Another concern is 

water disposal, especially with coalbed methane and shale 

gas wells, which produce larger amounts of water than other 

types of oil and gas wells. Although environmentally acceptable methods of disposal are available, they are sometimes 

not economically feasible if large quantities are involved. On 

the positive side, recovery and utilization of coalbed

11
methane in underground mining areas, such as the Appalachian region, would decrease atmospheric emissions of 

methane, a potent "greenhouse" gas, and result in both environmental and economic benefits. Finally, the contribution 

of natural gas from both natural geologic processes and 

human-related activities to "greenhouse" gases and to the 

global carbon cycle is not fully understood. The increased 

use of "unconventional" gas, resulting partly from the displacement of oil or coal, would probably affect the emissions 

of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

In conclusion, resources of "unconventional" gas are 

estimated to be large and to account for an increasing amount 

of the production in the future. However, its contribution 

will be strongly affected by recoverability, which is influenced by economics and technology, and by environmental 

issues.

REFERENCES

Law, B.E., and Spencer, C.W., 1993, Gas in tight reservoirs An 

emerging major source of energy, in Howell, D.G., ed., The future of energy gases: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1570, p. 233-252.

Milici, R.C., 1993, Autogenic gas (self sourced) from shales An 

example from the Appalachian basin, in Howell, D.G., ed., The 

future of energy gases: U.S. Geological Survey Professional 

Paper 1570, p. 253-278.

National Petroleum Council, 1992, The potential for natural gas in 

the United States: Washington, D.C., National Petroleum 

Council, six volumes plus Executive Summary.

Rice, D.D., Law, B.E., and Clayton, J.L., 1993, Coalbed gas An 

underdeveloped resource, in Howell, D.G., ed., The future of 

energy gases: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1570, 

p. 389-404.

Assessing the Nation's Coal Resources 

Is It Really a Burning Question?

H.J. Gluskoter, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Reston, VA 22092

Introduction

One of the earliest maps if not the first recording the 

occurrence of coal in North America was made by Louis 

Joliet and Father Jacques Marquette in 1674. They produced 

a map of the upper Mississippi Valley and indicated the presence of "Charbon de terre" along the Illinois River (Bement, 

1929). The intrepid Frenchmen didn't discover the coal, of 

course; Native Americans were well aware of its existence. 

There is some indication that Hopi and Navajo pottery was 

fired in coal-heated enclosures as early as the llth century 

(Lindbergh and Provorse, 1977).

For the 200 years following Joliet and Marquette's voyages of exploration, wood and some coal were used to fuel 

the American economy and the westward settlement of the 

continent. In the middle of the 19th century, railroads 

expanded across the continent and coal replaced wood as the 

dominant source of energy in the United States. By the 

beginning of the 20th century, more than 200 million tons of 

coal were consumed annually, and coal continued to be the 

dominant source of energy for the first half of the 1900's.

Coal no longer dominates the energy picture; the 

Nation's addiction to personal automobile transport and the 

(as yet) inability to put some form of coal into internal combustion engines have placed petroleum in the dominant position. However, the quantity of coal produced and consumed 

in the United States has continued to increase at a rather 

steady rate (fig. 1), and all projections for the next several 

decades are for continued increase in coal production. Current production is approximately 1 billion tons per year.

Most of the coal consumed in the United States, more 

than 80 percent, is used for producing electricity: approximately 55 percent of the Nation's electricity is produced in 

coal-fired power plants. Because the life expectancy of a 

power plant is in decades and no nuclear plants are currently 

under construction or at an advanced stage on the drawing 

board, coal will most likely continue to be the dominant fuel 

for generating electricity for the next several decades, and 

possibly for much longer.

Coal Resource Assessments Background

During the first quarter of this century, when coal was 

the dominant source of energy in this country and the annual 

production of coal was rapidly rising from 200 million tons 

per year to more than 600 million tons per year, the U.S. 

Geological Survey made several estimates of the coal 

resources in the United States. The earliest estimate, by 

Campbell and Parker (1909), was a little more than 3 trillion 

tons of coal. The most recent national estimate of this kind 

was made by Averitt in 1975, and he estimated approximately 4 trillion tons, including only a very modest amount 

in Alaska. During the 65 years between Campbell and 

Parker's first publication on coal resources and Averitt's 

1975 paper, at least seven other estimates of the Nation's 

original coal resources were published, all of which ranged 

from 3.1 to 4.0 trillion tons of coal.

When presented with two sets of values (1) the total 

amount of coal resources in a single area, and (2) the annual 

production or consumption of coal in the same area it is 

difficult to avoid calculating the number of years that the 

current production could continue before the last ton of coal 

is finally burned. The solution to this simple equation for 

U.S. coal resources has become conventional wisdom. Two 

examples of this conventional wisdom, pertinent to 

1994-95, follow:

12
"Oil and gas reserves are expected to be depleted at 

some point during the next century, while U.S. coal reserves 

amount to a 250-year supply." (National Coal Council, 

1992);

"Coal is the world's most abundant fossil fuel by far. 

While accessible stocks of gas and oil will last 50 years or so 

at the rates we now exploit them, there is enough coal available for three centuries at least" (New Scientist, 1993).

Coal Resources Current Interests

As just indicated, the total coal resources and the coal 

reserves are generally acknowledged both to be large and to 

be a significant source of energy for some time to come. If 

one were to recalculate the total coal resources of the Nation, 

the statement would remain valid, whether the new value 

was similar to the previous ones or if it were two to three 

times larger. The question then arises, what, if anything, do 

we as a Nation want and need to know about our coal 

resources?

Governments, including Federal, State, and local bodies, require resource information in making policy decisions. 

The Federal Government leases coal for production, and 

Federal and State agencies regulate mining, environmental 

protection, and reclamation. Local governments control land 

use, support industrial development, provide much of the 

infrastructure, and in many areas, survive on tax dollars from 

coal. Industry makes business decisions based on a variety of 

factors, and in the case of coal mining, one of these is the 

presence of an adequate supply of economically recoverable 

coal. Coal mining and utilization carry with them potentially negative environmental impacts, which are of concern 

to almost everybody. Because the amount of coal resources 

on the national scale is large, interest on coal resources shifts 

from the national to the regional or local scale. The program 

at the U.S. Geological Survey that involves assessing the 

Nation's coal resources attempts to respond to the more 

pressing of these regional concerns.

An example of increased regional studies is cooperatives between the U.S. Geological Survey and the geological 

agencies in the coal producing States. These studies, initiated 

in 1987, identify the current major constraints to the availability of coal resources for development and estimate the 

amount of coal available for development under those conditions. These studies are conducted within 7.5-minute quadrangles and the results can, hopefully, be extrapolated 

throughout the region.

These investigations, and nearly all other current coal 

resource efforts, make use of geographic information systems (GIS). Effective use of GIS requires all the pertinent 

data as well as all map products to be in digital form, allowing for updates of the resource information on a regular basis 

and for "real time" display of the graphical information.

At another scale, the most significant coal-producing 

regions (basins), and the major coal-producing beds, 

zones, or units will be mapped, resources calculated, and 

potential areas for future production will be indicated. 

Close coordination with the appropriate State geological 

agencies in each of the major coal basins will be required 

to conduct these studies. Factors that in the past were not 

commonly determined in coal assessments have ir recent 

years become critical with regards to potential coal utilization. These factors are grouped under the label of "coal 

quality" and include sulfur content, ash, rank of ccal, and 

coal chemistry and mineralogy. These parameters will be 

integrated into the basin-wide studies to whatever degree 

the availability of data allows.

An additional aspect of coal assessment, irrespective 

of scale, is the determination of federally owned coal 

resources. These resources are part of our Nation's energy 

endowment, and accurate inventory will enable balance 

between leasing and preservation of Federal lands underlain by coal.

Conclusions

The coal assessment program is designed to provide 

data to answer local and regional questions and thereby 

allows for more informed and, hopefully, better decisions 

related to coal mining and utilization. Many of the issues 

related to coal utilization, however, are not limited t^ local, 

regional, or national scales; rather, they are global.

As the developing countries of the world make use of 

the indigenous energy sources available to them, United 

States experience with coal exploration, coal evaluation, and 

coal utilization should be exported to them. The goal in 

assisting the developing countries is to enable them to utilize 

their resources efficiently and in as environmentally sound a 

manner as technologically possible.

REFERENCES

Averitt, Paul, 1975, Coal resources of the United States, January 1, 

1974: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1412, 131 p.

Bement, A., 1929, Illinois Coal: Illinois State Geological Survey 

Bulletin 5 6, 123 p.

Campbell, M.R., and Parker, E.W., 1909, Coal fields of th^ United 

States, in Papers on the conservation of mineral resources: 

U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 394, p.7-26.

Lindbergh, Kristina, and Provorse, Barry, 1977, Coal A contemporary energy story: Seattle, Wash., Scribe Publishing Company, 207 p.

National Coal Council, 1992, The near term role for coal h the future energy strategy of the United States: Arlington, va., The 

National Coal Council, 76 p.

New Scientist, 1993, Why coal has a future; Where the po^er lies: 

New Scientist, no. 1857, 23 January 1993, p. 20-31.

13
(O

o

1200

1000

800

O

13 600

400

200

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 

1905 1915 1925 1935 1945 1955 1965 1975 1P85 1994

YEAR

Figure 1 (Gluskoter). United States coal production (in 2,000 Ib tons), 1900-1994.

Coal Quality A Clean Air Act Perspective

Robert B. Finkelman, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Reston, VA 22092

The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) require 

that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assess 

the impact to human health and the environment from emissions into the atmosphere from a variety of stationary 

sources. The CAAA cite 189 chemical substances as hazardous air pollutants (HAPS), including about 14 trace elements 

(antimony, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, chlorine, cobalt, fluorine, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, selenium, and radionuclides, such as uranium).

Coal-burning electric utility power plants are one of the 

primary anthropogenic sources of these trace elements. The 

EPA is using the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) coal 

quality data to evaluate the impact that switching from highsulfur to low-sulfur coals would have on HAPS emissions

from coal-burning utility power plants and to help estimate 

the HAPS emissions from all major coal-burning utility boilers in the United States.

The USGS coal quality database contains information 

on the properties and characteristics of coal that could influence its use. Among the characteristics contained in the coal 

quality database are the concentrations of more than 60 trace 

elements, including all the HAPS. This information is available for more than 7,400 coal samples, inc'uding coal from 

all the major U.S. coal-bearing basins and from the 50 top 

coal-producing beds. (See also Linda Brag£ and others' CDROM, USGS Open-File Report 94-205.)

The concern of the CAAA is with the amount of each 

hazardous air pollutant emitted into the atnrosphere by coalburning utility power plants. The amoun* of the element 

emitted is a function of the concentration of the element in 

the coal and the amount of coal burned, which is a function 

of its heat value: To generate an equivalent amount of 

energy, more coal having relatively low hea t values has to be 

burned than does coal having a higher heat value. Therefore,

14
Table 1 (Finkelman). Mean input loads for HAPS (g/106 Btu) and SO2 (lb/106 Btu) for selected 

coal regions.

[Data represent arithmetic mean values on an as-received basis. From Oman and Finkelman (in press)]

Appalachian Eastern Interior San Juan Powder River Fort Union Gulf Coast

No. samples

Btu/lb

SO2 lb

Grams:

As

Be

Cd

Co

Cr

Hg

Mn

Ni

Pb

Sb

Se

U

4,227

12,781

3.338

1.264

0.089

.003

.252

.604

.007

.965

.593

.287

.050

.124

.058

263

11,438

6.299

0.790

.124

.017

.281

.672

.004

1.665

1.119

.782

.055

.115

.098

174

9,604

1.449

0.121

.122

.007

.158

.304

.003

2.414

.288

1.344

.071

.092

.124

484

8,085

1.894

0.274

.040

.006

.117

.368

.006

2.788

.288

.253

.029

.052

.069

278

6,348

3.229

0.835

.065

.009

.177

.456

.010

5.802

.327

.295

.050

.057

.133

112

6,466

3.632

0.344

.153

.017

.366

1.121

.016

11.306

.940

.705

.060

.398

.181

Table 2 (Finkelman). Probable modes of occurrence of selected trace elements in 

coal (Finkelman, 1993).

Element Modes of occurrence

Antimony

Arsenic

Beryllium

Cadmium

Chromium

Cobalt

Lead

Manganese

Mercury

Nickel

Selenium

Uranium

In pyrite and accessory sulfides.

Solid solution in pyrite.

Organic association.

Solid solution.

Organic or clay association.

In pyrite and accessory sulfides.

Galena (PbS).

Siderite (Fe,MnCO3).

Solid solution in pyrite.

Unknown.

Organic association, also as PbSe in bituminous coal.

Organic association, also in zircon in bituminous coal.

one way to properly compare the potential HAPS yield of 

coal would be on a grams per million Btu (g/106 Btu) basis; 

this is referred to as input load. Table 1 contains information 

on the input loads for the average composition of coal from 

five major coal-producing regions. Note that these values 

would be modified (generally reduced) by any coal-cleaning 

procedure. Coal from the Appalachian basin and the Eastern 

Interior region commonly is cleaned; coal from the other 

three regions rarely is cleaned.

Another coal-quality parameter, the mode of occurrence of the element, may also influence the way that coal 

mining companies and utilities respond to regulations that 

may result from the CAAA. Information on the modes of 

occurrence of the HAPS in coal will enable prediction of the 

behavior of the elements during coal cleaning and coal

combustion. This information will then allow the utilities to 

select the pollution control options that will help them to 

most efficiently meet the emission standards. Table 2 contains information on the more common modes of occurrence 

of the hazardous air pollutants.

REFERENCES

Finkelman, R.B., 1993, Trace and minor elements in coal, chapter 

28 in Engel, M.H., and Macko, S.A., eds., Organic geochemistry: New York, Plenum Press, p. 593-607.

Oman, C.A., and Finkelman, R.B., in press, Hazardous a;r pollutants in major U.S. coal-producing areas: Eleventh Annual International Pittsburgh Coal Conference.

15
Natural Variations in Atmospheric CO2 

Does What We Know Hurt Us?

Eric T. Sundquist, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Woods Hole, MA 02543

The climatic effects of anthropogenic carbon dioxide 

first emerged as a prominent public policy concern during 

the 1970's (see, for example, National Research Council, 

1977). The concern was motivated by scientific conclusions 

and uncertainties that have remained remarkably unchanged 

throughout the past two decades of intensified research. 

Then, as now, a doubling of atmospheric CO2 concentrations 

was expected to increase global mean temperatures by a few 

degrees during the next century. The primary sources of the 

added CO2 were and still are known to be the consumption of fossil fuels and the destruction of forests. About half 

of the CO2 added to the atmosphere was and still 

is known to be removed by the oceans and land plants. The 

expectation of global warming is based on scientific underpinnings that have withstood decades of increased knowledge, refined measurements, and vastly improved 

computing technology.

On the other hand, fundamental uncertainties have also 

persisted since the 1970's. The uncertainty of global temperatures predicted for a doubling of atmospheric CC>2 remains 

at almost the same level. Climatic effects still cannot be predicted for specific geographic regions. Biogeochemists have 

argued for more than 20 years about the relative magnitude 

of CO2 uptake by the oceans and land plants. Given these 

recalcitrant uncertainties, it is not unreasonable to ask 

(somewhat pointedly, from a taxpayer's perspective) what 

we have gained from the last two decades of research on 

interactions among CO2, the global carbon cycle, and 

climate.

One conspicuous recent advance in our knowledge of 

atmospheric CO2 is our improved understanding of its natural variability over a broad spectrum of time scales. 

Expanded and improved atmospheric monitoring has 

revealed subtle interannual CO2 concentration changes associated with El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. 

Glacier-ice core analyses suggest that somewhat larger and 

slower CO2 variations may have occurred during the Middle 

Ages. More strikingly, the study of ice cores has shown a 

strong correlation between pronounced atmospheric CO2 

and climate changes through the most recent glacial and 

interglacial oscillations of the latest Pleistocene and 

Holocene epochs. By inference from marine sediment 

records that extend farther back in time, we believe that similar CO2 and climate oscillations have probably occurred in 

concert for millions of years. Looking still deeper into the 

geologic record, we see evidence for a connection between 

much higher atmospheric CO2 levels and the absence of 

periods of continental glaciation 150 million years ago.

These conclusions contrast sharply with the prevailing opinion of 20 years ago, which held that atmornheric CO2 was 

geochemically stable before human disturbance.

How does this new knowledge affect our ability to 

address the public's concern about the future climatic effects 

of anthropogenic CO2? In one important way, it gives us 

greater confidence in the probability of global warming 

caused by an enhancement of the greenhouse effect. The 

geologic record extracted from glacier ice and marine sediments suggests that past times of higher CO2 levels were 

times of relatively warm climate. This simple generalization 

must still be tweaked and scrutinized because the evidence is 

indirect. Nevertheless, the geologic record appears to offer 

straightforward empirical support for a strong connection 

between increasing atmospheric CO2 levels and global 

warming.

Does our new awareness of CO2's natural variability 

provide a basis for more authoritative prediction of future 

atmospheric CO2 and climate trends? It is tempting to 

attribute a simple causal relationship to the geologic connections between CO2 and climate. Geologists continue to 

search for a "smoking gun" that would defne climate's sensitivity to atmospheric CO2. Unfortunately, the search is 

repeatedly frustrated by evidence for the sensitivity of CO2 

to climate, and by consideration of the many other factors 

that could have influenced past climates. / Ithough the geologic data seem to portend global warming, they also reveal 

a complex tangle of interactions between climate and the 

global carbon cycle that was barely conceivable 20 years 

ago. In this new view, the carbon cycle and atmospheric CO2 

are just as sensitive to climate change as c'imate is to CO2- 

The global carbon cycle, atmospheric CO2, and the climate 

system must be seen as components in a single interactive 

system that is so complex that it exceeds the present capabilities of our most sophisticated predictive models. This 

important new insight means that some of our predictions 

must now be viewed with greater uncertainty, not less.

How do these added uncertainties affect our predictions? The record of past CO2 and climate variations highlights two particular problems that were not widely 

recognized 20 years ago. First, any future f lobal warming is 

likely to cause carbon-cycle and CO2 rernonses far more 

active and complex than the passive CO2 uptake modeled in 

most current predictions. Thus, although carbon-cycle projections extending a few decades into the fr*ure can be made 

reliably from extrapolation of recent CC 2 uptake trends, 

these trends become increasingly tenuous with increases in 

the projected likelihood and magnitude of global warming. 

Among the various current predictions, tvose that predict 

greater and sooner climatic effects must also bear the burden 

of greater and more immediate uncertainties due to feedbacks between climate and the carbon cycR

Second, these feedbacks extend to time scales of thousands of years and more. Figure 1 (from Sundquist, 1993) 

illustrates the range of time scales required for the principal

16
- 10

- 100

< - 1,000

Atmosphere 

420 18 ka 

590 A.D. 1750 

750 A.D. 1190

1 to 3 t

60 2 to 3

I

70

Fossil 

fuels 

4,000

10,000

- 100,000

- 1,000,000 

V

Terrestrial

biosphere

560

Active 

soils 

1,100

Old 

soils 

500

Ocean surface 

900

Deep ocean 

36,400

0.6 A 0.4

Reactive marine sediments 

3,000

lo.; lo.;

Earth's crust 90,000,000

Figure 1 (Sundquist). Principal reservoirs and fluxes (arrows) in the global carbon cycle. Vertical placements relative to scale on left show 

approximate time scales required for reservoirs and fluxes to affect atmospheric CC^ (from Sundquist, 1993). Reservoirs: gigatons carbon. 

Fluxes: gigatons carbon per year.

carbon reservoirs and fluxes to affect the atmosphere. All of 

the natural fluxes illustrated in this figure are sensitive to climate change. Thus, anthropogenic CO2 must be viewed as a 

perturbation not only of the near-term atmosphere, but also 

of the geologic carbon-climate system. For example, the 

increase in atmospheric CO2 concentrations since preindustrial times is comparable to the increase that occurred over 

the several thousand years that marked the end of the last ice 

age about 10,000 years ago. These significant perturbations 

of the global atmosphere while comparable in magnitude differ greatly in mechanisms and time scales. The 

central lesson of this comparison is that anthropogenic CO2 

must be considered a "geologic" perturbation: it affects and 

responds to fundamental Earth processes (particularly climatic processes) on a grand scale, it can be expected to persist for a period of time far beyond the range of typical 

human planning, and it will leave a conspicuous legacy in 

the strata of our time. Regrettably, our improved knowledge 

of the past does not yet enable us to foresee this legacy with 

much confidence.

REFERENCES

National Research Council, 1977, Energy and climate: Washir^ton,

D.C., National Academy Press, 158 p. 

Sundquist, E.T., 1993, The global carbon dioxide budget: Scrence,

v. 259, p. 934-941.

Atmospheric Methane and

Other Energy-Related Trace Gases 

Effects on Global Warming and Ozone

Ronald S. Oremland and Keith A. Kvenvold^n, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA 94025

Methane, the main component of natural gas, is an efficient energy source projected to be of increased importance 

to the energy budget of the United States over the next few 

decades (Howell and others, 1993). Methane may have

17
additional value as an industrial feedstock for the production 

of critical organic synthesis intermediates like ethylene 

(Jiang and others, 1994), which would further enhance its 

value as petroleum reserves dwindle. Methane is a much 

cleaner burning fuel than oil and coal; however, release of 

uncombusted methane to the atmosphere does have environmental ramifications. Methane's significance in the atmosphere is twofold: its action as an absorber of reflected 

infrared radiation from the Earth's surface (as a "greenhouse 

gas") and its chemical reactions that influence the abundance 

of ozone in the troposphere and stratosphere. On a molecular 

basis, methane absorbs about 20-fold more infrared energy 

than does carbon dioxide (CO2), and because of this feature 

and its relatively high abundance, it is second to carbon dioxide in importance as an atmospheric greenhouse gas. The 

sum of all the non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases (for 

example, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons) is 

estimated to be equal to the heat-trapping properties of the 

carbon dioxide currently in the atmosphere, a factor that can 

accelerate atmospheric warming predictions by a factor of 

two (Dickenson and Cicerone, 1986). We briefly describe 

herein what is known about methane and some other key 

energy-related trace gases present in the atmosphere. For 

more detail, see Cicerone and Oremland (1988).

The globally averaged concentration of methane in the 

atmosphere is about 1.7 parts per million, and the total quantity in the atmosphere (atmospheric burden) is roughly 

4.8xl015 grams. The major mechanism by which methane is 

removed from the atmosphere is by an oxidative reaction 

sequence initiated with hydroxyl radicals ("OH"). Hydroxyl 

radicals are highly reactive, short-lived entities which occur 

in the atmosphere from the photolysis of water vapor. From 

measurements of the kinetics of this reaction, a residence 

time of methane in the atmosphere of about 10 years can be 

derived. Annual flux of methane to the atmosphere is calculated by dividing the atmospheric burden by the residence 

time, which yields a value of about 500 xlO12 g. Two factors 

complicate these calculations, namely the amount of methane removed from the atmosphere by methane-oxidizing 

bacteria in soil, and the increasing concentration of methane 

in the atmosphere. The oxidizing factor is not well known, 

perhaps accounting for between 1 and 10 percent of the total 

consumed (referred to as a "sink"). With regard to increasing 

methane concentrations, ice core data reveal that the concentration of methane has doubled in the atmosphere over the 

past 150 years. During the decade from 1978 to 1987, the 

increase was determined to be about 1 percent per year 

(Blake and Rowland, 1988). The amount of recent annual 

increase is thus roughly comparable to that annually consumed by soil bacteria. The rate of annual increase has lessened in recent years (Steele and others, 1992), perhaps 

because the Mt. Pinatubo eruption decreased the abundance 

of hydroxyl radicals, although a decrease of natural gas leakage from supply lines of the former Soviet Union may have 

also contributed (Dlugokencky and others, 1994).

We now review what is known abcut major sources of 

methane to the atmosphere, and an effort at quantification of 

these source terms is given in table 1. Based on radiocarbon 

content, 70-90 percent of atmospheric methane is derived 

from carbon that has been recently in equilibrium with the 

atmosphere, indicating that biological rources, rather than 

the radiocarbon-free geologic sources (for example, natural 

gas accumulations), are responsible for rrost of this methane. 

The majority of this radiocarbon-rich methane is directly 

attributable to the activities of the anaercbic methane-generating bacteria present in animal gastrointestinal systems 

(including ruminants and termites), in natural wetlands, and 

in rice paddies. Human food production activity has been the 

major source of the methane increase over the past century particularly biomass burning to clear new land for 

crops, domestic livestock herd raising, and rice production. 

Recovery and distribution of natural ga^ and the mining of 

coal account for only about 15 percent of the budget. Nonetheless, greater future use of both natural gas and coal will 

likely increase this relative proportion as well as the absolute 

quantity of methane derived from these nonrelated sources. 

The contribution of methane from natural surface gas seeps 

to the global budget has not been estimated, although gas 

seeps are common (Oremland and others, 1987; Lorenson 

and Kvenvolden, 1993).

Other factors contributing to future atmospheric methane increases may be related to feedback effects of global 

warming releasing methane entrapped in polar permafrost 

(Kvenvolden and others, 1993) and in gas hydrate (Kvenvolden, 1988), as well as diminished consumption of methane from the air by soil bacterial communities that serve as 

sinks (Steudler and others, 1989). The magnitude of these 

future hypothesized sources and diminished sinks can only 

be guessed at, which adds a distressing degree of uncertainty 

to any predictions.

On the question of ozone, methan0, is generally a net 

producer of pollutant ozone in the troposphere, whereas in 

the stratosphere it can actually help protect the integrity of 

the ozone layer. In the troposphere where nitrogen oxides are 

also abundant, especially in urban locations, the following 

ozone-generating reaction occurs as initiated with energy 

derived from sunlight ("hv"):

CH4+4O2+2hv (1)

About 60xl012 g of methane annually escapes oxidation in the troposphere and migrates up to the stratosphere. 

Methane in the stratosphere can undergo reaction with 

ozone-destroying chlorine atoms to form a temporary reservoir of inactive hydrochloric acid molecules:

CH4+C1 ->CH,+HC1 (2)

Hence reaction 1 forms tropospheric ozone, an undesirable gas because of its ability to form smog and impair the 

health of animals and plants. In contrast, reaction 2 is

18
environmentally beneficial because it tends to confer a 

degree of protection to the stratospheric ozone layer. Other 

halocarbon gases derived from human activities, such as 

chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), methyl halides (such as 

CH3Br), halons, and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), all 

contribute to the stratospheric abundance of chlorine and 

bromine atoms, both of which destroy ozone as follows:

Cl+O

Br+O3 -

C1O+O2 

BrO+O2

ClO+BrO- -> Cl+Br+O2

(3)

(4)

(5)

Reaction 5 catalytically regenerates the ozone-destroying 

halogen atoms, and may be an important factor in the formation of the stratospheric ozone "hole" over the Antarctic continent. Although these halocarbons are not strictly speaking 

energy-related gases, their use is characteristic of an industrial society reliant on abundant energy usage. Their future 

employment will be regulated or ended by international 

agreements like the Montreal Protocol and its addenda. 

Some of these gases may be destroyed by soil bacteria, 

although the global significance of these reactions is not 

known.

Figure 1 qualitatively illustrates some of the gases, in 

addition to methane, which contribute to global wanning and 

which are ozone-reactive. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) have 

been proposed to replace CFCs, but some of them, such as

GREENHOUSE GASES

CH 4 N 2O

/

CFCs

X

BIOSPHERE

CH 4_CO2 _CF3 H

Trifluoroacetate

CFCs N 2O HCFCs 

OZONE-DESTROYING GASES

Methyl 

bromide

Figure 1 (Oremland and Kvenvolden). Some key atmospheric 

trace gases which affect global warming and ozone chemistry. Arrows indicate qualitatively the relative proportion of release from 

the biosphere to uptake from the atmosphere by the biota.

Table 1 (Oremland and Kvenvolden). Annual methane release 

rates for identified sources (modified from Cicerone and Oremland, 

1988).

Identity Annual release (1012 g CH4)

Animal intestinal tracts

Wetlands

Rice paddies

Biomass burning

Termites

Landfills

Oceans

Freshwaters

Methane hydrate destabilization

Coal mining

Gas drilling, venting, transmission

TOTAL

80

115

110

55

40

40

10

5

5

35

45

540

(15 percent)

(21 percent)

(20 percent)

(10 percent)

(7 percent)

(7 percent)

(2 percent)

(1 percent)

(1 percent)

(6 percent)

(8 percent)

MFC 134a (tetrafluoroethane), ultimately give rise in the 

atmosphere to trifluoroacetate, a compound resistan* to 

destruction, although evidence for biodegradation was 

recently reported (Visscher and others, 1994). Nitrous o^ide 

(N2O) is another important gas to consider. It is formed f~om 

the combustion of fossil fuels, as well as from agricultural 

and natural sources, and functions both as a greenhouse gas 

and as a stratospheric ozone-depleting agent. We cannot here 

delve into details of the global cycles and potential envi-onmental hazards posed by all of these gases. The poin* is, 

however, that a number of trace gases contribute to global 

warming and (or) influence stratospheric ozone chemistry, 

and that a number of these substances interact chemically 

with each other. Hence, mention of these non-methane race 

gases is also relevant to the overall question of the envronmental effects of energy usage upon the environment.

REFERENCES

Blake, D.R., and Rowland, F.S., 1988, Continuing worldwide increase in tropospheric methane, 1978 to 1987: Science, v. 239, 

p. 66-68.

Cicerone, R.J., and Oremland, R.S., 1988, Biogeochemical aspects 

of atmospheric methane: Global Biogeochemical Cycles, v. 2, 

p. 299-327.

Dickenson, R.E., and Cicerone, R.J., 1986, Future global warming 

from atmospheric trace gases: Nature, v. 319, p. 109-115.

Dlugokencky, E.J., Masaire, K.A., Lang, P.M., Tans, P.P., St?ele, 

L.P., and Nisbet, E.G., 1994, A dramatic increase in the growth 

rate of atmospheric methane in the northern hemisphere drying 

1992: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 21, p. 45-48.

Howell, D.G., Cole, Frances, Fanelli, Michael, and Wiese, Ka'ryn, 

1993, An introduction to The Future of Natural Gas, in Howell, 

D.G., ed., The future of energy gases: U.S. Geological Survey 

Professional Paper 1570, p. 1-12.

Jiang, Y., Yentekakis, I.V., and Vayenas, C.G., 1994, Methane to 

ethylene with 85 percent yield in a gas recycle electrocatalytic 

reactor-separator: Science, v. 264, p. 1563-1566.

19
Lorenson, T.D., and Kvenvolden, K.A., 1993, A comparison of hydrocarbon gases from natural sources in the northwestern United States, in Howell, D.G., ed., The future of energy gases: U.S. 

Geological Survey Professional Paper 1570, p. 453-470.

Kvenvolden, K.A., 1988, Methane hydrates and global climate: 

Global Biogeochemical Cycles, v. 2, p. 221-229.

Kvenvolden, K.A., Collett, T.S., and Lorenson, T.D., 1993, Studies 

of permafrost and gas hydrates as possible sources of atmospheric methane at high latitudes, in Oremland, R.S., ed., Biogeochemistry of global change Radiatively active trace 

gases: New York, Chapman & Hall, p. 487-501.

Oremland, R.S., Miller, L.G., and Whiticar, M.J., 1987, Sources 

and flux of natural gases from Mono Lake, California: 

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 51, p. 2915-2929.

Steele, L.P., Dlugokencky, E.J., Land, P.M., Tans, P.P., Martin, 

R.C., and Masarie, 1992, Slowing down of the global accumulation of atmospheric methane during the 1980s: Nature, v. 

358, p. 313-316.

Steudler, P.A., Bowden, R.D., Melillo, J.M., and Aber, J.D., 1989, 

Influence of nitrogen fertilization on methane uptake in temperate forest soils: Nature, v. 341, p. 314-316.

Visscher, P.T., Culbertson, C.W., and Oremland, R.S., 1994, 

Degradation of trifluoroacetate in anoxic and oxic sediments: 

Nature, v. 369, p. 729-731.

The Paradigm of Rapid Climate Change 

A Current Controversy

Joan Fitzpatrick, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Denver, CO 80225

A new paradigm is currently emerging in the field of 

paleoclimatology as a result of recent analyses on two ice 

cores 1 recovered from the center of the Greenland ice sheet. 

Evidence for changes in climate from full glacial to full 

interglacial conditions over much shorter periods of time 

than previously observed (3-20 years) has been reported in 

the isotopic, electroconductivity, and net annual accumulation records from these cores (GRIP Members, 1993; Taylor 

and others, 1993; Alley and others, 1993). These rapid 

changes were detectable for the first time due to the extraordinary highly resolved record supplied by these cores. These 

apparent rapid changes in climate have been reported in ice 

from the last glacial (Weichselian) and the penultimate interglacial (Eemian) and appear to have occurred frequently during these times. Indeed, the proxy climate records for these 

periods have an almost binary appearance and have been 

characterized as "flickering between preferred states***" 

(Taylor and others, 1993) in testimony to a fundamental

lrThe Greenland Ice Sheet Program Two (GISP2) and Greenland IceCore Project (GRIP) cores were recovered over the period 1989-1993. The 

drill sites are located near the summit of the Greenland ice sheet, approximately 30 km apart. The projects are sponsored respectively by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the European Science Foundation.

instability in the climate during these times. Another remarkable characteristic of the climate signal r> these cores is that 

the instability so apparent in the older pnrt of the record is 

completely absent in ice from the current interglacial 

(Holocene) in which we live (fig. 1). The implications of this 

heretofore unrecognized behavior are profound.

As with the emergence of any new paradigm, uncertainties and opportunities for misinterpretation and over-interpretation abound. Questions immediate'y arise about the 

relation between the quantity analyzed in the core and its 

relation to the actual climate. Are alterna*0. interpretations of 

the data possible? How regional (as oppo^d to global) might 

this signal be in scope? How reliable are the actual data and 

what other processes besides a change in climate might give 

rise to the observed signal? Are there datr from other sources 

which refute or corroborate the interpretation of these data? 

Is this behavior compatible with our understanding of the 

mechanisms which drive climate change or will new mechanisms have to be proposed? These questions are now all 

being asked as a period of intense scientific scrutiny begins. 

This current period of intense scientific activity has been 

compared with the period of time "just before plate tectonics 

theory crystallized" (Bond, 1994) and thus can rightly be 

considered as a major paradigm shift in the making. Underlying all of these questions is a fundamental, social question: 

How can society respond to the possibility of a climate system which can reorganize and change drastically in so short 

a period of time? The coeval development of stable climate 

and the rise of civilization after the clos°. of the last glacial 

period 11 to 12 thousand years ago has t^-en remarked upon 

by more than one researcher. Indeed, there are those who 

believe that climate change acted as a forcing function on the 

evolution of man during the last glacial enoch.

An important issue given an increased sense of urgency 

by the new paradigm is the role anthropogenic inputs may 

play in forcing the climate system and the extent to which 

these inputs may be affecting feedback-control mechanisms 

which provide climate stability. For example, although the 

link between greenhouse gas concentrations and mean temperatures has been clearly demonstrated from many different 

types of paleoclimate indicators, uneqr;vocal information 

about the lead-lag relationship between these two climaterelated parameters has not yet been acquired. In light of the 

new paradigm, the burning question changes from, "Will an 

increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere cause the Earth's atmosphere tc warm?" to, "Will 

such an increase cause the climate to become unstable?" 

Intervention and mitigation may be possible in the first, 

simple scenario. It may not be possible h the second, much 

more complex scenario.

The issue of causal mechanisms is of equal importance 

in any consideration of a rapid climate change paradigm. The 

only component of the global climate system which can 

respond on a decadal to subdecadal tim°.scale is the atmosphere. However, if the atmosphere is responding to

20
0

Depth 

(m)

500

1000

1500

-36 -34 °/oo 

l i i i

1-

2-

3-

4 -

5-

6-

7-

8-

9-

-10

Time (kyr BP)

hll

12

14

I I I I I lilt

Depth 

(m)

-160

-200

-250

-45 -40

5 O(°/oo)

i i 

-35

1500

2000

2500

3000

-30

Figure 1 (Fitzpatrick). Stable isotope (818O) record from the GRIP core from 

Dansgaard and others, 1993. Values of 818O are a proxy for atmospheric temperature at which the snow has formed. The data on the left are from the current climatically quiet Holocene. The data on the right are from previous glacial (Weichselian, 

between a and b) and interglacial (Eemian, between b and c) periods and show 

more than twice the variability of the Holocene data. Some of the transitions from 

full glacial to full interglacial temperatures are accomplished in less than 10 years. 

Other evidence indicates that the transition out of the end of the last glacial into the 

Holocene (at a) happened in 3 to 5 years. The two datasets are plotted on the same 

horizontal scale and join at 1,500 meters.

phenomena originating elsewhere in the climate system 

which are at or near a critical threshold value, major reorganizations in the atmosphere may occur as a result of a seemingly insignificant change in that component of the system. 

The key to understanding lies in identifying the physical 

parameters in the global climate system which operate with

critical thresholds and in being able to model their behavior 

and their effect on the rest of the system. Current General 

Circulation Models (GCM's) neither predict nor model the 

type of major climatic changes hinted at in the Greenland ice 

cores on a decadal to subdecadal scale. We are quite clearly 

still missing some key pieces to the puzzle. In light of this

21
realization, finding answers to the question of anthropogenic 

tinkering becomes even more urgent.

REFERENCES

Alley, R.B., Meese, D.A., Shuman, R.A., Gow, A.J., Taylor, K.C., 

Grootes, P.M., White, J.W.C., Ram, M., Waddington, E.D., 

Mayewski, P.A., and Zielinski, G.A., 1993, Abrupt increase in 

Greenland snow accumulation at the end of the Younger Dryas 

event: Nature, v. 362, p. 527-529.

Bond, G., 1994, Massive iceberg armadas offer new piece in climate puzzle: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory News, p. 3.

Dansgaard, W., Johnson, S.J., Clausen, H.B., Dahl-Jensen, D., Gundestrup, N.S., Hammer, C.U., Hvidberg, C.S., Steffensen, J.P., 

Sveinbj0rnsdottir, A.D., Jouzel, J., and Bond, G., 1993, Evidence for general instability of past climate from a 250-kyr icecore record: Nature, v. 364, no. 6434, p. 218-220.

Greenland Ice-core Project (GRIP) Members, 1993, Climate instability during the last interglacial period recorded in the GRIP 

ice core: Nature, v. 364, p. 203-207.

Taylor, K.C., Lamorey, G.W., Doyle, G.A., Alley, R.B., Grootes, 

P.M., Mayewski, P.A., White, J.W.C., and Barlow, L.K., The 

"flickering switch" of late Pleistocene climate change: Nature, 

v. 361, p. 432-436.

Natural Radionuclides in Earth, Air, and 

Water, and the Effect on Human Health

Linda C.S. Gundersen, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Denver, CO 80225, and Zoltan Szabo, 

U.S. Geological Survey, 810 Bear Tavern Road, 

W. Trenton, NJ 08628

Introduction

Naturally radioactive elements, also known as radionuclides, are found throughout the ecosystem, in rocks, soils, 

water, air, and biota. In turn, radionuclides are breathed in or 

ingested by humans and animals. In sufficient quantities 

radionuclides can pose a health threat and are implicated in 

numerous types of cancers and birth defects. Radionuclides 

are inherently unstable, and the most common radionuclides 

in nature are formed by the radioactive decay of uranium238 and thorium-232. Decay of radionuclides produces 

radioactivity in the form of gamma rays, alpha particles, and 

beta particles. Figure 1 is a gamma-ray exposure map of the 

United States produced from an aerial survey of the radioactivity from uranium, thorium, and to a lesser extent, potassium. This map shows the distribution of these elements in 

surface soils and rocks. Also displayed are the radionuclide 

decay series which are initiated by the decay of uranium-238 

and thorium-232. Radionuclides have a half-life, defined as

the period of time it takes for one-half of the initial quantity 

of a radioactive element to decay. Each radionuclide has a 

unique half-life, but shares chemical probities with other 

isotopes of the same element. The most common radioactive 

progeny from uranium and thorium that ar^. of environmental 

concern are the isotopes of radium and rrdon. The distribution of these parent radionuclides, to sone extent, controls 

the distribution of the radioactive progeny and allows for 

prediction of the distribution of radionucli«1es in the environment using geologic and chemical models.

In soils and rocks, uranium and thorium occur as oxides 

or form minerals such as uraninite and mcnazite. Rock types 

which typically have uranium concentrations greater than 2 

parts per million (ppm) include carbonaceous black shales, 

glauconite-bearing sandstones, loess, plnsphatic sedimentary rocks, granitic metamorphic and igneous rocks, and all 

types of economic uranium deposits. As the rocks break 

down to form soil, radionuclides are dispersed out of minerals and bond by electrostatic interactions with metal hydroxides, organic compounds, and surfaces of clay particles in 

the soil. Uranium and radium move relatively easily in the 

soil environment whereas thorium is generally immobile. 

Radium in soil and water is also taken up into several kinds 

of plants.

Radon in Indoor Air

Radon gas in indoor air is thought to be the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. Radon-222 has 

a half-life of 3.82 days and is produced by decay of uranium238. Radon-220 has a half life of 56 seconds, is produced 

from the decay of thorium-232, and is generally less abundant than radon-222. Radon emits alpha particles and produces several short-lived isotopes of polonium. It is the 

polonium solids that are the principal health hazard associated with radon. As radon is inhaled and decays, polonium is 

deposited in the lung. Polonium also adheres to particles in 

the air and can be inhaled directly. Alpha radiation produced 

by polonium damages the cells lining the lung.

Radon forms from radium in the rocks and soils and 

moves into pore spaces and fractures where it is available 

to migrate freely. However, the distance radon can travel 

is limited by its short half-life of a few days. Radon 

enters a building when a pressure difference exists 

between the soil (high pressure) and the building (low 

pressure) by moving through cracks, wall and pipe joins, 

sump holes, drains, and porous building material. Recent 

studies of the distribution of radon potential in the United 

States were conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in 

cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency 

(Gundersen and others, 1992). These st idies evaluate the 

sources of radon in rocks and soils ushg geologic models, soil permeability, uranium concer '.ration data, and 

indoor radon data. Rocks and soils that are the source of

22
the highest radon in the United States include all the rock 

types mentioned previously with greater than 2 ppm 

uranium, soils derived from carbonate rocks, and also 

many kinds of rocks, soils, and surface deposits with high 

permeability such as glacial deposits and river gravels. 

Parts of the country with the highest radon potential 

include the glaciated Midwest, the Appalachian and Rocky 

Mountains, and the areas of the Great Plains and Appalachian Plateau that are underlain by uraniferous black 

shales.

Uranium and Radium in Mining and 

Radium from Fossil Fuels

The redistribution of natural radionuclides by the 

mining and nuclear industries leads to significant contact 

of these materials with humans and local environments. 

Mine water ordinarily contains measurable concentrations 

of uranium and other soluble radionuclides, such as 

radium. Mine water is typically pumped into retention 

ponds to allow settling of suspended solids and sorption of 

dissolved radionuclides to sediment or organic matter. 

Drainage water from mines and mine spoils also carries 

radionuclides, particularly where the waters are acidic. 

These types of acid waters are common in mines containing rocks high in sulfide minerals such as pyrite. Outflow 

from retention ponds, mines, and mine spoils enters the 

natural drainages of surface and ground water, contaminating these waters with measurable concentrations of radionuclides that migrate through the ecosystem (Van Metre 

and Gray, 1992). The concentrations that enter the ecosystem generally are lower than at the mine but in certain 

cases are high enough to constitute a health problem.

Approximately a third of the brine waters produced 

during the extraction of oil, gas, and coalbed methane contain high concentrations of radium. The precipitates 

formed on pipes and tanks (known as scale and sludge) 

during recovery of these fossil fuels can also have very 

high radium concentrations. Although the brines and their 

precipitates have long been recognized as a waste-disposal problem, the presence of radium has only recently 

been documented and studied.

Uranium, Radium, and Radon in 

Ground and Surface Waters

Because radionuclides are ubiquitous in rocks and soil, 

they are also present in water. In certain parts of the United 

States, ground and surface waters contain concentrations of 

radionuclides detrimental to human health even where uranium or thorium enrichment in rocks is not present (Zapecza 

and Szabo, 1988). The most common radionuclides in 

ground water are radon-222, radium-226, radium-228,

uranium-234, and uranium-238. Because of its high solubility but short half-life, concentrations of radon are highest in 

ground water directly in contact with uranium-rich rocks and 

sediments, such as the granitic rocks of the New England 

Appalachians and the Western United States. Radon is 

quickly released to the atmosphere from turbulent surface 

waters but can be detected in slow-moving streams fed 

mostly by ground water. Uranium is soluble only in oxidizing waters, especially when they are alkaline. Unlike radon, 

the half-life of uranium is extremely long, and it can travel 

for long distances along ground- and surface-water flowpaths. Concentrations of uranium are highest in oxidizing, 

usually shallow, ground water that has had contact along its 

flowpath with uranium-rich rocks and sediments, such as the 

granitic rocks of the Appalachians and granitic rocks and 

alkaline sediments of the Western United States. Alkaline 

surface waters in the Western United States can also contain 

high concentrations of uranium. Radium is generally less 

soluble than uranium and radon, and in many places is not 

present in water, even if it has had contact with uranium- or 

thorium-rich rocks. In some areas radium is less soluble 

because chemical mechanisms (primarily electrostatic interactions with particle surfaces) are active. Where the chemical mechanisms that limit radium dissolution are not active, 

then relatively elevated concentrations of radium may be 

present in water, even from relatively uranium- and thoriumpoor aquifer rocks. This chemical behavior appears to 

explain the presence of radium in water in, for example, the 

sandstone aquifers of the mid-continental United States, the 

sand aquifers of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, and the sandstone/shale aquifers of the Central Appalachians, where high 

dissolved solids, acidic water, and oxygen-poor water, 

respectively, limit electrostatic interactions with particle 

surfaces.

REFERENCES

Gundersen, L.C.S., Schumann, R.R., Otton, J.K., Owen, D.E., Dubiel, R.F., and Dickinson, K.A., 1992, Geologic radon potential 

of the United States, in Gates, A.E., and Gundersen, L.C.S., 

eds., Geologic controls on radon: Geological Society of America Special Paper 271, p. 1-16.

Phillips, J.D., Duval, J.S., and Ambroziak, R.A., 1993, National 

geophysical data grids; Gamma-ray, gravity, magnetic, and topographic data for the conterminous United States: U.S. Geological Survey Digital Data Series DDS-9, one ISO-9660 

format CD-ROM disk.

Van Metre, P.C., and Gray, J.R., 1992, Effects of uranium mining 

discharges on water quality in the Puerco River Basin, Arizona 

and New Mexico: Hydrological Sciences Journal, v. 37, no. 5, 

p. 463-480.

Zapecza, O.S., and Szabo, Zoltan, 1988, Natural radioactivity in 

ground water A review, in National water summary 1986, 

Ground water; Hydrologic conditions and events: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2325, p. 50-57.

23
Figure 1 (Gundersen and Szabo). Terrestrial gamma-ray exposure at 1 meter above the ground (Phillips and others, 1993). Units are in microroentgens per hour ()J.R/hr, a measure of 

radiation). Also shown are the uranium-238 and thorium-232 decay series radionuclides. The number after each radionuclide is its atomic mass number, which is equal to the number of
Water Quality Degradation Associated With 

Natural Energy Sources

Yousif K. Kharaka and Richard B. Wanty, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA 94025, 

and Denver, CO 80225

For 150 years, fossil fuels coal, oil, and natural 

gas supplemented more recently by fissionable nuclear 

fuel, have been the main sources of energy supply for the 

world's industrial societies. Extraction and utilization of 

increasing amounts of energy, however, have caused 

major local, regional, and global-scale environmental damage, including air and surface-water pollution, acid rain, 

global climate change, catastrophic nuclear reactor failures (as at Chernobyl in 1986), and marine oil spills. 

Water quality degradation attributable to energy utilization is documented in large increases in contaminant concentrations in rivers and lakes of developed countries, over 

time. For example, average sulfate concentrations, the 

best index of regional contamination from energy sources, 

have increased in the Mississippi River at New Orleans, 

La., from about 25 to 55 mg/L (milligrams per liter) 

between 1905 and 1990.

For oil and natural gas, which supplied 66 percent of 

the primary energy consumption in 1991, contamination 

hazards stem mainly from the large amounts of saline formation water produced during drilling and petroleum production. We estimate that in 1993, about 25 billion and 0.3 

billion bbl (barrels) of formation water were produced with 

2.5 billion bbl of domestic crude oil and 18 TCFG (trillion 

cubic feet of gas), respectively. This is three times the volume of water produced in 1970, and the increase resulted, 

even though petroleum production has declined, because the 

volume of produced water relative to petroleum increases 

with time, reaching 98 percent of total fluids during the later 

stages of field production.

The volume of wastes generated from about 26,000 

wells drilled for oil and gas in 1993, including drilling mud, 

circulated cement, rock cuttings, completion fluids and produced water, is estimated at 0.13 billion to 1.0 billion bbl. 

Local water, soil, and air contamination from drilling operations is inevitable because wastes are generally stored in 

unlined pits. Since 1859, approximately 3.5 million wells 

have been drilled for all oil and gas operations, but currently 

less than 1 million wells are producers. Improperly sealed 

abandoned wells can develop casing leaks that may act as 

conduits for fluid flow between aquifers; this flow has 

resulted in contamination of underground sources of drinking water.

Contamination potential of produced water depends on 

its chemical composition and method of disposal. Kharaka 

and Thordsen (1992) discussed the geochemistry of subsurface waters, showing that the salinity and chemical

composition of produced water, which are controlled by the 

origin of water and water-mineral interactions, vary greatly 

for different sedimentary basins (table 1, fig. 1). Wat^r salinities range from about 3,000 to more than 350,000 m g/L dissolved solids and generally increase with depth, but this 

increase is reversed at greater depths in basins that are dominated by shales and siltstones and that lack evaporites (fig. 

1). Chloride and sodium generally constitute 70-90 percent 

of anions and cations, and calcium concentrations can reach 

50,000 mg/L. Concentrations of strontium, barium, iron, 

manganese, boron, and ammonia are generally highe- in subsurface water than in ocean water. The values for sulfate, 

bicarbonate, and magnesium are generally lower than in 

ocean water, and decrease with increasing subsurface temperatures, whereas those of lithium, potassium, rubidium, 

and cesium increase with increasing subsurface temperatures. Dissolved organic species, including mono- and dicarboxylic acid anions, phenols, benzene, and toluene, can 

reach a total of about 10,000 mg/L. Metals in oil-field 

waters, with the exception of iron and manganese, generally 

amount to less than 100 (ig/L; but metal-rich brines exist, as 

in the central Mississippi Salt Dome basin, where measured 

values (in mg/L) are as much as 100 for lead, 250 for zinc, 

500 for iron, and 200 for manganese. Uranium concentrations are low in these strongly reducing waters, but hazardous values of radium-226, radium-228, and radon-222 have 

recently been found in wastes from several States.

About 65 percent of produced water is currently 

injected into producing oil zones for enhanced recovery; 

deep well injection into aquifers with water salinities 

exceeding 10,000 mg/L accounts for about 30 percent. The 

remaining waste is discharged into surface waters, including 

coastal waterways, bayous, estuaries, streams, lakes, and 

evaporation and percolation sumps. Produced wa*°r and 

drilling wastes from offshore operations, which amounted to 

about 1.0 billion bbl in 1990, are typically discharged to the 

ocean. Preliminary studies on the fate of contaminants in 

these wastes have indicated that because of rapid dilution, 

biodegradation, and evaporation of volatile components, 

these wastes, which included 200,000 bbl of oil, are considered to have no significant adverse effects on the marine ecosystem.

Prior to the regulations instituted in the 1970's, petroleum wastes were often discharged into rivers, streams, and 

unlined evaporation ponds, causing documented contamination, sometimes major, of soil and surface and ground waters 

in all the producing States. Since 1980, Congress has 

exempted "drilling fluids, produced water and other wastes 

associated with the exploration, development, or production 

of crude oil or natural gas or geothermal energy" from the 

stringent requirements of the hazardous waste management 

provision of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 

1976. Thus, Class II disposal wells, used for petroleum 

wastes, have less stringent completion, monitoring, and 

abandonment requirements and consequently greater

25
Table 1 (Kharaka and Wanty). Chemical composition (mg/L) of produced formation waters from petroleum fields located in Central 

Valley, Calif.; North Slope, Alaska; Coastal Texas; and central Mississippi Salt Dome Basin.

[Depth is depth below ground level of mid-point of perforation. Temp, is measured subsurface temperature. Production zones are those used by oil companies. TDS is calculated 

total dissolved solids. HCO3 is field-titrated alkalinity and includes organic and inorganic species]

Area

Field

Sample #

Well name

Production

zone

Depth (m)

Temp. (°C)

TDS

Li

Na

K

Mg

Ca

Sr

Ba

Fe

NH3

F

a

Br

I

HC03

SO4

H2S

SiO2

B

PH

Central Valley, CA

Grimes

81-NSV-15

GOU4#2

Forbes

2,074

65

18,600

0.32

6,830

35.5

72

182

14.3

6.4

0.58

34

11,000

44

30

359

<0.5

0.07

31

 . 

7.6

Wheeler

Ridge

75-WR-5

21-28

Tejon

2,691

117

44,300

1.95

7,450

135

27

5,550

187

12

2.8

32

2.0

21,450

80

46

2,210

50

0.11

46

600

6.9

North Slope, AK

Barrow

78-AK-52

S. Barrow 5

Barrow

Sandstone

728

16

22,100

2.1

7,980

3.0

67

119

16.1

175

5.5

19

1.6

11,800

62

28

1,710

.....

<0.1

11

42

7.2

Prudhoe

Bay

78-AK-54

Arco 13

Sadlerochit

Group

2,820

94

21,900

4.0

7,600

86

20

182

20.2

3.8

63

17

1.5

10,600

54

19

2,930

69

<0.1

62

158

6.5

Coastal Texas

Chocolate

Bayou

76-GG-7

Angle #3

Upper

Weiting

3,444

118

73,300

9.9

26,500

400

220

2,000

365

290

10.2

29

0.8

42,700

52

16

455

2.7

1.2

87

35

5.9

East

Midway

77-GG-73

Taylor E-2

Lower

Frio

3,662

128

36,000

4.2

13,250

72

48

330

23

13

1.6

13.5

7.3

21,000

45

45

1,180

42

0.04

132

35

6.4

Central Mississippi

Reedy

Creek

84-MS-ll

W.M. G-Jger

Rodessa

3,486

102

320,000

35

61,700

990

3,050

46,600

1,920

60

465

34

1.5

198,000

2,020

17

206

64

<0.02

28

59

5.0S

West

Nancy

84-MS-l

W.L. West

Smackover

4,428

118

275,000

74

54,800

6,500

3,350

33,900

1,670

48

0.47

119

11.5

170,000

2,080

80

197

161

57.4

34

341

5.48

potential for contaminating underground sources of drinking 

water than those for hazardous wastes.

Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel, underlying 13 

percent of the United States land area and with demonstrated 

reserve base that can meet all our energy requirements for 

more than 1,000 years. Coal was the dominant source of 

energy before 1950; currently it supplies about 25 percent of 

the total energy. Water quality in pristine coal beds varies 

greatly between coal provinces, depending on geologic, 

hydrologic, and climatic conditions. Water salinities vary 

from about 100 to more than 50,000 mg/L; they generally 

range from 500 to 4,000 mg/L and are higher in coals from 

the Western United States. The waters are generally sodiumsulfate-bicarbonate type with minor chloride, calcium, and 

magnesium; dissolved organic constituents may be harmfully high. Coal seams and adjacent beds are drained prior to 

mining; the volume of water generated is variable, reaching 

approximately 10 million bbl per year in some mines in the 

Appalachian region. This water is used for reclamation, 

transportation of coal as slurry, and other mine operations; 

some water is released to surface water, causing stream pollution. The main environmental concerns of coal production,

however, are the acid mine drainage and sediment erosion 

and deposition that have resulted in major regional degradation of streams, especially in the Appalachian region. Acid 

mine drainage, caused by percolation of oxygenated water 

into pyritic coal-mine spoils, is characterized by low pH values (less than 4) and high concentrations of sulfate (more 

than 1,000 mg/L), iron (1-100 mg/L), manganese (more than 

1 mg/L), and other toxic metals including aluminum, copper, 

lead, and zinc. Because of lower precipitation, lower sulfur 

content of coal, and the presence of carbonate minerals in 

soil, acid mine drainage is not a major issre in the Western 

United States, but saline water drainage is an issue of local 

concern.

Power from nuclear fission currently supplies close to 

10 percent of the energy mix, and known uranium supplies 

can last for hundreds of years using stand "rd reactors, and 

much longer in breeder reactors. Most of the United States 

uranium reserves are hosted in sandstones vhere water salinities are relatively low and dissolved uranium concentrations 

are very low. However, potentially harmful concentrations 

of radium, radon, and hydrogen sulfide may be present. Only 

minor volumes of water are recovered f"om surface and

26
8 2

DC 

CE 

O

DC 

LU 

C/3 

LU

a:

100 200 300 400 

WATER SALINITY, IN GRAMS PER LITER

500

Figure 1 (Kharaka and Wanty). Salinity distribution of formation water with depth of reservoir rocks from several petroliferous 

basins in North America. Note the different trends and the reversal 

of salinity with depth in California and south Louisiana.

subsurface mining, but escape of dissolved uranium and 

radium from uranium mine tailings is potentially hazardous. 

The main environmental risks, which have precluded the 

commissioning of new nuclear power plants in this country 

since the mid 1970's, are the possibility of catastrophic reactor failures and uncertainties relating to safe management of 

radioactive wastes from reactors for thousands of years.

Geothermal energy, which is used primarily for generating electrical power, currently plays only a small role in the 

total energy mix. The resource base, however, is huge, especially if geopressured, hot dry rock and magmatic systems 

are included. Currently about 70 percent of geothermal 

power generation is from the vapor-dominated system at 

Geyser, California, but future increases will be from waterdominated systems. Air pollution from vented gases is the 

main environmental concern of geothermal energy production because all the produced water is reinjected into the producing rock formations to maintain system pressure. Airquality degradation is minor because only modest amounts 

of these produced gases are released primarily carbon 

dioxide, methane, and ammonia while hydrogen sulfide is

generally recovered as sulfur prior to gas venting. Thermal 

water production generally results in the drying up c f natural 

thermal springs and mineral seeps associated with these systems resulting in an alteration of surface-water quaP*y (usually improvement).

Exploration for and production of energy sources, disrupting the natural hydrologic cycle, have caused major contamination of surface and ground waters. This contamination 

will continue in the future unless more stringent statues regulating the disposal of the wastes from these sources are 

enacted. In order to keep disposal costs affordable while 

minimizing environmental degradation, the new regulations 

need to be based on a more comprehensive understanding of 

the nature of the contaminants and their interactions and fate 

in the geosphere.

REFERENCE

Kharaka, Y.K., and Thordsen, J. J., 1992, Stable isotope geochemistry and origin of waters in sedimentary basins, in Cauer, N., 

and Chauduri, S., eds., Isotopic signatures and sedimentary 

records: New York, Springer-Verlag, p. 441^466.

Our Future Energy Use Environmental 

Concerns Beyond the Year 2000

Peter J. McCabe, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Denver, CO 80225

Historically, most predictions about the nature of future 

energy production, consumption, and use have proven to be 

incorrect, and there seems little reason to believe thst we can 

more accurately predict the future now than in the past. 

However, as in the past, the demand for various forms of 

energy will almost certainly vary through time. Although 

many reserves have been depleted, this country still has a 

wealth of coal, natural gas, and oil that could supply the 

Nation's energy needs for many decades to come if we are 

willing to pay the fiscal and environmental costs of development. The alternatives are to import an increasing percentage 

of our energy, develop alternate energy sources, or to regulate energy consumption all of which have their ovn costs. 

Critical factors will be the ability of various energy sources 

to meet the evolving energy demand, the development of 

new technologies, and political or societal requirements. The 

evolving energy mix will undoubtedly raise new environmental concerns: though some energy sources are arguably 

more environmentally friendly, we cannot harness any 

energy source without influencing the environment. 

Although the supply mix for future energy consumption is 

unclear, the range of possible environmental and societal 

concerns for the future is perhaps less uncertain.

27
The impact of energy development on land management is likely to be an area of increasing environmental 

concern in the future. Energy exploration and production 

have a visual impact on a landscape, they influence ecosystems, and they conflict with many other types of land use 

such as recreation and farming. Because the average size of 

oil and gas discoveries has decreased over time, the number 

of wells that must be drilled to maintain production at current 

levels will increase substantially (National Petroleum Council, 1992). Many of the onshore sedimentary basins in which 

this exploration presumably will take place lie below Federal 

lands in the Western States, and increased energy development could have a profound effect on the landscape in this 

region. Coal production in the Western States has increased 

more than four-fold since 1975, and if this trend continues, 

increasing conflict is likely with the ecologic and recreational needs of National Parks, Monuments, and Wilderness Areas, even though the final visual impact of coal 

mining has decreased considerably over the last 20 years 

with improved reclamation efforts. If oil and gas imports 

continue to rise, there is likely to be additional pressure to 

allow exploration for fossil fuels in some of the Nation's 

most fragile ecosystems such as the Arctic National Wildlife 

Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska and on the continental shelf offshore California. Significant development of alternate 

energy sources such as wind and solar energy farms will also 

influence large tracts of land and have considerable visual 

impact and effect on ecosystems (fig. 1).

Substantial advancement has been made in some 

regards over the last 20 years in ameliorating the impact of 

energy use on the atmosphere. The amount of local air pollution over many cities has decreased because of regulations 

of emissions and the development of more fuel efficient 

vehicles. Passenger cars, for example, have an average fuel 

efficiency of about 22 miles per gallon today compared to 

about 13.5 miles per gallon in 1975. Controls on emissions 

from smoke stacks, particularly of coal-fired electrical generating plants, and switching to lower sulfur fuels can also 

cut down on the effects of acid rain. While undoubtedly pressure to reduce these forms of atmospheric pollution will continue, the larger question of emission of global greenhouse 

gases remains. The use of fossil fuels has obviously resulted 

in a significant increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but the effects of this increase are less clear (Jager 

and Ferguson, 1991). If a marked change in global climate 

does indeed occur, there will be pressure to rapidly change 

the energy mix to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon 

dioxide one of the major greenhouse gases remains in 

the atmosphere for many decades; consequently, drastic 

reductions in emissions of the gas would be required to ameliorate any pronounced climate change. How quickly a 

change to alternate fuels could take place is a matter of question: History shows that several decades were required for 

coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear energy to become significant components of the total energy mix. By contrast, the 

dramatic change in energy use after the 1974 oil embargo

suggests that technological change can be rapid in certain 

political climates.

As water becomes an ever more valuable resource, the 

effects of energy production and utilization on water 

resources are likely to be of increasing concern. In the future, 

especially in the Western States, the need for water hi many 

aspects of energy production will increasingly conflict with 

the growing need for water for other purports. The costs of 

brine disposal will increase as more unconventional 

resources such as coalbed methane are developed. The 

decline in oil production from existing domestic fields and 

the closure of older coal mines will heighter the concern for 

long-term effects on aquifers after operators have abandoned 

these sites; in some cases the potential fcr environmental 

problems is increased after energy extraction ceases. For 

example, acid mine drainage can increase markedly after a 

coal mine is abandoned. During mining operations, water is 

pumped out of the mine; but when mines are abandoned, 

ground water rebounds and water is able to flush into solution products of pyrite oxidation that occurred during the 

active life of the mine (Younger, 1994).

Over the last 20 years concern about the global environment has been increasing; and this concern is likely to continue to grow, because the world population is forecast to 

increase by almost 50 percent over the next 30 years (World 

Resource Institute, 1992). If the additional energy use 

required to support such a population comes from fossil 

fuels, global emission of greenhouse gases vill rise substantially even if the per capita consumption of energy does not 

rise. Increased industrialization in the Third World would 

accelerate the trend. Alternatively, it can be argued that 

increased use of fossil fuels in many countries could have 

benefits for the environment, as one of the major sources of 

fuel for people in developing countries is fir?.wood from forests and woodlands a major factor in deforestation and 

desertification.

Geologists will play a vital role in determining the 

future availability of many energy sources and in reducing 

the environmental impact of almost all energy uses. By 

anticipating possible environmental concerrs, we may be in 

a better position to provide the scientific l^sis for policymakers to avoid or mitigate the impact of future energy production on the environment.

REFERENCES

Jager, J., and Ferguson, H.L., eds., 1991, Climate change Science, 

impacts and policy: Proceedings of the Second World Climate 

Conference, Cambridge University Press.

National Petroleum Council, 1992, The potential for natural gas in 

the United States, Volume II Source and supply: Washington, D.C., National Petroleum Council, 330 p.

World Resource Institute, 1992, World resources 1992-93: New 

York, Oxford, 385 p.

Younger, P.L., 1994, Minewater pollution TH revenge of old 

king coal: Geoscientist, v. 4, no. 5, p. 6-8.

28
Figure 1 (McCabe). Although some energy sources are arguably more environmentally friendly than others, we cannot harness any energy source without influencing the environment. Wind turbines, for example, create noise, kill raptors, influence television reception, and 

have a visual impact on the landscape. A few of the 7,000 windmills of the Altamont Pass wind farm, California.

29
Effects of Energy Resource Development on 

Lakes What Do We Need to Know?

John T. Turk, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Denver, CO 80225

The alpine and subalpine zones of the Rocky Mountains constitute one of the largest undisturbed ecosystems in 

the United States. The Wilderness and Clean Air Acts gave 

congressionally designated Wilderness Areas special protection from anthropogenic change. However, many Wilderness Areas of the Rocky Mountains are located near to 

and downwind from developed or economic deposits of 

fossil fuels, including coal, petroleum, natural gas, and oil 

shale. The need for abundant and reliable new energy 

sources likely will result in increased use of fossil fuels in 

the Rocky Mountains and other western areas. To use these 

energy minerals without damaging nearby Wilderness 

Areas and other Federal lands, we need to understand the 

present status of the Wilderness Areas and the potential risk 

associated with projected atmospheric emissions from 

energy resource development.

Very little is known about Rocky Mountain Wilderness Areas, which are characterized by lack of roads, steep 

terrain, and a seasonal snowpack that lasts about 9 months 

of the year. Most information regarding these areas consists 

of a few synoptic samplings and some monitoring and 

research at only a few small watersheds. Lack of information on Rocky Mountain Wilderness Areas hampers both 

their protection and the development of fossil fuels. In the 

absence of information necessary to predict the effects of 

new emissions sources, the Federal land manager is 

required by law to err in the direction of assuring that damage is not done. As a result, worst-case estimates of potential risks posed by proposed energy resource development 

commonly are used.

Most knowledge of the present status of Rocky Mountain Wilderness Areas and risk of damage to them is a 

result of study of acid rain and related problems and has 

been summarized by Turk and Spahr (1991). The National 

Atmospheric Deposition Program monitors the chemistry 

of rain and snow at about a dozen sites in the Rocky Mountain area. No sites are located in Wilderness Areas and few 

are located at high elevation. During 1993, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a survey of snowpack chemistry 

throughout the Rocky Mountains. Generally, the smallest 

concentrations of fossil-fuel combustion products, such as 

sulfate, nitrate, and acidity in rain or snow and the snowpack, are in Montana. Concentrations progressively 

increase in Wyoming and Colorado. Some of the largest 

concentrations of sulfate, nitrate, and acidity were measured at several sites in an area in northern Colorado downwind (east) of the Yampa River valley. The Yampa River

valley is an area of energy development, especially coal 

mining and electrical generation from coal.

The Western Lake Survey, conducted by the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency in 1985, and numerous 

smaller surveys indicate that the median acid neutralizing 

capacity (ANC), a measure of a lake's ability to neutralize 

acidity, is smallest in Wyoming and southern Montana and 

greatest in Colorado. Thus, the lakes having the smallest 

median ANC, and therefore the lakes most sensitive to 

acidification, tend not to be in the area having the greatest 

concentrations of sulfate, nitrate, and acidity in wetfall and 

in snowpack.

Effects of energy development on the wilderness 

hydrologic systems of median sensitivity are of secondary 

concern to the Clean Air and the Wilderness Acts; instead, 

most concern is for those systems considered the most sensitive. Data indicate that, even though median ANC differs 

greatly among regions in the Rocky Mountains, lakes having small ANC occur throughout the Rocky Mountains. 

Because of differences in bedrock geology, soil development, and hydrology, those lakes having smallest ANC 

tend to occur in specific mountain ranges, such as the Bitterroot Range (Montana), the Wind River Range (Wyoming), the Uinta Mountains (Utah), the Colorado Front 

Range, and the northern Park Range (Colorado).

One area where large concentration of sulfate, nitrate, 

and acidity in wetfall and snowpack overlaps with an area 

containing lakes of very small ANC is in northern Colorado, downwind of the Yampa River valley. Thus, at 

present levels of emissions from all sources, including 

energy development, this area containing the Mt. Zirkel 

Wilderness Area (MZWA) likely contains hydrologic systems that are the most affected in the Rocky Mountains. No 

lakes are acidic during the summer, when all sampling has 

been done. However, the initial stages of acidification 

would be greatest during early snowmelt, when the greatest 

concentrations of acidity are preferentially released. Such 

episodic acidification most likely would first affect small, 

ephemeral snowmelt pools favored by amphibians for 

breeding. Other studies indicate that the tiger salamander, 

which is endemic to the area, is sensitive at pH values commonly observed in the snowpack and wetfall in and near 

the MZWA. Thus, a combination of chemistry in wetfall, 

snowpack, and lakes might be predicted to result in biological effects in and near the MZWA, a Class 1 area (an area 

given the greatest level of protection) under the Clean Air 

Act. Farther downwind is Rocky Mountain National Park, 

another Class 1 area.

In addition to the concern caused by the potential 

effects on lakes and aquatic organisms in the MZWA, the 

likelihood that this area is the most affected in the Rocky 

Mountains offers some opportunities to protect Rocky 

Mountain Wilderness Areas. Little information exists to tell 

us what aspects of the hydrologic and biologic systems of 

Rocky Mountain watersheds are most responsive to

30
HYDROGEN ION LEVELS ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE

Inset of Mount Zirkel 

"^ -^ Wilderness Area

range = 1.7 to 17.4 ueq/L

Figure 1 (Turk). Concentration of hydrogen ion (acidity) in the Rocky Mountain snowpack at end of 1992-3 snow season. A concentration of 10 (leq/L equals a pH of 5, and greater concentrations equal pH <5 (more acidic). The greatest 

concentrations occur in and near the Mt. Zirkel Wilderness Area, Colorado.

acidification. Further, although some damage might occur 

at present levels of emission, it is possible that hydrologic 

and other processes might protect these systems in ways 

not observed elsewhere. Thus, a well-planned evaluation of

effects, or lack thereof, on lakes and aquatic organisms 

would be an invaluable calibration that would be useful in 

predicting effects of energy development and associated 

emissions everywhere in the Rocky Mountains.

31

Figure 2 (Turk) (facing page). Clean air is critical to maintain 

spectacular vistas, such as that of Big Agnes Mtn. (A, and background of B). Clean air is also critical to the health of wilderness 

streams and lakes such as Seven Lakes (5). Both photos from the 

Mt. Zirkel Wilderness Area, Colorado, which has the most acidic 

snow in the Rocky Mountains.

REFERENCE

Turk, J.T., and Spahr, N.E., 1991, Rocky Mountains, in Charles, 

D.F., ed., Acidic deposition and aquatic ecosystems Regional case studies: New York, Springer-Verlag, p. 471-501.

How Can Geoscientists Help Policy Makers 

Assess the Impact of Energy Extraction on 

Marine Ecosystems?

H.A. Karl, R.L. Bernknopf, U.S. Geological 

Survey, Menlo Park, CA 94025, D.R. Seller, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA 22092, and 

P.S. Chavez, Jr., U.S. Geological Survey, 

Flagstaff, AZ 86001

Concerns about possible environmental damage to the 

world's oceans were expressed more than 30 years ago. With 

recent improvements in mapping and monitoring technology, the effects of anthropogenic stress on marine ecosystems are beginning to be understood by scientists and other 

consumers of marine information products. The oceans are 

increasingly used as a source of inorganic resources, food, 

recreation, and as a repository for waste products. To assure 

that human activities do not interfere with or preclude other 

activities, policy makers must have the best scientific information possible to guide them in making wise choices concerning the use of the marine environment for the long-term 

good. In accord with the focus of the 1995 McKelvey Forum 

on the application of geoscience to decision-making, we neither recount other studies nor do a literature review on the 

impact of oil production and other forms of energy extraction and related pollution on marine ecosystems; rather, we 

present, explore, and suggest new techniques to use and 

value marine geoscience information that are appropriate for 

quantitative risk assessment to help formulate public policy 

in the 21st century.

The impact of energy extraction on marine ecosystems 

is not limited to the site of production, but has potentially far 

reaching effects in regard to the disposal of byproducts and 

waste products generated during production, processing, and 

consumption of energy products, as well as mishaps that 

could occur during their transportation. Areas available for 

energy extraction and waste disposal, and transportation corridors are being increasingly limited and restricted in the

marine environment, principally owing to the fear of damage 

to fragile ecosystems. For example, about 17,000 km2 (an 

area larger than Connecticut and Rhode Island combined) of 

the contiguous central California coastal ocean is protected 

by three national marine sanctuaries Cordell Bank, Gulf of 

the Farallones, and Monterey Bay that stretch over: 00 km 

from Bodega Bay north of San Francisco to Cambrir south 

of Monterey.

USGS has been conducting studies offshore the San 

Francisco Bay area where the environmental and eco'ogical 

concerns of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary must be reconciled with the human, economic, and 

industrial demands of a major urban population center. It is 

here that we are developing techniques to quantify the net 

benefits of various types of marine information to society. 

We want to establish a societal value for seafloor maps similar to that done for geologic maps for various land-use 

issues (see Bernknopf and others, 1993). Evaluation cf society's willingness to pay for seafloor maps is a way to demonstrate the relevance of the earth science information. By 

integrating scientific information with other factors that 

influence policy decisions, we can identify the applicability 

and utility of the research results.

Our Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sarotuary 

case study is an application to evaluate environmental management and environmental regulation issues to help determine the highest and best use of the seafloor. Currertly we 

are aware of approximately 50,000 barrels and other containers of radioactive waste that were disposed of on the seafloor 

west of the Farallon Islands between 1946 and 1971 The 

barrels were to be dumped at three specific sites, but for various reasons dumping was not confined to those sites and the 

barrels litter a 1,200 km2 area (called the Farallon Island 

Radioactive Waste Dump) of seafloor so that the exact location of most of the barrels is unknown. We have surveyed 

about 15 percent of the dumpsite area with a sidescan sonar 

system at two different swath widths (1 km and 5 krn) and 

have developed techniques for detecting the steel barrels 

(Karl and others, 1994; Chavez and Karl, in press). Tt«; Gulf 

of the Farallones and adjacent waters are a major f^hery. 

The impact that the barrels have on the marine ecosystem is 

unknown. Anecdotal fear of radiation contamination 1 as had 

an adverse impact on the commercial fisheries marke4; in the 

past. The first step to quantifying the value of the sonar maps 

to society is to use these data to develop a probability distribution of the barrels over the FIRWD. The model will be 

used to compare the statistical accuracy of sonar data of different swath width (different resolution). This infomation 

can be used by agencies such as NOAA (National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration) to examine the cost effectiveness of remotely sensed data of different resolution.

Following this first activity we have proposed to combine physical data and models and economic data and models in a GIS (Geographic Information System) to evaluate 

the role of USGS in offshore environmental policy

33
decisions. Some of the environmental policy issues that will 

be addressed include:

1. What physical information is important in managing 

a marine sanctuary?

2. Are bottom conditions part of the development of an 

offshore environmental policy?

3. Should we develop an oceans mass balance model 

(current, temperature, other physical variables) to evaluate 

offshore environmental risks, similar to terrestrial mass balance models?

4. Should the role of the Government be to provide 

site-specific or regional protocols for future rule-making offshore?

5. Who is responsible for identifying and verifying offshore dmnpsites for radioactive and other toxic wastes?

6. What effects do sanctuaries and dumpsites have on 

decisions regarding utilization of the EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) for harvesting renewable resources, extraction 

of nonrenewable resources, and recreation?

7. How do we assign a value to endangered species in 

environmentally threatened areas offshore?

REFERENCES

Bernknopf, R.L., Brookshire, D.S., Seller, D.R., McKee, M.J., Sutler, J.F., Matti, J.C., and Campbell, R.H., 1993, Societal value 

of geologic maps: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1111, 53 p.

Chavez, P.S., Jr., and Karl, H.A., in press, Detection of barrels on 

the seafloor using spatial variability analysis on sidescan sonar 

images: Journal of Marine Geodesy, Special Issue.

Karl, H.A., Schwab, W.C., Wright, A. St.C, Drake, D.E., Chin, 

J.L., Danforth, W.W., and Ueber, E., 1994, Acoustic mapping 

as an environmental management tool, I Detection of barrels 

of low-level radioactive waste, Gulf of the Farallones National 

Marine Sanctuary, California: Ocean & Coastal Management, 

v. 22, p. 201-227.

Consequences of Energy Use on 

Water Quality

Mary Jo Baedecker, William Back, and

Charles A. Cravotta, III,

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA 22092

Practices for the production, distribution, and use of 

energy have had a significant impact on the quality of surface and ground water throughout much of the United States. 

For example, coal mining can affect water quality by the 

generation of acidic drainage from overburden and coal; 

improperly managed brines from oil and gas fields can 

increase the concentrations of total dissolved solids and toxic 

metals in fresh water; petroleum and petroleum-derived 

products from pipeline breaks, spills, and leaking storage

tanks can contaminate streams and aquifer"; acidic leachate 

from waste rock and tailings piles can mobilize radionuclides and other metals; and hydroelectric power dams can 

affect upstream and downstream water quality and riparian 

ecology. The scientific problems associate! with the deterioration of water quality and the policy and management initiatives to resolve these problems differ among the various 

energy sources.

Environmental research related to energy use includes 

studies to understand (1) the fate and behavior of products 

such as crude oil, coal, and byproducts such as tailings, in 

various hydrogeologic environments; (2) the effects of 

geochemical reactions, some of which are microbially mediated, on mineral stability and consequently on the inorganic 

chemistry of water; (3) the rates at whics the controlling 

reactions occur; and (4) the integration of chemical reactions 

and microbial and physical processes into f ow and transport 

models in order to determine the concentration of solutes at 

certain locations for times in the future.

Changes in Water Quality

Changes in the chemical composition of fresh water 

presented here resulted from production or use of coal, petroleum products, and uranium. A major environmental problem that affects the quality of surface and ground water is 

acidic drainage from the mining of coal and uranium. The 

oxidation of sulfide minerals, predominancy pyrite, in overburden or tailings exposed from a mining operation produces 

acidic water that enhances the dissolution and mobilization 

of other metals. Upon exposure to oxygen and water, pyrite 

oxidizes and initially forms soluble ferrous iron, protons and 

sulfate (Kleinmann and others, 1981; Nordstrom, 1982). The 

chemical reaction that describes the complete oxidation of 

pyrite is written as:

FeS2+3.75O2+3.5H2O -» Fe(OH)3+2SO4=+4H+

These acidic weathering reactions are prevalent in the unsaturated zone and can form other iron-bearng minerals that 

temporarily store acid and sulfate, until wet conditions 

release the contaminants. The resulting lov pH of the water 

and the increase in metal concentrations f-om these oxidation-reduction reactions often harm organisms in the stream 

and riparian zone. Not all acidic water is th~. result of human 

activities. Also, not all mining results in acidic water. For 

example, carbonate rocks adjacent to cosl seams can dissolve to generate bicarbonate that has a neutralizing effect on 

acid generation. Innovative mining method7 and engineering 

practices have been developed to take advantage of these 

reactions to minimize the effects on water quality.

The effect of coal mining on water q uality is variable 

and depends on the composition of the coa' and overburden, 

and the extent of mineral weathering alon? the flowpath of 

the water. At coal mining sites investigated in Pennsylvania,

34
the quality of water from surface mines reflects the composition and reactions associated with the minerals in the overburden that remains as mine spoil or backfill, whereas in 

underground mines the water quality reflects the composition and controlling reactions in the exposed coal pillars and 

surrounding rock (Cravotta, 1994). Surface mining and 

underground mining can generate very different chemical 

types of water.

One of the environmental effects of the generation of 

acidic water in tailings piles is the discharge of acidic leakage into aquifers and streams. At a site in Ontario, pyrite was 

oxidized in uranium tailings, and the acidic water infiltrated 

to the subsurface, with some of it discharging to a stream 

(Dubrovsky and others, 1984). The movement of H+, A13+, 

heavy metals, uranium, and 210Pb through the tailings pile 

was retarded by geochemical processes, while Fe and 

SO42~ traveled at about the average linear ground-water 

velocity. Leachate from tailings piles is often controlled by 

treatment with lime and barium chloride, the latter added for 

precipitation of 226Ra (radium). Much attention with respect 

to the environmental impact of uranium milling has focused 

on radium because it is a bone-seeking radionuclide and has 

a restrictive drinking water standard. Deposition of uranium 

mill tailings in anaerobic environments has been shown to 

have the potential for the release of 226Ra to contacting 

waters by microbial processes (Landa and others, 1991). 

226Ra may also be a concern in water collecting in pits at 

abandoned surface uranium mines, as well as in water discharged from active, underground uranium mines 

(Longsworth, 1994).

The production and use of natural gas, petroleum, and 

petroleum products can affect (1) the inorganic composition 

of fresh water because of mixing with brines from gas and oil 

wells or test holes and (2) the organic composition of water 

because of contact with a nonaqueous phase liquid, such as 

gasoline or crude oil. Many processes such as microbially 

enhanced degradation, sorption, and photooxidation can 

occur when organic compounds are transferred to the aqueous phase. These processes affect the chemistry of the water, 

and the mineralogy and hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer 

matrix.

The most soluble components of petroleum products 

are benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and the xylenes 

(BTEX); these volatile compounds are among the 25 most 

frequently reported contaminants at hazardous waste sites. 

The compounds BTEX can migrate from source areas and 

become inaccessible for cleanup from aquifers. However, 

these compounds are known to be biodegraded by a number 

of aerobic and anaerobic pathways, which makes their 

removal more feasible than that of other contaminants such 

as chlorinated solvents. Other components of petroleum 

products, such as aliphatic hydrocarbons, may come in contact with water by a spill or leaking tank. Because these 

hydrocarbons are relatively insoluble, they do not migrate 

far but remain close to the source area. At a site in Minnesota

where a pipeline carrying crude oil ruptured, a long-term 

study indicated that the movement of the contaminan* plume 

was stabilized by biodegradation of the soluble components 

of the crude oil (Baedecker and others, 1993). The movement of BTEX at concentrations above Federal standards for 

drinking water was restricted to an area of less than 200 m 

downgradient of the source, although the ground-water 

velocity was high enough to have carried the contaminants 

much farther. However, there is so much crude oil in the subsurface that the plume will remain for a long time, an-1 as the 

biogeochemical processes change, the plume ateo may 

change.

Societal Needs and Expectations

People are concerned about water quality because it is 

a resource worthy of preservation and because the decline in 

water quality can affect the health of humans and tt°- wellbeing of the biota. Advances in the scientific knowledge of 

the behavior of contaminants in the environment have shown 

that it is more effective to prevent and control contandnation 

than to clean up the results of poor disposal practices or accidental discharges. For organic contaminants, cleanup in subsurface environments where oxygen is limited is slower than 

in surface water where photooxidation and volatilization of 

organic contaminants can be significant removal mechanisms. Biotic and abiotic processes can degrade orgar; c contaminants to other compounds, including CO2 and CH4, 

which are end products of reactions involving carbon. In 

contrast, the result of any process does not change tl ^ mass 

of a metal, but can change its chemical speciation and mobility. Major advances have been made to improve water quality by preventing the mixing of contaminated water with 

fresh water and by using remediation techniques to isolate or 

attenuate contaminants. Still, the quality of water for the 

future is uncertain because human activities cont'nue to 

cause contamination of water and because the process that 

determine whether contaminants can be removed from 

hydrologic environments are not clearly understood.

REFERENCES

Baedecker, M.J., Cozzarelli, I.M., Eganhouse, R.P., Siegel, D.I., 

and Bennett, P.C., 1993, Crude oil in a shallow sand and gravel 

aquifer IK, Biogeochemical reactions and mass balance modeling in anoxic ground water: Applied Geochemistry, v. 8, p. 

569-586.

Cravotta, in, C.A., 1994, Secondary iron-sulfate minerals as sources of sulfate and acidity, in Alpers, C.N., and Blowes, D.W., 

eds., Environmental geochemistry of sulfide oxidation: ACS 

Symposium Series 550, American Chemical Society, Chapter 

23, p. 345-364.

Dubrovsky, N.M., Morin, K.A., Cherry, J.A., and Smytk D.J.A., 

1984, Uranium tailings acidification and subsurface contaminant migration in a sand aquifer: Water Pollution Fesearch 

Journal of Canada, v. 19, no. 2, p. 55-89.

35
Kleinmann, R.L.P., Crerar, D.A., and Pacelli, R.R., 1981, Biogeochemistry of acid mine drainage and a method to control 

acid formation: Mining Engineering, v. 33, no. 3, p. 300-304.

Landa, E.R., Phillips, E.J.P., and Lovley, D.R., 1991, Release of 

226Ra from uranium mill tailings by microbial Fe(ni) reduction: Applied Geochemistry, v. 6, p. 647-652.

Longsworth, S.A., 1994, Geohydrology of abandoned uranium 

mines and radiochemistry of spoil-material leachate, Monument Valley and Cameron areas, Arizona and Utah: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigation Report 93-4226, 

43 p.

Nordstrom, D.K., 1982, Aqueous pyrite oxidation and the consequent formation of secondary iron minerals, in Kittrick, J.A., 

Fanning, D.S., and Hossner, L.R., eds., Acid sulfate weathering: Soil Science Society of America, Special Publication 10, 

Fort Collins, Colorado, 1979 [Proceedings], p. 37-56.

A Little Learning is a Dangerous Thing 

But How Do We Apply Our Geoscience 

Knowledge to the Regulatory Process?

Lorraine H. Filipek and James K. Otton, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO 80225

One primary focus of this year's McKelvey Forum is 

the USGS Energy Program the types of information we 

collect and research we conduct in order to identify the quality as well as the quantity of fossil fuels. We are building the 

scientific knowledge and databases that allow policy makers 

and regulators to know the different kinds of fuel resources 

this Nation has, their distribution, the environmental consequences of their extraction and utilization, and the scientific 

uncertainties that exist within the limitations of the available 

scientific data. This information is needed to help the Nation 

develop policy concerning the use of these resources. In 

order to be as effective as possible in the regulatory process, 

regulators need to know about the kinds of information we 

have, and USGS scientists need to know more about the 

kinds of information that will be most useful for the regulatory process and how and when to supply it to the regulators.

This Forum is part of our information-transfer process. 

In this final oral presentation, we give examples of how the 

USGS has contributed scientific information to the regulatory process and mention some of the issues that are likely to 

be important in the next few years. We concentrate on two 

elements of the energy environmental program structure: 

environmental effects of natural energy occurrence and 

impacts of energy extraction.

Natural Occurrence The Background Problem

The "background" level the amount of a substance 

present naturally is a concept of great health and monetary

importance when it comes to land-use planning, regulating 

industrial discharges, or cleaning up "contamination." In 

many places, background levels of natural";' occurring substances such as hydrocarbons, trace metals, or radionuclides 

may exceed regulated levels or levels from manmade 

sources. In some cases, natural levels can present health hazards. For example, epidemic numbers of people in certain 

areas of what was once Yugoslavia have died from kidney 

failure. The USGS discovered that the ground water used by 

these people for drinking water contained1 high concentrations of organic compounds that leached naturally from lignite coalfields. Now, treatment of the ground water will 

significantly reduce deaths by kidney failure.

In other cases, health data are inconclusive on hazardous levels of elements and compounds. In these cases, 

an overly conservative approach can be extremely costly. 

For example, radon in air is a known health risk; however, 

radon in water has no known health risks, other than the 

potential to degas minor amounts of rado^ into the air. In 

spite of this, as part of the Safe Drinking Water Act, EPA 

is required to set regulatory limits for levels of radon in 

drinking water. Presently discussed minimum contaminant levels (MCL's) are on the order of 300 picocuries/liter. When nuclear energy was corsidered a major 

potential source of energy, the USGS conducted research 

on the geochemistry of uranium-bearing rocks. Radon is a 

daughter product of the natural radioactive decay of uranium and thorium, so we also studied radon. This 

research indicates that the proposed MCL is 10-100 times 

less than typical ground-water background levels in crystalline-rock aquifers. Thus, many water districts will be 

forced to spend large sums to treat natural ground water to 

obtain levels of radon in compliance w;t.h the proposed 

standard.

Our research on uranium geology h^s allowed us to 

help in another arena that of indoor radon pollution. 

Considerable geographic variability exists in the concentrations of radon emitted naturally from soils. This variability is related to the soils' varying rcrUochemical and 

physical properties. The USGS, several State agencies, 

and other interested groups have developed techniques for 

mapping geologic radon potential and lave mapped the 

entire United States at varying levels of detail. These maps 

are designed to focus attention towards areas of higher 

radon potential, to show areas where recommended modifications to building codes to lower radon entry in new 

housing should be applied, and to encourage sampling of 

existing housing. As such these geology-based maps contribute to the policy goal of reducing human exposure to 

indoor radon.

A substantial number of legal battles have been 

fought over whether existing contamination in a particular 

area is due to human activity or is a natural result of geologic circumstances. Data the USGS collects during 

assessment and research studies lave commonly

36
determined sources of contamination in certain localities. 

The utility of background information has prompted State 

regulatory agencies to work with us both in developing 

improved data-collection requirements for permitting, and 

in requiring technical specifications based on known problems in specific geologic environments.

For example, the New Mexico Oil Conservation 

Division has used our studies on the molecular and isotopic composition and origin of natural gases in the San 

Juan Basin both to remediate and to prevent contamination 

of shallow aquifers by natural gas, mainly methane. The 

San Juan Basin has been an area of considerable oil and 

gas development and production since the 1950's. Most 

recently, active development of coalbed methane from the 

Upper Cretaceous Fruitland Formation has taken place 

within the basin, which has coincided with reports of natural gas in water. Our studies have shown that some of the 

contamination has resulted from vertical migration of natural gas behind the casing of wells producing from this 

formation and from devices installed to prevent corrosion 

of casing in gas wells. However, some of the gas in the 

shallow aquifers was formed naturally in-place by anaerobic microorganisms. As a result of our studies, remedial 

action was taken for several wells in the New Mexico 

part of the basin, and standards were developed for future 

well completions to protect the shallow aquifer.

Energy Extraction What to Do With the Waste?

Waste management is arguably the most significant 

environmental issue related to energy (or any other industry!). It is the heart of most environmental regulation including RCRA, CERCLA, the Clean Air and Water Acts, and the 

Safe Drinking Water Act. Sulfur, acid, salt, trace elements, 

naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM), and 

gases, including carbon dioxide, can be released into the 

environment during energy extraction and utilization. We 

are developing methods to predict waste characteristics, to 

determine the geologic factors that contribute to the suitability and durability of potential waste repositories, to map 

existing waste contamination, and to develop effective remediation strategies.

For example, coal extraction wastes can produce 

environmental problems. Acid mine drainage (AMD) 

caused by coal mining activities has been cited as one of 

the main reaons for the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. However, initial regulations developed by the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) under the 

Act were based on a limited amount of information. As a 

consequence, AMD continues to be a serious problem 

associated with coal mining in the Eastern United States. 

Te are currently working with OSM, U.S. Bureau of 

Mines, the National Mined Lands Reclamation Center, and 

State regulatory agencies in an informal consortium to

improve the coal-mine permitting process in the App->lachian area. We are developing conceptual geologic models of coal and overburden and are testing geophysical 

techniques to develop innovative and cost-effective AMD 

prediction methods. We are combining our knowledge of 

local geologic and geochemical variability in coal-foTning environments with statistical methodology to de^rmine the minimum number of samples necessary to 

adequately characterize a prospective site. We are also 

forming partnerships with the U.S. Bureau of Mines, 

based on our complementary expertise, to develop r°-w 

and improved technologies, such as anaerobic bioreactors, 

to treat AMD.

Oil and gas drilling operations may produce brine 

wastewaters that contain NORM. Louisiana, Arkansas, and 

Mississippi have developed regulations to control soil contamination from NORM in the wastewaters, and other 

States are considering regulations. EPA is conducting preregulatory studies of the issue. The USGS is investigating 

the extent of NORM and related trace-metal contamination 

associated with oil and gas production by evaluating available published data sets, evaluating soil surveys for evidence of salt scarring, and assisting States in radiometric 

site characterization. These studies should assist Federal 

and State authorities in developing appropriate regulations 

for new drilling and in identifying and reclaiming s;tes 

contaminated from past activities, assist companies in 

evaluating environmental liabilities associated with property acquisition, and provide cost-effective means for site 

characterization.

Tfie Future Toward Sustainable Energy 

Development and Use

One parting thought: According to legend, the orach at 

Delphi warned, "A little learning is a dangerous 

thing***Drink deep or taste not the Pythian spring." If we 

approach a problem in ignorance, we will make poor decisions. Major roles of the USGS are to generate data in order 

to increase our understanding of geologic areas of pul '<c 

concern, to transform the data into useful information, and 

then to communicate that information effectively to the p'iblic and, in particular, to the writers of regulations. Relevant 

information is the basis for sustainable, environmentally 

acceptable energy development and use. We applaud flexibility in national regulations that allow State/local authorities to take into account local conditions but that offer 

guidelines sufficient to protect the environment unifomly 

across the country. We want to work even more closely with 

policy makers at the national level to provide them the information they need to develop appropriate flexibility in ervironmental regulations related to energy commodities, and 

with regulators at the State/local level to develop strategies 

for regulatory compliance that are based on science. We ask 

your help in becoming more effective.

37
PAPERS CONCERNING POSTERS ARRANGED BY PROGRAM THEME

Information Transfer

Easy Access to Coal Quality Information: 

COALQUAL-The New USGS Coal Quality 

CD-ROM Database

Linda J. Bragg, Charles L. Oman,

Susan J. Tewalt, and Robert B. Finkelman,

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA 22092

A new CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory) 

was produced to satisfy a demand for access to the USGS's 

(U.S. Geological Survey) USCHEM (USgeoCHEMical) 

database by coal mining companies, utilities, State agencies, 

environmental organizations, researchers, and others. In 

addition, the USGS's coal quality data were adopted by the 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address the 

effects of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA). 

That recognition of the USGS data created an additional 

demand for public access to the database.

A subset of data, representing the 50 most productive 

U.S. coal beds during 1990, was selected for the EPA by 

USGS personnel from the coal quality information contained 

in the USGS's National Coal Resources Data System 

(NCRDS) to fulfill this requirement. The EPA is obligated to 

assess the impact of 189 chemical substances from a wide 

variety of stationary sources, including emissions from electric utility steam generating plants. The limitations in time 

and money, plus the lack of appropriate analytical methods, 

have severely curtailed field testing activities. Therefore, the 

EPA has sought out existing databases that contain fuel analysis information.

To meet this need the USGS has released a CD-ROM 

(Bragg and others, 1994) that contains comprehensive information representing approximately 7,400 full-bed U.S. coal 

samples compiled from the 13,035 full-bed and benched coal 

and rock samples that compose the USCHEM database. For 

some localities, data are represented by one sample obtained 

either by channel or core (Swanson and Huffman, 1976; 

Stanton, 1989). In other localities, because the only available 

data were either bench or interval samples, a composite sample was calculated. A composite sample entailed calculating 

values from the weighted averages of interval (bench) samples taken sequentially to represent the bed thickness. 

(Weighted averages are calculated by normalizing the data to 

the total "bed thickness" using the individual sample thicknesses.) Up to 136 parameters are available for each sample 

record. These parameters include (1) geologic, stratigraphic, 

and geographic data; (2) ultimate and proximate data; (3) 

forms of sulfur; (4) grindability and free-swelling indices;

(5) ash fusion temperatures; (6) calorifi" values; (7) ash 

oxides; and (8) concentrations of 63 major, minor, and trace 

elements. The chemical data are presented on a whole-coal, 

as-received basis, except for the oxides, wMch are presented 

on an ash-basis. ASTM (American Society for Testing and 

Materials) standards were used to test for parameter groups 

2-6 through agreements with the USBM (U.S. Bureau of 

Mines) testing lab and commercial labs: USGS methods 

were used for parameter groups 7 and 8 (Swanson and Huffman, 1976; Golightly and Simon, 1989).

Table 1, sample distribution by coal province, coal 

region, and State, shows a comparison of tl ~ number of samples in the USCHEM database and the number of samples in 

the COALQUAL database after restricting the samples in 

USCHEM to those representing full-bed coal samples. Figure 1 shows the geographical distribution. In addition to the 

database, technical information and publications pertaining 

to the data, sampling techniques, and analytical methods are 

also included on the CD-ROM. (See Finkelman and others, 

1994; Golightly and Simon, 1989; Swanson and Huffman, 

1976; USGS, 1976; and Wood and others, 1983.)

The USGS CD-ROM Open-File Report (Bragg and 

others, 1994) has been produced in accordance with the ISO 

9660 CD-ROM Standard and is, therefore, compatible with 

any computing platform that has appropriate CD-ROM 

driver software installed. However, the access software 

(called GSSEARCH) used to retrieve data on the disc currently executes only under DOS on IBM or compatible personal computers. A dBase file coalqual.dbf is included on 

the CD-ROM which may be downloaded to a IBM compatible PC and accessed by a variety of databases that can import 

dBase (version 3.0 or higher) files. Datr may be selected 

through the use of GSSEARCH and output in a variety of 

formats, including dBase, flat ASCII, deHmited ASCII, or 

fixed-field for use on other computing platforms.

The CD-ROM provides easy access to data representing full-bed coal samples and is available to the public 

through the USGS. Much of the data war obtained prior to 

1982, and as a consequence, many of the coal samples were 

obtained from areas that are now mined out or where coal 

mining has subsequently ceased. On the average, only 100 

analyses are being added to the USCHEM database annually. The CD-ROM will enable the user to look at regional 

projections of coal quality variation; however, care must be 

exercised when looking at areas in detail. Care must also be 

taken in using data for elements where mere than 10 percent 

of the non-zero data were qualified in tin USCHEM database (this information is found in the he'n files and in the 

techinfo documentation on the CD-ROM). Non-zero

38
Table 1 (Bragg and others). Samples in USCHEM and COALQUAL databases from coal-bearing areas. 

[-, no sample]

Province '

Alaska

Eastern

Gulf

Interior

Northern

Great Plains.

Rocky Mountain

No data entered

Region2 Total 

number of 

samples 

(USCHEM)

Peninsula

Central Alaska

Cook Inlet-Susitna

Northern Alaska

Seward Peninsula

Atlantic Coast

Central Appalachian

Northern Appalachian

Pennsylvania anthracite

Rhode Island

meta-anthracite.

Southern Appalachian

Mississippi

Texas

Eastern

Northern

Western

Fort Union

North Central

Powder River

Denver

Green River

Hams Fork

Raton Mesa

San Juan River

Southwestern Utah

Tertiary lake beds

Uinta

Wind River

No data entered

TOTAL SAMPLES

13

259

98

296

6

67

2,198

2,627

72

18

1,062

67

197

826

10

445

414

12

1,666

123

1,117

47

96

337

63

12

614

44

229

13,035

Number of 

samples after 

compositing 

(COALQUAL)

8

49

30

78

1

2

1,777

1,636

52

12

987

23

118

298

3

329

300

7

612

42

416

29

40

193

42

7

253

42

46

7,432

State

Alaska

Alaska

Alaska

Alaska

Alaska

Maryland

Massachusetts

North Carolina

Virginia

Kentucky

Tennessee

Virginia

West Virginia

Maryland

Ohio

Pennsylvania

West Virginia

Pennsylvania

Massachusetts

Rhode Island

Alabama

Georgia

Tennessee

Arkansas

Kentucky

Mississippi

Missouri

Tennessee

Arkansas

Louisiana

Texas

Illinois

Indiana

Kentucky

Michigan

Arkansas

Iowa

Kansas

Missouri

Nebraska

Oklahoma

Montana

North Dakota

Montana

Montana

Wyoming

Colorado

Colorado

Wyoming

Idaho

Wyoming

Colorado

New Mexico

Colorado

New Mexico

Utah

Idaho

Montana

Colorado

Utah

Wyoming

Arizona

California

Colorado

Idaho

Missouri

Montana

Nevada

New Mexico

Texas

Washington

Wyoming

Number of 

samples 

(USCHEM)

13

259

98

296

6

1

5

55

6

910

49

579

660

74

805

1,521

227

72

7

11

1,013

39

10

8

1

31

5

3

69

1

127

133

378

315

10

30

145

45

123

17

85

141

273

12

730

936

123

516

601

6

41

61

35

44

293

63

3

9

191

423

44

40

1

17

49

10

1

14

15

1

80

1

Number of 

samples after 

compositing 

(COALQUAL)

8

49

30

78

1

1

1

780

48

492

457

59

660

757

160

52

3

9

9

37

10

11

3

9

45

1

72

16

157

125

3

28

118

30

91

56

95

205

7

251

361

42

151

265

29

28

12

21

172

42

7

122

131

42

11

8

3

2

7

1

14

'Source: Wood and others (1983, p. 16).

2Modified from Wood and others (1983, p. 15); Appalachian region is split into Northern, Central, and Southern Appalachian.

39
Figure 1 (Bragg and others). Location of samples in the COALQUAL database.
qualified data are values which are greater than (G) or less 

than (L) the detection limit for the element. Qualified data 

having qualifiers of B (not analyzed for), N (not detected), 

and H (interference) are treated as zero qualified data or 

NULL values. All the chemistry data have been validated the data in the database have been corrected to the 

analytical data sheets. By the end of 1995, the geologic, 

stratigraphic, and geographic data should be completely validated (sent to the collectors where possible or checked 

against publications) and corrected in the database, at which 

time a new version of the CD-ROM is anticipated. The 

USGS will continue maintaining the USCHEM and 

COALQUAL databases and adding data as acquired.

REFERENCES

Bragg, L.J., Oman, J.K., Tewalt, S.J., Oman, C.L., Rega, N.H., 

Washington, P.M., and Finkelman, R.B., 1994, U.S. Geological Survey coal quality (COALQUAL) database; version 1.3: 

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 94-205 (CD-ROM).

Finkelman, R.B., Oman, C.L., Bragg, L.J., and Tewalt, S.J., 1994, 

U.S. Geological Survey coal quality data base (COALQUAL): 

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 94-177, 46 p.

Golightly, D.W., and Simon, P.O., 1989, Methods for sampling and 

inorganic analysis of coal: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 

1823, 72 p.

Stanton, R.W., 1989, Sampling of coal beds for analysis, in Golightly, D.W., and Simon, P.O., eds., Methods for sampling and inorganic analysis of coal: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1823, 

p. 7-13.

Swanson, V.E., and Huffman, Jr., A.C., 1976, Guidelines for sample collecting and analytical methods used in the U.S. Geological Survey for determining chemical composition of coal: U.S. 

Geological Survey Circular 735, lip.

U.S. Geological Survey, 1976, Coal resource classification system 

of the U.S. Bureau of Mines and U.S. Geological 

Survey Mineral resource classification systems of the 

U.S.B.M. and U.S.G.S.: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 

1450-B, 7 p.

Wood, Jr., G.H., Kehn, T.M., Carter, M.D., and Culbertson, W.C., 

1983, Coal resource classification system of the U.S. Geological Survey: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 891, 65 p.

CD-ROM Publication of the

1995 National Assessment of Oil and Gas

Resources of the United States

Ken Takahashi and Donald L. Gautier, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO 80225

The results of the 1995 National Assessment of Oil and 

Gas Resources of the United States are presented in an interactive CD-ROM. The application of new digital

technologies to the publication of data and the presentation 

of findings from this major program of the U.S. Geological 

Survey has resulted in a unique product that presents the 

complex procedures and findings in a form that is clear and 

understandable to the lay person. At the same time tse use of 

digital technology preserves and makes available the data 

and maps used in the assessment in a digital form useful to 

the scientific community. The interactive nature of the 

National Assessment CD-ROM allows the user to browse 

through the documents and presentations, choosing items of 

interest in user-selectable order. Using digital techniques to 

present the findings and methodology provides the opportunity to illustrate and present complex concepts and relationships in graphic images or animations that are easy to 

understand.

Knowledge of oil and gas resources is necersary for 

strategic planning, evaluating Federal lands, and developing 

sound economic, energy, and environmental policies. The 

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with the 

Minerals Management Service (MMS), is the only independent body able to conduct such a study. The USGS National 

Assessment is an unbiased and scientifically based estimate 

of the quantity of oil and gas yet to be discovered and of the 

past and future growth in hydrocarbon reserves. The 

National Assessment describes the sources of oil and gas, 

where they are, what technology may be needed to recover 

them and at what price, and at what rate they can be withdrawn. This more comprehensive view of the National 

Assessment will provide a new understanding of U.S. oil and 

gas resources.

Selection of CD-ROM as the medium for presenting the 

results of the 1995 National Assessment of Oil and Gas 

Resources was based on its characteristics and capabilities. 

Currently CD-ROM's are the only medium capable of holding the volume of data necessary to present the find;ngs and 

supporting information of the assessment. The CO-ROM 

medium can be read by nearly every operating system due to 

its industry-wide standard format and is rapidly becoming 

the medium of choice for the publication and dissenination 

of data. This allows for a single publication of the results in 

a form compatible with the two most popular persoral computing platforms. The information on the data archive volume will be compatible with nearly all computer systems 

with a CD-ROM drive.

The design of this program allows the user to view the 

findings of this program from several different perspectives. 

The first follows the analogy of a traditional paper publication in which text and illustrations are read and vbwed in 

serial order, with the user proceeding from start to finish a 

page at a time. The work can also be viewed from a spatial 

or map-oriented perspective with selections made from an 

index map to view text and graphics from a geographic perspective. Finally, animated, historical views of oil and gas 

exploration over time are available for each of the provinces, 

taking advantage of the computer's capabilities.

41
The CD-ROM was developed using Macintosh, PC, 

VAX, and Data General systems linked by local and wide 

area networks. VAX systems processed data from NRG 

Associates, Inc., and Petroleum Information, Inc., databases 

with Ingres and Dynamic Graphics software. Maps developed in an Aviion/ARC/INFO environment were imported 

to Macintoshes using Apple Mac X, Adobe Illustrator, and 

PhotoShop. Charts were developed on Macintoshes using 

Delta Graph Pro 3, Deneba Canvas, and Microsoft Excel. 

Text was edited with Microsoft Word and Word Perfect. The 

CD-ROM was authored on Macintoshes with Macromedia 

Director and ported to Windows.

The National Assessment CD-ROM is designed to run 

on both Apple Macintosh and Windows-based PC systems 

for broadest usage. This digital publication will also be made 

available on the Internet for downloading along with the 

accompanying digital data files and map coverages.

Geological and Geophysical Information from 

the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska on 

CD-ROM as a Tool in Support of 

Geoscientific Decision-Making

David J. Taylor and Frederick N. Zihlman, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO 80225

In light of today's concerns over energy supplies and 

the impact that exploration for and production of these 

resources has on the environment, it is critical that explorationists, production companies, and land-use planners have 

all pertinent geoscientific data at their fingertips. Often the 

data needed to formulate policy are not available from a 

single source and are not on media which are easily accessible using today's computer technology. Putting a vast 

amount of closely related data on a single high-density lowcost medium can be accomplished now, thanks to the 

development of CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only 

Memory) data storage technology.

In 1977, jurisdiction of the Naval Petroleum Reserve 

Alaska (NPRA) was transferred to the U.S. Geological Survey from the U.S. Navy Department, charging the USGS 

with responsibility for (1) exploring the area for oil and gas 

and compiling a database for assessing the NPRA's petroleum potential; (2) supplying natural gas to the residents of 

Barrow, Alaska, and local government facilities; and (3) 

restoration of areas that were disturbed during construction 

and petroleum exploration activities into an environmentally acceptable condition. As a result of this charge, the 

USGS has a large amount of seismic reflection, well-log,

geochemical, stratigraphic, biostratigraphic, and well-core 

data from the NPRA. This region is extremely prospective 

for future oil and gas development, yet it is in an ecosystem 

which is highly sensitive to environmental change. The 

USGS Energy Resource Surveys Program recognizes the 

importance of the data it holds in this are'* and is taking 

steps to ensure that all these data are preserved and made 

accessible to other government agencies, academia, industry, and the general public, in a cohesive unit on a longlasting, high-density, easily readable mec^um in widely 

acceptable digital formats. These data are row being cataloged and transcribed onto CD-ROM's that are accessible 

using low-cost IBM-compatible, Apple Macintosh, and 

UNIX workstations. The idea behind this CD-ROM product is to gather all the data together from different digital 

and nondigital sources and compile them rU onto a single 

medium as part of the Energy Resource Surveys Program 

information and technology transfer effort.

As a test of our capability to produce integrated geophysical and geologic data, the Energy Resource Surveys 

Program has developed a special CD-ROI1 product containing available geophysical, geologic, borehole, biostratigraphic, and geochemical data pertaining to the Tunalik 

No. 1 well site, located in the far northwest corner of the 

NPRA (fig. 1). These data are a relatively complete set of 

exploration data that would assist explorat'on, production, 

and ecosystem managers in creating land-development 

plans for the area.

This CD-ROM contains digital data in industry standard format, scanned digital images of originally nondigital 

data in standard graphics format, and software to display 

the data on IBM-compatible, Apple Macintosh, and UNIX 

hardware. The digital graphics images cm be displayed 

using low-cost commercially available gmhics programs 

capable of running on the hardware platforms mentioned. 

The seismic data include final stack data ir SEG-Y format, 

digital shotpoint location data, seismic acquisition parameters, and seismic-processing parameters. T/e well-log data 

include digital well-log data, digital images of well core, 

drilling history reports, depths to selected horizons, digital 

synthetic seismograms, original logging reports, lithologic 

reports, original sidewall core descriptions, and original 

core descriptions. The velocity data include digital depth, 

interval velocity, and average velocity information from the 

Tunalik No. 1 well and regional velocity information in 

digital form. ASCII files containing digital gravity measurements and gravity station locations in latitude and longitude will be included. Biostratigraphic data will include 

scanned images of the original palynology and foraminifera 

reports from the Tunalik No. 1 well.

The ultimate goal of this project is to transcribe a 

majority of our NPRA data onto CD-ROM and then to 

make these CD-ROM's available to the general public 

through the National Energy Research Seismic Library

42
Area of figure

159.0°

69.0°

Figure 1 (Taylor and Zihlman). The Tunalik No. 1 well relative to the NPRA boundary, and the location of the surface seismic reflection 

data. The Tunalik No. 1 well drilled through more than 6,096 meters (20,000 ft) of sedimentary section.

(NERSL). Ultimately, NPRA data along with digital 

seismic data from other regions will then be available 

through a number of distribution media, including data on 

CD-ROM, 9-track and 8-mm magnetic tape, paper hard 

copy reports, and on-line service that will allow digital

information to be downloaded from a USGS server. We 

expect that making all of our nonproprietary data accessible will take several years to complete, but ve will 

attempt to make subsets of the complete dataset available 

as soon as cataloging and archiving are accomplished.

43
Availability and Quality of Energy Resources 

Domestic Conventional

Cretaceous and Tertiary Coals and CoalBearing Rocks of the Western United States 

A Bibliography of U.S. Geological Survey Data 

for Resource Estimation, Quality 

Determination, and Reclamation 

Potential Evaluation

Ronald H. Affolter and Joseph R. Hatch, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO 80225

Extensive economic coal deposits occur in rocks of 

Cretaceous and Tertiary age in the Western United States. 

The coal-bearing rocks range from several hundred to 

greater than 10,000 feet thick and they contain some of the 

thickest coal beds in the United States. More than 50 percent 

of remaining identified U.S. coal resources lie in the Western 

States (Averitt, 1975), and 9 of the top 10 coal-producing 

mines are located west of the Mississippi River. In 1992 

these nine mines produced over 158 million short tons of 

coal (Maclean Hunter Mining and Construction Group, 

1993). These coals usually are low in ash (< 10 percent) and 

low in sulfur (<1.0 percent) content. Apparent rank of most 

Cretaceous coals ranges from lignite A to anthracite; apparent rank of most Tertiary coals ranges from lignite A to subbituminous A.

Since the early 1970's, the U.S. Geological Survey, in 

cooperation with other Federal agencies (such as Bureau of 

Mines, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Indian Affairs), 

State geological surveys, industry, and academia, has collected, evaluated, and published data from many of the coalbearing regions of the Western United States (fig. 1). These 

publications cover the principal mined or minable Cretaceous-age coals of the Rocky Mountain province including 

those from the Black Mesa field (Arizona), Green River 

region (southwestern Wyoming and northwestern Colorado), San Juan River region (northwestern New Mexico and 

southwestern Colorado), and the Uinta region (eastern Utah 

and west-central Colorado). Publications on principal mined 

or minable Tertiary-age coals from the Rocky Mountain and 

Northern Great Plains provinces cover the Powder River and 

Fort Union regions of northeastern Wyoming, southeastern 

Montana, and western North Dakota. Publications on other 

Cretaceous and Tertiary coals cover the Bighorn region 

(northern Wyoming and southern Montana), Hams Fork 

region (southwestern Wyoming), Denver region (eastern 

Colorado), and Raton Mesa region (southeastern Colorado 

and northeastern New Mexico). Other publications are 

directed toward less significant coal-bearing areas (for 

example, Centralia-Chehalis coal district) of the Pacific 

Coast province (California, Oregon, and Washington).

U.S. Geological Survey publications relevant to western coals can be grouped into six general overlapping categories: (1) reports summarizing exploratory drilling, (2) 

geologic maps, (3) EMRIA reports (Energy Mineral Rehabilitation Inventory and Analysis), (4) co?' resource estimates, (5) coal chemical composition and utilization, and (6) 

geologic studies.

1. Reports summarizing exploratory drilling contain 

location maps, drilling logs, detailed litholc Tic descriptions 

of cored intervals, geophysical logs, coal I ed correlations, 

and, in some cases, proximate and ultimate analyses of the 

coals, and the element compositions of selected coal and 

coal-associated rock samples.

2. Maps include (a) geologic maps of coal-bearing 

rocks; (b) Coal Development Potential maps (also called 

Known Recoverable Coal Resource Areas: KRCRA's are 

compiled to support land-planning by the Bureau of Land 

Management); (c) Coal Investigation maps that characterize 

coal deposits with geologic maps and detailed coal sections; 

and (d) miscellaneous field studies.

3. EMRIA (Energy Mineral Rehabilitation Inventory 

and Analysis) reports (in cooperation wit! the Bureau of 

Reclamation) provide descriptions and analyses of coals, 

overburden and underbidden rocks, vegetat'on patterns, and 

hydrology of selected areas in order to esti*nate area reclamation potential.

4. Coal resource publications include area maps, procedural summaries, and tabular informatior. Some of these 

reports include resource estimates generated from data 

stored within the National Coal Resources Data System 

(NCRDS).

5. Coal chemical composition and utilization reports 

include proximate and ultimate analyses, heat-of-combustion, forms-of-sulfur, and ash-fusion-tenrneratures. Also 

included are statistical summaries of the r^h contents and 

major-, minor-, and trace-element compositions of coals and 

coal-associated rock samples. Because more, than 75 percent 

of U.S. coal is consumed by utilities (Maclean Hunter Mining and Construction Group, 1993), the chemical composition of coal has become more of a concern for future 

utilization. Environmental concern over stack emissions 

from the combustion of coal has increased due to the 1980 

Clean Air Act Amendment, which has identified several 

potentially hazardous air pollutants (HAP). These reports 

will provide valuable information in our efforts to minimize 

emissions of those elements and will also support efforts 

toward the proper disposal of coal-fired power plant bottom 

ashes, fly ashes, and sludges.

6. Geologic studies provide information on depositional environments, stratigraphic frrmeworks, and 

geochemical and mineralogical compositions of coal and 

coal-bearing rocks.

44
Figure 1 (Affolter and Hatch). Western coal regions. Map modified from Trumbull (1960).

Future development in Western U.S. Cretaceous and 

Tertiary coal-bearing areas will be assisted or constrained by 

the comprehensive geologic and analytical data contained in 

the more than 300 relevant publications of the U.S. Geological Survey. These data on Cretaceous and Tertiary coal and 

coal-bearing rocks in the Western United States will assist 

coal exploration and mining, coal utilization, and land-use 

planning, and help minimize environmental disruption 

resulting from mining and coal combustion.

An initial version of an annotated bibliography (containing reports published over the last 20 years) arranged by 

coal province, region, and subject will be available at the 

meeting. This bibliography will include maps showing the 

geographic areas covered by these publications.

REFERENCES

Averitt, Paul, 1975, Coal resources of the United States, January 1, 

1974: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1412, 131 p.

Maclean Hunter Mining and Construction Group, 1993, 1994 Keystone Coal Industry manual: Chicago, 111., Maclean Hunter 

Mining Information Services, 656 p.

Trumbull, J.V.A., 1960, Coal fields of the United States, sheet 1: 

U.S. Geological Survey map, scale 1:5,000,000.

The Future of Oil and Gas in Northern Alaska

Kenneth J. Bird, Frances Cole,

David G. Howell, and Leslie B. Magoon,

U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA 94025

The North Slope accounts for about 98 percent of 

Alaska's total oil production or about 1.6 MMBOP") (million barrels of oil per day). This production, along with that 

from southern Alaska's Cook Inlet fields, makes Alrska the 

number two oil-producing State, contributing about 25 percent of the Nation's daily oil production. Cumulativ?. North 

Slope production at year-end 1993 was 9.9 BBO (billion barrels of oil). Natural gas from the North Slope is not marketable for lack of a gas transportation system. Although 

enormous amounts of gas are produced with North Slope oil 

(cumulative production is about 20 TCFG, trillion cubic feet 

of gas), nearly all has been re-injected to maintain reservoir 

pressure and increase oil recovery. About 2 TCFG h-\s been 

used locally by the community of Barrow and for power generation in the oil fields. At year-end 1993, Nortl Slope 

reserves were calculated at 6.1 BBO (99 percent of State 

total) and 26.3 TCFG (92 percent of State total) (ftate of 

Alaska, 1994).

45
The North Slope is a lightly explored region containing one exploratory well per 270 square miles. Drilling 

began in the 1940's, when the U.S. Navy explored Naval 

Petroleum Reserve No. 4 and adjacent areas. This effort 

resulted in the discovery of several oil and gas fields of 

insufficient size for commercial development. Five years 

after the North Slope was opened to private oil exploration, the Prudhoe Bay oil field, North America's largest 

(12+ BBO ultimate recovery), was discovered in 1968. 

Regulatory uncertainty and construction of a 48-inchdiameter pipeline stretching 800 miles southward to the 

Pacific Ocean at Valdez delayed the startup of Prudhoe 

oil production until 1977. By 1988, North Slope oil production from Prudhoe Bay and three other oil fields 

peaked at 2 MMBOPD; since then production has 

declined to the current rate of 1.6 MMBOPD in spite of 

six more oil fields coming into production (fig. 1). Undiscovered, economically recoverable oil resources, as of 

1987, were estimated at 0-26 BBO (mean probability, 8 

BBO) for the onshore region and adjacent State waters by 

the USGS and 0-5 BBO (mean probability, <1 BBO) for 

the Federal offshore by the Minerals Management Service 

(Mast and others, 1989).

The North Slope is a high-cost area for oil and gas 

development because of the hostile environment, the 

remoteness from markets, and the lack of infrastructure. 

High costs account for the fact that less than one-third of 

the known oil and gas fields are producing and that gas is 

not marketable. They also account for the fact that only 

fields with high per-well production rates (rates that average two orders of magnitude higher than other U.S. producing regions: thousands vs. tens of BOPD) are 

currently being produced (Gerhard and others, 1988). 

When an economic screen is applied to USGS estimates of 

North Slope undiscovered oil resources, only 60 percent of 

those resources are considered economically recoverable 

(Attanasi and others, 1993). For example, the West Sak 

and Ugnu heavy oil accumulations with 20-40 BBO inplace, located between the Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk 

River oil fields, are currently non-economic to produce.

An important factor affecting the future of existing 

North Slope oil fields and all future oil field development is 

the continued operation of TAPS (Trans-Alaska Pipeline 

System). A basic but unanswered question is the minimum 

throughput rate required for efficient, cost-effective operation. Studies by the U.S. Department of Energy (1991) have 

assumed a range of 400 to 200 MBOPD (thousands of barrels of oil per day) to illustrate the effects of a shutdown of 

TAPS. Using reserve and production rate numbers from 

existing fields, a TAPS shutdown is predicted for year-end 

2008 assuming minimum rates of 400 MBOPD, and yearend 2014 assuming minimum rates of 200 MBOPD. Because 

the time between field discovery or decision-to-develop and 

first production is about 10 years, new or discovered fields

may need to be brought into production by 1998 to assure 

continued operation of the pipeline.

Major North Slope environmental issues related to oil 

and gas include the loss of wetlands through gravel mining 

and placement, disturbance of subsistence 1 anting and fishing, and disruption of coastal flow patterns cr fish migrations 

by solid-fill causeways. Waste management will become 

increasingly important as fields mature and field shutdown 

approaches a reality (Thomas and others, 19n3). North Slope 

operations are already under "zero discharge" regulations 

whereby all drillcuttings, mud, and other fluids are disposed 

of by injection into deep reservoirs. Other concerns include 

the threat of oil spills, disruption of fish and1 wildlife habitat, 

and pollution of air and water.

New technological developments applied to North 

Slope fields have reduced costs, improved oil recovery, and 

reduced environmental disturbance. More efficient equipment, improved field design, facilities sharng, and industry 

learning have, in some cases, reduced costs by as much as 

two-thirds (Harris, 1987). Ultimate oil recovery from the 

Prudhoe Bay field has increased from 9.6 BBO to about 12 

BBO through the use of enhanced oil recovery techniques 

including waterflooding, miscible gas injection, fracturing, 

and horizontal drilling. Environmental disturbance has been 

reduced by siting production wells closer together, resulting 

in smaller gravel production pads, and by developing offshore fields from onshore sites by extended-reach drilling.

REFERENCES

Attanasi, E.D., Bird, K.J., and Mast, R.F., 1993, Economics and the 

national oil and gas assessment; The case of onshore northern 

Alaska: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 77, no. 3, p. 491-504.

Gerhard, L.C., Graber, L.A., and Brostuen, E.A., 1988, A look at 

the status of U.S. petroleum: Oil and Gas Journal, June 20, 

1988, p. 73-78.

Harris, M., 1987, Endicott benefits from lessens learned: Alaska 

Construction and Oil, October 1987, p. 15-16.

Mast, R.F., Dolton, G.L., Crovelli, R.A., Root, D.H., Attanasi, E.D., 

Martin, P.E., Cooke, L.W., Carpenter, G.B., Pecora, W.C., and 

Rose, M.B., 1989, Estimates of undiscovered conventional oil 

and gas resources in the United States A part of the Nation's 

energy endowment: U.S. Department of the Interior, 44 p.

Thomas, C.P., Allaire, R.B., Doughty, T.C., Faulder, D.D., Irving, 

J.S., Jamison, H.C., and White, G.J., 1993, Alaska North Slope 

national energy strategy initiative Analysis of five undeveloped fields: U.S. Department of Energy, DOE/ID/01570-T164.

State of Alaska, 1994, Historical and projected oil and gas consumption: Anchorage, Alaska Department of Natural 

Resources, Division of Oil and Gas, 61 p.

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), 1991, Alaska oil and gas 

Energy wealth or vanishing opportunity?: DOEflD/01570-Hl.

46
150° 149° 148°

70° 

30'

70° 

15'

Pt Mclntyre

field Niakuk 

field

West Sak and Ugnu 

heavy oil accumulations

Figure 1 (Bird and others). Oil and gas fields of the greater Prudhoe Bay area, northern Alaska. Patterned dashed outline, 

nonproductive oil field.

2000

1975 1980 1985 

HISTORICAL

1990 1995 2000 2005 

FORECAST

2010 2015

Figure 2 (Bird and others). North Slope oil production.

47
Federal and State Coal 

Availability/Recoverability Studies in 

Eastern United States A New Approach to 

Coal Resource Assessment

M.D. Carter, 1 T.J. Rohrbacher,2 

G.A. Weisenfluh,3 N. Fedorko,4 A.G. Axon,5 

CG. Treworgy,6 H. Cetin/ D.D. Teeters,2 

R.I. Geroyan,2 R.S. Sites,8 and N.K. Gardner1

(1) U.S. Geological Survey, 956 National Center, 

Reston, VA 22092; (2) U.S. Bureau of Mines, 

Intermountain Field Operations Center, P.O. Box 

25086, Denver, CO 80225; (3) Kentucky 

Geological Survey, 228 Mining and Mineral 

Resources Building, University of Kentucky, 

Lexington, KY 40506-0107; (4) West Virginia 

Geological and Economic Survey, Mont Chateau 

Research Center, P.O. Box 879, Morgantown, WV 

26507-0879; (5) Ohio Division of Geological 

Survey, Fountain Square, Building B, Columbus, 

OH 43224; (6) Illinois State Geological Survey, 615 

East Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL 61820; 

(7) Indiana Geological Survey, 611 North Walnut 

Grove, Bloomington, IN 47405; (8) Virginia 

Division of Mineral Resources, P.O. Box 3667, 

Charlottesville, VA 22903

Introduction

The availability of environmentally acceptable and reliable energy sources is an important issue for Federal, State, 

and local planners. Traditional estimates of coal resources 

and reserves in the United States do not address the amount 

of coal made unavailable for production because of environmental, land-use, technological, and geologic constraints. 

Therefore, a cooperative program between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM), and the 

geological agencies of the principal coal-bearing States was 

initiated to (1) identify and delineate the current major 

restrictions on the availability of coal resources; (2) estimate 

the amount of remaining coal resources that may be available for development under those constraints; (3) estimate 

the amount of coal that can be economically extracted and 

marketed; and (4) identify possible social and economic disruptions that occur within local and regional economies as 

coal resources are exhausted.

Methodology

Within major coal-producing regions, 7.5-minute quadrangle study areas are selected on the basis of production

history, resource potential, and availability of data. The 

study areas are chosen to represent the variations in geology, 

topography, and land-use patterns of their region so that the 

results can be extrapolated reasonably throughout the entire 

region.

Land-use/environmental and technologic/geologic 

restrictions are the two general categories of restraints on 

coal mining. Land-use/environmental restrictions applicable 

within the areas studied include the presence of power lines, 

pipelines, cemeteries, oil and gas wells, roads, railroads, 

towns, major streams, wetlands, parks, and protected forests. 

Technologic/geologic restrictions include safety zones 

around active or abandoned mines, coal beds considered too 

thin or too deep to mine, mined and minable beds that are too 

close together, unstable roof or floor rock, and other geologic factors such as washouts, faults, disturbed areas, and 

impurities in the coal.

After identifying State and Federal coal mining regulations, USGS and State scientists consult with local coalindustry engineers, geologists, and mine operators to ascertain actual local mining practices. Outlines of areas that are 

underlain by coal, are mined out, and have restrictions to 

mining are digitized into a public-domain, raster-based geographic information system (GIS) and combined with coal 

thickness and depth of burial data for manipulation and calculation of restricted and available resources.

All GIS data generated by USGS and State cooperators 

during the Coal Availability Studies are given to USBM to 

conduct follow-on studies. The USBM Coal Recoverability 

Studies utilize GIS and modelling programs to develop and 

apply recovery and cost factors to the available coal 

resources. USBM generates detailed estimates of the amount 

of economically recoverable coal within each study area. An 

economic impact analysis is made on selected counties to 

examine the economic structure of mining communities, and 

the effects of the presence or absence of mining in these 

communities in the near future. (See Selected References for 

discussion of methodologies and results of selected studies 

completed by the participating agencies.)

Results

Coal availability studies for 17 of the 20 quadrangles 

selected in the central Appalachian region have been completed by USGS and Geological Surveys of Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia. Although results vary considerably 

among the areas studied, collectively, they indicate that only 

about one-half of the estimated original 12-billion-ton coal 

resource in these 17 quadrangles is available for development (fig. 1). Coal mined and lost-in-mining accounts for a 

15 percent reduction of the original resource, while landuse/environmental restrictions are 3 percent, and technologic/geologic restrictions, 32 percent.

Coal recoverability studies by the USBM on 11 quadrangles within the central Appalachian region show that

48
COAL 

RESOURCE EXCLUSIONS

Original

Remaining

Available

Recoverable

Economic

Compliance

None

Mined and lost-in-mining

Restricted

Future mining/cleaning 

loss

Uneconomic

Noncompliance

AGENCY

Figure 1 (Carter and others). Results of 17 USGS/State and 11 USBM studies in the central Appalachian region, showing agency areas 

of responsibili ty.

approximately 25 percent of the coal resources examined are 

recoverable and 8 percent of the total resources studied can 

be economically extracted and marketed. Further, remaining 

reserves within eight of the quadrangles range from 11 to 51 

years of continued mining at present rates of extraction, 

whereas the three other quadrangles have little or no marketable reserves. An impact analysis on Pike County, Kentucky, 

the largest coal-producing county in eastern Kentucky, indicates that 21 percent of the employable population is directly 

or indirectly involved in coal mining and that mining activities account for 46 percent of the county's income.

The sulfur content of the coal is mapped where sufficient data are available; in other cases it is estimated from 

statistical data. Results from USGS/State and USBM studies 

in the central Appalachian region indicate that approximately one-half of both the available and the economically 

recoverable coal in this prime low-sulfur coal region can 

meet current new-source performance standards of 1.2 

pounds of sulfur dioxide per million Btu input.

Conclusions

The first study areas completed have shown that (1) 

restrictions to mining have a significant impact on the

potential for coal resource development; (2) baseline data 

from these studies can help determine probable effects of 

environmental and legislative restrictions not only on coal 

production, but also on local and regional economies; (3) 

incorporation of these data early in the policy-formulation 

process could ensure informed regulations beneficial to 

both the environment and industry; (4) the interrelated 

effects of mined-out coal; environmental, industrial, economic, and social considerations; and the technical aspects 

of the minability and washability of individual coal beds, 

when all considered, substantially reduce the amount of 

available and economically recoverable coal to levels far 

below that previously stated in literature; and (5) being 

forewarned of potentially affected areas, policy-makers can 

plan for possible social and economic disruptions that occur 

as coal resources are exhausted or as mining shifts from 

high-sulfur to low-sulfur coal production.

The Coal Availability/Recoverability Studies have 

expanded into the northern Appalachian region and the Illinois basin in cooperation with the geologic agencies of Ohio, 

Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. Estimates are 

that 20 to 30 quadrangle studies should be sufficient to characterize each region. If funding permits, the program

49
ultimately will cover 150 quadrangles from the 11 major 

coal regions of the United States that represent 97 percent of 

current U.S. coal production. Planned project completion is 

2001.

SELECTED REFERENCES

Axon, A.G., 1994, Available coal resources of the Bethesda 7.5- 

minute quadrangle, Belmont County, Ohio: Ohio Division of 

Geological Survey, final report to the U.S. Geological Survey 

for cooperative agreement number 14-008-0001-A0851, 29 p.

Carter, M.D., and Gardner, N.K., 1989, An assessment of coal resources available for development; Central Appalachian region First year summary: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File 

Report 89-362, 52 p.

Cetin, Haluk, Conolly, Carol, and Rupp, J.A., 1994, The coal availability study in Indiana Alfordsville 7.5-minute quadrangle: 

Indiana Geological Survey Open-File Report 94-8, 53 p.

Eggleston, J.R., Carter, M.D., and Cobb, J.C., 1990, Coal resources 

available for development A methodology and pilot study: 

U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1055,15 p.

Geroyan, R.I., Teeters, D.D., and Plis, M.N., 1994, Economic impact analysis of the coal mining industry in Pike County, Kentucky: U.S. Bureau of Mines Coal Recoverability Series 1, 

21 p.

Loud, E.I., Blake, B.M., Jr., and Fedorko, N., 1990, The coal availability study in West Virginia War 7.5' quadrangle, McDowell County: West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey 

Open-File Report OF9005, 8 p.

Plis, M.N., Rohrbacher, T.J., and Teeters, D.D., 1993, 

COALVAL A prefeasibility software package for evaluating 

coal properties using Lotus 1-2-3, Release 2.2 

Documentation and user's guide: U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 9348, 93 p.

Rohrbacher, T.J., Teeters, D.D., Osmonson, L.M., and Plis, M.N., 

1994, Coal recoverability and the definition of coal reserves, 

central Appalachian region, 1993: U.S. Bureau of Mines Recoverability Series 2, 36 p.

Rohrbacher, T.J., Teeters, D.D., Sullivan, G.L., and Osmonson, 

L.M., 1992, Coal reserves of the Matewan quadrangle, Kentucky A coal recoverability study: U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 9355, 36 p.

 1993, Coal resource recoverability A methodology: U.S. 

Bureau of Mines Information Circular 9368, 48 p.

Sites, R.S., and Hostettler, K.K., 1990, Available coal resources 

study of Appalachia 7.5-minute quadrangle, Virginia-Kentucky: Virginia Division of Mineral Resources Publication 

118, 51 p.

Treworgy, C.G., Coats, G.K., and Bargh, M.H., 1994, Availability 

of coal resources for mining in Illinois, Middletown quadrangle, Central Illinois: Illinois State Geological Survey Circular 

554, 48 p.

Weisenfluh, G.A., Andrews, R.E., Hiett, J.K., and Sergeant, R.E., 

1993, Available coal resources of the Handshoe 7.5-minute 

quadrangle, Knott County, Kentucky: Kentucky Geological 

Survey Information Circular 43,45 p.

Coal Resource Assessment in the Western 

United States Factors for Consideration in 

the Management of Federal Lands

R.D. Hettinger, 1 L.R.H. Biewick, 1 Karen Bryant,2 M.S. Ellis, 1 D.A. Ferderer,3 M.A. Kirschbaum, 1 C.L. Molnia, 1 L.N.R. Roberts, 1 S.B. 

Roberts, 1 G.D. Stricker, 1 and W.D. Watson2 

^U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO 80225;

2USGS, Reston, VA 22092; 3U.S. Bureau of Mines, 

Denver, CO)

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and U.S. Bureau 

of Mines (USBM) are charged with assessing the coal 

resources of the United States, an important task considering 

that approximately 55 percent of the Nation's electric power 

generation and 23 percent of all domestic energy use are 

fueled by coal (Energy Information Administration, 1993). 

About one-third of the Nation's coal resources are on Federal lands in the Western United States (Pantos and Slatick, 

1993), principally in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, New 

Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. 

Abundant resources of low-sulfur coal are found within and 

adjacent to lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Forest Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Indian Affairs. The presence of these 

coal resources has a profound effect on government land-use 

decisions as regulatory agencies attempt to balance energy 

development with alternative land-use and environmental 

concerns.

Averitt (1975) estimated that the Western United States 

has 2.7 trillion short tons of coal. Such a large figure is misleading, however, because it does not account for technological and societal restrictions to coal production. Many coal 

beds are either too deep, too thin, or too poor in quality to be 

economically developed at present. High concentrations of 

hazardous air pollutant (HAP) elements listed in the 1990 

Clean Air Act Amendments may render some coals too 

expensive for cost-effective development. In addition, mining restrictions provided under the Federal Land Policy and 

Management Act (FLPMA) place a large percentage of the 

Nation's surface-minable coal off-limits to mining. Under 

FLPMA and other legislation, the BLM must prepare landuse plans for areas under Federal jurisdiction, and address 

factors related to coal exploitation and reclamation within a 

framework of issues that include preservation of wildlife 

habitat, alluvial valley floors, historic sites, and scenic wildlands. These plans must also provide buffer zones for roads, 

lakes, ranches, and towns. With these factors in mind, it is 

clear that a coal resource assessment of the Western United 

States must be based on sound geologic principles as well as 

modern mining, environmental, and economic concepts.

50
Information gained through traditional drilling and 

mapping methods is often not cost effective. In response, the 

USGS and USBM have developed geologic, economic, and 

coal availability/recoverability models that afford a costeffective means to provide regulatory agencies with more 

accurate estimates of our recoverable coal resources. Models 

developed from areas containing abundant data, such as the 

Kaiparowits Plateau of Utah and Powder River Basin of 

Wyoming, can be applied to areas where data are insufficient or lacking. These models predict variations of coal distribution and quality on both local and regional scales.

Regional paleogeographic models developed by the 

USGS show that coal deposition in the Western United 

States is related to geologic processes that dominated during 

the Late Cretaceous (98-66 million years ago) and early 

Tertiary (66-50 million years ago) periods. For example, 

Upper Cretaceous coals developed from peats that accumulated in an ever-wet climate along the coastal plains of a seaway that extended from the present Arctic Ocean to the Gulf 

of Mexico. Later in the Tertiary, the seaway had retreated 

and peat developed principally in flood plains of river systems in intermontane basins of Colorado, western Montana, 

and Wyoming, and in shallow basins of eastern Montana and 

North Dakota. These models are significant because they 

show that the accumulation and preservation of coal are controlled primarily by ancient climate, sea-level change, and 

mountain building processes. Knowledge of these processes 

allows us to better understand the regional distribution of 

our Nation's western coal resources.

Detailed stratigraphic and geochemical studies enhance 

our knowledge regarding the effects of geologic processes 

on the accumulation, distribution, and quality of coal. 

These aspects of Upper Cretaceous coals are controlled primarily by the orientation and mobility of shorelines that 

advanced and retreated in response to changes in sea level, 

climate, and warping of the Earth's crust. For example, 

results from studies in the Kaiparowits Plateau imply that 

economically significant deposits of high-quality coal are 

likely to be associated with shorelines that remained relatively stable for long periods of time. Other examples show 

that coals associated with rapidly fluctuating shorelines are 

thin and less likely to have economic value. By contrast, the 

distribution and quality of Tertiary coals are controlled by 

the geometry of river systems, which is influenced more by 

tectonic and climatic forces than by sea level fluctuations. 

Studies from Tertiary basins show that concentrations of 

HAP elements are higher in coals that accumulated near Tertiary mountains than in coals that were more removed from 

the upland areas. The HAP elements are contained in sediment and volcanic debris supplied from the upland areas. 

Detailed studies such as these provide models that explain 

the regional and local distribution of coal quality and quantity. These models enable us to refine coal resource estimates in areas where drill hole and outcrop data are 

insufficient.

To understand the effect of land-use, environmental, 

technological, and geologic restrictions on the availability 

and recoverability of coal resources, the USGS and USBM 

have initiated a "Coal Availability and Recoverability" program in cooperation with other Federal and State agencies. 

The first western coal availability study has been init; ^ted in 

the Powder River Basin near an area that contains several of 

the largest producing coal mines in the Nation. Coal beds in 

the study area are up to 100 ft thick and can be extracted by 

surface mining. Local mining practice indicates that features 

such as roads and ranches would be moved to mine the coal; 

features such as railroad corridors are presently considered 

unsuitable for surface mining. Other considerations, such as 

wildlife sites, may require special environmental protection 

that could increase the cost and complexity of mining. 

Results from this western study may prove extremely significant because similar studies from the Appalachian coal 

region indicate that only 50 percent of the origiral coal 

resource is available for development (M.D. Carter, written 

commun., 1994), and less than 10 percent of the original 

resource can be mined and marketed at a profit (Rolrbacher 

and others, 1994).

An issue which could grow in importance is the tradeoff 

between low-cost development of western coal and the environmental benefits achieved through Federal mandates. In 

many instances, environmental protection can be achieved 

only if higher coal operating costs are incurred. Pecause 

restrictions may increase the cost of coal development, mining patterns may shift to regions that are less affected by regulations. As expected growth in coal utilization could bring 

pressure for renewed Federal coal leasing, it is important that 

a strategy be developed to allow the Federal Government to 

meet its environmental objectives in a cost-effective manner. 

Coordinated projects between the USGS, USBM, and other 

regulatory agencies could identify areas where abundant 

high-quality coal could be economically developed with the 

least environmental impact in the future. Results fixrn combined geologic, coal availability, and economic stuc^es will 

provide a more realistic basis for national energy policy 

planning.

REFERENCES

Averitt, Paul, 1975, Coal resources of the United States, January 1, 

1974: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1412, 131 p.

Energy Information Administration, 1993, U.S. coal reserves; an 

update by heat and sulfur content: DOE/EIA-0529(92), 86 p.

Pantos, E.R., and Slatick, E.R., 1993, Federal and Indian coal 

lands A growing source of energy and revenue, in Energy Information Administration/Coal Production 1992: DOE/EIA0118(92), 113 p.

Rohrbacher, T.J., Teeters, D.D., Osmonson, L.M., and Pl ;<?, M.N., 

1994, Coal recoverability and the definition of coal reserves Central Appalachian Region, 1993, Coal Recoverability Series Report No. 2: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open File Report 

10-94, 36 p.

51
Forest Planning and Oil and Gas Resources 

How They Work Together

Melody R. Holm and John S. Dersch, 

U.S. Forest Service, Lakewood, CO

Introduction Forest Service Mission and 

Minerals Management

The mission of the U.S. Forest Service is to achieve 

quality land management under the sustainable multiple-use 

management concept to meet the diverse needs of people. 

Minerals, including oil and gas, are some of the resources on 

National Forests and Grasslands that are necessary to meet 

the basic needs of people. The development of such 

resources is necessary to help serve people's needs, maintain 

a healthy industry, promote economic growth, and maintain 

national security. At the same time, the Forest Service manages the development of these resources in an ecologically 

sound manner in order to maintain the diversity, productivity, and sustainability of the ecosystems in which they occur. 

Decisions about the ecologically sound management of oil 

and gas resources must be based on reliable scientific information. The U.S. Geological Survey assists the Forest Service in making such decisions by providing such information 

in a credible and unbiased fashion.

Planning for Oil and Gas Activities

In order to comply with specific laws and regulations, 

the Forest Service must conduct environmental analyses of 

National Forest Service (NFS) lands before they are leased 

for oil and gas exploration and development. Analysis of 

effects from leasing can be done in two ways: (1) in an environmental impact statement as an amendment to an existing 

forest plan, or (2) in a forest plan revision. In either case, the 

regulations require a projection of the type and amount of 

post-leasing activity that might be expected if specified lands 

are leased. Such projections provide the basis for analyzing 

effects from surface-disturbing activities that might result if 

those wells were drilled. The analysis of effects, in turn, provides the basis for decisions about what lands may be leased 

and what kinds of stipulations the leases may have.

Knowledge of regional and local geology helps in projecting the number and type of possible future exploratory 

and development wells in a National Forest or Grassland. 

Geology determines the potential for oil and gas resources to 

exist in the area. Past and present exploration and production 

activity also helps determine what activity might occur in the 

future. USGS oil and gas assessment information includes 

concise, unbiased maps, discussions of geology, play1

Play: a set of discovered or undiscovered oil and gas accumulations 

or prospects that are geologically related.

descriptions, resource volume estimates, and references. 

Such scientific resources are valuable tools in determining an 

area's potential for having oil and gas resources and projecting future exploration and development act'vity.

Oil and Gas Resources in the 

Rio Grande National Forest

Specialists on the Rio Grande Nationa1 Forest in southern Colorado are analyzing effects from pro; °cted oil and gas 

activities in order to develop management dvection for those 

activities in its Forest Plan Revision. The report, "Oil and 

Gas Resources on the Rio Grande National Forest" (Holm 

and Dersch, 1994) was developed in support of the Plan 

Revision. It summarizes the geology and poto-ntial for oil and 

gas resources on the Rio Grande National Forest (RGNF). 

The report also projects possible future exploration and 

development activity. USGS assessment information provided much of the basis for determining the oil and gas 

potential and projected activity on the RGNF. The USGS 

defined and assessed one play which is almost entirely on the 

RGNF (fig. 1). The play map, summary of f eology, and play 

description provided valuable information for determining 

that much of the RGNF has a high potential for the existence 

of oil and gas resources. However, limiti^d production to 

1994 and relatively low resource estimates for the play indicate that future activity levels will most UTdy be no higher 

than those of the past.

Oil and Gas Resources fa. 

Tliunder Basin National Grasslands

USGS oil and gas plays are not exactly coincident with 

the boundaries of a National Forest or Grassland. However, 

understanding the nature of a play and lowing its geographic boundaries in relation to a forest or grassland are still 

valuable tools in planning for management of oil and gas 

resources. In the case of the Thunder Basir National Grasslands (TBNG) in northeastern Wyoming, nine plays are significant to the TBNG (fig. 2). More than 90 percent of the 

TBNG lies entirely within the boundaries of two plays, and 

varying portions of the TBNG lie within the boundaries of 

the remaining seven. Knowledge of geological characteristics, degree of development, and resource potential of each 

play and play distribution facilitated more reliable projection 

of wells in the leasing analysis.

Conclusion

In order to assess effects from leasing, a planner needs 

to have an idea of how many and what type of wells might 

be drilled in a particular area. Knowing the type and level of 

anticipated activity and its possible effects on other 

resources helps in determining which lands may be appropriate for leasing and what kinds of stipulations might be

52
38°

37°

107°

EXPLANATION

San Juan Sag play 

 National Forest boundary

106°

Eastern edge

San Juan Basin

Dakota play

Figure 1 (Holm and Dersch). USGS oil and gas plays on the Rio Grande National Forest, southern Colorado.

necessary for protection of other resources on those lands. 

USGS assessment information is an important component of 

the analysis process that ultimately results in decisions about 

leasing NFS lands for oil and gas exploration and development. Such decisions lead to environmentally sound oil and 

gas resource development, a constant supply of oil and gas 

to serve people's needs, the support of a healthy domestic 

energy industry, and the maintenance of economic growth 

and national security.

REFERENCES

Holm, M.R., and Dersch, J.S., 1994, Oil and gas resources in the 

Rio Grande National Forest: U.S. Forest Service unpublished 

report.

Holm, M.R., Powers, R.B., Dolton, G.L., Law, B.E., Fox, J.E., and 

Dersch, J.S., 1993, Undiscovered oil and gas resources and 

leasing status of forest lands in Wyoming: Wyoming Geological Association 50th Annual Field Conference GuHebook, 

p. 375-385.

53
Me soverde Lewis Play Sussex Shannon Play Deep Frontier Flay

Montana I

Deep Muddy Sandstone 

(A) and Shallow Muddy 

Explored (B) Plays

Dakota Sandstone Play Leo Sandstone Play

Figure 2 (Holm and Dersch). Maps of northeast Wyoming 

showing Thunder Basin National Grassland, Black HiT^ National 

Forest, and USGS oil and gas plays in the Powder River P asin province. Additional Powder River Basin province plays not significant 

to the grassland are not shown (Holm and others, 1993).

Minnelusa Explored (A) 

and Minnelusa Unexplored 

(B) Plays

54
Interagency Cooperation for Mineral Leasing 

and Operations on Federal Lands

Gary W. Norton, Office of the Assistant 

Director, Resource Use and Protection, 

Bureau of Land Management, 1849 C Street 

N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240

The Bureau of Land Management works with a wide 

range of other Federal agencies to fulfill its mission of leasing and regulation of operations of energy and minerals on 

Federal and Indian lands. Two types of cooperation are 

required, regulatory and scientific.

Most mineral operators are well aware of the regulatory 

requirements of Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Surface 

Mining, Forest Service, and Bureau of Indian Affairs, and 

other surface managing agencies with regards to Federal and 

Indian leases. However, the extent of cooperation required is 

rarely understood outside the government. Usually, there are 

broad, less obvious areas of interagency coordination that 

are of increasing importance.

As an example, take the cooperation necessary to fulfill 

both the broad mission of the Fish and Wildlife Service and 

of the Bureau of Land Management. Traditionally, the Fish 

and Wildlife Service interface with the BLM was restricted 

to providing terms for leasing and operations of mineral 

leases on refuge lands. With the passage of the Endangered 

Species Act, the areas of mutual interest were expanded. We 

now must comply with the specific land uses and constraints 

of all threatened and endangered species recovery plans. 

Areas designated in recovery plans are large. Six million 

acres in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah are involved 

in the recovery plan for the Mojave Desert Tortoise. All 

lands of less than 3,000 feet elevation are considered habitat 

for certain plants in the San Joaquin Valley of California. A 

major part of the Colorado River system is covered by a 

recovery plan for the squawfish. Within these areas, if mineral operations are not forbidden, leasing and subsequent 

operations will still often require on-the-ground biological 

assessment to determine the presence or absence of the species, in order to get a favorable ruling of "no jeopardy" from 

the authorized officer of the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Even with existing operations, the effect of the Fish and 

Wildlife Service is profound. If an area is determined to have 

a threatened or endangered species, the existing mineral 

operations may be ruled to put the continued existence of 

that species at risk. In an early preliminary examination, it 

was suspected that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from 

operations in the San Juan gas field in New Mexico and Colorado may affect the squawfish and razorback sucker populations of the San Juan River. The BLM has committed to a 

multi-year program to monitor runoff from the gas field. The 

project is data intensive and requires a high degree of 

biological expertise. The newly formed National Biological

Survey has committed itself to a major role in the investigation.

The National Biological Survey has also committed to 

work on bird mortality at the playa lakes in southeastern 

New Mexico. The birds are covered by the North American 

Migratory Bird Treaty, administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service. The playa lakes have received waste waters 

from potash mines and oil and gas operations.

The pattern of research agencies cooperating w; 'h the 

BLM to provide scientific data and conclusions is eroanding. The cases just cited involving the National Biological 

Survey are as new as the 1-year-old agency. Deeper and 

older ties are with the U.S. Geological Survey and Bureau of 

Mines. The average working geologist for the BLM has traditionally relied on the geologic and topographic maps of the 

USGS to begin his or her field work. The increasingly rapid 

expansion of geologic data, and the need to reflect all r^ects 

of mineral development, past and present, in our planning 

work, have expanded our needs beyond the standard map 

series and publications available to the general public.

The Bureau of Land Management is required to conduct 

resource management planning for all public lands on a systematic basis to determine resource use over the life cf each 

plan. The USGS and the Bureau of Mines have provided and 

continue to supply Resource Assessment reports and data on 

minerals to support scheduled Resource Management Plans. 

A less formal approach is taken for oil and gas assessments. 

BLM procedures specify that any geologist or ergineer 

working on oil and gas for a Resource Management P'=ui get 

the basic resource data from the specialist on that arer in the 

USGS. This approach allows the BLM to handle the temporary workload of preparing the geologic and mineral data 

without large reallocation of personnel between districts. It 

also gives us immediate access to recognized specialists, not 

easily available in our district areas. By contrast, both the 

USGS and the Bureau of Mines find that the cooperative 

work is a normal extension of their basic research chrirters.

Another area of cooperation is the ongoing inventory of 

abandoned mines on Federal land. Thousands of mining 

claims have been worked over the last hundred years. Most 

of the better ore deposits have been patented and are no 

longer public lands. However, thousands of either snail or 

marginal deposits were worked only during the great mining 

booms. These were abandoned as the ore ran out or the prices 

tumbled. The eventual remediation of the land will fall to the 

Federal Government.

This is truly a multi-agency project. Basic data on mine 

location are coming from the USGS and Bureau of Mines. 

Satellite imagery analysis is being expanded to work with 

the Department of Defense equipment and imagery. Field 

verification is done by BLM employees. Research or minewater remediation is done by the BLM and Bureau of Mines 

in cooperation with the Atlanta Cluster of Historically Black 

Colleges. It is expected that any revision of the Minir ? Law

55
will increase pressure to both expand the program and begin 

clean-up.

At BLM we expect agency cooperation to increase as 

the boundaries between agencies become more transparent. 

The Executive Order of April 11,1994, "Coordinating Geographic Data Acquisition and Access: The National Spatial 

Data Infrastructure," required the government to establish a 

National Geospatial Clearinghouse by October 11,1994; by 

January 11,1995, to collect all new data under Federal Geographic Data Committee standards and enter them into the 

Clearinghouse electronically accessible to the network; by 

April 11,1995, to adopt a schedule for the entry of all other 

data, adopt a plan making geospatial data available to the 

public, and adopt internal procedures to ensure that every 

agency accesses the Clearinghouse to determine if their data 

have already been collected, or whether cooperative efforts 

to obtain the data in question are available.

Increasingly, it is required that all land-managing agencies do their resource use management together. Within several years, what we now see as special projects, governed by 

agreements, will become simply standard operating modes. 

The fundamental energy and mineral resource data will 

become increasingly important to all land-management 

agencies.

Oil in California Quality, Availability, and 

Environmental Concerns

Caroline M. Isaacs, Leigh C. Price, 

Larry A. Beyer, Kenneth J. Bird, 

James R. Herring, Margaret A. Keller, 

Paul G. Lillis, Leslie B. Magoon, 

David Z. Piper, Richard G. Stanley, and 

Marilyn E. Tennyson, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Menlo Park, CA 94025, and Denver, CO 80225 

(J.R. Herring; L.C. Price)

California is the fourth largest oil- and gas-producing 

State in the United States, representing about 14 percent of 

the Nation's current oil production, 21 percent of proved oil 

reserves, and more than 40 percent of additional indicated 

reserves (Conservation Committee of California Oil and Gas 

Producers, 1992). Cumulative production was 23.5 BBO 

(billion barrels of oil) and 33.7 TCFG (trillion cubic feet of 

gas), for a combined total of 29.1 BBOE (billion barrels of 

oil equivalent) through 1992 (California Division of Oil, 

Gas, and Geothermal Resources, 1993). Proved reserves 

were 4.3 BBO and 3.9 TCFG, for a combined total of 5.0 

BBOE at yearend 1992 (California Division of Oil, Gas, and 

Geothermal Resources, 1993).

California is a relatively well developed oil and gas 

region, having commercially produced petroleum since 1876

(California Division of Oil, Gas, and Geotl ?rmal Resources, 

1993). During the late 1970's and early 1980's, oil and gas 

exploration and development were very ac*ive in California, 

particularly in the offshore Santa Maria basin and Santa Barbara Channel. Numerous oil fields were discovered offshore 

during this period, but few have yet been developed due to 

economics and environmental and regulatory concerns. As 

of 1989, economically recoverable resources in undiscovered fields were estimated by the USGF for the onshore 

region and adjacent State waters at 2-11 BBOE (mean probability, 5 BBOE), and by the Minerals Management Service 

for the Federal offshore at 0-6 BBOE (maan probability, 3 

BBOE) (Mast and others, 1989).

California's oil and gas production history has been 

much influenced by the abundance of hervy oil. The State 

has more than 50 percent (42 BBO) of the Nation's in-place 

heavy oil resources and, for prices up to J40/bbl, nearly 95 

percent (11 BBO) of the Nation's recoverable potential from 

heavy oil resources (Dowd and others, 19°8). Because it is 

highly viscous, heavy oil is difficult to recover by conventional production methods, and average recovery efficiencies from primary production and waterflooding are 

comparatively low, generally amounting to only 5-20 percent of oil in-place (Dowd and others, 1988). In order to 

access these resources, California's oil and gas industry has 

pioneered enhanced recovery techniques, which now 

account for more than 60 percent of the Spate's annual production (California Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal 

Resources, 1993).

Based on trends in recent decades, me «<t new reserves in 

California in the near-term will probably derive from the 

growth of existing oil fields due to long-term field development and application of improved produc4;on technologies. 

During the 1980's, such field growth accounted for more 

than 99 percent of new proved reserves ir onshore California, mainly in large fields discovered befcr?. the 1930's (fig. 

1). The total potential resource from field growth in California has proved difficult to quantify reliably and is highly 

price-dependent (Attanasi and Root, 1993) but reserve additions during the 1980's totaled 5 BBOE, ard potential future 

additions likely exceed 10 BBOE.

Recent USGS research suggests another possible 

source of oil resources in California. This research addresses 

the fundamental issue of the efficiency of primary petroleum 

migration and has focused on the Bakken Formation in the 

Williston basin of North Dakota and southern Canada. 

Results show that oil generated by the Bakken (the richest 

petroleum source-rock in the area) has not migrated to the 

known oil fields and probably remains locked in the source 

rocks themselves (Price and LeFever, 1992). If primary 

petroleum migration is much less efficiert than previously 

assumed, as indicated by this USGS research, significant 

resources may remain in California's source rocks and might 

be accessible by new exploration, drilling, completion, and 

production techniques (Price and LeFever, 1992).

56
(0.8%) New field discoveries

(7.7%) <1890

(0.8%) 1980's 

(2.1%) 1970's

(1.1%) 1960's 

(0.6%) 1950's

(2.0%) 1940's 

(1.8%) 1930's

Source: Committee of California 

Oil and Gas Producers (1990)

Source: EIA Oil and Gas 

Integrated Field File (1990)

Figure 1 (Isaacs and others). Field growth in California. A, Proved oil and gas reserves added in onshore California oil fields during 

1980-1990. Note that less than 1 percent of additions came from new field discoveries; the remainder derived from field growth new pools, 

extensions, and revisions of reserves in previously discovered fields. B, Proved oil and gas reserves added in onshore California oil fields 

during 1980-1990, grouped by decade of the oil field's discovery. Although field growth is usually attributed mainly to young fields, most 

added proved reserves (>90 percent) in California derived from fields discovered before the 1930's.

Environmental concerns in California include the threat 

of oil spills (particularly in offshore areas), natural oil seeps, 

production hazards in urban areas, and contamination of soil, 

ground water, and air from production and refining processes. Natural oil seeps, such as the famous Rancho La Brea 

Tar Pits of the Los Angeles area, are widespread in California. In order to better understand the relationship of natural 

oil and gas seepage to environmental concerns and oil 

resources, the USGS has recently undertaken a project to 

document and characterize these seeps in collaboration with 

the California Department of Conservation, Department of 

Fish and Game, and Department of Parks and Recreation. A 

new technological development in the last few years that 

may help to alleviate environmental concerns from oil spills 

is extended-reach drilling. Because this technology allows 

oil fields to be efficiently produced from a distance of more 

than 3 miles (5 km), many offshore platforms could be eliminated in the future, especially within the coastal State 

waters.

Another major environmental concern in California is 

contamination of soil and water supplies from selenium and 

other hazardous trace elements that derive from the natural 

weathering of energy-source rocks. This problem, which is 

widespread in the arid and semi-arid West, is of special

concern in the major agricultural areas of California (Herring, 1991). USGS research on this issue has focused on the 

San Joaquin Valley, in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of 

Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California 

Department of Fish and Game, and California Department of 

Water Resources (Presser and others, 1990).

REFERENCES

Attanasi, E.D., and Root, D.H., 1993, The enigma of oil and gas 

field growth: American Association of Petroleum Geologists 

Bulletin, v. 78, p. 321-332.

California Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources, 1993, 

78th Annual report of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor 1992: 

California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas, 

and Geothermal Resources, Publication PR06, 159 p.

Conservation Committee of California Oil and Gas Producers, 

1992, Annual review of California oil and gas production 1991: 

Los Angeles, Calif., Conservation Committee of California Oil 

and Gas Producers.

Dowd, W.T., Kuuskraa, V.A., and Codec, M.L., 1988, A technical 

and economic assessment of domestic heavy oil Final report: 

Department of Energy Report DOE/BC/10840-1, 130 p. + 4 

appendices.

Herring, J.R., 1991, Selenium geochemistry A conspectus, in 

Severson, R.C., Fisher, S.E., Jr., and Gough, L.P., eds.,

57
Proceedings of the 1990 Billings Land Reclamation Symposium on Selenium in Arid and Semiarid Environments, Western United States: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1064, 

p. 5-24.

Mast, R.F., Dolton, G.L., Crovelli, R.A., Root, D.H., Attanasi, E.D., 

Martin, P.E., Cooke, L.W., Carpenter, G.B., Pecora, W.C., and 

Rose, M.B., 1989, Estimates of undiscovered conventional oil 

and gas resources in the United States A part of the Nation's 

energy endowment: U.S. Geological Survey and Minerals 

Management Service, 44 p.

Presser, T.S., Swain, W.C., Tidball, R.R., and Severson, R.C., 1990, 

Geologic sources, mobilization, and transport of selenium from 

the California Coast Ranges to the western San Joaquin Valley A reconnaissance study: U.S. Geological Survey WaterResources Investigations Report 90-4070, 66 p.

Price, L.C., and LeFever, J.A., 1992, Does Bakken Horizontal Drilling imply a huge oil-resource base in fractured shales?, in 

Schmoker, J.W., Coalson, E.B., and Brown, C.A., eds., Geological studies relevant to horizontal drilling Examples from 

western North America: Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, p. 199-214.

Energy Studies on Native American Lands 

Funded by U.S. Department of Energy 

Gas Resources and Sandstone Reservoirs 

of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming

Ronald C. Johnson, Romeo M. Flores, and 

William R. Keefer, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Denver, CO 80225

The Wind River Reservation of the Shoshone and Arapahoe Tribes in central Wyoming contains large reserves of 

natural gas in early Tertiary age (67 to 37 million years) 

sandstone reservoirs. These sandstone reservoirs are gas productive at two fields in the Reservation the Pavillion field 

and the Muddy Ridge field (fig. 1). As of July 1993, the 

Pavillion field had produced 66.5 BCFG (billion cubic feet 

of gas) from the Paleocene (67 to 55 million year old) Fort 

Union Formation and 72.4 BCFG from the lower Eocene (55 

to 50 million year old) Indian Meadows or Wind River Formation; the nearby Muddy Ridge field had produced 17.3 

BCFG from the Fort Union Formation. Gas is produced from 

several lenticular, conglomeratic sandstones in the Paleocene Fort Union Formation, whereas lower Eocene production is from a single, relatively continuous unit of 

conglomeratic sandstone near the base of the lower Eocene 

section. These productive sandstones are exposed on the surface in the Reservation in three areas: (1) the Twin Buttes 

area on the south flank of the Owl Creek Mountains; (2) near 

Shotgun Butte; and (3) on the east end of Little Dome (fig. 

1). These areas were studied in detail to better characterize 

the geometry and distribution of these reservoirs in the subsurface. This information is important for understanding

production characteristics of gas wells in the Pavillion and 

Muddy Ridge fields area and will help predict where economic amounts of natural gas may be found in lower Tertiary 

reservoirs in presently nonproductive areas of the Reservation. Oil and gas production from existing oil and gas fields 

in the Reservation has been declining, and this decline is a 

major concern of the Shoshone and Arapahoe Tribes.

The Fort Union Formation is divided into three members, in ascending order, the lower unnamed member, the 

Waltman Shale Member, and the Shotgun Member (Keefer, 

1961). The lower member varies from about 1,000 ft to more 

than 3,500 ft thick in the Reservation and consists of sandstone and conglomeratic sandstone and gray mudstones. The 

sandstones produce gas at the Pavillion and Muddy Ridge 

fields. Detailed outcrop studies indicate that sandstone units 

are as much as 60 ft thick and a few hundred feet wide, and 

that they were deposited by braided, meandering, and anastomosing stream systems (Flores and Keighin, 1993). The 

Waltman Shale Member does not crop out in the Reservation 

but occurs in the subsurface in the northeast corner of the 

Reservation. It consists largely of organic-rich gray to black 

shale deposited in Paleocene Lake Waltman, which covered 

much of the central part of the basin.

The Shotgun Member is thought to be largely time 

equivalent to the Waltman Shale Member and varies from 

about 800 ft to as much as 3,500 ft thick in the Reservation. 

Outcrop studies near Shotgun Butte and on the east end of 

Little Dome indicate that the Shotgun Member consists of 

stream-deposited sandstones interbedded with mudstone, 

carbonaceous shale, and thin coal beds. Sandstones in the 

lower part of the member are in general about 15 ft thick and 

300 ft wide and are probably too small to be economic gas 

reservoirs in the subsurface. Sandstones in the upper part of 

the Shotgun, in contrast, are as much as 65 ft thick and 4,000 

ft wide. These sandstones form productive reservoirs in the 

Pavillion and Muddy Ridge fields.

In the Twin Buttes area the Shotgun Member is about 

1,250 ft thick (Keefer and Troyer, 1964) and consists mainly 

of gray to black mudstone deposited in a poorly drained 

floodplain. This muddy facies extends along a narrow belt 

just south of the Owl Creek Mountains (Johnson and others, 

1994) and was deposited as the nearby Owl Creek Mountains were actively rising. Sandstones are sparse and generally less than 15 ft thick. In addition, many of these 

sandstones contain shale breaks that would act as barriers to

Figure 1 (Johnson and others) (facing page). Structure contour 

map (contours in feet) on the base of the Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Formation, Wind River Reservation, Wyoming, showing major anticlines and synclines. Areas where the Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde and Meeteetse Formations crop out are shown by fine 

stipple; areas where the formations are buried by younger rocks are 

shown by coarse stipple. Locations of study areas 1-3 (in text) are 

shown.

58
0 5 10 15 20 KILOMETERS

R. 4E. R. 5E. R. 6E.

EXPLANATION

ticline

109 108° 107° 106° 105

/\ An

5\ Synclin

^W^Granite,

0 50 100 MILES

li'ih'l ' ' | I

0 50 100 KILOMETERS

Rawlins

41°' 

Cheyenne

.-l__l_.!_i

59
gas flow in the subsurface. Thus these sandstones are not 

potential gas reservoirs. Carbonaceous shale and thin coal 

beds occur in the Shotgun Member here, indicating that peat 

swamps and mires were common. Much of the mudstone 

found in the Shotgun Member here appears to have eroded 

from older Cretaceous shales that were exposed in the Owl 

Creek Mountains when the Shotgun was being deposited. 

The sparseness of channel sandstones suggests that this unit 

was deposited mainly by sheetflow.

Lower Eocene strata in the Wind River Reservation 

comprise two units: a basal Indian Meadows Formation and 

the overlying Wind River Formation. In the Reservation, 

outcrops of the Indian Meadows Formation are discontinuous, and in many areas, the Wind River directly overlies 

older units. The Indian Meadows overlies older units with 

angular discordance in the Twin Buttes area, indicating 

uplift prior to deposition. In contrast, at Shotgun Butte and at 

Little Dome, no uplift occurred prior to deposition of the 

Indian Meadows Formation. Maximum thickness of the 

Indian Meadows Formation measured in outcrop was 675 ft 

at Shotgun Butte. The Indian Meadows contains conglomeratic sandstones as much as 58 ft thick and several thousand 

feet wide, containing boulder clasts derived from Paleozoic 

rocks. Operators in the Pavillion and Muddy Ridge fields 

may have included these sandstones with the productive 

sandstones found in the upper part of the underlying Shotgun 

Member of the Fort Union Formation; hence some of the 

production listed as from the Shotgun Member may actually 

be from the Indian Meadows Formation.

The Wind River Formation overlies the Indian Meadows with angular discordance and contains boulders of granite as well as boulders of Paleozoic rock. A laterally 

persistent unit of boulder conglomerate and muddy boulder 

conglomerate as much as 220 ft thick occurs at the base of 

the Wind River Formation in the Twin Buttes area and at the 

east end of Little Dome. This conglomerate appears to be the 

highly productive unit in the Wind River Formation at Pavillion field. The bouldery parts were deposited by streams 

which flowed across alluvial fans whereas the muddy bouldery parts represent debris flows that were deposited on the 

alluvial fans during occasional wet periods. Above the basal 

conglomerate, the Wind River consists mainly of maroon 

and gray mudstone and sandstones which are much thinner 

and less persistent laterally than the basal conglomerate. 

These sandstones are not known to be gas productive anywhere in the Reservation. Studying these sandstone reservoirs in outcrop has greatly improved our knowledge of 

these productive units and may lead to better strategies for 

exploring for gas resources in the future in the Wind River 

Reservation.

REFERENCES

Flores, R.M., and Keighin, C.W., 1993, Reservoir anisotropy and 

fades stratigraphic framework in the Paleocene Fort Union

Formation, western Wind River Basin, Wyoming, in Keefer, 

W.R., Metzger, W.J., and Godwin, L.H., eds., Oil and gas and 

other resources of the Wind River Basin, Wyoming: Wyoming 

Geological Association Special Symposium, p. 121-141.

Keefer, W.R., 1961, Waltman Shale and Shotgun Members of the 

Fort Union Formation, Wyoming: American Association of 

Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 45, no. 8, p. 1310-1323.

Keefer, W.R., and Troyer, M.L., 1964, Geology of the Shotgun 

Butte area, Fremont County, Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1157, 123 p.

Johnson, R.C., Flores, R.M., Szmajter, R.J., and Finn, T.M., 1994, 

A preliminary study of coal-forming environments during deposition of the Paleocene Fort Union Formation, Wind River Basin, Wyoming, in Flores, R.M., ed., Organics and the Rockies 

Field Guide, The Society for Organic Petrology Eleventh Annual Meeting, Jackson, Wyoming: Wyoming State Geological 

Survey Public Information Circular 33, p. 69-81.

Energy Resources on Lands of Native 

Americans Cooperative Investigations by 

the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Bureau of 

Indian Affairs, and Tribal Governments

E.A. Merewether and Bruce D. Smith, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO 80225, and 

Stephen A. Manydeeds, U.S. Bureau of Indian 

Affairs, Division of Energy and Mineral Resources, 

730 Simms Street, Golden, CO 80401

Introduction

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducts both 

regional and local studies of the geology, and the energy and 

minerals resources of the United States. An assessment of 

the national resources of oil and gas was completed in 1994. 

An assessment of the national resources of coal was initiated 

in 1994. For lands of Native Americans in the Western States 

and Alaska, the USGS, in collaboration with the U.S. Bureau 

of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Governments of Indian Reservations and Native Lands, has evaluated resources of coal, 

oil, natural gas, and nonmetallic and metallic minerals. Most 

of these investigations developed from a Federal trust 

responsibility for Tribal Lands and a Memorandum of 

Understanding (MOU) for coordinating studies of resources 

and related geologic features for the benefit of Native Americans, both of which are shared by the USGS, the BIA, and 

the U.S. Bureau of Mines.

The policy of the MOU is implemented by Interagency 

Agreements between the Division of Energy and Mineral 

Resources (DEMR) of the BIA and the Geologic Division of 

the USGS for conducting geotechnical investigations relevant to the identification and description of Tribal resources. 

Under one agreement, the DEMR supplies funds to the

60
USGS for shared computer assets which contribute to the 

cost-effective development, maintenance, and utilization of 

digital databases. This funding also allows the development 

of effective INTERNET (computer network) communications. Another agreement indicates that funds are supplied 

by the DEMR for OUTREACH activities, to support the 

cooperative efforts of Tribal Governments and the USGS in 

compiling and presenting information about resources of the 

Reservations for national meetings, including those of the 

American Association of Petroleum Geologists in 1994, the 

Northwest Mining Association in 1992 and 1993, and the 

National Indian Energy and Minerals Conferences in 

1992-1994.

Studies of Resources on Lands of Native Americans

Investigations by the USGS of energy, minerals, and 

aggregate resources on specific Indian Reservations or 

Native Lands are generally proposed by the Tribal Governments. When a proposed project is approved and funded by 

the DEMR, it is described and initiated by a Joint Funding 

Agreement between the Tribal Government and the USGS. 

Studies by the USGS of natural gas resources on several 

Indian Reservations have also been funded recently by the 

U.S. Department of Energy. Tribal Lands where the USGS 

has investigated energy resources during the past several 

years are depicted in figure 1. The geotechnical data supplied 

to Tribal Governments by the USGS are commonly derived 

from geologic, geochemical, and geophysical procedures. 

Resource assessments and related information from many of 

these investigations have been presented recently in publications as well as in posters and talks for the National Indian 

Energy/Minerals Conference in Golden, Colo., which was 

sponsored by the DEMR; at the Jubilee Anniversary Field 

Conference of the Wyoming Geological Association in 

Casper, Wyo., which was cosponsored by the DEMR; and at 

the Annual Meeting of the Northwest Mining Association in 

Spokane, Wash. Representative products of recent investigations of energy resources on Reservations, which illustrate 

the usefulness and benefits of cooperative interagency studies, are listed in the following table.

Regional Studies of Resources and 

Environmental Conditions

The USGS also conducts assessments, which are 

funded internally, of the national resources of energy and 

minerals. Descriptions of these resources in regions of the 

United States are published by the USGS and used by various Federal, State, and local agencies for land-use planning. 

Assessments of the conventional oil and gas resources in 

regions of the United States that include Indian Reservations 

and Native Lands have been prepared and presented by the 

USGS, in cooperation with the BIA, as publications (Dolton 

and others, 1990; Merewether and others, 1994) and as

RESERVATION

Southern Ute

Uintah and 

Ouray

Ute Mountain 

Ute

Wind River

Rocky Boys

STATE 

AND AREA

Colorado, southwestern

Utah, 

northeastern

Colorado, southwestern

Wyoming, 

west-central

Montana, 

north-central

ENERGY 

RESOURCES

gas, coal

gas, oil, 

oil-shale, tarsand, coal

oil, gas

gas, oil, coal

gas

SELECTED 

REFEI'JNCES

Rice and others, 

1988; Sindberg, 

1988

Benson, 1992; 

Fouch a^d 

others, 1992; 

Rice and 

others, 1992

Taylor rnd 

Huffmai, 1993

Barker and 

others, 1993; 

Johnson and 

others, 1993; 

Keefer and 

Johnson, 1993

Nuccio and 

others, 1993

public lectures. Regions of the United States that include 

Tribal Lands have also been studied by the USGS to determine potential geologic and geochemical hazards in the natural environment.

Current and Future Studies on Lands of 

Native Americans

The USGS, DEMR, and Tribal Governments wf 11 likely 

continue to collaborate in evaluating the resources of energy, 

minerals, and aggregate on lands of Native Americans. 

Investigations of the resources on the Reservation of the 

Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota and South Davota are 

in progress. An assessment of the resources of sand and 

gravel on the Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico, was initiated 

in 1994. Studies of the gas resources of Tribal Land~ by the 

USGS in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy 

might also continue. Other projects are being planned jointly 

by the USGS and the Office of Trust and Economic Development of the BIA to investigate environmental corditions, 

particularly near mines and oil fields, and potential natural 

hazards on Reservations.

REFERENCES

Barker, C.E., Bartke, T.C., Hatcher, P.G., and Daws, T.A., 1993, 

An empirical correlation between coal bed gas with Rock-Eval 

pyrolysis and C NMR results, Cretaceous Mesav^rde and 

Meeteetse Formations, Wind River Basin, Wyoming, in 

Keefer, W.R., Metzger, W.J., and Godwin, L.H., eds., Oil and 

gas and other resources of the Wind River Basin, Wyoming: 

Wyoming Geological Association Special Symposium; 

Casper, Wyoming; August 14-17, 1993; p. 243-256.

61
Figure 1 (Merewether and others). Map of the contiguous 48 States of the United States showing many of the Indian Reservations (pattern) 

and those Reservations where the USGS has recently evaluated energy resources (X).

Benson, A.K., 1992, Determination of depth models through selfconsistent structural modeling to help delineate hydrocarbon 

traps in the Uinta Basin, in Fouch, T.D., Nuccio, V.F., and 

Chidsey, T.C., Jr., eds., Hydrocarbon and mineral resources of 

the Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado: Utah Geological Association Guidebook 20; Salt Lake City, Utah; Utah Geological Association, p. 219-226.

Dolton, G.L., Mast, R.F., and Crovelli, R.A., 1990, Estimates of undiscovered conventional resources of oil and gas for Federal 

Lands, and for Indian and Native Lands of the continental United States: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 90-705, 

64 p.

Fouch, T.D., Nuccio, V.F., Osmond, J.C., MacMillan, Logan, 

Cashion, W.B., and Wandrey, C.J., 1992, Oil and gas in uppermost Cretaceous and Tertiary rock, Uinta Basin, Utah, in 

Fouch, T.D., Nuccio, V.F., and Chidsey, T.C., Jr., eds., Hydrocarbon and mineral resources of the Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado: Utah Geological Association Guidebook 20; Salt Lake 

City, Utah; Utah Geological Association, p. 9-48.

Johnson, R.C., Clark, A.C., Barker, C.E., Crysdale, B.L., Higley, 

D.K., Szmajter, Richard, and Finn, T.M., 1993, Coalbed methane potential of the Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde and Meeteetse Formations, Wind River Reservation, Wyoming, in Keefer, 

W.R., Metzger, W.J., and Godwin, L.H., eds., Oil and gas and 

other resources of the Wind River Basin, Wyoming: Wyoming

Geological Association Special Symposium; Casper, Wyoming; August 14-17, 1993; p. 215-242.

Keefer, W.R., and Johnson, R.C., 1993, Stratigraphy and oil and gas 

resources in uppermost Cretaceous and Paleocene rocks, Wind 

River Reservation, Wyoming, in Keefer, W.R., Metzger, W.J., 

and Godwin, L.H., eds., Oil and gas and oth?r resources of the 

Wind River Basin, Wyoming: Wyoming Geological Association Special Symposium; Casper, Wyoming; August 14-17, 

1993; p. 71-85.

Merewether, E.A., Dolton, G.L., and Smith, B.D., 1994, Resources 

of oil and gas on Indian and Native lands of the United States, 

in Anderson, R.C., ed., The oil and gas opportunity on Indian 

lands Exploration policies and procedure 1': U.S. Bureau of 

Indian Affairs General Publication G-94-3, p. 5-19.

Nuccio, V.F., Finn, T.M., and Crysdale, B.L., 1993, Energy resource evaluation of the Rocky Boys Reservation, north-central Montana: U.S. Geological Survey Administrative Report 

BIA34-Vn-1993,54p.

Rice, D.D., Fouch, T.D., and Johnson, R.C., 1992, Influence of 

source rock type, thermal maturity, and mig-ation on composition and distribution of natural gases, Uin*a Basin, Utah, in 

Fouch, T.D., Nuccio, V.F., and Chidsey, T.C., Jr., eds., Hydrocarbon and mineral resources of the Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado: Utah Geological Association Guidel ook 20; Salt Lake 

City, Utah; Utah Geological Association, p. 95-109.

62
Rice, D.D., Threlkeld, C.N., Vuletich, A.K., and Pawlewicz, M.J., 

1988, Identification and significance of coal-bed gas, San Juan 

Basin, northwestern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado, 

in Fassett, I.E., ed., Geology and coal-bed methane resources 

of the northern San Juan Basin, Colorado and New Mexico: 

Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, Denver, Colorado, 

1988, p. 51-59.

Sandberg, D.T., 1988, Coal resources and coal-bed geometry, Fruitland Formation, Southern Ute Indian Reservation, Archuleta 

and La Plata Counties, Colorado, in Fassett, I.E., ed., Geology 

and coal-bed methane resources of the northern San Juan Basin, Colorado and New Mexico: Rocky Mountain Association 

of Geologists, Denver, Colorado, 1988, p. 39-50.

Taylor, D.J., and Huffman, A.C., Jr., 1993, Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation of southwestern Colorado and northwestern 

New Mexico Subsurface evaluation using multichannel seismic reflection data: U.S. Geological Survey Administrative 

Report, 37 p.

Conventional Energy Resources from the 

Federal Outer Continental Shelf, U.S.A.

Pulak K. Ray and George Carpenter, 

Minerals Management Service, 381 Elden Street, 

Herndon, VA 22070

The Minerals Management Service of the U.S. 

Department of the Interior is responsible for the environmentally safe planning and management of the exploration and development of natural gas and oil from the 

Federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS: beyond the StateFederal boundary). Since 1954 approximately $56 billion 

in lease sale bonuses and about $44 billion in oil and gas 

royalties ($23.9 billion in gas and $20.5 billion in oil) 

have been generated from the OCS (MMS, 1993a). Even 

though bonuses from lease sales of the OCS have been 

significantly lower in recent years, the OCS still produces 

more than $2.5 billion per year in gas and oil revenue, primarily from the Gulf of Mexico.

The demand for natural gas and oil in the United 

States between 1990 and 1992 has ranged from 19.3 to 

19.8 TCFG (trillion cubic feet of gas) per year and from 

16.9 to 16.7 MMBO (million barrels of oil) per day. An 

average of 8.0-10.4 percent of the annual demand for gas 

and 46-47 percent of the daily demand for oil was met 

through imports, over the same period of time (API, 

1994). The production of gas and oil from the OCS 

accounts for about 27 percent of total U.S. gas production 

and about 13 percent of U.S. oil production (MMS, 1993b).

The remaining proved gas reserve of the OCS has 

been steadily decreasing since 1986. A proved remaining 

reserve of 31.25 TCP of OCS gas in 1992 accounted for 

about 19.0 percent of the total U.S. gas reserve (MMS,

1993c). The remaining proved oil reserve of the OCS also 

shows a decreasing trend since 1985. In 1992, a proved 

OCS oil reserve of 3.28 billion barrels for tin OCS 

accounted for about 13.3 percent of total U.S. proved 

remaining reserve. In the late 1980's and early 1990's, an 

average of 12.8 percent of proved gas reserve and 8.6 percent of proved oil reserve has been produced annually. 

However, annual reserve depletion for gas and oil reserve 

during the same period is reported to be 7.2 percent and 

6.4 percent, respectively. The apparent discrepancies are 

due to annual reserve additions through reserve growth 

and additions of proved reserves from newly estrblished 

fields. Annually, 5.6 percent of proved gas reserve and 

2.2 percent of proved oil reserve are added thror?h this 

process.

To ensure environmentally sensitive planring of 

exploration and safe development, MMS follows a multistage action plan. MMS spent about $227.00 miPon for 

environmental studies program over the last 10 yer^s. The 

studies include general biological studies, endangered species studies, fate/effects study, socioeconomic studies, 

and physical oceanographic and air quality studies.

Environmental studies projects are distributed among 

the four Regions of the Federal OCS: Alaska, Pacific, 

Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic. The results of these studies 

are incorporated into any decision-making process related 

to the selection of area to be offered for lease. Th". OCS 

is protected from adverse impact to the environment by a 

series of meaningful regulations, which not only cover 

pre-lease activities, but also provide safeguards during the 

exploration and development stages. The safety inspection program of the MMS ensures safety not only to the 

environment but also to the workers involved in the production from the offshore platforms. A low and improving accident and oil spill rate resulting from offshore 

production attests to the effects of the safety regulations 

and improved technology. The oil spill (from OCS platforms and pipelines) records of the offshore gas and oil 

operation over the last 30 years indicate a significant 

reduction in the oil spill rates: for spills over 200 barrels/incident, the average spill rate in the 1960's r'as 155 

barrels/1 MMBO (million barrels of oil) produced1 ; in the 

1970's and 1980's the rate dropped respectively to 41 barrels/1 MMBO and 12 barrels/1 MMBO produced. The 

number of accidents were also reduced to half between the 

1970's (16 spills>200 MMBO) and 1980's (8 sp; lls>200 

MMBO) (MMS, 1992). If one considers the number of 

structures (3,790 in 1990) operating in the OCS, it is easy 

to conclude that the amount of oil introduced into the 

marine environment from OCS gas and oil operations is 

significantly lower than that from tankering or natural 

seepage. Natural seepage contributes 50-500 bbh/day in 

the Santa Barbara Channel alone (API, 1992). In the 10- 

year period from 1982 to 1991, tankers spilled more than

63
70 percent more oil into U.S. marine waters (per million 

barrels handled) than did OCS operations.

An essential component of any strategic planning for 

gas and oil exploration and development of a province is 

an estimate of the amount of undiscovered gas and oil 

resources and their geographic distribution. The MMS, in 

cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey, periodically 

conducts an assessment of the Nation's undiscovered oil 

and gas resources. The MMS provides the estimates for 

the OCS. The last OCS assessment, conducted in 1987 

and updated in 1990, indicated the risked mean economically recoverable undiscovered gas and oil resource to be 

75.4 TCP of gas and 10.9 BBO (billion barrels of oil), 

respectively. Currently, MMS and USGS are coordinating 

an assessment of the undiscovered oil and gas resources of 

the OCS State waters, and the onshore United States, 

respectively. Utilizing current information, many new 

plays have been identified in various areas of the OCS. 

For reporting purposes, the plays have been classified into 

three groups: established (plays with numerous discoveries), frontier (plays with limited discoveries), and conceptual plays (Ray and Houseknecht, 1994). The resources 

are being estimated utilizing a "super population" concept. The results of this assessment are expected to be 

released in 1995.

In summary, the Federal OCS plays a significant role in 

the Nation's energy supply. For the OCS to remain a steady 

supplier of energy for a long period of time, the annual 

reserves depletion needs to be reduced through annual addition of larger proved reserves. The additional proved 

reserves may come from exploration and development of 

leased areas, conversion of unproved reserves to proved 

reserves, and establishment of new plays. Some new plays, 

such as subsalt and deep-water plays in the Gulf of Mexico, 

have already been established, but the economic risks associated with such plays are higher. Although the production 

from the Federal OCS alone will likely not be able to totally 

wipe out the import of oil and gas, discovery of a significant 

amount of estimated undiscovered resources from the OCS 

coupled with onshore and offshore reserves development 

and prudent planning and conservation measures may significantly reduce our Nation's dependence on energy import.

REFERENCES

API, 1992, Seismic safety requalification for offshore platforms.

 1994, Basic petroleum data book, May 1994. 

MMS Report, 1992, Accidents associated with oil and gas operations: MMS 92-0058. 

MMS Report, 1993a, Mineral revenues.

 1993b, Federal offshore statistics, 1992: MMS 93-0066.

 I993c, Reserves report; Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Regions.

Ray, P.K., and Houseknecht, D.W., 1994, National Assessment of 

oil and gas resources: Geotimes, v. 39, no. 5, p. 17-19.

Energy Resources and Environmental Issues 

in the U.S. Gulf Coast

CJ. Schenk, RJ. Viger, and R.M. Pollastro, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO 80225

Oil and gas resources for 100 hydrocarbon plays in the 

Gulf Coast, representing productive or potentially productive stratigraphic units ranging from Triassi" to Pleistocene 

in age, were assessed for the U.S. National Assessment. The 

Gulf Coast region includes southwest Alabama, southern 

Mississippi, southern Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida, and 

south and east Texas. The region is divided into four hydrocarbon provinces: Province 47 (coastal plain of Texas and 

southern Louisiana), Province 48 (East Texas), Province 49 

(Mississippi-Louisiana salt basins), and Province 50 (Florida 

peninsula); for the assessment Provinces ^8 and 49 were 

combined. The USGS assessment includes the onshore areas 

of the Gulf Coast and State waters; Miner^s Management 

Service is responsible for the oil and gas assessment in Federal waters. Of the 100 plays, 46 plays are located in Province 47,47 plays are located in the combined 48/49 province, 

and 7 plays are in Province 50. The plays include conventional and unconventional oil and gas resources.

Oil and gas plays are geologically defir°,d groupings of 

oil or gas accumulations based on similarit:es of hydrocarbon source, migration, traps, reservoirs, and type of hydrocarbon. The assessment includes an analysis of trap 

distribution, discovery history, discovery rat^s, drilling footage, and density, which led to predictions of whether significant (>1 million barrels of oil equivalent) accumulations of 

undiscovered oil and gas exist in each play. Analog plays 

were used to provide an estimate of the undiscovered oil and 

gas potential for those plays that did not have production 

data (hypothetical plays).

Significant future additions to the U.S. gas resource 

base across the Gulf Coast are predicted to come mainly 

from intermediate to deep conventional gas plays and from 

unconventional gas plays. The deep gas plays include parts 

of the Tuscaloosa Formation (Upper Cretaceous), lower 

and upper parts of the Wilcox Group (Paleocene and 

Eocene), mid-Eocene sandstones, Yegua Formation 

(Eocene), Jackson Formation (Eocene), Vhksburg Formation (Oligocene), Frio Formation (Oligocen?), and Miocene 

in the western Gulf, the hypothetical Western Gulf Norphlet Formation, Smackover Formation, anl Cotton Valley 

Group (Upper Jurassic) gas plays, the deep Norphlet, 

Smackover, and Cotton Valley plays in the salt basins, and 

the deep Norphlet in the eastern Gulf portion of Province 

49. Excellent gas potential is predicted in many plays at 

intermediate depths, including the Gilmer Limestone 

(Upper Jurassic), the James Limestone (Lover Cretaceous), 

Lower Cretaceous shelf-edge carbonates and Upper Cretaceous sandstones in the western Gulf, the Wilcox, Yegua,

64
90.50 90.00

30.00

10 KILOMETERS

Figure 1 (Schenk and others). Map of oil and gas wells (dots) in areas classified as wetlands, New Orleans area, Louisiana. White areas 

that are not water bodies are classified as agricultural lands. Much of southern Louisiana is classified as wetland (shaded area), and thousands 

of wells have been drilled in these fragile lands. Development of deep gas resources in the future will further increase pressure to drill in wetlands and other fragile coastal ecosystems.

and Frio in the western Gulf, and unconventional gas accumulations in Cotton Valley, Hosston and Travis Peak Formations (Lower Cretaceous), and Austin Chalk (Upper 

Cretaceous) reservoirs.

Shallow oil plays, because of the intense exploration 

history and drop-off in discovery rates throughout the Gulf 

Coast, do not have significant potential for significant future 

additions to the U.S. oil resource base. Intermediate depth oil 

plays have excellent potential, including plays in the Tuscaloosa, Woodbine Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Cretaceous 

carbonates, and the Wilcox. Several oil plays updip from the 

regional peripheral fault zones have good to excellent 

resource potential, including the Norphlet, Smackover, and 

Haynesville Formations (Upper Jurassic). However, significant additions to the U.S. oil resource base will probably

come from unconventional oil plays, such as the fractured 

Upper Cretaceous Austin Chalk and Buda Limestone in the 

Western Gulf province.

Environmental problems related to energy resources in 

the Gulf Coast will continue to be associated with drilling in 

wetlands and other fragile coastal ecosystems. The development of these fragile lands is the focus of current research 

along the Gulf Coast. Other environmental problems include 

disposal of oil and gas field fluids, and the handling of H2S 

associated with many of the deep conventional gas reservoirs. Another problem facing the future development of 

unconventional resources is that hundreds and perhaps thousands of development wells may be necessary to recover 

these resources, presenting a serious challenge to develop 

these resources in an environmentally sound manner.

65
Energy Studies on Native American Lands 

Funded by U.S. Department of Energy 

Near-Surface Methane and 

Hydrocarbon Occurrence, Southern Ute 

Indian Reservation, Colorado, and 

Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation, New 

Mexico

Robert S. Zech, Jennie L. Ridgley, 

Kimberley I. Cunningham, G. Michael Reimer, 

A. Curtis Huffman, Jr., Steven M. Condon, and 

Bill S. Larson, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Denver, CO 80225

Oil and gas resources on Indian lands in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico are an important part of the 

Tribal economies. The Southern Ute Indian Reservation, 

Colorado, and the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation, New 

Mexico (fig. 1), contain potential and proven hydrocarbon 

resources that occur in two different geologic settings: (1) 

folded rocks (structures, commonly faulted) that concentrate 

the hydrocarbons into discrete locations; and (2) stratigraphic traps (areas where reservoir rocks pinch-out).

Standard techniques for exploring for hydrocarbon 

accumulations may involve the acquisition and interpretation of data from several sources: drilling, subsurface well 

logs, geophysical reflection seismic lines, field examination 

of rock outcrops, and geochemical analyses of rock samples. 

These techniques are generally very costly. A less expensive 

technique is the soil-gas survey.

A soil-gas survey is a type of exploration technique that 

examines the amount of light hydrocarbon (methane, ethane, 

and propane) and helium gas in the near-surface (1-2 

meters) environment. Over the past two decades, studies of 

methane in the soil have shown that soil-gas anomalies, if

properly interpreted, reflect leakage from subsurface oil and 

gas accumulations. This effect is known as microseepage. 

From 1985 to 1987 the USGS acquired several soil-gas profiles in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in 

cooperation with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe. These profiles show a direct correlation 

between elevated amounts of light hydrocarbon gases and 

helium and the known occurrences of oil and gas deposits at 

four producing fields. Each of these fields contains gas or oil 

deposits that are structurally controlled by folding and 

faulting.

The previous soil-gas surveys were principally concerned with testing the soil-gas method by looking at soilgas distributions in areas known to contain hydrocarbon 

deposits. The preliminary results indicated a favorable correlation of soil-gas anomalies with accumulations of hydrocarbons in certain structural settings. This suggests that the 

method may provide useful information in undrilled areas on 

the Reservations containing suitable accumulations.

The soil-gas techniques have demonstrated repeatable 

results. The quality of repeatable results is necessary in 

establishing baseline information for the structurally controlled deep oil and gas resources. The baseline information 

will allow us to compare the natural (pre-drilling) background with post-development soil-gas concentrations for 

both types of resource occurrence.

This project, in cooperation with the U.S. Department 

of Energy, will capture the soil-gas and geologic data and 

use a geographic information system (GIS) analysis to assess 

various spatial relationships. These include location of 

known resources, structure (folding, faulting, and fracturing), drilling, stratigraphy, and seismic line information. Use 

of GIS will allow rapid evaluation of the data and will focus 

on evaluation of undrilled areas and the comparison of predrilling and post-drilling soil-gas levels. Data and results 

from this study may be used as an exploration tool for hydrocarbon in other areas, and it may also be applied to the 

knowledge base of the global methane budget.

66
107°

SOUTHERN UTE INDIAN RESERVATION

COLORADO 

NEW MEXICO

SAN JUAN BASIN

JICARILLA

APACHE

INDIAN

RESERVATION

Chaco 

Canyon

36° -

Figure 1 (Zech and others). Location of the Southern Ute and Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservations in the San Juan Basin, Colorado 

and New Mexico.

67
Availability and Quality of Energy Resources 

Domestic Unconventional

Resource and Climate Implications of 

Natural Gas Hydrates

William P. Dillon, 1 James S. Booth, 1 Timothy 

S. Collett,2 Keith A. Kvenvolden,3 Dwight F. 

Coleman, 1 Myung W. Lee,2 William J. Winters, 1 and Kristen Fehlhaber1 (1 U.S. Geological 

Survey, Woods Hole, MA 02543; 2 USGS, Denver, 

CO 80225; 3 USGS, Menlo Park, CA 94025)

Introduction

Natural gas hydrate is a solid, crystalline, ice-like 

material that is formed of water and gas (mostly methane) 

molecules. It is stable at the temperature and pressure conditions that exist near and just beneath the sea floor 

where water depths exceed 300 to 500 meters, and also is 

stable in conjunction with permafrost at high latitudes. 

Worldwide, gas hydrate is estimated to hold about 1019 

grams of organic carbon in the form of methane (Kvenvolden, 1993). This represents an amount of organic carbon that is twice as much as in all other fossil fuels on 

Earth (conventional natural gas, oil, and coal) and an 

amount of methane that is about 103 times as much as 

exists in the atmosphere, where methane is =20x as effective a greenhouse gas as CO2 (on a molar basis). Gas 

hydrate is an important topic for study for three reasons: 

(1) the great volume of methane that it holds, which indicates a potential as a future energy resource, (2) its function as a source or sink for atmospheric methane, which 

may influence climate, and (3) its effect on sediment 

strength, which can initiate landslides on the slope and 

rise.

Atlantic Margin Mapping

We have mapped both the volume of hydrate (fig. 1) 

and thickness of the hydrate-cemented layer off the U.S. 

East Coast (Dillon and others, 1994) using seismic-reflection data (Lee and others, 1993). Some concentrations of 

hydrate are correlated to locations of greatest sedimentation. Other hydrate concentrations, located near salt(?) diapirs, may be fed by deep thermogenic gas that migrates 

up faults. Thinning of the hydrate layer across diapirs 

may result from chemical and (or) thermal controls. 

Hydrate apparently fills sediment pore space and reduces 

permeability, and thus hydrate-cemented sediments act as

seals for gas traps. The gas that forms tl ^ hydrate of the 

seal, as well as the gas within the hydrate-sealed trap, may 

be recovered by reducing the pressure, which would 

cause the breakdown of hydrate and the release of gas to 

recharge the trap. A relationship betwee^ hydrate breakdown and mass movement is evidenced by (1) thinning of 

the hydrate layer beneath landslide scars, and (2) increased 

frequency of the tops of landslide scars at water depths 

equal to the top of the hydrate stability zone. Landslides 

may release gas from hydrate (by reduc;ng pressure and 

allowing breakdown of the hydrate) and release the gas 

trapped beneath the hydrate (by rupturing the seal). Thus 

landslides may trigger a transfer of gas tc the atmosphere, 

inducing climate change (Paull and others, 1991).

The volume of gas held in the gas- hydrate can be 

estimated from the map of hydrate volume (fig. 1). For 

example, within the area delimited by the 30 m hydrate 

contour on the Blake Ridge (southern pert of the area of 

fig. 1, south of lat 32° N.), an area of 3,050 km2, we estimate a volume of 1.12x10* * m3 of hyd-ate, which contains l.SxlO13 m3 (630 TCP) of methane.

Arctic Distribution

Significant quantities of naturally occurring gas 

hydrate also have been detected in many regions of the 

Arctic, including Siberia, the Mackenzie River delta, and 

the North Slope of Alaska. On the North Slope, the 

methane-hydrate stability zone is areally extensive beneath 

most of the coastal plain province and has thicknesses 

greater than 1,000 m in the Prudhoe Bny area (Collett, 

1993). Gas hydrate has been inferred to cccur in 50 North 

Slope exploratory and production wells on the basis of 

well-log responses that were calibrated tc the signature of 

an interval in a well where gas hydrate was recovered in a 

core. Most North Slope gas hydrate is restricted to the area 

overlying the eastern part of the Kuparuk River oil field 

and the western part of the Prudhoe Bay o;i field, where the 

volume of gas within the hydrate is estimated to be about 

l.OxlO12 to 1.2xl012 m3 (37 to 44 TCP). This is about 

twice the volume of conventional gas in the Prudhoe Bay 

field.

Laboratory Studies

Laboratory studies are necessary to understand the 

processes by which gas hydrate may be concentrated on the 

continental margin and to develop tools (such as acoustic 

models) mat facilitate recognition and resource analysis of

68
 A

HUDSON - WILMINGTON 

DRAPE AREA

32°-

Figure 1 (Dillon and others). Isopach map showing contours that indicate total amount of solid gas hydrate existing within the sediments 

of the U.S. Atlantic continental margin, calculated from seismic-reflection profiling data. This isopach map is considered to represent the 

total volume of pure hydrate that is distributed through the sediments as disseminated grains, veins, and nodules. That is, it can be thought 

of as the amount that would appear if all of the hydrate were extracted from the sediment and piled upon the sea floor. In actuality, the hydrate 

is distributed in a zone between the sea floor and a lower boundary of hydrate stability that occurs at varying depths, as much as many hundred meters beneath the sea floor. Light solid numbered contours are water depths in meters; light solid straight lines represent seisinc track 

lines.
these offshore hydrate deposits. The USGS has begun using 

a computer-controlled test system in which gas hydrate is 

formed and decomposed in sediment samples under simulated in-situ (deep-sea or arctic) conditions. Possible 

mechanisms of natural concentration are also being simulated, including (1) an accumulating sediment column, (2) 

cyclic sea-level change, (3) faulting and fluid migration, 

and (4) trapping of free gas beneath a hydrate seal. Experiments are being conducted to assess the impact of gas 

hydrate on sediment behavior, particularly with respect to 

slope failure and other potential geohazards, and to estimate the amounts and rates of release of methane into the 

atmosphere in response to geologic phenomena.

Conclusions

USGS gas hydrate studies indicate that a variety of conditions and geologic processes cause the concentration of gas 

hydrate in arctic and ocean-floor settings. Extremely large 

volumes of gas are held in such accumulations, and free gas 

is trapped where hydrate-bearing sediments form a seal. 

Hydrate may be a significant future energy resource and also 

may represent a control on climate change. It probably is 

important to the stability of seafloor sediments. Studies of 

gas hydrate occurrences in the natural environment will 

increase our understanding of these phenomena and of the 

traces they leave on the geologic record. Laboratory studies 

are required to understand hydrate processes and to provide 

calibration of the effects of hydrate on remote sensing measurements that are used in field studies, especially well logging and seismic-profiling measurements.

Acknowledgments

We wish to acknowledge funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, Morgantown Energy Technology Center.

REFERENCES

Collett, T.S., 1993, Natural gas hydrates of the Prudhoe Bay and 

Kuparuk River area, North Slope, Alaska: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 77, p. 793-812.

Dillon, W. P., Lee, M.W., and Coleman, D.F., 1994, Identification 

of marine hydrates in situ and their distribution off the Atlantic 

coast of the United States: Annals of the New York Academy 

of Sciences, v. 715, International Conference on Natural Gas 

Hydrates, p. 364-380.

Kvenvolden, K.A., 1993, Gas hydrates Geological perspective 

and global change: Reviews of Geophysics, v. 31, p. 173-187.

Lee, M.W., Hutchinson, D.R., Dillon, W.P., Miller, J.J., Agena, 

W.F., and Swift, B.A., 1993, Method of estimating the amount 

of in situ gas hydrates in deep marine sediments: Marine and 

Petroleum Geology, v. 10, p. 493-506.

Paull, C.K., Ussier, William, IH, and Dillon, W.P., 1991, Is the extent of glaciation limited by marine gas hydrates?: Geophysical 

Research Letters, v. 18, p. 432-434.

Low-Permeability (Tight) Gas Reservoirs 

An Environmentally Acceptable Major Source 

of Energy for the 21st Century?

B.E. Law, C.W. Spencer, R.A. Cro'elli, and 

J.W. Schmoker, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, 

CO 80225, R.T. Ryder, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Reston, VA 22092, W.M. Sutherland, 

U.S. Bureau of Land Management, P.O. Box 1869, 

Rock Springs, WY 82902-1869, and K.H. Frohne, 

U.S. Department of Energy, P.O. Box 880, Morgantown, WV 26507

Low-permeability (tight) gas reserve ;rs are gas-bearing rocks that usually have an exceptionally low gas transmissibility flow and, until recently, have been marginally 

economic. In the literature, these reservoirs contain gas in 

unconventional accumulations that are varously referred to 

as "tight gas," basin-centered gas, or continuous gas. In the 

United States, tight gas reservoirs are estimated to contain 

in-place resources of at least 420 trillion cubic feet (TCP) 

and possibly more than 5,000 TCP. Of these in-place gas 

resources, 200 to more than 550 TCP are estimated to be 

recoverable. Annual production from this large gas 

resource has been increasing for several years. For example, production of gas from tight reservoirs in the United 

States in 1990 was about 1.7 TCP, or about 10 percent of 

the total gas produced in the United Stater (National Petroleum Council, 1992), and the proportion of gas produced 

from tight reservoirs likely will steadily increase as the 

markets for this relatively clean energy source expand. 

Many anticipate that most surface vehicles will be powered 

by natural gas in the 21st century.

Tight gas reservoirs occur in nearly all petroleum 

provinces. The distribution of the principal tight gas reservoirs in the United States is shown in figure 1. However, 

the geographic distribution of these gas accumulations is 

only partially known. Many additional areas in Alaska and 

the Western United States probably conta'n large gas accumulations in tight reservoirs. For example, an overpressured basin-centered gas accumulation 1 as only recently 

been recognized below the large basalt-covered area of 

eastern Washington (Law and others, 1994). In other 

basins known to contain tight reservoirs, such as the Appalachian, Anadarko, and onshore Gulf Coast Basins, the 

spatial distribution of tight gas reservoirs r poorly known.

In the various petroleum provinces tight gas reservoirs occur at virtually all depths and in a variety of rock 

types that include sandstone, siltstone, slu^e, sandy carbonate rocks, limestone, and chalk. Tight gas reservoirs may 

be thick and areally extensive or thin airl areally limited. 

In normal (conventional) gas accumula*ions, the gas is 

concentrated in discrete structural or stratigraphic traps,

70
whereas gas in tight reservoirs occurs as regionally pervasive accumulations that are usually abnormally pressured 

and are mostly independent of structural and stratigraphic 

traps. Artificial stimulation, such as hydraulic fracturing, is 

usually needed to produce the gas, unless extensive natural 

fracturing is present. For additional information on the distribution and characteristics of tight gas reservoirs, the 

reader is referred to Finley (1984), Masters (1984), Spencer and Mast (1986), Spencer (1989), Dutton and others 

(1993), and Law and Spencer (1993).

In general, there are two main types of gas accumulations in tight reservoirs: (1) thermogenic, and (2) biogenic 

gas accumulations. Thermogenic gas accumulations are the 

more common and economically important type. In thermogenic gas accumulations* the gas has been generated 

from source rocks that have been subjected to temperatures 

in excess of 190 to 200 °F. Thermogenic gas accumulations are either abnormally overpressured or underpressured with respect to normal, hydrostatic pressures and the 

accumulations commonly occur at depths greater than 

8,000 ft. Examples of large thermogenic gas accumulations 

are those in the Greater Green River, Piceance, Uinta, and 

San Juan basins in the Western United States and the 

Appalachian and Black Warrior basins in the Eastern 

United States (fig. 1). In contrast, biogenic gas accumulations are produced by microorganisms. The source rocks 

for these biogenic accumulations have never experienced 

temperatures higher than 190 °F. They are always underpressured and commonly occur at depths less than 2,000 ft. 

Examples of large biogenic accumulations are those in the 

northern Great Plains and the eastern plains (fig. 1). 

Exceptions to these generalized thermal conditions sometimes occur in areas that have experienced considerable 

uplift and erosion along with changes in the fluid flow 

history.

Tight reservoirs mostly produce gas and condensate (a 

hydrocarbon mixture that is gaseous in the ground but condenses to a fluid when produced) with little or no water. 

The gas contained in tight reservoirs is predominantly 

methane (typically more than 85 percent) with very low 

amounts of ethane and higher molecular weight hydrocarbons. Condensate is often associated with the gas in various proportions, sometimes as much as 60 barrels per 

million cubic feet of gas but more commonly, 10 to 15 barrels per million cubic feet of gas. From an economic perspective, the amount of condensate produced with the gas 

has significant value, making some low-volume gas wells 

economically viable. Other gas components such as carbon 

dioxide, nitrogen, and hydrogen sulfide may be present in 

amounts as high as 5-7 percent. In most cases the gas and 

condensate are derived from organic matter contained in 

interbedded coal and shale or from disseminated organic 

matter in the gas reservoir.

The wide range of gas resource estimates in tight reservoirs (from 420 to 5,000 TCP) is primarily due to

uncertainties concerning the geographic distribution of the 

reservoirs, the nature of the gas accumulations, differences 

in assessment methodologies, and the number of basins, 

formations, and wells evaluated. Resource assessment 

methodologies utilized in conventional oil and gas assessments are inappropriate for tight gas reservoirs because of 

the unusual mode of gas occurrence. In the current U.S. 

Geological Survey assessment of these gas accumulations, 

each accumulation is regarded as a collection of hydrocarbon-containing cells. A probability distribution for the 

number of potentially productive, but untested cells in a 

play is developed from geologically based estimates of 

numbers of untested cells and the fraction of untested cells 

expected to be productive. A probability distribution for 

estimated recovery from potentially productive, untested 

cells in a play is developed using established production 

within the play or from an analog play if necessary. These 

probability distributions comprise the geologic model and 

input to the resource-assessment calculation system.

Gas from unconventional tight reservoirs is rapidly 

emerging as a major source of energy. Within the last year, 

activity surrounding tight gas reservoirs has increased 

sharply because of the emphasis on gas as a clean and efficient fuel and because of the application of new drilling 

and completion techniques. As a consequence of the 

increased activity, U.S. Bureau of Land Management and 

industry teams have been strongly challenged to generate 

appropriate environmental and planning documentation, as 

required by law. The widespread occurrence of gas in tight 

reservoirs, and the necessity of drilling closely spaced 

wells in order to effectively drain the gas resource, will 

require access roads, drilling sites, and gas pipeline systems over hundreds of square miles. Such development can 

conflict with other surface activities. Those conflicts are 

probably nowhere better demonstrated than in the Rocky 

Mountain region, where drilling activity competes with 

scenic, recreational, and wildlife interests and affects 

issues related to soil conservation, water quality, and slope 

stability.

Of all the different types of unconventional gas 

resources, gas in tight reservoirs has the greatest potential 

of significantly contributing to the Nation's energy needs 

into the next century. Before this large gas resource is 

exploited, the environmental issues previously noted need 

to be addressed in order to avoid permanent damage to the 

ecosystem. Working together, however, industry, government, and special interest groups can mitigate many of the 

problems related to the development of gas in tight reservoirs.

REFERENCES

Dutton, S.P., Clift, S.J., Hamilton, D.S., Hamlin, H.S., Hentz, T.F., 

Howard, W.E., Akter, M.S., and Laubach, S.E., 1993, Atlas of 

major low-permeability gas reservoirs in the continental United

71
EAST TEXAS AND 

NORTH LOUISIANA

VAL VERDE

MAVERICK 

GULF COAST

500 MILES

Figure 1 (Law and others). Principal tight gas reservoirs in the United States (patterned). Pattern variation shows overlap of several regions.

States: Gas Research Institute Topical Report, GRI-93/0044, 

470 p.

Finley, R.J., 1984, Geology and engineering characteristics of selected low-permeability gas sandstones A national survey: 

The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology Report of Investigations 138, 220 p.

Law, B.E., and Spencer, C.W., 1993, Gas in tight reservoirs An 

emerging major source of energy, in Howell, D.G., ed., The future of energy gases: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1570, p. 233-252.

Law, B.E., Tennyson, M.E., and Johnson, S.Y., 1994, Basin-centered gas accumulations in the Pacific Northwest A potentially large overlooked source of energy [abs.]: American 

Association of Petroleum Geologists 1994 Annual Convention 

Official Program, v. 3, p. 194.

Masters, J.A., ed., 1984, Elmworth-Case study of a deep basin gas 

field: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 

38, 316 p.

National Petroleum Council, 1992, The potential for natural gas in 

the United States Source and supply, Volume II: National Petroleum Council, Committee on Natural Gas, 330 p.

Spencer, C.W., 1989, Review of characteristics of low-permeability 

gas reservoirs in western United States: American Association 

of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 73, no. 5, p. 613-629.

Spencer, C.W., and Mast, R.F., eds., 1986, Geology of tight gas reservoirs: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Studies in Geology 24, 299 p.

Coal bed Methane From Hazard to 

Environmental Concern and 

Untapped Energy Resource

Dudley D. Rice and Richard B. Wanty, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO 80225; 

Charles W. Byrer, U.S. Department of Energy, 

P.O. Box 880, Morgantown, WV 26505; and 

Dina W. Kruger, U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, 401 M St. S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460

Coal beds have unique characteristics which are different from all other types of rocks from which hydrocarbons 

are generated and produced. These characteristics are briefly 

described herein, and presented in more detail in Law and 

Rice (1993) and Rice and others (1993).

Large amounts of natural gas are generated in coal beds 

throughout their burial history. The yield is probably in the 

range of 5-6 MCF/ton (thousand cubic feet per ton). Coalbed 

gases are variable in their composition. Although methane is 

generally dominant, significant amounts of heavier hydrocarbon gases, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen can also be 

present. In addition, hydrogen-rich coal beds can generate 

and sometimes produce liquid hydrocarbons which are viscous and can cause problems for production.

72
Most of the gas in coals is stored on the internal surfaces 

of the organic matter. Because coal has large internal surface 

areas, it can store large amounts of gas: coal can hold much 

more gas than the same rock volume of a conventional reservoir. Gas content generally increases with rank, depth of 

burial, and reservoir pressure. At higher ranks, coals may 

even have generated more gas than they can store, resulting 

in its expulsion into adjacent reservoirs.

Permeability is essentially nonexistent in the matrix of 

coal, but is developed in the fractures, commonly referred to 

as cleats. The factors which control the permeability of cleats 

are their density, connectivity, and aperture width. These 

factors are, in turn, regulated by bed thickness, coal quality 

and rank, tectonic deformation, and stress. In general, permeability decreases with increasing depth of burial and is not 

well developed in areas that have been structurally 

deformed.

The cleats are generally filled with water. The sources 

of water are (1) original water from the time that peat was 

deposited, (2) atmospheric, and (3) adjacent aquifers. In 

some places, cleats may be filled with gas above the water 

table.

Coalbed gas production is controlled by several processes, including release of gas from internal surface areas 

and flow of both gas and water in the cleats. As a consequence, coalbed gas wells have a distinctive production history characterized by (1) early stage when large amounts of 

water are produced from the cleats to reduce reservoir pressure and initiate release of the gas from the internal surface 

areas, (2) stable stage when quantities of gas increase as the 

quantities of water decrease ("negative or reverse decline"), 

and (3) late stage when the amount of gas declines and water 

production remains low,

Coalbed methane accumulations are widespread, and 

in-place gas resources in the United States are estimated to 

amount to more than 700 TCP. However, the economically 

recoverable resources, which generally occur at depths 

between 500 and 6,000 ft, are probably less than 100 TCP. 

Areas with reserves and (or) potential additions to reserves 

are shown in figure 1.

Two environmental concerns are related to coalbed 

methane methane emissions from mining, as described by 

Kruger (1994), and water disposal. 1 Pressure reduction during coal mining, particularly underground, results in the 

release of coalbed methane. In the United States, coal mines 

may account for as much as 15-20 percent of the total atmospheric methane emissions associated with human activities. 

The majority of these mine-related emissions come from the

Methane is a potent "greenhouse" gas which has an atmospheric residence time of 8-12 years. Atmospheric concentrations of methane have 

more than doubled during the past 200-300 years. This increase is interpreted to be the result of human activities, including coal mining. Reductions of 

methane emissions would have noticeable short-term impacts on atmospheric concentrations.

Eastern United States, particularly the Appalachian basin 

(fig. 1). Most of this gas is presently being emitted to the 

atmosphere in the mine ventilation air and by the mine 

degasification systems as a safety precaution. As part of the 

President's Climate Change Action Plan (October 1993), 

coal mines are being encouraged to recover and utilize this 

methane. Such recovery would mitigate the environmental 

concerns and provide significant economic benefits, including increased employment, additional State revenues, and a 

return on investments for the coal mines and other companies. However, its development will only result if certain 

issues are addressed, such as gas ownership, conflicts 

between activities of coal mining and coalbed methane 

development, and utilization options.

Water is commonly produced from coalbed gas wells, 

especially during the early stages of production. The volume 

of water produced from an individual coalbed gas well is 

generally much higher than that produced from other types 

of oil and gas wells. The quantity and quality (total dissolved 

solids and salinity) of water vary considerably in coal-bearing basins and reflect the water's residence time and rockwater interactions in the subsurface and ground-water flow 

patterns (Tyler and others, 1991). Water quality and quantity 

are generally lower in the central, deeper parts of basins 

compared to the shallower parts of basins that are near 

recharge areas of relatively fresh atmospheric water.

Environmentally acceptable options of water disposal 

vary from inexpensive methods, such as surface discharge, 

to more costly alternatives, such as underground injection or 

surface discharge after treatment. Another alternative, which 

has not been employed, is evaporation and collection of solid 

residues (Wanty and others, 1993). Because coalbed waters 

are commonly rich in sodium, carbonate, and chloride, the 

possibility exists that the evaporation products may be trona 

and halite, both salable commodities. Thus, if sufficient 

water was produced and evaporation rates are high enough 

(as in the arid Rocky Mountain area), evaporation may be an 

environmentally and economically feasible brine-handling 

method.

REFERENCES

Kruger, D.W., 1994, The environmental and economic benefits of 

coalbed methane development in the Appalachian region: U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency EPA/430/R-94/007, 30 p.

Law, B.E., and Rice, D.D., eds., 1993, Hydrocarbons from coal: 

American Association of Petroleum Geologists Studies in Geology 38, 400 p.

Rice, D.D., Law, B.E., and Clayton, J.L., 1993, Coalbed gas An 

undeveloped resource, in Howell, D.G., ed., The future of energy gases: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1570, p. 

389-404.

Tyler, R., Ambrose, W.A., Scott, A.R., and Kaiser, W.R., 1991, 

Coalbed methane potential of the Greater Green River,

73
500 KILOMETERS 

300 MILES

Figure 1 (Rice and others). Map of United States showing areas with reserves and (or) potential additions to reserves of coalbed methane. These resources generally extend from depths of 500 to 6,000 ft. Stippled areas have potential for recovery in association with underground coal mining.

Piceance, Powder River, and Raton basins: Gas Research Institute Topical Report GRI-91/0315, 224 p.

Wanty, R.B., Folger, P.F., and Briggs, P.H., 1993, Ground-water 

chemistry of the coal-bearing Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde

Formation, Wind River Reservation, Wyoming, in Keefer, 

W.R., Metzger, W.J., and Godwin, L.H., ed^, Oil and gas and 

other resources of the Wind River basin, Wyoming: Wyoming 

Geological Association Special Symposium p. 271-279.

74
Availability and Quality of Energy Resources 

World Energy

International Coal-Related Activities of the 

U.S. Geological Survey and Their 

Environmental Applications

John R. SanFilipo and Peter D. Warwick, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA 22092

Most of the underdeveloped and developing nations of 

the world face severe shortages of energy, and many industrialized nations that are in transition from centrally planned 

to market economies face collapsing energy distribution networks. These energy-poor nations are among the most environmentally stressed. This fact is due in part to the direct 

effects of primitive energy technologies and the low quality 

of available fuels, but it is also a consequence of the poverty 

and lack of social and technological infrastructure that 

invariably attend energy deficits. For such nations, the 

orderly development of underutilized indigenous coal 

resources and the upgrading of existing coal technologies 

can lead to economically viable sources of energy that are 

relatively benign from an environmental standpoint, and can 

contribute to long-term political stability as well.

Working closely with representatives of counterpart 

agencies in the host countries, the U.S. Geological Survey 

has conducted commodity-related coal studies in a variety of 

such international settings (fig. 1), generally with the sponsorship of international donor or lending agencies such as the 

U.S. Agency for International Development or the Asian 

Development Bank (table 1). These studies have focused on 

coal resource assessments in nations with acute energy 

shortages and on coal quality studies in areas where development has had recognizable environmental impacts. Many 

of these studies have been conducted in areas of particular 

strategic interest to the United States, and technology transfer to ensure the sustainable ability of the host country to 

integrate geosciences into decision-making is an integral 

part of most programs.

Because of a dependence on scavenged fuel (firewood, 

animal dung, and crop residue) for everyday energy needs, 

half the world's population faces chronic poverty, ill health, 

and severe pressure on local ecosystems. In addition to the 

direct environmental effects of such local practices as deforestation, scavenged fuels are inefficient and emit more 

greenhouse gases than other fuels. Transition to commercial 

fuel economies for these people is both inevitable and desirable. Poor nations that have begun this transition face additional environmental pressures from the forces of 

urbanization in the face of insufficient energy available to 

support adequate water, transportation, and refrigeration

systems. The USGS cooperative international coal resource 

assessments which include evaluation of the quant'ty, distribution, and quality of coal from existing informrrton or 

new exploration are meant to address these problems by 

identifying potential new sources of energy. Results of some 

of the more comprehensive studies include (1) increasing the 

known coal resources of Pakistan from 800 million to more 

than 80 billion t (metric tons) of coal suitable for commercial 

power generation or briquetting; (2) a thorough compilation 

of the coal resources of Latin America, which has res-ilted in 

state-of-the-art coal maps covering the entire region, a comprehensive coal resource assessment for much of Cos*a Rica, 

and a preliminary utilization feasibility study for Haiti; (3) 

the first systematic sampling and analysis of newly discovered thick Permian coals on the Rangpur Saddle of Bangladesh; and (4) a comprehensive geologic analysis of the 

Ordos coal basin of north-central People's Republic of 

China. Additional pilot studies have been conducted in 

Armenia, India, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, northern 

Africa, and the western Pacific rim.

Coal development in many areas of the world has historically been unencumbered by environmental concerns. 

This situation has been particularly acute in some heavily 

industrialized areas of low-quality coals in Eastern Europe. 

The collapse of energy subsidies and the consequent decline 

in industrial output in these and other areas in transition to 

market economies have resulted in continuing pressure to 

utilize indigenous resources regardless of their intrinsic 

quality characteristics. The cooperative international coal 

quality studies of the USGS have focused on identifying the 

origins, modes of occurrence, and behavior of coal-derived 

pollutants in such areas. Results of recent studies include (1) 

identification of the probable cause of a widespread disease 

in southeastern Europe (Balkan endemic nephropathy) as inplace leaching of toxic and carcinogenic organic compounds 

from lignite beds, and (2) identification of the sources for 

several potentially toxic elements associated with coals in 

(the former) Yugoslavia and other areas of Eastern Europe, 

along with possible mitigating technologies for their recovery as ash byproducts.

In addition to commodity-related studies, USGS coal 

researchers have participated in a number of topical 

research projects in international areas of particula" scientific interest. Some of these studies utilize unique foreign settings to develop geologic models that can help preiict the 

occurrence and quality of coal and other fossil fuels; others 

use the unique nature of coal and associated rocks as paleoenvironmental indicators to enhance our knowledge of global environmental processes such as climate. Recent areas of 

study include (1) Indonesian equatorial peat swamps as

75
100" 120" 140" 160" 180" 160" 140° 120" IWW 70° 50" 30° 10° 0° 10" 30" 50"

inferred geologic extent

* One or more reported coal occurrences 

of small or unknown extent

Figure 1 (SanFilipo and Warwick). Global coal distribution (Antarctica not shown). Modified from Landis and Weaver, 1993. Refer to tabl
Table 1 (SanFilipo and Warwick). Selected coal-related international projects of the U.S. Geological 

Survey.

[USAID, U.S. Agency for International Development; ADB, Asian Development Bank; S&T, U.S. State Department Science and 

Technology Fund]

Area Dates Types Main sponsor; collaborators

1. Armenia

2. Australia

3. Bangladesh

4. Eastern Europe

5. India

6. Indonesia

7. Kyrgyzstan

8. Latin America

9. North Africa

10. Pacific basin

11. Pakistan

12. Palau

13. PR China

14. Philippines

1993-1997

1994-

1989-1990

1987-1996

1994-

1987-1989

1993-1994

1983-1993 

1986-1990

1992

1985-1993 

1987-1996 

1982-1990 

1984-1985

Resource assessment

Coorong wetlands 

Resource assessment 

Coal quality; methane

Resource assessment 

Modern coal analogs 

Resource assessment

Resource assessment 

Resource assessment

Resource assessment

Resource assessment 

Origins organic sulfur 

Resource assessment 

Resource assessment

US AID; Armenian Dept. Underground

Resources.

University of Adelaide. 

ADB; Geological Survey Bangladesh. 

S&T; various European government and

academic institutions. 

S&T; Geological Survey India. 

Indonesian Directorate of Mineral Resources. 

US AID; Ministry Industry, Material

Resources, & Trade.

US AID (Costa Rica); various foreign agencies. 

Fed. Inst. for Geosciences and Energy

(Germany). 

Circum-Pacific Council for Energy & Mineral

Resources.

USAID; Geological Survey of Pakistan. 

American Chem. Soc., Florida State Univ. 

S&T; Ministry of Coal Industry. 

USAID; Philippine Bureau of Economic

Development.

modem analogs to climate-dependent coal-forming processes, and (2) identification of the bacterial origins for modern non-point-source pollution in the Coorong wetlands of 

Australia, and recognition of these bacterial processes as 

possible analogs for the occurrence of trace elements in coal.

SELECTED REFERENCES

Bostick, N.H., Betterhorn, W.J., Gluskoter, H.J., and Islam, M.N., 

1991, Petrography of Permian "Gondwana" coals from boreholes in northwestern Bangladesh, based on semiautomated reflectance scanning: Organic Geochemistry, v. 17, no. 4, 

p. 399^13.

Cecil, C.B., Dulong, F.T., Cobb, J.C., and Supardi, 1993, Allogenic 

and autogenic controls on sedimentation in the central Sumatra 

basin as an analogue for Pennsylvanian coal-bearing strata in 

the Appalachian basin: Geological Society of America Special 

Paper 286, p. 3-22.

Feder, G.L., Radovanic, Z., and Finkelman, R.B., 1991, Relationship between weathered coal deposits and the etiology of

Balkan endemic nephropathy: Kidney International, v. 40, suppi. 34, p. 9-11.

Landis, E.R., and Weaver, J.N., 1993, Global coal occurrence, in 

Law, B.E., and Rice, D.D., Hydrocarbons from coal: American 

Association of Petroleum Geologists Studies in Geoligy 38, 

p. 1-12.

Ruppert, L., Finkelman, R.B., Boti, E., Milosavljevic, M., Tewalt, 

S., Simon, N., and Dulong, F., in press, Origin and sign;ficance 

of high nickel and chromium concentrations in Pliocene lignite 

of the Kosovo Basin, Serbia and Montenegro: International 

Journal of Coal Geology.

SanFilipo, J.R., and Khan, R.A., 1994, The "discovery" of a blind 

coal field in the Thar Desert of Pakistan, with the help of some 

unconventional techniques, in Chiang, A.H., ed., Coal Energy and the Environment: Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual 

Pittsburgh Coal Conference, Sept. 12-16, 1994; University of 

Pittsburgh Center for Energy Research.

Weaver, J.N., and Landis, E.R., 1990, Coal and peat in the subSaharan region of Africa: Natural Resources Forum, v. 14, no. 

1, p. 64-69.

Weaver, J.N., and Wood, G.H., Jr., 1994, Coal map of Soutl America: U.S. Geological Survey Coal Investigations Map C-145, 

scale 1:7,500,000.

77
Environmental Effects of Natural Energy Occurrence

Atmospheric Methane Flux From Coals

J.L. Clayton, J.S. Leventhal, and D.D. Rice, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO 80225

Methane is an important greenhouse gas whose atmospheric concentration is increasing. The increase in atmospheric methane is correlative with growth in human 

population and activities, although the exact causes of the 

increase are not known. Although methane leaking from 

fossil fuels is estimated to account for a significant proportion of the total annual flux of methane into the atmosphere, considerable uncertainty exists with respect to the 

precise amount. Recent studies indicate that coal mining, 

natural gas ventilation, and gas transmission losses may 

constitute approximately 50-114 Tg of methane (teragrams, 1012 g) out of a total annual global flux from all 

sources estimated at 540 Tg (Khalil and Rasmussen, 1985; 

Stevens and Englekemeir, 1988; Cicerone and Oremland, 

1988; Hogan and others, 1991). However, the estimates for 

fossil fuel fluxes are rough, because very limited data are 

available for methane flux associated with exploitation of 

fossil fuels, and only one study has reported data on methane release through natural processes affecting fossil fuels 

(Clayton and others, 1993).

Coal production worldwide is likely to increase over the 

next few decades because of increasing energy demand, particularly in developing countries, such as People's Republic 

of China, where population and economies are growing. 

Increased coal utilization to help fulfill energy demand could 

lead to increased flux of methane to the atmosphere. In order 

to develop optimal governmental policies for remediation of 

methane emissions from coal and to better understand the 

global methane cycle, scientists, and especially planners and 

regulators need more accurate assessments of methane 

release from coal beds. Quantitative data are needed not only 

for methane release associated with mining activities, but 

also for natural processes such as leakage along faults or 

from outcrops. Moreover, improved understanding of the 

relative importance of the various factors (for example, age 

of the coal, thermal maturity, geologic setting, hydrogeology) that influence emission rate is essential if limited quantitative data are to be extrapolated to global estimates of the 

importance of coal beds as sources of atmospheric methane.

The objective of the present study is to provide quantitative data on methane flux between coal beds and the atmosphere caused both by human activities and by natural 

processes. Sampling sites were selected in the Black Warrior 

Basin, Alabama (Pennsylvanian age coal); the Powder River 

Basin, Wyoming (Tertiary age coals); the San Juan Basin, 

Colorado and New Mexico (Cretaceous age coals); and coal

basins in Poland (Miocene and Pennsylvania^ age coals) and 

the Czech Republic (Pennsylvanian age coals). The sites 

were chosen to evaluate the effects of seve~al variables on 

the methane flux local geology, coal rank, coal geochemistry, burial depth of the coal, thermal history, mining methods, age of the mine or exposure, and local hydrogeology. 

The purpose of this approach is to provide data that allow 

unproved quantification of methane flux in specific study 

areas and to assess the importance of various controlling factors that influence the flux.

Ventilation to improve safety during underground 

mining is the largest single source of atmospheric methane 

from coals, although some faults and frac^ires associated 

with tectonic development of some coal bas;ns serve as significant migration conduits for coalbed methane emissions 

from natural degassing of coals. For example, in the Black 

Warrior Basin, Alabama, as much as 136,000 L (97,144 g) 

of methane per minute is released from one ventilation 

shaft from underground mining. In additior- methane from 

coals at present-day burial depths of abort 2,000 feet or 

greater was identified leaking along fault zones in rock outcrops, although in much smaller quantities [1 L/min (0.71 

g) at a point source along a fault zone] compared to ventilation of underground mines. Similarly, ir the San Juan 

Basin, methane was observed leaking from surface features 

thought to be associated with high-angle faults that serve as 

migration conduits between coal beds and the atmosphere. 

However, unlike the Black Warrior Basin, fault traces were 

not observed in surface outcrops, but we~e only inferred 

from surface topography and the high methane flux.

In contrast, surface mines studied to 1994 release relatively smaller quantities of methane than ventilation shafts 

and, in some cases, less than naturally occurring faults. A 

significant finding is that methane flux fnm surface mines 

exhibits significant variability, both between mines containing similar types of coal and at different locations 

within a single mine. The amount of methrne released during surface mining is highly sensitive to th?- tectonic development and thermal history of the basin, as well as time 

(age of the mine). For example, in the Blacv Warrior Basin, 

Pennsylvanian coals reached maximum thennal maturation 

(burial) by late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic time. Uplift 

occurred at about the same time, allowing loss of most of 

the methane in near-surface coals over geologic time. 

Methane flux measurements were made a* several surface 

mines of Tertiary coal in the Powder Rr'er Basin, Wyoming. Here, methane flux was quite varial ^ depending on 

local conditions and length of time that tl ?. coal had been 

exposed. For example, some freshly uncovered coals had 

significant methane release, whereas coal benches that had 

been exposed for long periods of time (as long as several

78
years) had very low fluxes. For comparison, brown coal 

(lignite) was studied at two large surface mines in Poland 

(Belchatow and Turow). In these mines, the methane 

release rate is highly variable and is apparently controlled 

by local geology and hydrogeology.

REFERENCES

Clayton, J.L., Leventhal, J.S., Rice, D.D., Pashin, J.C., Mosher, B., 

and Czepiel, P., 1993, Atmospheric methane flux from 

coals Preliminary investigation of coal mines and geologic 

structures in the Black Warrior Basin, Alabama, in Ho well, 

D.G., ed., The future of energy gases: U.S. Geological Survey 

Professional Paper 1570, p. 471-492.

Cicerone, R.J., and Oremland, R.S., 1988, Biogeochemical aspects 

of atmospheric methane: Global Biogeochemical Cycles, v. 2, 

p. 299-327.

Hogan, K.B., Hoffman, J.S., and Thompson, A.M., 1991, Methane 

on the greenhouse agenda: Nature, v. 354, p. 181-182.

Khalil, M.A.K., Rasmussen, R.A., Shearer, M.J., Ge, S., and Rau, 

J.A., 1993, Methane from coal burning: Chemosphere, v. 26, p. 

473-477.

Stevens, C.M., and Englekemeir, A., 1988, Stable carbon isotopic 

composition of methane from some natural and anthropogenic 

sources: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 93, p. 725-733.

Is Increasing Atmospheric CO2 Really a

Harbinger of Global Warming 

A Perspective Through Geologic Time

Charles W. Holmes, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Denver, CO 80225

The specter of global warming, which is perceived to be 

the result of increasing "greenhouse" gases (mainly CO^ in 

the atmosphere, has prompted a reexamination of the carbon 

cycle and plant/atmosphere interaction during the past 350 

million years. Many believe that, at present, the ocean is a 

major reservoir or "sink" of carbon, absorbing up to a third 

of the emissions arising from present-day fossil-fuel use and 

deforestation. The remaining carbon is assumed to remain in 

the atmosphere. However, when the carbon concentration in 

the ocean plus the carbon in the atmosphere are compared to 

the amount released from human activities, the accounting 

sheet does not balance. This missing "sink" may be found in 

the "activity" of land plants.

One approach in developing an understanding of the 

modern carbon cycle is to examine variations in the carbon 

cycle that have occurred in the geologic past. Whereas measurement of carbon concentrations of ancient atmospheres is 

impossible, the distribution of isotopes of carbon in material 

formed from atmospheric carbon has been found to be a useful proxy. Carbon has two stable isotopes, carbon-13 ( 13C) 

and carbon-12 ( 12C). The ratio of these isotopes in carbon

based material is controlled by established thermc dynamic 

laws. For example, during weathering of organic material, 

the oxidation process produces a solid residual a^d a gas 

(CC>2). As the "fixed" carbon is oxidized to a gas, the 

heavier carbon 13C lags with the residual material, and the 

lighter 12C concentrates in the gas. The result is that the residue becomes isotopically "heavier" and the gas becomes 

"lighter."

Most carbon sequestered in land and ocean sed'-nents is 

"fixed" by the activity of plants. Photosynthesis, the process 

by which plants "fix" carbon, controls the isotopic ratio in 

plants. Carbon fixation is a fundamentally simple process. 

CC>2 enters the leaf through a pore called a stoma, ard moves 

into a cell where it is fixed by an enzyme. Some of tMs product reacts with oxygen during photorespiration, releasing 

some CC>2 back to the atmosphere. This process prefers to 

"fix" the lighter isotope ( 12C), so that the plant is iso*opically 

lighter than the atmospheric carbon source.

In studying the photosynthetic process, Farquhar and 

others (1982) found that the 13C: 12C ratio in plants is a function of two factors: (1) the ratio of the CO2 concentration in 

the atmosphere surrounding the plant to the concentration of 

CO2 within the plant cell, and (2) the isotopic ratio of the 

CO2 source (fig. 1). Other studies have shown th-*t as the 

CO2 concentration of the atmosphere rises, the isotcnic ratio 

becomes lighter (Policy and others, 1993; Van de Water and 

others, 1994). If "the present is the key to the pa-t," then 

ancient CO2 atmospheric concentrations can be estimated 

from isotopic measurements on plant material formed from 

atmospheric carbon.

As the carbon fixed by marine plants in the surface 

layers of the ocean is assumed to be in equilibrium with the 

atmosphere, the isotopic ratio of various-aged sediments 

produced by plants has been used to estimate the C02 concentrations of ancient atmospheres. However, examination 

of the products of ocean plants shows no simple relationship between the carbon in the ocean plants and tl Q. atmosphere. Commonly, an influx of excess food (nutrients) will 

cause marine plants to grow very rapidly. WI °n this 

occurs, the plants "reach" for all the carbon that they can 

get. Because the movement of CO2 in the water is slow, 

CO2 does not reach isotopic equilibrium with new carbon 

from the atmosphere. As a result the plants will rearsimilate 

the heavy respirated carbon, yielding a sediment rich in 

organic matter with a heavier, non-equilibrium isotopic 

ratio. Plants living near mouths of major rivers rill also 

produce a non-equilibrium isotopic ratio. At the"*1, sites, 

atmospheric carbon is mixed with land-derived carbon, producing a carbon source isotopically lighter than the equilibrium carbon.

Until recently very little attention has been paid to 

the isotopic composition of modern or ancient carbon 

deposits of land plants: peat and coal. Coals fonr in several different types of environments, including lew-lying 

mires such as the Okefenokee Swamp, Georpa, and

79
-40 %o

-30 %o

-20 %o

-10 %o

0%0

Terrestrial plants

Aquatic plants

0.2 0.4 0.6

P,/Pa

0.8 1.0 1.2

Figure 1 (Holmes). Carbon isotopic ratio of plants (vertical scale) versus the ratio (horizontal scale) of the CO2 concen*ration within the 

plant cell (Pj) to CO2 concentration in the ak (Pa). The slope of the line is (-7.0%o), the present carbon isotopic ratio of the atmosphere. The 

5 C notation is a standard notation used by scientists in which all analyses are compared to a standard. In this notation the more negative 

the value, the "lighter" or the more 12C isotope is in the sample.

raised mires such as the tropical rain-forests of 

Indonesia. Like oceanic plants, the plants growing in lowlying mkes have many sources of carbon. In addition, 

many of the plants are aquatic and have different carbon 

ratios than terrestrial plants (fig. 1). In raised mires, however, only one source of carbon exists the atmosphere. 

Thus if terrestrial plant deposits of peat and coal remain 

chemically unaltered with respect to isotopic composition 

through geologic time (and no evidence has been found 

of such alteration), any changes in the atmospheric carbon 

isotopic ratio, and by extension atmospheric CC>2 concentration, are recorded.

Carbon isotopic ratios from >400 raised mire coal and 

peat samples ranging from 350 million years old to modern 

show a steady change in isotopic composition (fig. 2). The 

older coal samples are enriched in 13C with respect to the 

modern coals and peats. The trend apparent in these data is 

confirmed in the isotopic ratios of carbonized plant remains 

(Taylor and Hickey, 1991). Because individual coal-forming environments exist for a short time geologically (=1,000 

to =5,000 years), the isotopic ratios determined from these 

deposits are integrated over this time span. The spread, as

presented in figure 2, may represent short-term atmospheric 

isotopic changes on this time scale.

Applying the Farquhar model to the coal data, 350 million years ago the isotopic ratio averaged =0.6 percent 

heavier than today. From that time to the present, the average 13C: 12C isotopic ratio increased, with greatest rate of 

change occurring approximately 100 muTin years ago. 

These data suggest that the average atmosphere CO2 concentration was very low =350 million years ago and slowly 

increased over geologic time. Climate models based on 

other geologic data have suggested that the Earth has undergone many shifts from "icehouse" to "greenhouse" and back 

during this time. The average CO2 concentra tions, however, 

do not seem to reflect these changes and srigest that CC>2 

has played only a minor role if any in climate warming or 

cooling. However, the data seem to fit very well with the 

increasing diversity of plants, which changed approximately 

100 million years ago from a gymnosperm- (such as pine) 

dominated vegetation to an angiosperm- (such as oak) dominated vegetation. This increase in plant ('wersity, which 

filled every environmental niche, seems tc be temporally 

related to the observed change of CC>2 concentration in the

80
0 

50 

150 

200 

613 C

Figure 2 (Holmes). The carbon isotopic ratio of raised mire coal and peat for the last 350 

million years.

ancient atmosphere. This suggests that plants have played a 

major role in buffering the CO2 concentration of the atmosphere.

REFERENCES

Farquhar, G.P., O'Leary, M.H., and Berry, J.A., 1982, On the relationship between carbon isotopes discrimination and the intercellular carbon dioxide concentrations in leaves: Australian 

Journal of Plant Physiology, v. 9, p. 121-137.

Polley, H.W., Johnson, H.B., Marine, B.D., and Mayeux, H.S., 

1993, Increase in 03 plant water-use efficiency and biomass 

over Glacial to present CO^ concentrations: Nature, v. 361, 

p. 61-34.

Taylor, D.W., and Hickey, L.J., 1991, Carbon isotope ratios in fossil land plants: American Journal of Botany, v. 78, p. 126-127.

Van de Water, P.K., Leavitt, S.W., and Betancourt, J.L., 1994, 

Trends in stomatal density and 13C/12C ratios on pinus flexilis 

needles during last glacial-interglacial cycle: Science, v. 264, 

p. 239-243.

Methane Budget and Global Change in 

Coastal Wetlands

Joel Leventhal, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Denver, CO 80225

Atmospheric methane is a greenhouse gas that hf ^ been 

of increasing importance during the last few decades. Prior 

to this century, the sources of atmospheric methane were 

mainly wetlands. However, in the last 100 years the sources 

have changed: many wetlands have been lost, and rice paddies, cattle raising, energy-related activities, and bfomass 

burning are now much more important relative to wetlands 

(Cicerone and Oremland, 1988). At this point, we have 

probably perturbed the system about as much as pebble, 

and emission increases in these new methane sources will 

level off or actually decrease in the future. Most of these

81
methane-producing activities are only known to a factor of 

two; because there are more than one or two major sources, 

the resulting total methane source function is probably only 

known to a factor of four. Therefore, we need to acquire 

more and better measurements of major (and minor) methane sources. It is also particularly important to assemble 

more information about the relative changes and rate of 

changes possible or expected from these sources. One methane source we are studying is coastal wetlands.

Global warming will cause a rise in sea level that will 

result in conversion of fresh-water coastal wetlands to brackish or sea-water-salinity. For the United States, a 50 percent 

loss of coastal fresh-water marshes is projected to occur for 

a 1-meter rise in sea level (Park and others, 1989). Estuarine 

wetlands are presently an important contributor to the global 

methane flux because of the high primary productivity and 

the rapid turn-over of organic matter. Bacterial sulfate reduction is energetically favored (it always precedes bacterial 

methane production); therefore, in sulfate-rich marine settings, methane production is much less than in fresh-water 

environments. This results in negative feedback: methane 

production and emission will decrease due to sea-level rise 

(Leventhal, 1991). Methane production will decrease 

because the fresh-water marshes are restricted from migrating up-gradient due to human-constructed physical barriers 

such as waterways and levees. Before 1900, U.S. Gulf Coast 

marsh wetlands accounted for approximately 1 percent of the 

annual global methane flux. Extrapolating similar marsh 

areas and methane production to the world gives a 2 to 3 percent decrease in present total global methane flux due to 

loss of such wetlands as a result of sea-level rise. The estimated range of methane decrease is uncertain because of the 

inexactly known areal extent of and methane escape from 

these coastal wetlands worldwide.

Because of the rapid (annual) turn-over of organic matter in wetlands and the short lifetime of methane in the atmosphere (relative to other greenhouse gases), the effect of 

estuarine wetland inundation is considered "fast" feedback. 

Loss of coastal wetlands has been occurring during the last 

90 years (inland wetlands have also been lost during the last 

200 years) and the resulting methane decrease needs to be 

considered in contemporary-historic methane budgets, 

which have factored-in only increases in atmospheric methane from rice paddies and cattle. More detailed "ground 

truth" on the geochemical controls on methane production 

and emissions from marshes is also needed to quantify the 

changes in methane flux due to wetland changes and losses.

New results confirm earlier measurements that salt 

marshes emit less methane than brackish, intermediate, or 

fresh marshes and thus there is a negative feedback in methane emission due to sea-level rise (Leventhal and others, 

1993). However, two new important points have emerged 

from this work: (1) the salt marsh actually emits more methane than previously thought because at depth, when sulfate 

is depleted, abundant organic matter remains and is available

for methane production, and (2) much of the methane emission in all marsh types is by bubbling (ebullition) during the 

summer when the porewater is saturated with methane. 

These two findings give more importance to wetlands as 

methane sources because most workers have not considered 

the ebullition contribution; further, they ind'^ate a need for 

revisions in the atmospheric methane budge*.

REFERENCES

Cicerone, R., and Oremland, R., 1988, Biogeocl arnica! aspects of 

atmospheric methane: Global Geochemic-'l Cycles, v. 2, 

p. 299-327.

Leventhal, J., 1991, Global change Negative feedback between 

sea level rise and methane production from estuarine wetlands: 

Eos, v. 72, p. 109.

Leventhal, J., Jackson, L., Smith, K.S., Walton-Eay, K., Balistrieri, 

L., Foote, A.L., and Gunterspergen, G., 1993, Biogeochemistry 

along an estuarine salinity gradient A proxy for sea level rise 

due to global warming, in Landin, M.C., e*., Wetlands Proceedings of the 13th annual conference, Society of Wetland 

Scientists, New Orleans, June 1992, SWS South Central Chapter, Utica, Mississippi: p. 95-100.

Park, R.A., Trehan, M., Mausel, P., and Howe, R., 1989, Coastal 

wetlands in the 21st century Profound alteration due to rising 

sea level, in Fisk, D., ed., Wetlands Concerns and successes: 

American Water Resources Association, Sept 1989, p. 71-80.

South Florida Ecosystems 

Studies Geochemical History of 

Ecosystem Conditions and Variability

E.G. Spiker, 1 A.L. Bates, 1 L.P. Cough, 2 

J.R. Herring,2 C.W. Holmes,2 R.K. Kotra, 1 

H.E. Lerch, 1 W.H. Orem, 1 and

V.C. Weintraub, 1 U.S. Geological Survey 

(DReston, VA 22092; (2) Denver, CO 80225

The Everglades, South Florida's extensive freshwater 

wetland, and Florida Bay are vast natural resources. This 

complex ecosystem encompasses not only a large (2.3 billion m3) managed surface water reservoir (Light and Dineen, 

1994), but also marine and freshwater fisheries, and the habitats of large populations of wading birds, migratory water 

fowl, and several threatened and endangere'l species. It also 

hosts a number of parks and preserves, including the Everglades National Park, the Big Cypress Prese-ve, and the Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge. This ecosystem is changing 

rapidly and may be on the verge of collapse, as a result of 

nearby urbanization, agricultural activity, rnd nearly a century of water management. This crisis has I 0*! to heightened 

public concern and recent court rulings mandating restoration of the Everglades and Florida Bay.

82
Any restoration effort requires critical management 

decisions that will be costly and will have a far-reaching 

impact on the agriculture, urban, and recreation communities of the region, as well as on the natural ecosystem. 

Clearly, a much better understanding of the hydrology, 

ecology, and biogeochemistry of this complex Florida system is needed. Under the auspices of the U.S. Geological 

Survey programs for National Geologic Mapping and Critical Ecosystems Research and Assessment, biogeochemical studies of the region's soils and sediments and their 

relationship to water chemistry have begun. This 

research is coordinated with other studies to characterize 

water quality and ecosystem history by the U.S. Geological Survey, South Florida Water Management District, 

Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, National Park Service, National Biological 

Survey, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, all part of the 

Federal Task Force on Everglades Ecosystem Restoration.

In addition to being an interactive reservoir of water 

and nutrients, South Florida's wetland soils and sediments 

are a repository of historical information about the system. The peat deposits and bay sediments contain a 

record of changing vegetation and ecosystem biogeochemistry that reflects both natural variations and human influence over time. We must understand the natural cycles and 

predevelopment baseline conditions of this system in order 

to assess and attempt to minimize the effects of human 

disturbance. Analysis of the soils and sediments is helping to provide this insight.

Human activities have led to the deterioration of the 

productivity, biodiversity, and stability of the ecosystem 

(Boesch and others, 1993; Davis, 1994). Agricultural 

activities and intensive flood control efforts have severely 

altered the region's hydrology, changed water levels in 

the Everglades, and limited the periodic freshwater flushing of Florida Bay. Agricultural runoff also has increased 

levels of phosphorus and other substances in drainage 

canals and bordering wetlands, leading to large changes 

in plant communities (Davis, 1994). Also, mercury has 

been found in high concentrations in fish, birds, and mammals; mercury contamination is thought to have contributed to the near extinction of the Florida panther (Roelke 

and others, 1991), and it may pose a health hazard to 

local inhabitants. Major anthropogenic sources of mercury include atmospheric deposition from fossil fuel combustion and urban emissions, and, possibly, agricultural 

runoff (Lambou and others, 1991; Delfino and others, 

1993).

Although predevelopment water quality data are not 

directly available, water quality is reflected in the 

geochemistry of peat cores from the wetlands. Previous 

studies have found large increases in phosphorus and 

mercury in the upper 30 cm of peat cores, reflecting 

increased inputs of these elements over the last century 

(Koch and Reddy, 1992; Craft and Richardson, 1993;

Delfino and others, 1993). However, concentrations vary 

locally, possibly because of variations in the accumulation 

rate of the peat. The rapid deposition and preservation of 

plant material could have a diluting effect on the concentrations of these elements. Alternatively, other changes, such 

as variations in local hydrology, plant types, crrbonate 

abundance, nutrient availability, and sulfur geochemistry, 

may have a role in controlling the distribution of p^osphorus and mercury.

Our initial results from cores collected from several 

representative locations in the Everglades confinn that 

peat accumulation rates have varied greatly over the last 

century, and that the variations appear to reflect differences in local hydrology and nutrient inputs. Lo"v water 

levels may be responsible for low peat accumulation and 

the highly degraded nature of the peat in some areas. 

Extended periods of exposure of the peat to air du*ing dry 

seasons may have led to oxidation of peat with little additional accumulation. Environmentally important e'ements 

may have been oxidized, leached, and remobilizied from 

exposed peat. Areas that remained under water show 

greater and more continuous accumulations of peat. These 

results illustrate the importance of hydrologic conditions 

to changes in the chemistry of wetland soils. Tin extent 

to which inundation patterns and rates of peat accumulation may be responsible for variations in environmentally 

significant metals is a focus of our ongoing studies.

Variations in paleoecology are reflected in tve plant 

remains preserved in the peat and in the organic geochemistry and stable isotope composition of the peat. O *r initial 

results reveal differences in the chemistry and preservation 

of peat derived from sawgrass, water-lily, and pe*iphyton 

algae and associated sediments. These difference^ reflect 

rates and degrees of decomposition which may be important factors affecting metal distributions and cycling.

These biogeochemical studies of South Florida's wetland soils and sediments will provide a historical perspective of ecosystem conditions and natural variability. This 

perspective can augment the predictive capabilities used by 

resource managers to make informed decisions concerning 

restoration efforts and to avoid costly mistakes. These 

studies exemplify an important role of the U.S. Geological 

Survey that is, to provide impartial expert technical information that can clarify resource management issuer

REFERENCES

Boesch, D.F., Armstrong, N.E., D'Elia, C.F., Maynard, N.G., Paerl, 

H.W., and Williams, S.L., 1993, Deterioration of the Florida 

Bay Ecosystem An evaluation of the scientific evidence: Report to the Interagency Working Group on Florida Bay, September 15,1993, 28 p.

Craft, C.B., and Richardson, C.J., 1993, Peat accretion and phosphorus accumulation along a eutrophic gradient in th** northern 

Everglades: Biogeochemistry, v. 22, p. 133-156.

Davis, S.M., 1994, Phosphorus inputs and vegetation sensitivity in 

the Everglades, in Davis, S.M., and Ogden, J.C., eds.,

83
Everglades The ecosystem and its restoration: Delray Beach, 

Fla., St. Lucie Press, p. 357-378.

Davis, S.M., and Ogden, J.C., eds., 1994, Everglades The ecosystem and its restoration: Delray Beach, Fla., St. Lucie Press, 

826 p.

Delfino, J.J., Crisman, T.L., Gottgens, J.F., Rood, B.E., and Earle, 

C.D., 1993, Spatial and temporal distribution of mercury in Everglades and Okefenokee wetland sediments: Final Project Report, April 1, 1991-June 30, 1993, Department of 

Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, 

Gainesville, June 30, 1993.

Koch, M.S., and Reddy, K.R., 1992, Distribution of soil and plant 

nutrients along a trophic gradient in the Florida Everglades: 

Soil Science of America Journal, v. 59, no. 1492-1499, 140 p.

Lambou, V.W., Barkey, T., Braman, R.S., Delfino, J.J., Jansen, J.J., 

Nimmo, D., Parks, J.W., Porcella, D.B., Rudd, J., Schultz, D., 

Stober, J., Watras, C., Wiener, J.G., GUI, G., Huchabee, J., and 

Rood, B.E., 1991, Mercury Technical Advisory Committee Interim Report to the Florida Governor's Mercury in Fish and 

Wildlife Taskforce & the Department of Environmental Regulation: Tallahassee, Fla., Center for Biomedical & Toxicological Research and Waste Management, 60 p.

Light, S.S., and Dineen, J.W., 1994, Water control in the Everglades; a historical perspective, in Davis, S.M., and Ogden, 

J.C., eds., Everglades The ecosystem and its restoration: Delray Beach, Fla., St. Lucie Press, p. 47-84.

Roelke, M.E., Scheltz, D.P., Facemire, C.F., Sandlof, S.F., and 

Royals, H.E., 1991, Mercury contamination in Florida panthers: Prepared by the Technical Subcommittee of the Florida 

Panther Interagency Committee.

Springtime Emission of Methane from 

North Temperate Lakes

Robert G. Striegl and

Catherine M. Michmerhuizen,

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO 80225

Introduction

Determining the amounts of carbon gases emitted from 

lakes and wetlands is important not only to understanding 

the processes that control carbon cycling in aquatic environments, but also to understanding the influence of freshwater 

systems on the global carbon cycle. Emission of methane 

(CH4) from lakes and wetlands is an important source of 

atmospheric CH4, a greenhouse gas that is increasing in concentration in the atmosphere (Raynaud and Chappellaz, 

1993; Matthews, 1993). However, the seasonally of CH4 

loss from lakes and the relative importance of lake physical, 

chemical, and biological factors on gas emissions are not 

well known. Because of this, it is difficult to accurately 

quantify CH4 emissions from areas such as the north temperate lakes region of Minnesota and Wisconsin that have many 

lakes and wetlands of varying size, setting, and trophic condition.

Lake CH4 production is ultimately linked to the amount 

of organic material that is available for decomposition. 

Therefore, areally averaged lake CH4 emission should be 

proportional to the average loading of organic carbon to sediments, to lake biological production, and to the relative 

amount of littoral zone macrophyte production small, shallow, productive lakes should emit more CF* per unit area 

than large, deep, less productive lakes.

Purpose and Scope

Our goal is to relate common lake and watershed characteristics to annual rates of lake CH4 enission so that 

regional lake emissions to the atmosphere can be more accurately estimated a difficult task because lake gas emissions 

vary greatly with season and are controlled Ic cally by factors 

such as temperature, wind, lake mixing, and gas production 

and consumption rates. For this study, we tracked seasonal 

CH4 emission at two lakes, Williams Lake and Shingobee 

Lake in Hubbard County, Minnesota, and surveyed potential 

CH4 emission at springtime ice melt at an additional 18 lakes 

in Minnesota and Wisconsin in 1993.

The 20 lakes span more than four orders of magnitude 

in lake size in four settings (table 1): carborate till in Hubbard and Cass Counties near Walker, Minn (CT), noncarbonate till in Vilas County near Boulder Junction, Wis. 

(NCT), Precambrian Shield in Lake County near Ely, Minn. 

(PS), and lakes in the Minneapolis me'ropolitan area 

(MMA).

Methods

Samples were kept isolated from the atmosphere by 

pumping lake water directly into polypropylene syringes 

having three-way nylon stopcocks. Dissolved CH4 concentrations were determined by equilibrating the lake water 

with an equal volume of nitrogen and analyzing the head 

space with a gas chromatograph having a fame ionization 

detector. The ambient dissolved CH4 concentration was 

determined from the headspace concentration using established gas-water distribution coefficients (Yamamoto and 

others, 1976).

Dissolved CH4 concentrations were measured throughout the water column at the deepest locations of the lakes or 

lake basins sampled. Total lake storage of dissolved CH4 

(moles of CH4 per lake) was calculated fronr the depth versus concentration profile and from depth verms lake volume 

values digitized from lake contour maps. Horizontal mixing 

of CH4 was assumed at this time of spring turnover.

CH4 storage versus time was measure'! for Williams 

and Shingobee Lakes from spring 1992 through August 

1993. Measurements during winter and spring showed that 

CH4 gradually builds up in the lakes under ice cover, and is 

released to the atmosphere following ice melt. The time 

around ice melt was thus ideal for a comparative survey of 

the potential for CH4 emission from severa1 lakes because

84
-0.5 i i i i i i i i i i i I i i i i i i n i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i

4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9

LOG LAKE AREA (M2)

4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 

LOG LAKE AREA (IVR

-0.5

4 4.5 5 

B

5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 

LOG LAKE AREA (M2)

(1) all lakes experienced similar periods of ice cover at 

nearly identical water temperatures, (2) CH4 oxidation is 

slow or negligible in winter, and (3) episodic gas losses from 

bubbling or wind action are essentially nil when lakes are ice 

covered.

We measured lake CH4 storage just before and just after 

ice melt and used the greater of the two measured storage 

values to calculate potential emission to the atmosphere. 

Potential emission was calculated as the area averaged difference between the measured CH4 storage and the amount 

of CH4 that would be in the lake if the atmosphere were the 

only source of dissolved CH4.

Results

CH4 storage and potential emission have two cycles 

annually in Williams and Shingobee Lakes that can be 

explained in terms of competing net CH4 production in the

EXPLANATION

 Soft sediments

 Sand and rock bottom 

A Urban lake 

+ Bog

Figure 1 (Striegl and Michmerhuizen). Log of potentia1 

emission versus log of lake area. A, all 20 lakes, Minnesota and 

Wisconsin; B, 8 lakes having organic-rich sediments in the lateral 

zone and high macrophyte densities, Minnesota; C, 8 lakes having 

sandy or rocky littoral zones and low macrophyte densities Minnesota and Wisconsin.

lakes and emission from the lakes to the atmosphere. As 

springtime temperatures rise, net CH4 production exceeds 

emission, and dissolved CH4 storage increases steadily until 

late summer. Most of the stored CH4 is in deep lake waters 

that are not in direct contact with the atmosphere. In early 

fall, net CH4 production slows as water and sediment temperatures cool and decomposition slows. During and following fall overturn, the stored CH4 in deep water is bror^ht into 

contact with the atmosphere and rapid lake degassinf occurs. 

Degassing continues more slowly until ice forms, rnd CH4 

emission to the atmosphere ceases when full ice cover is 

established. Ice cover allows for buildup of dissolved CH4 

in lake water that continues until ice melt. Rapid degassing 

of the lake is repeated following ice melt and spring overturn. This is followed by a period of more gradual loss until 

temperatures increase, net CH4 production exceeds emission, and increases in summertime CH4 concentration recur.

The buildup of CH4 storage under ice cover was used to 

compare potential for loss of CH4 to the atmosphere for 20 

lakes during spring of 1993. Potential emission ranged from

85
Table 1 (Striegl and Michmerhuizen). Location, size, and potential Crfy emission of lakes sampled

[CT, carbonate till, Minnesota; NCT, noncarbonate till, Wisconsin; PS, Precambrian Shield, Minnesota; MMA, Minneapolis metropolitan area, Minnesota)]

Lake

Little Shingobee

Williams

Shingobee

llth Crow Wing

Leech

Crystal Bog

Crystal

Allequash

Big Muskellunge

Trout

Glacier Pond

Tofte

Jasper

Ojibway

Snowbank

Hiawatha

Nokomis

Harriet

Calhoun

Minnetonka

Setting

CT

CT

CT

CT

CT

NCT

NCT

NCT

NCT

NCT

PS

PS

PS

PS

PS

MMA

MMA

MMA

MMA

MMA

Lat

N.

46°59'

46°57'

47°00'

46°48'

47°

46°00'

46°00'

46°02'

46°01'

46°02'

47°57'

47°58'

47°58'

47°57'

48°00'

44°55'

44°54'

44°55'

44°57'

44°55'

Long 

W.

94°41'

94°40'

94°41'

94°44'

94°

89°36'

89°37'

89°37'

89°37'

89°40'

91°34'

91°35'

91°33'

91°33'

91°25'

93°14'

93°14'

93°18'

93°18'

93°35'

Lake area 

(m2)

27,120

370,900

655,100

2,997,000

573,400,000

14,160

378,900

1,612,000

3,841,000

15,610,000

72,300

506,100

758,400

411,300

20,040,000

216,989

805,486

1,194,762

1,720,011

53,010,000

Poten. emission 

(millimole CH4/m2)

185.4

94.7

83.2

38.3

15.6

61.3

7.2

11.5

9.3

0.4

18.6

24.1

6.8

54.7

1.6

103.6

0.88

1.5

2.3

5.3

0.4 mmol/m2 (millimole CH4 per meter squared) for Trout 

Lake, the largest lake in the NCT area, to 185.4 mmol/m2 at 

Little Shingobee Lake, the smallest lake in the CT area (table 

1). In general, potential emission was inversely proportional 

to lake area (fig. IA). This is consistent with our hypothesis 

that lakes having small areas and large littoral zone macrophyte production should have larger CH4 emissions per unit 

area than larger but less productive lakes. Lakes having soft 

organic-rich sediments and high macrophyte densities had 

the largest potential emission to the atmosphere, and had a 

very consistent relation between potential emission and total 

lake area (fig. IB, ^=0.948). These included Little Shingobee, Williams, Shingobee, Eleventh Crow Whig, and 

Leech Lakes (CT), Hiawatha and Minnetonka Lakes 

(MMA), and Ojibway Lake (PS). This suggests that CH4 

emission is strongly linked to the sediment source and that 

dead macrophytes from littoral zones provide much of the 

substrate for CH4 production.

Crystal Bog in the NCT area had appreciably less 

potential CH4 flux than similar-sized lakes having soft sediments (diamond, fig. IA). Reasons for this are not clear, but 

include possible inhibition of CH4 production at the low 

pH's encountered in bog sediments.

Lakes having predominantly sandy or rocky bottoms 

and small macrophyte densities (Glacier Pond, Tofte, Jasper, 

and Snowbank (PS), and Crystal, Allequash, Big Muskellunge, and Trout (NCT)) also exhibited a strong inverse relation between potential CH4 emission and lake area (circles 

and lower line, fig. 1C, ^=0.636), but potentials were 

smaller than for lakes having soft sediments.

The lines defined in figure 1, views B md C, provide a 

range for potential CH4 emission followir'T ice melt that 

could be expected for relatively undisturbed lakes hi Minnesota and northern Wisconsin. However, th? effects of cultural disturbances on these potentials are uncertain. MMA 

lakes Nokomis, Harriet, and Calhoun (triangles, fig. I A) 

clearly have less potential emission than oth?.r lakes of similar size, regardless of bottom type. Tlnse lakes have 

received urban runoff for decades and have harvesting programs to remove nuisance macrophytes. Removal of macrophytes from lakes must reduce gas productio^ somewhat, but 

other factors, such as inhibition of CH4 production by pollutants in urban runoff and historical applications of macrophyte inhibitors such as copper sulfate, r^o need to be 

considered. Lakes affected by other kinds of cultural disturbances, such as agricultural runoff, were not sampled.

REFERENCES

Matthews, E., 1993, Wetlands, chapter 15 in Kl alii, M.A.K., ed., 

Atmospheric methane Sources, sinks, ard role in global 

change: New York, Springer-Verlag, p. 314-361.

Raynaud, D., and Chappellaz, J., 1993, The record of atmospheric 

methane, chapter 3 in Khalil, M.A.K., ed., Atmospheric methane Sources, sinks, and role in global change: New York, 

Springer-Verlag, p. 38-61.

Yamamoto, S., Alcauskas, J.B., and Crozier, T.E., 1976, Solubility 

of methane in distilled water and seawater: Journal of Chemical 

Engineering Data, v. 21, p. 78-80.

86
Environmental Effects of Energy Extraction and Utilization

The Effects of Oil-Field Brines on 

Aquifers Tracing the Movement of 

Brines Using Geochemical Tools

Marvin M. Abbott, U.S. Geological Survey, 202 

NW 66th, Building 7, Oklahoma City, OK 73116

Geochemical techniques using dissolved ionic species 

and stable isotopes of water can be a useful tool in the identification of the source of brine that may infiltrate aquifers in 

areas of oil and gas production. (See also Craigg and 

Thamke (this volume) for studies in another region.) Our 

study area was in northeastern Oklahoma between Tulsa and 

Oklahoma City. Brine is defined as water that has TDS (total 

dissolved solids) of greater than 35,000 mg/L (milligrams 

per liter). Eleven water-quality samples were collected from 

four cluster wells. Each well was constructed to sample from 

selected single zones, grouped by depth into shallow (0-200 

feet), intermediate (200-250 feet), and deep (500 feet). 

Seven shallow-depth samples were from fresh-water aquifers beneath which were indications of salt-water encroachment. These shallow-depth samples were assumed to 

represent the fresh ground water in the area. Three intermediate-depth samples were located less than a half-mile apart 

in areas of suspected brine encroachment. The location of the 

well for the deep sample, located 2 miles from the intermediate-depth sample localities, was selected because there was 

no indication of salt-water encroachment in the stratigraphic 

equivalent intermediate zones. The intermediate and deep 

samples were taken from sandstones immediately below 

what was considered the base of fresh ground water at each 

site. These salt-water samples were compared to brines from 

oil production near the localities of the intermediate-depth 

wells.

The oil production is from a Lower Pennsylvanian 

sandstone at 3,000 feet. A secondary-recovery waterflood of 

the oil-producing formation has been operating since 1952 

near the localities of the intemediate wells. Four brine samples were collected from oil wells at the producing well 

head. One brine sample was collected at the pressure pump 

of the injection system of the waterflood. The deep sample 

locality is also near oil production that has been waterflooded in the same formation, since the early 1950's. The 

two waterflood units are considered to be separate structurally and not in communication.

All analyses were determined by the U.S. Geological 

Survey National Water Quality Laboratory in Denver, Colo. 

Knowledge of the analytical methods used and the number 

of dilutions required for the analyses of brines is important 

in understanding the limitation of the data reported. The

samples that had higher TDS required dilutions before the 

analyses could be made. Each dilution is allowed a small 

percentage tolerance of error. Likewise the analytical procedure has an error tolerance that is monitored by the laboratory. These errors individually are small but are cumulative 

in nature.

The sampling methods, the location, and the stratigraphic units sampled must be planned carefully in o~der to 

minimize variables and unknowns. The history of both the 

oil production and the waterflood operations is needed to 

understand what sampling is required and where it shc'ild be 

done. Other salt-water injections and disposals in tir<j area 

must be known. Any completion or stimulation practice in 

the oil-producing formation or waterflood that may have 

affected the composition of the brine samples should H considered as to its potential effect.

The uses of stable isotopes in characterizing the origin 

of water molecules are discussed in Gat and Gonfiantini 

(1981), and the application to saline formation wa'ers is 

described in Clayton and others (1966). Isotopic composition of ground water is influenced most strongly by rockwater interaction. Two examples of this are the membrane 

effects of clay minerals (Coplen and Hanshaw, 1973) and the 

dissolution of limestones and dolomites that releases additional oxygen into ground water. If the residence time is 

maintained long enough, as in the case of deeper formations, 

the ground water will approach an isotopic equilibrium with 

the aquifer.

Gat and Gonfiantini (1981) and Craig (1966) discussed 

the use of graphical methods for ground-water characterization that combine salinity and stable isotopes. Figure 1 is a 

plot of the chloride molality versus 818O (oxygen-18 measurement relative to standard mean ocean water in p?,rmil). 

Chloride was selected because it reacts little with other 

chemical species in the ground water or with litholo?ies of 

the aquifers. The molality values were calculated by 

WATEQF from the input program for the computer program 

NETPATH (Plummer and others, 1991).

Mixing two types of water, such as the shallow-depth 

samples and the oil brine, will produce a straight line on the 

plot. The five shallow-depth samples are fresh ground water 

and plot along zero molality in figure 1. Since the cfl-producing formation has been waterflooded, the original isotopic composition of the oil-brine water is not known. The oilbrine samples plot along a straight line in figure 1, srsgesting a mixing of the original brine composition with a diluting 

fresher water. The specific conductance of the oi'-brine 

samples ranged from 110,000 to 160,000 (iS/cm (mi~rosiemens per centimeter) at 25°C. Two of the interaiQ-diatedepth samples also plot along the mixing line. These samples are products of mixing the oil brine and fresh ground

87
EXPLANATION 

x SHALLOW (0-200 FEET)

INTERMEDIATE (200-250 FEET)

DEEP (500 FEET) 

 OIL BRINE (3,000 FEET)

-6.5

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6

CHLORIDE, MOLALITY

Figure 1 (Abbott). Relation between oxygen-18 and chloride molality.

water. Specific conductance of these samples was greater 

than 75,000 and 95,000 nS/cm. A third intermediate-depth 

sample and the deep sample also had higher chloride values 

but did not plot on the mixing line with the oil brines. These 

two samples had specific conductances greater than 25,000 

and 70,000 (iS/cm, respectively. These samples were 

slightly more depleted in the 818O than the samples that plotted along the oil-brine mixing line. These samples were 

thought to be a mixture of fresh ground water with an 

unknown brine. The unknown brine would also be more 

depleted in the 818O isotope oil-brine samples.

REFERENCES

Clayton, R.N., Friedman, I., Graf, D.L., Mayeda, T., Meents, W.F., 

and Shimp, N.F., 1966, The origin of saline formation waters: 

Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 71, p. 3869.

Coplen, T.B., and Hanshaw, B.B., 1973, Ultrafiltration by a compacted clay membrane Oxygen and hydrogen fractionation: 

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 37, p. 2295-2310.

Craig, H., 1966, Isotopic composition and origin of the Red Sea and 

Salton Sea geothermal brines: Science, v. 154, p. 1544.

Gat, J.R., and Gonfiantini, R., eds., 1981, Stable isotope hydrology, 

deuterium and oxygen-18 in the water cycle: Vienna, Technical 

Reports Series No. 210, International Atomic Energy Agency, 

p. 339.

Plummer, L.N., Prestemon, E.G., and Parkhurst, D.L., 1991, An interactive code (NETPATH) for modeling ret geochemical reactions along a flow path: U.S. Geological Survey WaterResources Investigations Report 91-4078, p. 227.

U.S. Bureau of Mines Research irto the 

Environmental Effects of 

Energy Resource Development

T.E. Ackman, R.F. Chaiken, A.G. Kirn,

S.J. Schatzel, D.E. Siskind, and M.A. Trevits;

all authors are U.S. Bureau of Mine?, Pittsburgh

Research Center, Pittsburgh, PA, except

D.E. Siskind, USBM, Twin Cities Research Center,

Minneapolis, MN

The U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) is actively conducting research addressing a spectrum of mining-induced 

environmental problems. This work incl 'des studies that 

focus not only on the extraction operation but also on the 

short- and long-term impact of the operation on the local

88
environment. Some of the key research areas include fires 

in abandoned underground coal mines, disposal of coal 

combustion residues, evaluation of in-place gas content, 

and control of vibrations produced by blasting at surface 

coal mines. This paper provides short vignettes into each 

of these areas.

Fires in Abandoned Coal Mines

There are currently 100 fires in abandoned underground 

coal mines and 200 fires in abandoned coal waste banks. 

Surface subsidence and the emission of toxic fumes and 

gases are the most serious effects of such fires; the deterioration in air quality and the decline in the value of adjacent 

properties may affect a population that had no connection to 

the original mining activity. Efforts to control such fires by 

conventional methods are usually expensive, may be hazardous, and have a relatively low probability of success.

The USBM has developed a method to control the subsurface combustion and incorporate utilization of the heat, 

thus converting a source of pollution to an energy resource. 

The patented Burnout Control Process uses exhaust ventilation to promote the complete burning of an underground fire 

while allowing total management of the hot gases produced. 

An exhaust fan coupled to a ductwork system that is connected to the underground fire pulls a vacuum on the mine, 

drawing air through natural cracks and fractures or through 

inlet boreholes. The increased airflow intensifies the fire, 

and all heat and gases are drawn to a single exhaust point. 

The hot flue gases can pass through a heat exchanger or 

waste boiler to produce electricity, steam, or process heat. 

This process was successfully field tested for 4 months at a 

shallow drift mine and over a 1-year period at a burning coal 

waste bank.

Disposal of Coal Combustion Residues in 

Inactive Surface Mines

The disposal of coal combustion residues (CCR) in surface and underground coal mines provides a stable, lowmaintenance alternative to landfills, benefiting the mining 

and electric power industries. The material is also expected 

to improve water quality at acid-generating abandoned or 

reclaimed coal mine sites. Most combustion residues are 

alkaline, and their addition to the subsurface environment 

raises the pH, limiting the propagation of pyrite-oxidizing 

bacteria, and reducing the rate of acid generation. Many of 

the CCR's are also capable of forming cementitious grouts 

that when injected into the buried spoil decrease its permeability and porosity and divert water away from the pyritic 

material. Both mechanisms, alkaline addition and water 

diversion, are expected to reduce the amount of acid produced at the disposal site.

The USBM is cooperating in a test of subsurface 

injections of CCR's into a reclaimed surface mine. Initially, a mixture of fly ash, lime, and AMD (acil mine 

drainage) sludge was injected. Lime was the source of calcium for the formation of a pozzuolanic grout. Wl ^n fluidized bed combustion ash produced by burning coal or 

coal refuse with limestone was used (instead of fly ash 

from conventional power plants), the addition of lime was 

not necessary. Changes in water quality parameters (pH, 

acidity, anions, and cations) in water samples fron wells 

and seeps at the field site were monitored to assess the 

effect of CCR injection. After injection of the fly ash 

grout, the total acidity decreased at the monitorin" sites. 

Similar trends were observed for ferrous iron, tot^l iron, 

aluminum, and sulfate.

The Modified Direct Method for 

Gas Content Evaluation

The USBM has developed the modified direct method 

(MDM) of gas content determination to evaluate the methane gas emission potential in oil shale mines. The technique 

has been utilized to accomplish a variety of tasks rented to 

coalbed methane. The MDM has demonstrated applications 

for resource estimations, environmental issues sucl as the 

estimation of the release of mining-related greenhouse trace 

gases into the atmosphere, and mine safety, by identifying 

gas sources and their associated gas content. One of the significant advantages of the method is the high degree of accuracy. High resolution also makes the MDM ideal for gas 

content determination of noncoal samples and low gas content coals (low rank or near-surface deposits). The detection 

of gases emitted other than methane is a valuable a^set for 

utilization concerns where removal of carbon dioxide or the 

upgrading of coalbed gas may be an important economic 

consideration.

Control of Vibrations Produced by Blasting in 

Surface Coal Mines

The USBM has had a pivotal role in determir'ng the 

environmental impacts of mine blasting, specifically ground 

vibration and airblast effects on structures. These include 

assessment procedures and the development of safe-level 

criteria which have been adopted by Federal and State agencies. In some cases, local regulatory bodies have used these 

procedures to ensure that those living near mining and construction blasting operations are provided with adequate protection. Studies have examined factors influencing v;bration 

generation, propagation, and control through design. Recent 

work has focused on safe blasting techniques to allow for 

efficient and practical coal mining near pressurized transmission pipelines.

89
Acid Rain

O.P. Bricker, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA 

22092, and K.C. Rice, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Charlottesville, VA 22903

Although acid rain is fading as a political issue in the 

United States and funds for research in this area have largely 

disappeared, the acidity of rain in the Eastern United States 

has not changed significantly over the last decade, and it 

continues to be a serious environmental problem. Acid deposition (commonly called acid rain) is a term applied to all 

forms of atmospheric deposition of acidic substances rain, 

snow, fog, acidic dry particulates, aerosols, and acid-forming gases. Water in the atmosphere reacts with certain atmospheric gases to become acidic. For example, water reacts 

with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to produce a solution 

with a pH of about 5.6. Gases that produce acids in the presence of water in the atmosphere include carbon dioxide 

(which converts to carbonic acid), oxides of sulfur and nitrogen (which convert to sulfuric and nitric acids), and hydrogen chloride (which converts to hydrochloric acid). These 

acid-producing gases are released to the atmosphere through 

natural processes, such as volcanic emissions, lightning, forest fires, and decay of organic matter. Accordingly, precipitation is slightly acidic, with a pH of 5.0 to 5.7 even in 

undeveloped areas. In industrialized areas, most of the acidproducing gases are released to the atmosphere from burning 

fossil fuels. Major emitters of acid-producing gases include 

power plants, industrial operations, and motor vehicles. 

Acid-producing gases can be transported through the atmosphere for hundreds of miles before being converted to acids 

and deposited as acid rain. Because acids tend to build up in 

the atmosphere between storms, the most acidic rain falls at 

the beginning of a storm, and as the rain continues, the acids 

"wash out" of the atmosphere.

Acid rain can affect the quality of surface water in two 

ways by chronic acidification or by episodic acidification. 

Chronic acidification of a body of water results from a continuous input of acid rain over a period of years. This continuous acidic input to the body of water may slowly cause 

changes in the water chemistry. If the acidic input continues 

unabated, then the lake or stream eventually will no longer 

be capable of neutralizing the acidity, and the water becomes 

acidified. A quantitative measure of the ability of a body of 

water to neutralize acidity is the acid-neutralizing capacity 

(ANC). A high ANC means that the water is capable of neutralizing large amounts of acidity, whereas a low ANC 

means that the water has little capacity to neutralize acidity 

and may become acidified. One of the major factors that 

determines how quickly or slowly a body of water will acidify is the type of bedrock or sediment underlying the watershed. For example, water in a stream or lake that traverses or 

overlies limestone, which comprises calcium carbonate,

commonly has a high ANC and is said to be well buffered. 

In contrast, many lakes in the Adirondack Mountains of 

northern New York State are underlain by granite, which 

comprises silicate minerals, and the water has a very low 

ANC; in fact, many lakes in the Adirondack? are acidified.

Episodic acidification of a stream or lake can happen 

over a short time as a result of input from a f ingle rainstorm 

or period of snowmelt During a rainstorm, the acidic rain 

may be quickly routed by way of surface and shallow subsurface flow to the stream or lake, where the influx of acidic 

water causes the pH and ANC of the water t~> decrease. The 

decrease in pH and ANC can happen within minutes after the 

storm begins, and the effect can last for hours or days. The 

amount of decrease in pH and ANC in a body of water as a 

result of episodic acidification depends on many factors. The 

type of bedrock or sediment that underlies the watershed 

affects the pH and ANC of the streamwater during nonstormflow conditions (base flow). A well-buffered watershed system, such as one underlain by limestone, will have a 

higher pH and ANC during base-flow conditions than a 

poorly buffered system, such as one underlain by granite. 

Even though the decrease in pH and ANC during a storm in 

a well-buffered watershed may be greater tsan in a poorly 

buffered watershed, the water quality generally does not 

deteriorate to a level harmful to aquatic organisms. In contrast, streams in poorly buffered watersheds can quickly lose 

all ANC, which causes the stream to become acidified during 

storms. This sudden increase in acidity can cause aquatic 

organisms (particularly fin fish and amphibians) to suffer 

"acid shock." During rainstorms, a well-buffered watershed 

with long flow routes may be able to neutralize most of the 

incoming acidity before it reaches the stream, and thus the 

amount of episodic acidification in the stream will not be 

large. A poorly buffered watershed with stort flow routes 

will allow large amounts of acidic water to quickly reach the 

stream, thus causing a large amount of episodic acidification. 

In contrast to the preceding two examples, r watershed that 

is chronically acidified will be little affected by episodic 

acidification because the streamwater already has virtually 

no ANC and has the same pH as the incoiring rain. Other 

factors that can influence the severity of episodic acidification include intensity and duration of the incoming rain, pH 

of the rain, season (summer growing season as opposed to 

winter dormant season), and the length of lure since the preceding rainfall, which affects the moisture content of the soil 

and the shallow subsurface routes for the acidic rain to reach 

the stream.

Despite the declining interest in acid ran in the political 

arena and among the public, the acidity of rain in the Eastern 

United States has not declined significar'ly in the last 

decade. Acid rain continues to affect the qrality of surface 

and ground waters in regions underlain by bedrock and surficial deposits that have low-buffer capacity. Current mitigation techniques (for example, liming) can or*y be applied to 

a small fraction of affected waters and, at best, are only a

90
temporary "fix." The acid rain problem will not improve 

until adequate measures are taken to reduce sulfur and nitrogen emissions at their sources. Some progress has been made 

to reduce harmful emissions (such as using catalytic converters on automobiles, coal washing to remove sulfur compounds, stack scrubbers and improved burners for boilers). 

But there is still a long way to go to bring emissions of sulfur 

and nitrogen compounds to acceptable levels with regard to 

environmental effects. In the meantime, continuing research 

on acid rain, and particularly its effects on watershed systems, is necessary to track changes in the quality of waters in 

sensitive regions and in the health of the aquatic biota they 

support.

Energy-Related Selenium and Vanadium 

Contamination in San Francisco Bay, 

California Effects on Biological Resources?

Cynthia L. Brown and Samuel N. Luoma, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA 94025

Introduction

Environmental impacts must be included in determining the costs of using petroleum as an energy source. One of 

the impacts associated with petroleum refining and product 

combustion is release of potentially toxic wastes. Inorganic 

wastes that result from production and consumption of petroleum-derived energy include selenium and vanadium. Elevated concentrations of selenium and vanadium are found 

throughout much of North San Francisco Bay near where 

waste from refineries could affect the estuary. Although 

some knowledge of the environmental toxicity of selenium 

in the area exists, little is known about vanadium.

Study Site and Methods

North San Francisco Bay (North Bay) is a complex 

estuarine system located at the mouths of the Sacramento 

and San Joaquin Rivers. The rivers drain about 40 percent of 

the land area of California. Their inflows to the bay follow 

the highly seasonal pattern of precipitation over California 

and the operation of one of the world's largest man-made 

water-management systems (Nichols and others, 1986). 

North Bay is an area where complex interactions between 

human disturbance and natural processes affect the success 

of aquatic species. Suisun Bay, Carquinez Strait, and San 

Pablo Bay, which make up North Bay, are important nurseries for estuarine fish. More than 60 percent of the migratory 

water birds comprising the Pacific Fly way pass through the 

San Francisco Bay region during winter. The Suisun 

Bay/Delta may also be one of the U.S. estuaries most susceptible to pollution. Approximately 4 percent of the oil

transported in the world is refined on its shores (Nichols and 

others, 1986). Some local refineries use Se- and V-rich 

petroleum from the San Joaquin Valley and their waste effluent is enriched in these elements compared to the concentrations found in natural waters (table 1).

Selenium

High selenium concentrations have been reported in the 

waters of Suisun Bay and Carquinez Strait as well a" in diving ducks (scoter and scaup) and in the clams that they eat 

(Cutter, 1989; Johns and others, 1988). Although agricultural drainage was a potential source, the highest co^centrations in water and clams were found adjacent to oil refineries 

(fig. 1). The oxidation state of selenium in Suisun Bay waters 

was also typical of that found in refinery effluent (dominated 

by Se (IV)). Mass balance calculations showed that refinery 

wastes could account for much of the selenium in these 

waters.

Dissolved, biologically available selenium in Suisun 

Bay was below the level expected to cause toxicity c r to bioaccumulate in clams. However, experimental studies 

showed that the Se (IV) coming from the refineries was 

accumulated efficiently by phytoplankton. Phytoplankton 

converted Se (IV) to organic selenium, which was efficiently 

taken up by clams when they ate the phytoplankton (Luoma 

and others, 1992). Thus, the specific form of selenium in the 

refinery wastes led to an especially efficient transfer to 

clams. Experimental studies also showed that selen;Mm was 

highly toxic to birds and fish when they ingested the element 

in their food. The contaminated scoter and scaup in Suisun 

Bay eat clams. Adverse effects on reproduction in both birds 

and fish began when selenium in food approached 7-10 jig/g 

(micrograms per gram). The highest concentration of selenium in clams from North Bay was 9 }0,g/g; the Icng term 

average at the site closest to the refineries was 5.2 }j,g/g. 

Concentrations in mussels (Mytilus edulis) in this a^a were 

as high as 11.4 }ig/g (Johns and others, 1988). Reproductive 

damage or other adverse effects in the local birds have been 

difficult to directly demonstrate, partly because tve birds 

most threatened by selenium are migratory and nest in Canada. However, concentrations are similar to those rt at cause 

documented reproductive damage in several other species of 

birds.

Vanadium

Vanadium has not been well studied as a pollutant, but 

it is introduced into the environment as a contanrinant in 

waste streams (table 1). Dissolved vanadium is toxic to 

aquatic organisms at high concentrations (11.2 mg/L) (Holdway and Sprague, 1979). The effect of transfer up the food 

web along with bioaccumulation, which is important for 

selenium, is unknown for vanadium. Vanadium behaves as 

an anion in estuaries; the most toxic form seems to be

91
Selenium

in water

Sept.1986

Figure 1 (Brown and Luoma). Comparison of vanadium (upper 

graph) and selenium (lower graph) concentrations in clams (jig/g dry 

weight), and total dissolved selenium (|ig/L) (dark circles) in North 

San Francisco Bay, Calif. The vanadium concentrations in the upper 

graph were analyzed in the clamPotamocorbula amurensis, comparing periods of high river flow and low river flow in the bay (Brown 

and Luoma, unpub. data). The selenium concentrations in the lower 

graph were analyzed in the clam Corbiculafluminea (Johns and others, 1988). The dissolved selenium values are from Cutter (1989). 

Highest concentrations of selenium and vanadium in the clams and 

selenium in the water occur nearest the oil refineries. High vanadium 

values in the clams also occur near the mouth of the Sacramento and 

San Joaquin Rivers.

pentavalent vanadium (Holdway and Sprague, 1979). This 

would be a common species in oxygenated waters at the pH 

typical of San Francisco Bay (7.5-8.5). Fallout from the 

atmosphere would most likely be as pentavalent vanadium 

also (Holdway and Sprague, 1979).

Vanadium accumulates in clams in the North Bay. The 

highest concentrations (up to 17 (ig/g) occur nearest the oil 

refineries and upstream near the mouths of the Sacramento 

and San Joaquin Rivers (fig. 1). The lowest concentrations 

(0.7-3 (ig/g) occur in clams away from energy-related 

sources. Vanadium bioaccumulation in clams will result in 

exposure to fish and birds.

The highest vanadium concentrations occurred during 

periods of high river flow (fig. 1). In addition to input from

Table 1 (Brown and Luoma). Typical seleniun and vanadium concentrations (Jig/L) in natural waters (oceans), local rivers, and San 

Francisco Bay, compared to average effluent from six local refineries.

[Selenium in the San Joaquin River represents local contamination from agricultural drainage. Source of vanadium in the Sacramento and San Joaquin R'^'ers may be natural from 

shales in the Central Valley and Fe-rich minerals from the Siera Nevadas, although oil 

fields occur in the San Joaquin drainage]

Se2

V

Ocean

0.10

3 1.78

Sacramento 

River

0.08

43.93

San Joaquin 

River

1.17

46.87

San Francisco 

F*y

0.22

no data

Refinery 

effluent1

127

119

1 Annual waste reports 1993.

Gutter, G.A., 1989, The estuarine behaviour of se^nium in San Francisco 

Bay: Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, v. 28, p. 13-34.

Collier, R.W., 1984, Particulate and dissolved vanadium in the North 

Pacific Ocean: Nature, v. 309, p. 441-444.

4Linstedt, K.D., and Kruger, P., 1970, Determination of vanadium in 

natural waters by neutron activation analysis: Analytical Chemistry, v. 42, no. 

1, p. 113-115.

refinery wastes, global estimates require that 40 percent of 

the vanadium entering the environment comes from the 

atmosphere, primarily from the combustion of oil (Nriagu 

and Pacyna, 1988). Thus inputs of vanadium-enriched runoff 

could add to inputs from the wastes of loca1 refineries. It is 

also possible that inputs from local rivers which drain Venriched shales and the San Joaquin oil fiel'ls contribute to 

the increased concentrations in clams during the rainy season. Better understanding of vanadium dynamics in water 

and biota, as well as food web transfer and to^icity of the element, is necessary to determine its effects in San Francisco 

Bay.

REFERENCES

Cutter, G.A., 1989, The estuarine behaviour of selenium in San 

Francisco Bay: Estuarine, Coastal and She'f Science, v. 28, 

p. 13-34.

Holdway, D.A., and Sprague, J.B., 1979, Chronic toxicity of vanadium to flagfish: Water Research, v. 13, p. 905-910.

Johns, C.E., Luoma, S.N., and Elrod, V., 1988, J>-lenium accumulation in benthic bivalves and fine sediments of San Francisco 

Bay, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and selected tributaries: Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, v. 27, p. 381-396.

Luoma, S.N., Johns, C, Fisher, N.S., Steinberg, N.A., Oremland, 

R.S., and Reinfelder, J.R., 1992, Determination of selenium 

bioavailability to a benthic bivalve from particulate and solute 

pathways: Environmental Science and Technology, v. 26, no. 

3, p. 485-491.

Nichols, F.H., Cloern, J.E., Luoma, S.N., and Petetson, D.H., 1986, 

The modification of an estuary: Science, v. 231, p. 567-573.

Nriagu, J.O., and Pacyna, J.M., 1988, Quantitative assessment of 

worldwide contamination of air, water and soils by trace metals: Nature, v. 333, p. 134-139.

92
Hydrogeology and Potential of Intrinsic 

Bioremediation at a Manufactured Gas Plant, 

Charleston, South Carolina

Bruce G. Campbell, U.S. Geological Survey, 

1815 I'on St., Sullivan Island, SC 29482, and 

Matthew D. Petkewich, James E. Landmeyer, 

and Francis H. Chapelle, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Stephenson Center, Suite 129, 720 Gracern Road, 

Columbia, SC 29210-7651

To evaluate the effectiveness of intrinsic bioremediaof shallow ground-water systems contaminated with 

PAH, VOC, phenols, and heavy inorganic metals, a former 

MGP in Charleston, S.C., was investigated. The MGP was in 

operation from the 1850's to the 1950's. Management practices, which probably included on-site waste disposal, have 

created extensive soil and ground-water contamination at the 

former MGP site and downgradient at a 4-acre tract of land 

purchased by the National Park Service (NPS) in 1989 

(Chester Environmental, 1994) (fig. 1). The City of Charleston plans to lease 1.5 acres of this land from the NPS to build 

the proposed South Carolina Aquarium.

The Environmental Impact of 

Manufactured Gas Plants

Manufactured gas plants (MGP's) have produced gas 

from coal or oil for residential and commercial fuel supply 

since the early 1800's. Until the 1960's, approximately 

2,000 MGP's were in operation throughout the United 

States, when the use of pipelines was more effective to serve 

large areas with natural gas (Edison Electric Institute, 1984). 

Although not currently in operation, many of these MGP's 

have left behind a legacy of contaminated soil and ground 

water resulting from the disposal of byproduct materials generated during the gas-manufacturing process. These wastes 

include tar residues and sludges dominated by polynuclear 

aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's), volatile organic hydrocarbons (VOC's), phenols, and inorganic heavy metals (Luthy 

and others, 1994). In many cases, the primary receptor for 

these contaminants has been the shallow water-table aquifer 

system beneath MGP's. Such contamination of the shallow 

aquifer is of concern, because these systems are either a 

source of potable water or they discharge to surface-water 

bodies. Additionally, many of the contaminants released to 

these aquifers are considered either known, probable, or possible human carcinogens by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1994).

The possibility exists for reducing the level of concern 

raised by ground-water contamination beneath MGP sites by 

evaluating the potential of certain processes that retard the 

movement of contaminant hydrocarbons in shallow aquifers, 

namely adsorption by aquifer sediments and intrinsic bioremediation through degradation by natural subsurface microorganisms. Laboratory-derived adsorption coefficients and 

rates of microbial degradation, in combination with knowledge of the hydrogeology of the contaminated aquifer, can 

be applied in a framework recently developed by the U.S. 

Geological Survey (USGS) (Chapelle, Landmeyer, and P.M. 

Bradley, work in progress), based on solute-transport modeling using the 2-dimensional numerical model SUTRA 

(Voss, 1984). This approach will allow an evaluation of the 

effectiveness of intrinsic bioremediation at those sites where 

hydrocarbons have been released to the water-table aquifer.

Field and Laboratory Methods of 

Evaluating Intrinsic Bioremediation Potential at MGP

The most accurate method for quantifying rates of 

adsorption for a particular hydrocarbon contaminant is 

through laboratory adsorption isotherm experiments. An 

adsorption distribution coefficient, Kads, of 4.84xlO"6 cubic 

feet per milligram (ft3/mg) was determined for naphthalene, 

the primary ground-water contaminant at the MGP site, for 

use in the solute-transport model (see next section).

A sensitive laboratory method for determining rates of 

microbial degradation involves radiotracer experiments with 

contaminated aquifer sediments. Shallow aquifer material 

collected near monitoring well USGS-1 (fig. 1) incubated 

with 14C-naphthalene produced an aerobic, first-orde- degradation rate of 0.09 day" 1 (d" 1 ) and an anaerobic rate of 

<0.0001 d" 1 ; and deeper aquifer material incubated w; th 14Cnaphthalene produced an anaerobic, first-order rate of 

<0.001 d" l . Shallow aquifer material collected near ir onitoring well USGS-1 (fig. 1) incubated with 14C-toluene produced an aerobic, first-order degradation rate of 0.08 d" 1 and 

an anaerobic rate of <0.0008 d" 1 ; and deeper aquifer material 

incubated with 14C-toluene produced an anaerobic, firstorder rate of <0.0001 d" 1 . Aerobic bed sediments from the 

Cooper River (the ultimate shallow ground-water discharge 

area) incubated with 14C-toluene produced a first-orc'er degradation rate of 0.08 d" 1 .

Framework for Assessing the Potential of 

Intrinsic Bioremediation to Contain Contamination

The transport of contaminants in ground water is 

affected by hydrogeologic, geochemical, and microl ; ological processes. For hydrocarbons in ground water, these processes can be described by the following mass balance 

equation:

5* (D

93
7J

EXPLANATION

LINE OF EQUAL NAPHTHALENE CONCENTRATION, IN mg/L

MODEL BOUNDARY 

OBSERVATION WELL 200 300

Figure 1 (Campbell and others). Simulation of the January 1994 naphthalene plume on the National Park Service property and on adjacent properties, Charleston, S.C. MGP, manufactured gas plant.

94
where:

C is the concentration of solute;

t is the time;

D is the coefficient of hydrodynamic dispersion;

x is the distance;

v is the velocity of ground-water flow;

S and n are the adsorption isotherm parameters; and,

k is the first-order microbial degradation rate constant.

The primary processes that restrict the spread of hydrocarbons with moving ground water are adsorption and microbial 

degradation. If the rates of adsorption and degradation are 

fast relative to the rate of ground-water flow, then hydrocarbons will not be transported far from their source area. Conversely, if the rates of adsorption and microbial degradation 

are slow relative to ground-water flow, contaminants will be 

transported from the source area and may discharge at points 

of contact (POC) such as surface-water bodies. Equation 1 

can be solved with finite-element numerical methods to predict concentrations of solutes at particular points in space 

(such as a POC) at various times.

For the MGP site in Charleston, S.C., equation 1 was 

solved numerically using the SUTRA code with field- and 

laboratory-derived rates of adsorption and microbial degradation to simulate the release of naphthalene at the site since 

the mid-1800's (fig. 1). The simulated plume geometry 

depicts the current steady-state distribution of naphthalene in 

the shallow aquifer system. Because the particular POC has 

been reached (discharge to the Cooper River), the numerical 

model framework can allow the range of naphthalene concentrations discharging to the Cooper River to be estimated.

REFERENCES

Chester Environmental, Inc., 1994, Preliminary site characterization summary, Calhoun Park Area Site RI/FS Charleston, 

South Carolina: Consulting report to South Carolina Electric 

and Gas Company, chapter 5.

Edison Electric Institute, 1984, Handbook on manufactured gas 

plant sites: ERT Project number P-D215, prepared for Utility 

Solid Waste Activities Group Superfund Committee, 

Washington, D.C.

Luthy, R.G., Dzombak, D.A., Peters, C.A., Roy, S.B., Ramaswami, 

A., Nakles, D.V., and Nott, B.R., 1994, Remediating tar-contaminated soils at manufactured gas plant sites: Environmental 

Science & Technology, v. 28, no. 6, p. 266-275.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, 1994, 

Drinking water regulations and health advisory: EPA 

822-R-94-001, lip.

Voss, C.I., 1984, A finite-element simulation model for saturatedunsaturated, fluid-density-dependent ground-water flow with 

energy transport or chemically-reactive single-species solute 

transport: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 84-4369, 409 p.

The Effects of Oil-Field Brines on 

Aquifers Brine Disposal in the 

East Poplar Oil Field, Fort Peck Indian 

Reservation, Northeastern Montana

Steven D. Craigg and Joanna N. Thamke, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Helena, MT 59626

Introduction

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) currently is investigating the effects of disposal of oil-field brine on shallow 

ground water in Quaternary alluvial and glacial deposits in 

the East Poplar oil field, on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, 

in northeastern Montana (fig. 1). The study, which is being 

conducted in cooperation with the Fort Peck Tribes Water 

Resources Office, began in October 1991 and is scheduled to 

end in September 1994.

An earlier USGS study (Levings, 1984) documented 

the existence of brine contamination in shallow ground water 

along the Poplar River in this area. The present study not 

only expands on that work but also focuses on brine contamination in glacial till deposits east of the river. The general 

purpose of this study is to determine the extent, magnitude, 

and movement of brine in shallow ground water in the East 

Poplar oil field. Specific objectives are to (1) delineate areas 

of brine or saline water occurrence and its lateral and vertical 

extent in shallow ground water; (2) determine probable 

sources of the brine; (3) determine direction and, if possible, 

rate of brine movement; (4) determine chemical cha'acteristics of the brine and shallow ground water; and (5) investigate possible effects of brine or saline grourd-water 

discharge on the quality of water in the Poplar River*.

Location and Geographic Setting

The East Poplar oil field study area is in the so^th-central part of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, in northeastern 

Montana, a few miles north of the town of Poplar (fig. 1). 

The study area is traversed by the Poplar River. Land uses 

are dryland wheat farming, livestock grazing, and oil production. Shallow ground-water supplies are obtained both 

from alluvial deposits along the Poplar River and from glacial deposits in the uplands east of the river.

Brief History of Oil-Production Activities

Oil production began in 1952 from the Missrsippian 

Madison Group, at depths of about 5,500 to 6,000 fe^t. Over 

the past 42 years, millions of barrels of brine (brine is 

defined by USGS as water containing greater thar 35,000 

mg/L (milligrams per liter) of dissolved solids) hr^e been 

produced with the oil.

95
Brine disposal is by injection into shallower subsurface 

geologic units, mainly the Upper Cretaceous Judith River 

Formation, at depths of about 800 to 1,000 feet, and a Lower 

Cretaceous sandstone, at a depth of about 3,300 feet. 

Smaller quantities of brine have been directed to storage and 

evaporation pits. Limited attempts have been made to inject 

brine back into the producing zones for secondary recovery 

of oil, but at present (1994) no such activity is occurring.

General Geology

The study area lies along the western flank of the Williston Basin and generally consists of a broad, flat glacial 

bench that is dissected by the Poplar River valley. The lowermost formation that crops out is the Upper Cretaceous 

Bearpaw Shale, a dark-gray marine shale.

The Bearpaw Shale is overlain by Pleistocene glacial 

deposits (till) that generally attain a maximum thickness of 

about 100 to 150 feet. The glacial deposits mainly lie topographically above and to the east of the Poplar River, 

although less extensive exposures also are present to the 

west. The glacial till deposits generally consist of a heterogeneous mixture of rock particles ranging in size from clay 

to boulders. A Pleistocene unit, the Wiota Gravel, probably 

is present at the base of the till, but does not crop out.

Deposits of Quaternary (Holocene) alluvium are 

present in the Poplar River valley. Along the flanks of the 

valley, deposits of Pleistocene and Holocene fan alluvium 

and colluvium, along with thin deposits of dune sands, are 

exposed. Thickness of alluvium generally is about 50 feet. 

Alluvium mainly consists of silt, sand, and gravel from 

reworked glacial deposits.

General Hydrogeology

Shallow ground-water supplies are obtained from both 

the alluvial and glacial deposits. Wells completed in alluvium generally range from about 15 to 50 feet in depth. 

Wells completed in glacial deposits generally range from 

about 70 to 120 feet in depth.

In alluvium, direction of water movement generally is 

from north to south along the Poplar River valley, with local 

flow components toward the river. In glacial deposits, direction of water movement is not completely known; however, 

in the bench on the east side of the river, flow is generally 

southwest.

In some areas, handling, transport, and disposal of the 

brine have resulted in its movement into shallow ground 

water in both the Poplar River alluvium and the glacial 

deposits. Probable sources of the brine in the shallow 

ground-water systems are (1) leakage of water through 

breaches in disposal-well casing; (2) leakage of water 

through storage and evaporation pits that either were not 

adequately sealed initially or that have developed ruptures in

the sealing material; and (3) leakage of wa^r from brinetransporting pipelines.

Preliminary Results

Field work for the project is complete. Data collection 

consisted of conducting electromagnetic surface-geophysical traverses; monitor-well drilling and completion; waterquality sampling of monitor wells, selected domestic wells, 

and brine-disposal wells; and obtaining s^eamflow and 

water-quality measurements along the Poplar River.

Electromagnetic Surface Geophys^.s and 

Monitor-Well Drilling

Electromagnetic surface-geophysical methods were 

used to assist in delineating areas of brine or saline water 

occurrence and to assist in locating sites for drilling and 

completing monitor wells. Approximately 7,000 electromagnetic measurements were made during 1992 and 1993. 

Twenty-seven monitor wells have been completed; 19 wells 

are completed in alluvium and 8 in glacial deposits. For each 

well (with the exception of two nested nronitoring well 

sites), an attempt was made to bottom the hole in the Bearpaw Shale to obtain a total thickness for the deposit at that 

locality.

Two aquifer tests (one of alluvium using a pumped well 

and three observation wells, and one of glacial deposits using 

a pumped well and two observation wells) we^e conducted in 

1993. The tests were conducted beyond salin; «y-plume areas 

to obtain data about ground-water flow directions and rates, 

and hydrologic characteristics of the deposit.

Water-Quality Sampling of Wells

Water-quality sampling is complete for all monitor 

wells, selected domestic wells, and brine-disposal wells. 

Wells were sampled for major and trace constituents. Dissolved-solids concentrations of the brine a^e as much as 

160,000 mg/L, the major constituents bein? chloride and 

sodium. In plume areas, dissolved-solids concentrations in 

shallow ground water are as much as 114,000 mg/L, and the 

major constituents also are chloride and sodium. In nonplume areas, dissolved-solids concentrations in shallow 

ground water typically are less than 2,000 mg/L, and the 

major constituents are bicarbonate and sodiirn.

Stream-flow and Water-Quality Measurements

Four sets of streamflow and water-qrality measurements were conducted along a 6-mile read of the Poplar 

River to determine gains or losses in flow and changes in 

water quality. In the first set of measurements, conducted 

during September 1981 (Levings, 1984), streamflow varied 

from 1.7 ft3/s (cubic feet per second) upstream to 0.74 ft3/s

96
106°

EAST POPLAR

OIL FIELD 

STUDY AREA

20

20 30 MILES 

30 KILOMETERS

0 100 200 KILOMETERS 

Figure 1 (Craigg and Thamke). Location of East Poplar oil field study area, northeastern Montana.

downstream; chloride concentration increased from 20 to 

880 mg/L. In the second set of measurements (conducted 

during April 1991), streamflow varied from 82 to 85 ft3/s; 

chloride concentration increased from 11 to 29 mg/L. In the 

third set of measurements (conducted during July 1991), 

streamflow varied from 47 to 44 ft3/s; chloride concentration 

increased from 10 to 61 mg/L. In the fourth set of measurements (conducted during September 1991), streamflow varied from 8 to 1 ft3/s; chloride concentration increased from 

17 to 160 mg/L.

SELECTED REFERENCES

Craigg, S.D., and Thamke, J.N., 1992, Overview of possible effects 

of brine disposal on shallow ground-water resources in the East

Poplar oil field, Fort Peck Indian Reservation, northeastern 

Montana [handout]: American Water Resources Association, 

Montana Section Meeting, Helena, Montana, September 

17-18, 1992.

__1993a, Hydrogeology of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, 

northeastern Montana: Geological Society of America, Cordilleran and Rocky Mountain Section Meeting, Reno, Nevada, 

May 19-21,1993, Abstracts with Programs, p. A154.

 1993b, Hydrogeologic aspects of brine disposal in the East

Poplar oil field, Fort Peck Indian Reservation, northeastern 

Montana: Geological Society of America, Cordilleran and 

Rocky Mountain Section Meeting, Reno, Nevada, Ma^ 19-21, 

1993, Abstracts with Programs, p. A25.

Levings, G.W., 1984, Reconnaissance evaluation of contamination 

in the alluvial aquifer in the East Poplar oil field, Roosevelt 

County, Montana: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources 

Investigations Report 84-4174, 29 p.

97
Mendes, T.M., Thamke, J.N., and Craigg, S.D., 1992, Application 

of electromagnetic geophysical techniques to delineate salinewater plumes in shallow aquifers of the East Poplar oil field, 

Fort Peck Indian Reservation, northeastern Montana [handout]: 

American Water Resources Association, Montana Section 

Meeting, Helena, Montana, September 17-18, 1992.

Thamke, J.N., 1991, Reconnaissance of ground-water resources of 

the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, northeastern Montana: U.S. 

Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 91- 

4032, 2 sheets.

Thamke, J.N., Craigg, S.D., and Mendes, T.M., 1992, Changes in 

ground-water quality resulting from saline-water migration in 

a shallow glacial aquifer in the East Poplar oil field, Fort Peck 

Indian Reservation, northeastern Montana [handout]: American Water Resources Association, Montana Section Meeting, 

Helena, Montana, September 17-18, 1992.

 1993, Use of electromagnetic geophysical techniques and 

auger drilling to delineate saline-water plumes in the East Poplar oil field, Fort Peck Indian Reservation, northeastern Montana [handout]: American Association of Petroleum 

Geologists, Rocky Mountain Section Meeting, Salt Lake City, 

Utah, September 12-15, 1993, Abstracts and Program, 

p. 67-68.

Potential Impact of Oil and Gas Drilling 

Operations on Carlsbad Caverns National 

Park, New Mexico

Kimberley I. Cunningham and

G. Michael Reimer, U.S. Geological Survey,

Denver, CO 80225; Harvey R. DuChene, Axem

Resources, Inc., Denver, CO; Edward J. LaRock,

4148 E. 19th Ave., Denver, CO ; and

Sandra L. Szarzi and Josh M. Been,

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO

Studies of rock fracture and jointing trends, combined 

with gas geochemistry techniques, have provided some 

preliminary tools for evaluating the potential impact of oil 

and gas drilling operations on Lechuguilla Cave, Carlsbad 

Caverns National Park, New Mexico. Lechuguilla Cave is 

now widely held to be the world's finest speleological 

resource and is considered by many experts to be a veritable treasure-trove of underground scientific research 

opportunities. In addition to containing more elemental 

sulfur and secondary gypsum than all olher known limestone caves in the world combined, Lechuguilla possesses 

an array of new speleothem types, curious mineralogic 

associations, and a unique bacterial and fungal microflora 

that is a focus of cancer research and of NASA-sponsored 

exobiological (the study of extraterrestrial organisms) 

research.

The question of whether or not high-permeability 

pathways exist between the extensive passageways of 

Lechuguilla (more than 120 km of passage have been 

mapped since 1986) and prospective oil rnd gas drilling 

sites (located less than 1.25 km north of the cave on 

Bureau of Land Management property) was addressed by 

investigating the relationships between rocv fracture/jointing trends and cave parameters (location, amount of passage, and predominant trend of passages), and by tracergas experiments. Lineaments and curvilin°aments (structurally controlled straight or curving lines visible on 

aerial photographs) were interpreted from satellite and 

high-altitude aircraft imagery and plotted with the cave 

data at a scale of 1:24,000. For most caves, and particularly for Lechuguilla, more than 90 percerf of the known 

cave passageways spatially coincide with the trend of the 

photolinears. Statistically significant trends were also documented from fractures and joints mapped from outcropping rock pavements, and from microscopic examination 

of rock thin sections. The results indicate that preexisting 

structural features exerted a strong influence on sites of 

cave development. Every cave in the area appears to be 

associated with a lineament, but not every lineament can 

be shown to be associated with a cave, although the probability of coincidence is high. Previously drilled gas wells 

that occur on interpreted lineaments exl :bit a uniform 

high frequency of lost fluid circulation wi'hin the 650-mthick cavernous rock package (fig. 1; p. 100-101). Most of 

these zones of fluid loss directly correlate to discrete levels of passage development in Lechuguill? Cave. In 1990 

a large passage was discovered in LechuguUla that extends 

along a mapped, northwest-oriented lineament toward the 

area of the BLM-managed drill sites. Approximately 8.5 

m3 of helium gas was released in the cave near the new 

passage and more than 40 1-m-deep soil-fas probes were 

installed on the surface at lineament intersections in order 

to detect helium migrating out of the cave system. 

Approximately 90 days after the initial gas release, significant amounts of helium were recovered from a probe 

placed directly on the northwest-trending lineament and 

150 m from the Sidewinder gas well. The helium had 

moved to the recovery site at nearly 2 cm/min, a rate 

slightly greater than that of normal heliuir diffusion. The 

data do not provide any information on the size of the gastransmitting cave passage but do confinr that a permeable pathway exists between the two sites. Future work 

should focus on refining photolineament interpretations, 

accumulating additional ground-truth for mapped lineaments, and monitoring the ambient cave environment in 

order to detect the possible introduction of drilling contaminants, and to a greater degree, the presence of common constituents in the produced gas, specifically methane 

and hydrogen sulfide.

98
State Coal Resources and Extraction 

Impacts on the Economy and Environment

American Association of State Geologists 

(Prepared by Heinz H. Damberger, Illinois State 

Geological Survey, 615 E. Peabody Drive, 

Champaign, IL 61820-6964)

By providing reliable, detailed information on coal 

resources, the geological surveys of the coal-producing 

States help government and industry plan for a healthy environment and prosperous economy. The information collected and made available by the State surveys is also widely 

used by Federal agencies. Many projects for developing 

needed information are therefore co-funded by the Federal 

Government and the States.

The following kinds of information are generated and 

made available by the State geological surveys:

 Coal resources, reserves, and availability for future 

development. Information is provided about location, depth, 

thickness, degree of assurance of existence, and minability 

and availability (surface versus deep, geologic character of 

associated strata, land-use restrictions, and conflicts with 

development of other resources).

 Coal quality relative to the various uses of coal. 

Representative channel, run-of-mine, and as-shipped samples are collected and analyzed for their chemical, physical, 

and technological properties, permitting evaluation of a coal 

for its various uses, in particular combustion and conversion 

to coke, liquids, and gases.

 Impact of coal mining and utilization. Information 

on past and current coal mining and utilization is collected 

and analyzed to assess the impact on the State's economy 

and physical environment.

Coal Resources and Availability Studies

A significant portion of the country's very large coal 

resources may be unavailable or significantly constrained for 

future development because of competing uses of land for 

towns, cemeteries, roads, railroads, airports, power lines, 

pipelines, oil and gas wells, streams, lakes, reservoirs, 

national and State forests, parks, and other recreation areas. 

Future resource development could also be significantly 

constrained by geologic and technological factors such as 

coal depth and thickness, lateral and vertical proximity to 

abandoned mines, barrier pillars, and problems related to 

roof and floor characteristics and geologic structure; or by a 

coal composition that precludes its use due to environmental 

hazards created by its use. At present, most of these constraints are largely unaccounted for in the existing coal 

resource and reserve databases that are used for projecting 

the future availability of coal. Previous statewide and

national coal resource assessments ignored most cf these 

factors, in part because they are difficult to evaluate regionally or because sufficient information was lacking. Assessing their impact requires detailed study of local conditions.

The coal availability program that is jointly being 

undertaken by the Federal and State geological surveys 

answers these concerns. Representative sample areas the 

size of 7.5-minute quadrangles (about 56 square miles each) 

are being studied in detail for factors that limit the availability of the coal resources for future development.

So far, 30 quadrangles have been studied in the Appalachian and Illinois Basin coal fields, and initial concerns 

about the availability of coal resources have proven justified: 

about 50 percent of the original resources were fourd to be 

unavailable for future development on these quadrangles.

The U.S. Bureau of Mines has cooperated with the U.S. 

Geological Survey and the State surveys to assess the recoverability of the available coal resources on the studied quadrangles. By the end of FY94, study of 12 quadrangles had 

been completed, 11 from the central Appalachian anc1 1 from 

the Illinois Basin coal fields. The study concluded that, 

overall, only about 7 percent of the original identified 

resources may be economically minable and saleable in 

today's market; for the one quadrangle in Illinois, that portion was only 4 percent.

Coal Quality for Various End Uses of Coal

The State geological surveys have accumulated large 

quantities of data on the coal quality of the resources of their 

States; these are made available to the public, government, 

and coal mining and utilizing industries. In the past several 

decades, the U.S. Geological Survey, through the Fational 

Coal Resource Data System (NCRDS) program, tas supported the collection and analysis of representative coal samples by the State geological surveys and has thus helped 

make these databases much more comprehensive than they 

otherwise would be.

Increasingly, the data are being requested an'I made 

available in electronic form. For example, the Indiana Geological Survey recently released a new type of publication on 

floppy disks (Computer Database #1) that contains a comprehensive collection of the survey's coal analyses, 

permitting users to conduct their own searches and evaluations of the data. In 1985, the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) created a computer-based "Information System 

on Chemistry of Coal in Illinois." This database, accessible 

from remote stations by modem, allowed searches simple 

statistical analyses, and downloading of whatever data had 

been selected. Users were also given the option to have the 

ISGS conduct customized searches and either electronically 

transfer the data or prepare printouts. (The systeir is currently inactive, due to a switch in hardware and soft "'are.)

99
^"X/>k\J

.._._X_.K

R23E R24E

Figure 1 (Cunningham and others). Map showing relationships between interpreted photolineaments, gas wells (with and without frequent lost circulation zones), and caves in Carlsbad Caverns National Park area, New Mexico. Caves identified by small triangles: A, Lechuguilla Cave (approximately 120 km of passage known); B, Carlsbad Cavern; C, Spider Cave; D, unnamed cave; E, Chimney Cave; F,

100
104°22'30"

Jill*" J/^y __^**."^alh-»_____- ^-^Cx;

Y ,c-Jtc^/ <__ / . ;x'\ \ ^^^f^<

-^5^\^ V

y^^V2^A^---CT -VJ^^-_-i=>^>^xi v-C>c/

^; />6ftC-1 $^^1 V>

..J

0 K2 1MILE

1 KILOMETER

EXPLANATION

-W- Producing gas well with multiple lost circulation zones

- Producing gas well with no recorded lost circulation zones

-O- Dry hole 

A Cave location (see figure caption for cave names)

- - - Photolineaments (includes structural, tonal, and vegetative anomalies)

T 

25 

S

R25E

4 irvestman Cave; G, Goat Cave; H, Wind Tunnel Cave; J, Whistling Cave; K, Serpentine Sinks Cave; L, Snake Trap Cave; M, Mudgett' s 

"ave; N, Little Mudgett' s Cave; O, Little Manhole Cave; P, Big Manhole Cave; Q, Cueva de Leon. Digital line survey data for Lechu- 

: -flla Cave provided by the National Park Service and the Lechuguilla Cave Project, Inc.

101
The Illinois Basin Consortium, formed by the Illinois, 

Indiana, Kentucky, and U.S. Geological Surveys, has agreed 

to cooperate on the development of a comprehensive, 

basinwide atlas of the coal resources of the most important 

coal seams in the basin. The atlas will emphasize coal quality, in particular, amounts of sulfur and trace elements identified as hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) in the 1990 

Amendments to the Clean Air Act. The project is attracting 

support by the coal mining and utilizing industries.

Impact of Coal Mining and Utilization

Many State geological surveys compile maps that show 

areas affected by mining. Because of the potential for mine 

subsidence, areas that have been undermined by underground mining are of particular interest. Planners, individual 

citizens, and insurance companies have great interest in such 

information. For example, the ISGS completed a study for 

the Illinois Mine Subsidence Insurance Fund of the potential 

of mine subsidence in urbanized areas. The ISGS also 

directed a multi-year, cooperative research program on mine 

subsidence in Illinois that was jointly supported by the State, 

the mining industry, and the Federal Government through 

the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM). Researchers from several universities, State agencies, and the USBM participated 

in the program. The program greatly increased the understanding of mine subsidence and its effects on the surface 

and subsurface, as well as the public's awareness of the 

issues associated with mine subsidence.

Environmental Aspects of 

Carbonate Use in Energy Generation

Jane R. Eggleston and Robert B. Finkelman, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA 22092

To meet the requirements of the Federal Clean Air Act 

of 1970 and the Amendments of 1977 and 1990, coal-burning power plants will use large tonnages of carbonate rock 

(limestone and dolomite) and lime for flue-gas desulfurization, fluidized bed combustion, and other processes designed 

to minimize air pollution. Environmentally compatible and 

cost-effective use of limestone resources depends on a good 

understanding of the quantity, quality, and proximity of 

limestone resources to coal-burning power plants. The properties of carbonates needed in coal-burning power plants 

vary with the type of desulfurization process used (Drehmel 

and Harvey, 1974). Dry-limestone-injection processes 

require carbonates with larger surface areas (fine grained) 

and a minimum of inert chemical impurities. Wet-limestone-scrubbing processes require carbonates with high dissolution rates. Chemically active fluidized beds require 

carbonates that are reactive with SO2 and H2S; usually

dolomite is a good choice. Pilot studies are being conducted 

by various research facilities to further understand and 

define the properties that cause some limestones to be more 

effective in desulfurization processes.

Adequate carbonate resources must be available to 

meet the increased demands of new and proposed desulfurization facilities. A study is currently undervay at the USGS 

to identify limestone resources in the Easte-n United States 

that could be suitable for desulfurization in combustion systems. Carbonate resources are being identified, quantified, 

and characterized based on their sorbent properties and proximity to potential markets.

Another important parameter to consider in the desulfurization process is the trace-element center* of the carbonate. Potentially hazardous trace elements in carbonates, such 

as arsenic, antimony, selenium, and lead, add to disposal 

problems for the highly alkaline wastes produced by fluidized bed combustors and in wet and dry flue gas desulfurization systems. Meij (1989), in studying a 600-megawatt coalfired power plant equipped with a wet flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) system, determined that most of the trace elements introduced into the FGD plant were attributable to the 

limestone.

Coal combustion is already well knowr as an important 

anthropogenic source of trace elements in the environment. 

The USGS has developed a large coal quality database, 

within the National Coal Resource Data System (Bragg and 

others, 1994). Research on the distribution and modes of 

occurrence of trace elements in coal has been considerable 

(Swaine, 1990). Nevertheless, more information is necessary 

to develop reliable models for predicting the behavior of 

these elements during coal combustion.

Data on the content and modes of occurrence of trace 

elements in both coal and limestone must H used to assess 

future environmental problems. The behavior of trace elements from both coal and limestone during various combustion processes will ultimately affect the^r potential for 

release into the environment either as emiss! in or as leached 

products into ground water from waste? - FGD waste 

(sludge) generation has increased steadily in the past 20 

years and is estimated to reach 50 million tons per year by 

the year 2000 (fig. 1). A USGS project is aimed at identifying the trace elements present in sludge ard their behavior 

during combustion and scrubbing. In this poject, representative samples of limestone and coal scrubber sludge, and 

leached effluent from the sludge, will be collected from an 

active coal-fired facility. These samples will be analyzed for 

trace elements to trace the fate of specific elements through 

the process.

REFERENCES

Bragg, L.J., Oman, J.K., Tewalt, S.J., Oman, C.L., Rega, N.H., 

Washington, P.M., and Finkelman, F.B., 1994, U.S.

102
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

Estimated

Figure 1 (Eggleston and Finkelman). Past and estimated future 

U.S. FGD sludge generation, 1970-2000 (modified from EPA, 

1988, with 1985-1992 data from the American Coal Ash 

Association).

Geological Survey Coal Quality (COALQUAL) Database: 

Version 1.3, USGS Open-File Report 94-205, CD-ROM.

Drehmel, D.C., and Harvey, R.D., 1974, Carbonate rock properties 

required by desulfurization processes, in Tenth Forum on Geology of Industrial Minerals Proceedings: Ohio Division of 

Geological Survey Miscellaneous Report No. 1, p. 59-66.

Environmental Protection Agency, 1988, Wastes from the combustion of coal by electric utility power plants: Environmental 

Protection Agency Report to Congress, EPA/530-SW-88-002.

Meij, Ruud, 1989, Tracking trace elements at a coal-fired power 

plant equipped with a wet flue-gas desulphurisation facility: 

Kema Scientific and Technical Reports, The Netherlands, v. 7, 

no. 5, Special Issue, p. 267-355.

Swaine, D. J., 1990, Trace elements in coal: London, Butterworths, 

278 p.

Multi-Criterion Decision Analysis for 

Comparing Hydropower and 

Environmental Impacts from Operation of 

Glen Canyon Dam, Northernmost Arizona

Dr. Marshall Plug, 

River Systems Management Section, 

Midcontinent Ecological Science Center, 

National Biological Survey, 4512 McMurry 

Avenue, Ft. Collins, CO 80525-3400

Colorado River History

The Colorado River provides a variety of beneficial 

uses that include hydroelectric power, irrigation water, flood 

control, lake and river recreation, and water for domestic and

industrial use in seven Western States Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and California. 

In 1956 passage of the Colorado River Storage Project Act 

authorized construction of Glen Canyon Dam formire Lake 

Powell. This Act also directed the Secretary of Interior to 

plan and operate recreational facilities, to conserve scenery, 

archaeological objects, and wildlife, and to mitigate losses of 

fish and wildlife.

The "energy crisis" of the 1970's provided the impetus 

for a new wave of geologic and hydrologic research concerning the availability of water for uranium, tar sands, o; l shale, 

and synthetic fuels industries (US DOI, 1974; Hansen, 1975; 

Plug, 1979; Hug and others, 1979). As environmental 

awareness increased from the 1960's, it was accompanied by 

changing societal values for resource preservation. r"his led 

to the Federal Government passing the Grand Canyon Protection Act in 1992, which includes the downstream 

resources in the Grand Canyon as primary purposes of the 

Colorado River Storage Project Act of 1956. Other environmental legislation influencing river management includes 

the Endangered Species Act of 1973; Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968; and the National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) of 1969, which stipulates the requirements for preparing environmental impact statements (EIS).

With the completion of Glen Canyon Dam in 19*3, regulated flow releases for peak load hydropower altered riparian conditions in the Grand Canyon forever. The cold, clear 

water releases helped establish a Blue Ribbon Trout Fishery 

(trout are non-native), in the river section below tl ?. dam. 

The abundance of fish and the clear water attract eagles, 

which then prey on the readily accessible food source. As 

with any post-dam era, the clear water releases also disrupt 

the sediment balance, stream morphology, and sand bar formation. In 1982 the Glen Canyon Environmental Studies 

research effort was authorized to investigate whethe~ and to 

what extent dam operations were damaging the Grand Canyon river corridor. Preliminary results documented the 

existence of damage, and in 1988 an Environmental Impact 

Statement was called for (BOR, 1993).

Multi-Criterion Decision Analysis

Management of water resources systems is complicated 

by an array of non-commensurable objectives (that is, 

resource values) that are advocated by diverse special interest groups. Multi-criterion decision analysis (MCDA ) methods combine quantitative and qualitative objectives having 

different units of measure. My poster presentation ard interactive personal computer program demonstrate the application of multi-criterion decision analysis as an interactive 

means to enhance conflict resolution while including diverse 

but influential inputs. MCDA methods can enrich tl ?. management of water resources by providing a framework to 

help water managers identify critical issues, attach relative

103
priorities to those issues, and determine the best potential 

compromise alternatives for consideration.

The value-based MCDA method used in this study was 

presented by Rug and Ahmed (1990), with a framework for 

general application given by Fontane and Plug (1991), and is 

based on the weighted average method as described in 

Goicoechea and others (1982). This method requires a "rating" value be determined for every specific decision criterion (attribute), in response to each flow alternative. A 

standard quantitative rating scale (for example, 1 to 5) is 

used for all resource criteria, with the larger value representing the more preferred condition. Generally, several related 

attributes are grouped together, and each contributes a fraction of the total score for a given resource value (or objective). The assignment of rating values should be based on a 

rating scheme provided by an expert who knows the attribute 

of concern and how it is impacted by the specific water 

resources system. The ratings for each attribute for all alternatives form an impact analysis matrix.

The values for each resource in the impact analysis 

matrix can be weighted by the relative importance assigned 

by any of several users or special interest groups. This feature provides the real framework for conflict resolution and 

tradeoff analysis. The relative importance (priority) of every 

objective is used to derive resource value weights. A most 

preferred resource is assigned the highest relative priority 

value. After scaling these priorities by dividing by the sum 

total of all priority values, a set of priority weights exists that 

will total to 1. Then, the sum of the resource weights multiplied by the ratings for each objective for a specific alternative yields a weighted average score for that alternative. The 

alternative with the largest score identifies the most preferred flow alternative, based on the weights assigned by the 

special interest group.

MCDA Application to Glen Canyon Dam

The draft EIS identifies nine flow alternatives that are 

then used to evaluate the effects on an array of resource values. In brief, the nine flow alternatives include:

 two "Unrestricted Rows": the No Action, which maintains current historical dam operation; and Maximum 

Power Plant Capacity, which makes full use of the 

hydropower plant;

 four "Restricted Ructuating Rows": including a High; 

Moderate; Modified Low; and Interim Low flow alternative, all of which incorporate varying reductions and 

restrictions in the daily fluctuations on flow releases; 

and

 three "Steady Rows": the Existing Monthly Volume, 

releasing historic flow volumes; the Seasonally 

Adjusted alternative designed to enhance downstream 

fish protection; and a Year Round steady flow which 

virtually eliminates any fluctuations.

A list of the seven impacted resource categories evaluated in this MCDA analysis was extracted directly from the 

draft EIS. Within each resource category, ne or more specific attributes (such as species or type of recreation activity) 

are enumerated and evaluated, and provide a fraction of the 

total resource value rating. From both qualitative and quantitative information provided in the EIS, a rating value system score from 1 to 5 was developed for each attribute, 

thereby producing the impact analysis matrix.

RESOURCE OBJECTIVES:

Fish

Vegetation

Wildlife and habitat

Endangered and special status species

Cultural resources

Recreation

Power

For each of these seven resource objectives, relative priorities were identified by each of four specia1 interest groups 

with expected conflicts over scheduled Colorado River flow 

releases from Glen Canyon Dam. The foir special interest 

groups are: fishing enthusiasts; recreationr' rafters; proponents of hydroelectric power generation; and environmentally conscious individuals. In the final analysis a set of flow 

alternatives is selected that satisfies most ne°-ds of all special 

interest groups.

REFERENCES

Bureau of Reclamation, 1993, Operation of Glen Canyon 

Dam Draft Environmental Impact Statement: U.S. Department of the Interior, Government Printing C ffice, 324 p.

Plug, Marshall, and Ahmed, Jahved, 1990, Prioritizing flow alternatives for social objectives: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, ASCE, v. 116, no. 5, p. 610-624.

Plug, Marshall, Walker, Wynn, and Skogerboe, G.V., 1979, Energy-water-salinity Upper Colorado River bisin: Journal of the 

Water Resources Planning & Management Division, ASCE, v. 

105, no. WR2, p. 305-315.

Fontane, D.G., and Plug, Marshall, 1991, Introduction to multi-criterion methods and selected software, in Anderson, J.L., ed., 

Proceedings of the 18th Annual Conference & Symposium, 

Water Resources Planning & Management and Urban Water 

Resources: American Society of Civil Engineers, p. 449-453.

Goicoechea, Ambrose, Hansen, D.R., and Duckstein, Lucien, 1982, 

Multi-objective decision analysis with eng;neering and business applications: New York, John Wiley, 519 p.

Hansen, D.C., 1975, Water available for energy Upper Colorado 

River basin: ASCE, Paper Preprint 2564, 12 p.

U.S. Department of the Interior, Water for Energy Management 

Team, 1974, Report on water for energy in the Upper Colorado 

River basin: Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing 

Office, 71 p.

104
Reclaiming the Scars of Energy's 

Past Examples from the 

National Park Service

Bruce Heise, National Park Service, 

P.O. Box 25287, Denver, CO 80225

European explorers and settlers were astounded by the 

North American continent's bounty of natural resources. 

The westward expansion of the young United States was 

driven by the desire to capitalize on these assets. The allure 

of mineral wealth in particular sustained a steady stream of 

westward movement, punctuated by periods of frenzied 

migration as new mineral deposits were discovered. By the 

end of the 19th century, the Federal Government was aggressively encouraging development of public land. By the middle of the 20th century, the United States, through its 

abundant energy resources, had emerged as a world leader in 

industrial capability and standard of living.

The extraction and consumption of the energy needed 

for such a rapid ascension took a toll on the Nation's environment. As coal, oil, and mineral deposits were depleted, 

their sites were quickly abandoned. Shafts, tipples, pits, derricks, even entire towns were deserted and forgotten. Piles 

of tailings, waste, and debris littered the landscape. In 

places, water, soil, vegetation, and wildlife habitat were seriously impacted.

Many of these sites, located in spectacularly scenic 

areas or having great biological, geological, or historical significance, were ultimately incorporated into the National 

Park system. Abandoned coal mines in the East, old gold, 

uranium, or lead mines in the West, and deserted oil and gas 

facilities along the Gulf Coast again experienced human 

activity, this time by a public interested in recreational or 

educational opportunities.

The Mining and Minerals Branch of the National Park 

Service, working cooperatively with individual parks, other 

Federal and State agencies, and the private sector, has initiated a program to rehabilitate lands disturbed by past energy 

development. More than 400 abandoned uranium and coal 

mine sites and more than 700 abandoned oil and gas wells 

can be found in units of the National Park system. Some 

energy development sites in parks have been restored as 

closely as possible to their native state. Some sites that 

remain abandoned continue to affect the surrounding area.

In determining how best to handle an abandoned site, a 

balance must be struck among park resource protection, visitor safety, and interpretive significance. For example, a 

mining site closed for public safety may yet remain accessible by a colony of endangered bats. Some sites are interpreted to explain their historical significance. Other parks 

use abandoned mines and wells as an opportunity to educate 

visitors about the importance of energy development and its 

impacts on our society.

Oil Spills in Prince William Sound, Alarka

Keith A. Kvenvolden and Paul R. Carlson, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA 94025

On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez supertanker 

grounded on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound (fig. 1), 

spilling =11 million gallons of North Slope crude oil. This 

oil spread quickly from the stricken vessel through the western part of the sound and into the Gulf of Alaska (Gait and 

others, 1991). Along the southward trajectory of the spill, 

=16 percent of the sandy, gravelly, and rocky shorelines of 

the sound were coated with oily residues. Cleanup operations and natural processes have now removed much of the 

oil from the affected shorelines.

As part of a series of studies to determine the g aochemical fate of the spilled oil, we have studied the hyd-ocarbon 

distribution and carbon isotopic compositions of oil residues 

collected from beaches throughout the sound starting in 

1990. By 1992 we had made two discoveries. First, six samples of weathered oil residues correlated, on the bas's of carbon isotopic composition and other geochemical parameters 

such as hopane and sterane biomarkers and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, with the oil carried by the Exxon Valdez 

supertanker at the time of the spill. The carbon isotonic composition of this spilled oil measured -29.2%o relative to the 

PDB standard. Second, two additional samples of residues 

were chemically and isotopically distinct from the other six 

samples. Detailed geochemical analyses and comparisons 

indicated that these non-Exxon Valdez residues lik^y originated from oils from the Monterey Formation (Miocene and 

Pliocene) of California and are residues of spilled oil products that had previously been shipped by barge to Alaska 

(Kvenvolden, Hostettler, and others, 1993).

The two samples of non-Emm Valdez residues were 

collected from Storey Island and Elrington Island, at localities =100 km apart near the north and south ends of tve sound 

(fig. 1). The geographic positions and almost identical carbon isotopic values of -23.8 and -23.9%o suggested that we 

could expect to find residues of similar carbon isotonic composition on the beaches throughout the sound. This expectation has been realized in that we have now obtained analyses 

for 48 samples of noa-Exxon Valdez residues fro^ many 

places in the sound (fig. 1) that have an average carbon isotopic composition of-23.8±0. l%o. At the same time we have 

obtained analyses for 18 samples of Exxon Valdez residues 

(fig. 1) that have an average carbon isotopic competition of 

-29.4±0.2%o. Thus, two distinct populations of oil residues, 

identified by their carbon isotopic compositions, exist in 

Prince William Sound.

It is easy to account for the residues with carbon isotopic compositions of-29.3±0.1%o. These residues, collected 

from beaches impacted by the 1989 oil spill, undoubtedly 

resulted from that spill. The residues with carbon isotopic 

compositions of-23.8±0.1%o are not as easy to expfain. The

105
148° 147° 146°

ALASKA

61°

Whittier

60°

Valdez

GULF OF ALASKA

O 0 10 20 30 40 KILOMETERS

I .... I I I I

Figure 1 (Kvenvolden and Carlson). Location of oil 

residue sample sites in Prince William Sornd, Alaska. 

Solid circle, Exxon Valdez oil and residue sannle site; solid triangle, non-Exxon Valdez residue sample site.

General Location Map

106
question is how residues which have geochemical signatures 

indicating oil produced from the Monterey Formation of 

California can be dispersed throughout Prince Willliam 

Sound. It is not unexpected to find that California oil products were used in Alaska before Alaska's internal supply of 

oil was available. Alaska received much of its oil and oil 

products by barge from southern California. Whittier, in the 

western part of the sound, and Valdez, at the north end, 

served as ports for fuel oil and asphalt storage from California for more than 50 years.

The non-Exxon Valdez residues could represent early 

contamination of the sound by numerous small spills of paving and roofing tar, ship discharges, and products spilled 

from storage facilities. However, the tight range of carbon 

isotopic values of the non-Exxon Valdez residues 

(-23.8±0.1%o) suggests that these residues not only came 

from products that originated in California but also came 

from the same batch of products; that is, these residues, at 

least most of them, may have resulted from a single event. 

We believe that the Great Alaska Earthquake, which 

occurred on Friday, March 27, 1964, could be that event 

(Kvenvolden, Carlson, and others, 1993). During this quake 

and subsequent tsunamis, fuel oil and asphalt storage plants 

in Valdez were destroyed, spilling unknown amounts of oil 

products into the Port Valdez fjord (fig. 1). A map (Wilson 

and T0rum, 1972) shows that -30 percent of the fjord was 

covered with asphalt after the quake. There is no record of 

any asphalt cleanup, and it is likely that the asphalt progressed from the east end of the fjord through Valdez Arm 

and south into the sound (fig. 1). Asphalt is still present at the 

site of the storage facilities where the old town of Valdez was 

located.

Figure 1 shows that non-Emm Valdez residue samples 

were found on beaches from Valdez south to the lower end 

of Elrington Island, whereas Exxon Valdez residues were 

found south of Bligh Reef where the supertanker grounded. 

On several beaches both Exxon Valdez and non-Exxon Valdez residues were found. Thus the beaches record two oil 

spills, 25 years apart, in Prince William Sound. Residues 

from the spill of 1989 correlate with the North Slope crude 

oil carried by the Exxon Valdez supertanker. The postulated 

spill of 1964 is less certain. Residues of California oil products are without doubt widespread on the beaches of Prince 

William Sound and apparently are quite refractory, but just 

how the residues reached the beaches is uncertain. The Great 

Alaska Earthquake of 1964 offers a possible trigger for a 

major spill of oil products that passed through the sound, as 

did the oil from the 1989 spill, leaving a legacy of minor residues on the beaches.

Acknowledgment

The carbon isotopic compositions, which are critical for 

this study, were provided by C.N. Threlkeld and A. Warden, 

USGS, Denver, Colorado.

REFERENCES

Gait, J.A., Lehr, W.J., and Payton, D.L., 1991, Fate and transport of 

the Exxon Valdez oil spill: Environmental Science and Technology, v. 25, p. 202-209.

Kvenvolden, K.A., Hostettler, F.D., Rapp, J.B., and Carbon, P.R., 

1993, Hydrocarbons in oil residues on beaches of islands of 

Prince William Sound, Alaska: Marine Pollution B rlletin, v. 

16, p. 24-29.

Kvenvolden, K.A., Carlson, P.R., Threlkeld, C.N., and Warden, A., 

1993, Possible connection between two Alaskan catastrophes 

occurring 25 yr apart (1964 and 1989): Geology, v. 21, p. 

813-816.

Wilson, B.W., and T0rum, A., 1972, Effects of tsunamis An engineering study, in The Great Alaska Earthquake of 19(4: Washington, D.C., Oceanography and Coastal Engineering. National 

Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, p. 361-523.

Using Geomorphology in Mapping for 

Oil Spill Planning

Robert Pavia, National Oceanic and Atmosoheric 

Administration, Hazardous Materials Response and 

Assessment Division, 7600 Sand Point Way, N.E., 

Seattle, WA98115-0070, and JacquelineMichel, 

Research Planning, Inc., 1200 Park Street, 

Columbia, SC 29202

Introduction

Over the last 15 years, immeasurable effort has been 

expended mapping fish, wildlife, and sensitive environment 

components of oil spill contingency plans. Scientists in 

North America, Europe, and elsewhere have published their 

mapping approaches. Baker (in press) recently reviewed 

sensitivity mapping methods in the context of oil spill 

response planning.

The Hazardous Materials Response and Assessment 

Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is using a specific approach to sensitive 

environment mapping known as the Environmenta1 Sensitivity Index (NOAA, 1993). Since 1979, when the first maps 

were prepared days in advance of oil arriving from the 

IXTOC 1 well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) atlases have been prep?red for 

most of the U.S. shoreline. Sensitivity mapping projects 

using this approach have also been conducted for coastal 

areas of France, Germany, Italy, Nigeria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, 

and New Zealand.

Three general types of information are found in ESI 

maps: habitats ranked according to geomorphological 

characteristics, sensitivity to spilled oil, natural persistence of oil, and ease of cleanup; biological resources

107
including oil-sensitive animals and plants, with information at the species level; and human-use resources, such 

as high-use amenity beaches, parks, and marine sanctuaries. The intertidal habitat ranking scheme is based on an 

understanding of the complete coastal environment, not 

just the substrate type and grain size. Key to the rankings 

is an understanding of the relationships between physical 

processes and substrate that produce specific geomorphic 

shoreline types and predictable patterns in oil behavior 

and sediment transport patterns. The habitat ranking system has been widely incorporated into spill decision-making aid including manuals, matrices, and planning 

documents.

Creating and Updating ESI Maps

Sensitivity mapping is a continuing and evolving activity; more than 2,200 ESI maps have been published since 

1979. The Hazardous Materials Response and Assessment 

Division has an active program for updating existing ESI 

maps in areas that warrant revision because new data are 

available.

Because ESI maps form the basis for establishing protection priorities, it is critical that State and Federal natural 

resource managers are in accord with the information that 

ESI maps present. ESI mapping is a cooperative effort in 

collecting, processing, and verifying the accuracy of the final 

data. Cooperation comes from Federal agencies, State agencies, and private industry.

Table 1 lists the ESI project areas for 1994 and 1995, all 

of which have been developed as both digital and hard-copy 

map products. Each of these projects is a cooperative effort, 

receiving data, support, and funding from several sources. 

None of the projects would be possible as an independent 

activity.

Electronic Publishing of ESI Data

NOAA is undertaking a comprehensive program to provide electronic access to new ESI data and to existing data 

formerly available only as hard-copy maps. Through a cooperative effort with the Marine Spill Response Corporation 

(MSRC), NOAA is receiving digital versions of 1,400 paper 

ESI maps. As part of a 3-year project begun in 1994, NOAA 

is providing access to these data so that organizations can 

exploit them for response operations.

Three steps are necessary to transform ESI digital data 

sets into a form that has application for a broad spectrum of 

users.

1. Defining data dictionaries and recovering metadata 

for each data set. This activity provides the information necessary to ensure data quality, document data lineage, and 

provide a framework to document changes in the data. This 

work follows the national standards being defined by Federal 

Geographic Data Committee (1994).

Table 1 (Pavia and Michel).

date for 1994 and 1995.

ESI project arear and publication

Project area

Cook Inlet, Alaska

Southeast Alaska

Northern California

Central California

Southern California

Northeast Texas

Central Coastal Texas

Date

1994

1994

1994

1994

1995

1994

1995

Project area

Mississippi

Alabama

Charleston, S. C.

Delaware Bay

Lake Superior

Lake Michigan

(northern shore)

Lake Huron

Date

1995

1995

1995

1995

1994

1994

1994

2. Evaluating data quality, updating data assignments 

to current standards, and updating data from the MSRC data 

set. ESI data have been collected over 14 years. During this 

step, existing data are compared with potential new data 

sources to determine updating needs and ir^thods. Where 

new digital data sources exist, such as information concerning sea bird nesting colonies, they wil be used to update older 

ESI data.

3. Translating the data to software-irdependent formats for distribution. Data elements need to be combined 

and organized into logical units for storage, transfer, and display. This step includes publishing the daf in the Spatial 

Data Transfer Standard defined by the Federal Geographic 

Data Committee (National Institute for Standards and Technology, 1992).

As these data are processed, they will be. made available 

to users on a State-by-state basis. Work during the first year 

of effort concentrates on organizing and indexing the data. 

Key elements of this first-year effort include developing data 

definitions and inventorying the complete da*a set, including 

all the individual data elements. Work in the second year 

focuses on operational conversion, updating, and publishing 

data for general availability. The primary publishing mechanism will be CD-ROM, allowing low-cost distribution of 

large data sets. The second year's objective is to make integrated ESI data sets available for the highest priority port 

areas in the United States, including providing online access 

via the Internet for some data.

REFERENCES

Baker, Jenifer M., in press, Sensitivity mapping for oil spill response: London, International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association.

Federal Geographic Data Committee, 1994, Cortent standards for 

digital spatial metadata: Washington, D.C., Federal Geographic Data Committee, June 8,1994, 54 p.+app',ndices.

National Institute for Standards and Technology, 1992, Federal information processing standard publication 173 (Spatial data 

transfer standard): U.S. Department of Corrmerce.

NOAA, 1993, Guidelines for developing digital environmental sensitivity index atlases and databases: Seatth, Wash., NOAA, 

Hazardous Materials Response and Assessment Division, 43 

p.+appendices.

108
Red Slime, Oily Films, and Black 

Rocks Sensing the Iron Bacteria 

That Make Neutral Streams Look Acid

Eleanora I. Robbins, 1 John E. Anderson, 2 

Melvin H. Podwysocki, 1 Harry M. Edenborn,3 

Jane R. Eggleston, 1 Douglas Growitz,4 

Robert L. Kleinmann, 3 Arnold W. Norden, 5 

Margaret E. Passmore,6 Byron J. Prugh, Jr./ 

Mark R. Stanton,8 Palmer C. Sweet,9 

Timothy M. Vandyke10 ^U.S. Geological 

Survey, Reston, VA; 2Army Corps of Engineers, 

TEC, Ft. Belvoir, VA; 3 U.S. Bureau of Mines, PRC, 

Pittsburgh, PA; 4Office of Surface Mining, 

Washington, DC; 5Maryland Dept. of Natural 

Resources, Annapolis, MD; 6U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, Philadelphia, PA; 

7U.S. Geological Survey, Richmond, VA; 

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO; 

Virginia Division of Mineral Resources, 

Charlottesville, VA; 1 Pennsylvania Bureau of 

Mining and Reclamation, Knox, PA)

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a solution of sulfiiric 

acid, iron, and (in some instances) other heavy metals 

formed by the reaction of iron sulfide minerals with oxygen. 

AMD is one of the major problems affecting surface waters 

of the United States. In the East, AMD from abandoned and 

active coal mines severely impacts thousands of miles of 

streams; AMD from hard rock mining for precious and other 

metals similarly impacts streams in the West. The methods 

and information sources used to estimate AMD-impacts vary 

from State to State, reflecting the complex nature of the 

problem and a lack of national standards. A cost-effective, 

objective, and repeatable method is needed to provide a consistent estimate of AMD impact on streams.

The purpose of our research is to develop and refine 

ways of differentiating between acid and neutral streams 

using remote-sensing methods. To this end, we are integrating our knowledge of rock chemistry, metal availability, 

water flow and chemistry, bacterial precipitation, spectral 

reflectance properties, and remote-sensing systems to predict the general health of streams containing iron and manganese precipitates.

Streams are dynamic systems. In iron- and manganeserich provinces, evidence of iron transport is quite visual, but 

the red-orange precipitates in neutral streams are easily confused with the yellow-orange precipitates in acid streams. 

The presence of precipitates of yellow/orange/red/and 

brown colors is usually considered a grim signal of the

failure to remove iron and manganese from the nitflow of 

mining operations (U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1994). However, 

red flocculates, oily films, and black-coated rocks are products of normal reactions and form naturally (Robbins and 

Norden, in press) in healthy, near-neutral stream? (pH 7+2 

units). In contrast, where streams are acid, precipitates may 

be so yellow that in some regions they a'e called 

"yellow-boy."

Many processes interact to combine iron an'! manganese with oxygen; some are chemical, whereas others are 

biological. The colorful flocculates in streams ar?. biologically produced by two very different populations c? bacteria 

that precipitate iron and manganese. They precipitate these 

elements because of their metabolic processes such as detoxification, obtaining energy, and byproduct reaction that can 

cause iron and manganese to combine with oxyger (Ghiorse 

and Ehrlich, 1992). In acidic environments assocfated with 

mine runoff, iron-oxidizing bacteria within a grc'ip called 

TTiiobacillus alter pyrite to yellow-orange iron precipitates 

and sulfuric acid (Singer and Stumm, 1970). In contrast, 

another group called "iron bacteria" thrive in ner»r-neutral 

environments, where iron- and manganese-bearing anoxic 

ground water discharges into streams. Bacteria such as Gallionella, Leptothrix, Siderocapsa, Siderococcus, fiderocystis, and Toxothrix thrive in near-neutral waters and fix the 

iron- and manganese-oxide minerals in streams (Robbins 

and others, 1992).

Our hypothesis is that passive spectral measurements 

of unique bacterial precipitates can be correlated with 

water quality measurements. This correlation can then 

form the basis for a remote water quality assessment technique for streams affected by AMD. Remote and in-place 

sensing techniques, which rely on differences in reflectance and absorption, have been used to prospect for spectral variations in weathering products around ore deposits 

(Alexander and others, 1973; Goetz and Rowan, 1981) 

and mining byproducts in streams (Clark an^l others, 

1993). Carboni and Moreau (1990) evaluated several sensors for water quality monitoring. The development of 

remote techniques that could indicate the presence of 

AMD in quantifiable terms could increase the efficiency 

of compliance monitoring by agencies such as U.S. EPA 

(Environmental Protection Agency). Furthermore, such a 

tool could help the Office of Surface Mining to establish 

priorities for addressing environmental problems on abandoned mine lands.

Our research suggests that remote-sensing methods can 

discriminate between acid and neutral drainages because of 

absorption features of the precipitates. Ground-1 ^sed and 

laboratory spectral reflectance measurements tr^en over 

several months have successfully separated the two different 

stream environments containing distinctive microb'al populations (fig. 1). The acid precipitates are in generr1 brighter 

in color and have their reflectance maxima displaced 

towards shorter wavelengths. Visually, the yellow

109
45

40 -

35-

30

o- 25

Z

20

15 

10

Contrary Creek, Mineral, Va., June 30, 1994

5 

350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700

WAVELENGTH, IN NANOMETERS

750 800 850 900

EXPLANATION

 Wet acid precipitate

 - Dry acid precipitate

 Wet neutral precipitate

 Dry neutral precipitate

 Wet neutral oil film

- - Bare rock surface

Water quality - Contrary Creek

pH3.5

D.O. 9.1 ppm

S. Cond. 570 mS

REDOX-415mv

Temp. 25.3°C

Water quality - Neutral seep

pH 6.25 

D.O. 2.2 ppm 

S. Cond. 74 mS 

REDOX-15mv 

Temp. 21.5°C

Figure 1 (Robbins and others). Spectral measurements of microbial precipitates in acid and near-neutral water in an a~id creek and neutral seep from the Contrary Creek study site in the Virginia Gold-Pyrite Belt. Average spectra for wet precipitates in acid (solid line) and 

near-neutral waters (dotted line) show distinct spectral reflectance peaks. Bacterial precipitates have distinct spectral properties in the visible 

and very near reflected infrared part of the spectrum which are temporally and spatially consistent. Both the acid and near-neutral bacterial 

precipitates have intense ferric-iron absorption features in the ultraviolet (UV) part of the spectrum, causing a diminished reflectance in the 

blue and green parts of the spectrum. Both groups also have additional weaker features in the 0.8-0.9 micrometer region. Both the UV and 

the 0.8-0.9 Jim features are due to electronic absorption bands related to the valence shell states in the ferric iron atom. However, both the 

amplitude of the reflectances in the two groups and the exact position of their absorption features are sufficient to distinguish and identify 

the two different groups of iron precipitates. (See text for additional information.) On nearby rocks, dry acid precipitates (dashed line) and 

neutral precipitates (long-dash-two-short-dashed line) similarly have different peak heights. Bare rock (dash-dot line) reflectance profile is 

shown on graph also. Minor features on the curves are related to atmospheric gases and aerosols.

110
flocculates of acid creeks are much brighter than the more 

red hued flocculates of neutral creeks.

In the future, we will apply airborne hyperspectral 

imaging, as well as airborne and satellite multispectral imaging, to determine the ideal altitude and spatial and spectral 

resolutions that will distinguish acid from neutral drainages. 

We also plan to study the changes that occur in the iron precipitates as they desiccate, such as would occur as stream 

levels lower during the dry season, in order to determine if 

the precipitates have diagnostic spectral features even in 

their desiccated states. The ultimate application of these 

methods will be to focus on remotely documenting the actual 

extent of mine drainage contamination and perhaps even 

identify areas where new mining is likely to cause future 

problems.

REFERENCES

Alexander, S.S., Dein, J., and Gold, D.P., 1973, The use of ERTS1 MSS data for mapping strip mines and acid mine drainage in 

Pennsylvania, in Freden, S.C., and Mercanti, E.P., eds., Symposium of Significant Results Obtained from The Earth Resources Technology Satellite 1, Volume 1: Technical 

Presentations, Section A, Washington, D.C., NASA, 

p. 569-575.

Carboni, S., and Moreau, A., 1990, Valuation of Landsat-TM data 

in the identification of mine tailing zones A case study taken 

from the Rouyin-Noranda area, Quebec, Canada: Proceedings 

of the 23rd International Symposium on Remote Sensing of the 

Environment, v. 11, p. 73-746.

Clark, R.N., Swayze, G.A., Boardman, J., and Kruse, F., 1993, 

Comparison of three methods for materials identification and 

mapping with imaging spectroscopy: Summaries of the 4th Annual JPL Airborne Geosciences Workshop, v. 1, AVIRIS 

Workshop; JPL Publication 93-26, p. 35-36.

Ghiorse, W.C., 1984, Bacterial transformations of manganese in 

wetland environments, in Klug, M.J., and Reddy, C.A., eds., 

Current perspectives in microbial ecology: American Society 

of Microbiology, Washington, D.C., p. 625-632.

Ghiorse, W.C., and Ehrlich, H.L., 1992, Microbial biomineralization of iron and manganese: Catena Supplement, v. 21, 

p. 75-99.

Goetz, A.F.H., and Rowan, L.C., 1981, Geologic remote sensing: 

Science, v. 211, p. 781-791.

Robbins, E.I., D'Agostino, J.P., Ostwald, J., Fanning, D.S., Carter, 

V., and Van Hoven, R.L., 1992, Manganese nodules and microbial oxidation of manganese in the Huntley Meadows wetland, 

Virginia, USA: Catena Supplement 21, p. 179-202.

Robbins, E.I., and Norden, A.W., in press, Microbial oxidation of 

iron and manganese in wetlands and creeks of Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and Washington, D.C.: llth Annual International Pittsburgh Coal Conference, Pittsburgh, Pa., 

Sept. 12-16, 1994, 6 p.

Singer, R.C., and Stumm, W., 1970, Acid mine drainage The 

rate-determining step: Science, v. 167, p. 1121-1123.

U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1994, Proceedings of the International Land 

Reclamation and Mine Drainage Conference and 3rd International Conference on the Abatement of Acidic Drainage: U.S. 

Bureau of Mines Special Publication SP 06D-94, v. 1, 440 p.; 

v. 2, 433 p.; v. 3, 353 p.; v. 4, 422 p.

Radionuclides Energy Resources and 

Environmental Hazards

R. Randall Schumann, Sigrid Asher-Bolinder, 

Warren I. Finch, Linda C.S. Gundersen, 

James K. Otton, Douglass E. Owen, 

Charles T. Pierson, G. Michael Reimer, and 

Robert A. Zielinski, U.S. Geological Survey 

Denver, CO 80225-0046

Since the 1940's, the USGS has had a far-reaching, 

applied and basic research program dedicated to pressing 

energy resources and environmental hazards from naturally 

occurring radioactive elements. The knowledge and experience gained by USGS scientists through some 50 years of 

uranium research provide detailed information on the location and extent of known and potential hazards associated 

with mined and unmined uranium concentrations a" well as 

quantitative data on radioactive and geochemical hazards in 

rock, soil, water, and air associated with uraniuir and its 

radioactive decay products. This abstract highligl *s some 

recent accomplishments of this research.

Ongoing radon projects include the Geologi" Radon 

Potential of the United States (fig. 1), compiled ty USGS 

scientists under an interagency agreement with the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to answer the Congressional need for a national radon hazard assessment and 

provide guidance for adoption of radon-resistant building 

codes for new construction. This assessment integrated five 

factors bedrock and surficial geology, gamma ralioactivity, soil permeability and moisture characteristics, existing 

indoor radon data, and house construction information to 

give a numerical radon potential score to each of the geologic areas delineated on the map.

The identification of areas of extreme radon concentrations is also being addressed on a national scale in the High 

Radon Homes project, an interagency effort amon? USGS, 

the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), EPA, Lawrence 

Berkeley Laboratory, and several State and univers; *y cooperators. In this project, the distribution of indoor ralon concentrations is being quantitatively modeled using geologic 

and cultural parameters to locate areas of probable extreme 

indoor radon exposure. Regional studies in New York, Minnesota, and Washington are providing more detr'led and 

refined data on geologic and climatic factors and processes 

that control radon distribution in the geologic environment. 

Other regional studies in the Atlantic and Gulf Coaxal Plain 

and the glaciated upper Midwest provided baseline geologic 

data on the natural occurrence of radon in two broad geologic areas as well as basic research on radon behavior and 

transport in rocks and soils.

A quantitative radon potential map has been created for 

the State of Florida by a consortium of USG"1 , State,

111
university, and private researchers. The map was created by 

merging a mathematical model of radon movement in soils 

with geologic, soil, and aerial radiometric data to calculate 

radon entry values for mapped areas across the State. The 

model integrates data for the radium content of the soil and 

underlying substrate, the radon emanating power of soil 

materials, the soil moisture content, seasonal water-table 

fluctuations, and soil permeability, density, and porosity. 

Maps generated using this model can portray (1) calculated 

values of radon entry hi a standardized Florida residence; (2) 

actual expected indoor radon values; or (3) areas of low, 

moderate, and high radon potential for use in adopting 

radon-resistant building code standards.

County-scale studies using soil-gas radon surveys 

and mapping techniques, such as in Fairfax County, Va., 

and Montgomery, Prince Georges, and Frederick Counties, 

Md., illustrate the field techniques used to locate and characterize local areas of extreme radon concentrations and 

the use of soil-gas radon surveys to identify hidden geologic structures such as faults. Radon can be used as a natural tracer and as an indicator of geologic structures or 

soil chemistry. For example, in Frederick County, Md., 

several east-west soil-gas radon sampling traverses across 

the Triassic Border fault hi the western portion of the 

county indicated a marked difference in soil-gas radon 

concentrations hi the region of the fault trace. The abrupt 

change in radon concentration did not always correspond 

with the mapped location of the fault trace and may suggest that the actual contact zone is displaced by a few 

tens to a hundred meters. Information on this scale could 

be an important adjunct to studies dealing with the location and placement of repositories for environmentally 

sensitive materials, such as nuclear power plants, and 

radioactive or other hazardous waste disposal sites.

Mined uranium deposits, known uranium occurrences, 

and even yet-undiscovered deposits pose environmental 

concerns. Nearly all of the uranium mines occur in the Western States, particularly in sandstone formations in the Colorado Plateau region of Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and 

Colorado; the Rocky Mountains and associated intermontane basins of Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota, and 

Nebraska; and the coastal plain of south Texas. A few large 

deposits and many small ones are associated with volcanic 

centers hi the Basin and Range province of Nevada and 

adjoining States. Large localized high-grade reserves of uranium occur in the Appalachians in the Northeast, and many 

parts of Florida, Montana, and Idaho are underlain by lowgrade uranium-bearing phosphorite, which has yielded a significant uranium byproduct in the manufacture of fertilizer. 

The environmental concerns consist of radioactive and

chemical contamination of air, land, and surface and ground 

waters. Study of our digitized database of the geographic and 

geologic distributions of uranium deposits ard mining areas 

in the Western States has identified locations of most concern, especially in public lands and populated areas. The 

Front Range of Colorado has been chosen for an initial pilot 

study to delineate hi detail those areas most sensitive to 

radionuclide hazards.

Sulfide ores and high-sulfur coals a*e well-known 

sources of acid drainage and dissolved toxic elements, but 

less appreciated is the potential hazard of urrnium liberated 

from sulfide-bearing shales that are commonly associated 

with economic deposits of coal. Sulfide-beanng shales can 

produce slight acidity, sufficient to release significant 

amounts of uranium to throughflowing surface and ground 

waters. This liberated uranium can be transported long distances, and thus potentially contaminate drinking water supplies, because it remains highly soluble in neutralized pore 

waters as a carbonate complex.

Uranium-bearing surface and ground waters are also 

commonly associated with granitic rocks containing uranium. Potentially hazardous uranium concentrations (>20 

parts per billion) in these waters can be reduced when the 

water flows through wetlands. Peaty wetlard deposits can 

concentrate uranium by factors of 10,000 or more relative to 

incoming waters by adsorbing the uranium on decayed plant 

matter. Young (<100,000 years) uranium-bearing wetlands 

pose little radiation hazard because incoming waters supply 

uranium, which has relatively low radioactivity, in preference to its more radioactive decay products. However, the 

chemical toxicity of dissolved uranium is of concern if naturally uraniferous wetlands are drained or otherwise disturbed 

and the waters interact with potable water supplies.

Produced waters in oil, gas and cobbed methane 

fields commonly contain as much as 35 percent total dissolved solids. These brines, and solids precipitated from 

them, contain varying amounts of radiun and various 

toxic metals. The average concentration of radium hi 

brine solids is about 900 picocuries per gram (pCi/g). 

Health physicists suggest that radium concentrations hi 

excess of 5-30 pCi/g are of concern, depending on the 

exposure conditions. Elevated levels of radium in oil and 

gas field brine precipitates have been identified in the Gulf 

Coast, the eastern mid-continent, and the western mid-continent regions, but elevated radium levels are likely to 

occur wherever modestly to highly concentrated brines 

occur. EPA estimates that about 30 percert of producing 

oil and gas wells in the United States may have elevated 

levels of radium in brines and brine solids. The USGS 

has initiated studies to evaluate this problem.

112
u> Geologic Radon 

Potential

(Predicted Average 

Screening Measurement)

| | Low (<2pCi/L)

Moderate/Variable 

(2 - 4 pCi/L)High (> 4 pCi/L)

~* «**

Miles

Scale 

Continental United States

and Hawaii 

0 100 200 300 400 500

Miles

Figure 1 (Schumann and others). Generalized geologic radon potential map of the United States.
The Effects of Oil-Field Brines on 

Aquifers Geophysical Applications in 

Oil Field Environmental Studies

Bruce D. Smith, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Denver, CO 80225, and Aldo T. Mazzella, 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 

Las Vegas, NV

Introduction

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and 

the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have investigated the 

application of various geophysical methods to address 

ground-water contamination problems associated with oil 

field brine. This work was carried out in support of the EPA 

Underground Injection Control (UIC) program.

We present current results on the evaluation of airborne 

electromagnetic (EM) induction techniques to delineate subsurface brine contamination. The study was conducted at the 

Brookhaven oil field located just west of the city of 

Brookhaven, about 120 km south of Jackson, Mississippi. 

During the period from 1943 to 1986, approximately 54 million barrels of brine were pumped to the surface from production horizons more than 1.5 km deep. Prior to 1978, brine 

disposal followed various surface disposal methods that contaminated near-surface aquifers and streams. The current 

disposal practice is through deep Class II injection wells usually into the oil-bearing formations. Current practices can 

contaminate the near-surface aquifers through various mechanisms: failure of the integrity of the injection well, brine 

migration upward from nonplugged or improperly plugged 

idle or abandoned wells, and through vertical fractures in the 

confining strata overlying the injection formation.

Geology and Hydrology

Windblown sands (loess) up to 20 m thick cover much 

of the area. The Citronelle Formation (Pliocene) consists 

mostly of sands with basal gravel at a depth of 30-40 m comprising the shallowest aquifers. Deeper aquifers are sand 

lenses in shales of the Hattiesburg Formation (Miocene).

USGS Water Resources Division (WRD) analyses of 

samples from 81 water wells (Kalkhoff, 1986) have shown 

that the shallow ground water (less than 100 m deep) within 

the oil field has elevated dissolved solids, more than 600 

mg/L (milligrams per liter) chloride in some areas. Local 

background levels of chloride are less than 20 mg/L. In addition, the oil field brine has a unique sodium:chloride ratio of 

0.49 that allows identification of this source of contamination. A recent re-sampling and analysis of water wells in the 

area by WRD shows that high chloride levels still exist 

within the oil field (Larry Slack, written commun., 1994).

Ground Electrical Geophysical Surveys

Electrical geophysical methods can be used to map 

variations in subsurface resistivity. The resistivity of sediments is controlled by porosity, degree of saturation, and the 

resistivity (inverse conductivity) of pore fluids as well as 

clay content. The fluid resistivity is inversely proportional 

to the amount of brine or dissolved solids in ground water. 

Consequently, electrical methods can be used to map subsurface brine targets given a sufficient contrast in subsurface 

electrical properties and a sufficiently large-size target for its 

depth of burial.

A limited number of DC resistivity soundings were carried out to determine the general nature of subsurface resistivity variations. The shales of the Hattiesburg Formation 

appear to have resistivities less than 100 ohm-m. The basal 

gravel of the Citronelle Formation appears to have resistivities on the order of 200-500 ohm-m. Interpretation of these 

soundings along a north-south profile suggests a low resistivity zone (less than 20 ohm-m) about 500 m wide and 

extending to a depth of at least 15m. This and other areas of 

low resistivity could be due to brine and (or) clays.

A number of ground EM surveys were also conducted 

along roads and in cleared fields. The interpretation of the 

data was severely limited due to cultural noise created by 

buried pipelines, utilities, metal fences, power lines, and 

similar sources.

Airborne Geophysical Surveys

A contracted helicopter-borne geophysical survey was 

flown over the oil field with a flightline spacing of 1/8 mile 

(220 m) and an elevation of 200 feet (60 m), except over populated areas. Navigation was done with a high-accuracy 

radar transponder with a backup photographic record of the 

flight path. Geophysical sensors included total field magnetic, VLF (very low frequency) passive electromagnetic 

(EM), and an active EM system using 900,7,200, and 52,000 

Hertz (Hz). Passive systems make use of EM signals generated by sources external to the airborne instrumentation. For 

the VLF measurements, 20,000 Hz EM signals from Navy 

transmission sources were used. Active EM systems use a 

transmitter carried with the airborne instrumentation.

USGS geophysicists flew the same area with a fixed 

wing STOL (short takeoff and landing) aircraft using special 

EM geophysical systems developed by the USGS. The 

flightiines duplicated the contracted helicopter survey as 

much as logistically possible. The processed EM data 

include total field magnetics and VLF.

Airborne Magnetic Measurements

In some oil fields, location of undocumented abandoned oil wells is a critical problem as they can be conduits 

for vertical migration of brine. Previous USGS research 

studies funded by the EPA have demonstrated successful

114
applications of ground and airborne magnetic field measurements to locate shallow steel well casings (Frischknecht and 

others, 1985).

The contour map of total airborne magnetic field measurements shows many short-wave-length "bulls-eye" 

anomalies. These anomalies have positive amplitudes ranging from tens to hundreds of nanoteslas (nT). The larger 

anomalies are generally associated with steel oil storage 

tanks. Smaller anomalies, in some cases, are correlated with 

steel-cased oil wells.

Passive Airborne Electromagnetic Measurements

The helicopter VLF electromagnetic field measurements (horizontal and vertical magnetic fields) are presented 

by the contractor as contour maps of the total EM field. 

These maps mostly show anomalies associated with cultural 

sources (power lines and metallic structures). Consequently 

use of this data set to map subsurface resistivity variations is 

limited.

The USGS VLF airborne system measures more components of the EM field (vertical and horizontal magnetic 

fields, and horizontal electrical field) than the commercial 

system. These additional components are used to calculate 

apparent resistivity along each flightline. The contour map 

of apparent resistivity shows less influence from cultural 

effects than the total field VLF contour map.

Active Airborne Electromagnetic Measurements

The contractor used standard processing methods to 

compute apparent resistivities for each frequency along the 

flighflines (Smith and others, 1992). In general the highest 

frequency, 56,000 Hz, has the shallowest depth of penetration (a few meters) and the lowest frequency has the greatest 

depth of penetration (tens of meters). Contour maps of the 

apparent resistivity at each frequency show minimal effects 

from cultural sources such as pipelines and power lines.

Additional processing of the active measurements consisted of computing an interpreted resistivity as a function of 

depth along each flightline (Smith and others, 1992). These 

calculations have been used to prepare contour maps of 

interpreted resistivity variations at selected depths up to 

70m.

Interpretation

The interpreted resistivity variation at a depth of 30 m 

in the central part of the oil field is shown in figure 1 along 

with the location of known brine disposal pits. The location 

of all pits and the amount of brine disposed in them were not 

historically documented. Areas of high resistivities (>250 

ohm-m) probably are associated with thick loess or sands 

and gravel of the Citronelle Formation. Areas of low resistivities (<25 ohm-m) may be reflecting clays, shales, or 

saline water.

DC resistivity sounding measurements in the area of pit 

A (fig. 1) show a zone of interpreted shallow low resistivity. 

Water wells near pit A show elevated chloride levels of 

greater than several hundred milligrams per liter (Kalkhoff, 

1986). It is very likely that the geophysical signature indicates subsurface saline waters.

The area of pit B (fig. 1) is markedly devoid of vegetation, which may indicate saline water concentration near the 

surface. The USGS VLF apparent resistivity map shows a 

distinct low in the same area, which may indicate an area of 

shallow saline water.

Pit C (fig. 1) is located in an area of low interpreted 

resistivity that extends southwest to another brine disposal 

pit. This area of possible subsurface brine contamination 

was reported to the Mississippi Oil and Gas Board, who 

arranged for a mechanical integrity test (MIT) of a well near 

the pit that had been used in the past as an injection well. The 

well failed the MIT test, indicating that the subsurface casing 

could not hold specified pressure due to casing imperfections 

at unknown depths. The well was properly plugged in 

November 1991.

Some brine disposal pits do not have either a direct or 

indirect association with a discrete low interpreted resistivity 

anomaly. One example is pit D (fig. 1). This disposal area 

was closed more than 30 years ago and restored by unknown 

methods (at that time usually by simple burial with a bulldozer). Presently this area is entirely overgrown with brush 

and trees that seem to be of the same character as outside the 

immediate area of the pit. Consequently the brine likely has 

been effectively dispersed in the area of pit D. The hydraulic 

gradient (Kalkhoff, 1986) in the area suggests that subsurface saline waters may have migrated westward toward a 

creek. Any residual saline water in the immediate area of pit 

D is not sufficiently concentrated to cause a pronounced 

low-resistivity anomaly.

Notice: The EPA, through its Office of Research and 

Development (ORD), and the USGS prepared this abstract 

for a poster presentation. It does not necessarily reflect the 

views of EPA, ORD, or the USGS. Mention of trade names 

or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or 

recommendation for use by the EPA or the USGS.

REFERENCES

Frischknecht, F.C., Grette, R., Raab, P.V., and Meredith, J., 1985, 

Location of abandoned wells by magnetic surveys Acquisition and interpretation of aeromagnetic data for five test areas: 

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 85-614A, 64 p.

Kalkhoff, S. 1986, Brine contamination of shallow ground water 

and streams in the Brookhaven oil field, Lincoln County, Mississippi: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resource Investigations Report 86-4087,57 p.

Smith, B.D., Sengpiel, K.P., Plesha, J., and Horton, R.J., 1992, Airborne electromagnetic mapping of subsurface brine, 

Brookhaven oil field, Mississippi, in Expanded abstracts with 

biographies, 1992 Technical Program: Society of Exploration 

Geophysicists, p. 340-343.

115
BROOKHAVEN OIL FIELD 

30 Meter Depth Slice

2 MILES 

I

EXPLANATION 

Interpreted Resistivity

Below 15 OHM-Meters 

15-25 OHM-Meters 

25-40 OHM-Meters 

40-60 OHM-Meters

^gJ 60-100 OHM-MetersH| 100-150 OHM-Meters^B 150-250 OHM-Meters^B 250-400 OHM-MetersHI 400-600 OHM-MetersHI 600-1000 OHM-Meters^H Above 1000 OHM-Meters

i i i | | 

0 1 2 KILOMETERS

Figure 1 (Smith and Mazzella). Interpreted resistivity contour map at an estimated depth of 30 m for the central part of the Brookhaven oil field, Mississippi. X, past brine disposal pit. Letters refer to areas discussed in the text.
Environmental Impacts of 

Oil and Gas Pipelines

H.G. Wilshire, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Menlo Park, CA 94025

Construction of oil and gas pipelines is expanding rapidly in the United States and the world. U.S. construction 

completions for 1992 were projected to be more than 10,500 

km, 10,900 km for 1993, and 6,700 km for 1994. The environmental impacts of three recently built interstate pipelines 

(All American, from Santa Barbara County, Calif., to Upton 

County, Texas; Kern River, from Lincoln County, southwest 

Wyoming to San Bernardino County, Calif.; and Mojave, 

from Mohave County, Ariz. [connecting with lines from 

west Texas], to Kern County, Calif.) were studied in the 

Mojave Desert, Calif. (Wilshire, 1992). The Right-of-Way 

(ROW) Grants and Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) 

prepared by the lead Federal agency, the U.S. Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM), represent the anticipated area of 

direct construction impact as a nominal width of 21 to 23 m.

The three pipelines were laid in graded construction 

zones averaging 27 m wide (range 21-63 m) over 385 km of 

gently sloping, undissected to moderately dissected terrain, 

and 40 m wide (range 24-83 m) over 85 km of moderately 

steep to steep terrain. Where corridors of two of the pipelines 

overlap, the combined graded width averages 44 m (range 

30-57 m) over 116 km of gentle terrain, and 68 m (range 

51-118 m) over 10 km of steep terrain. Terrain with low 

relief comprises medial and distal piedmont alluvial deposits, large washes, playas, and sand sheets; steep terrain comprises mountainous and deeply dissected proximal piedmont 

alluvial deposits.

The surveyed width and actual construction width were 

compared at 15 stations along 45 km of corridor; the results 

show that the width of the graded corridor exceeds the surveyed width by about 12 percent.

Current methods of pipeline installation have caused 

significant problems of accelerated wind and water erosion, 

threats to public health and safety, and long-term loss of habitat, especially in arid lands. Other impacts that may occur 

include visual intrusions that are enhanced because of the 

linear character of construction zones that cross hundreds of 

miles of open country, and segmentation of wildlife habitat. 

A moderate rainstorm of 4 hours duration in the Tehachapi 

Mountains eroded about 300 to 620 t/ha (metric tons per 

hectare) of soil across steep slopes of the Mojave pipeline 

corridor. Seven vegetation transects indicate losses of individual native perennials ranging from 11,800 to 37,900 per 

km, based on the width of the construction zone in the immediate vicinity of each transect; a transect across the oldest 

corridor (5 years when measured) indicates a low degree of 

recovery.

The observed problems result from failure to implement mitigations that are stipulated in the EIS and1 ROW 

Grant, inadequacy of the environmental stipulations, and 

inadequate engineering oversight. The most important stipulations that were not met include (1) the requirement to trim 

foliage rather than blade the construction ROW (All American); (2) failure to leave roots of cleared vegetation intact 

(Kern River, possibly Mojave); (3) failure to remove plants 

of special concern (for example, Joshua trees, sensitive cacti, 

perennial species) and replant them on the corridor after construction (Kern River, Mojave, except for barrel cact"s); (4) 

failure to avoid (by route selection) disturbance to sensitive 

and valuable plant communities, including Joshr^ tree 

woodlands (all pipelines), desert dunes (all pipelines), and 

ironwood washes (All American); (5) failure to implement 

visual mitigations (Kern River); and (6) failure to minimize 

the damage caused by grading, even in areas of level terrain 

(all pipelines). The best performance achieved in reducing 

grading is described in the habitat compensation stipr'ations 

as the "worst case scenario."

Inadequacies in the stipulations include (1) mmerous 

qualifications that place unreasonable burdens on th?. capability of limited agency staff to oversee operations and which 

thereby reduce the likelihood of compliance; (2) fa;iure to 

stipulate reclamation procedures for temporary storage 

areas; (3) inadequate stipulations for reclamation of temporary access roads; and contradictory stipulations in EIS vs 

Construction, Operation and Maintenance (COM) Plans, 

such as the blanket requirement to remove and replant after 

construction plants of special concern (EIS), and tl ?. very 

limited replanting (100 yuccas and 100 cacti in California) 

required by the Kern River Pipeline COM Plan. Since the 

COM Plan is reviewed only by the lead agency (BLM) after 

the public review period, changes in mitigations from the 

EIS appear to violate the National Environmental Policy 

Act's provision for full public disclosure of potential 

impacts.

A lack of rigorous engineering oversight on a1 ! three 

pipelines resulted in substandard construction of wat^r bars, 

failure to reconstruct many drainage channels across the corridors, and failure to take special measures for the mitigation 

of wind erosion in sensitive areas of concern to public safety. 

These failures exacerbated the problems of accelerated erosion and may have created public hazards. Responsibility 

for implementing the mitigations belongs ultimately vdth the 

lead Federal and State agencies.

Environmental impacts of pipeline installations could 

be substantially reduced by more rigorous implementation of 

existing mitigations. In particular, minimization of the disturbed area could be much more rigorously addressed. The 

environmental documents related to these pipelines provide 

for narrower construction ROW in numerous cases of special 

concern; for example, the following requirements haue been 

stipulated for environmentally sensitive areas in Eir documents: "The pipeline project shall be limited to a 50-foot

117
ROW overlapping existing ROW's***with ditch lines not 

more than 20 feet off of existing ditch lines. If extra construction width is necessary, it will be held to a maximum of 

20 feet***." "Where the ROW follows the existing El Paso 

Natural Gas ROW or other existing ROW's,***new disturbance will be limited to the area needed for trenching and 

stockpiling backfill." The damages accompanying current 

practices can be effectively mitigated by requiring that pipelines share construction corridors, applying the limitations in 

sensitive areas, as previously cited, throughout the corridors. 

Additional significant improvements can be effected by 

careful attention to restoration of all drainages, even small 

ones, across the corridors, proper construction of water bars, 

use of biodegradable netting in areas especially sensitive to 

wind and water erosion until the hazard is eliminated, and 

remediation of compaction and revegetation in temporary

access roads and storage areas. A rigorous rrogram for proactive revegetation of native plant commnities could be 

developed under the aegis of various interested government 

agencies and industry. Such a program or'ld also aim to 

overcome the problems inherent in transplantation of sensitive plants, such as cacti and Joshua trees rnd other yucca. 

The damages done to especially rich vegetative communities 

in parts of these corridors indicate the reed for critical 

review of presently designated routes.

REFERENCE

Wilshke, H.G., 1992, Environmental impacts of pipeline corridors 

in the Mojave Desert, California: U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 92-447, 28 p.

USGS-NAVAJO COMMUNITY COLLEGE COOPERATIVE STUDY

Environmental Significance of 

New Mexico Coal Quality Data

Stephanie Begay, Suzette Martin, and 

Steven C. Semken, Navajo Community College, 

Shiprock, Navajo Nation, N M 87420-0580

Pending revisions of the Federal Clean Air Act are 

likely to further constrain allowable releases of potentially 

hazardous air pollutants, principally trace elements, from 

coal burned for power generation or industrial heating. 

Selective mining or coal blending may be required for many 

utilities to satisfy environmental regulations. To comply 

with these regulations coal and utility industries will need 

easy access to accurate geochemical, geologic, and

geographic data on coal from the U.S. Geological Survey 

(USGS) and State databases.

As a pilot project, we have compared coal quality data 

from approximately 400 samples collected and analyzed by 

the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources to 

coal quality data from approximately 350 New Mexico samples from the USGS National Coal Resources Data System, 

to identify possible discrepancies and to suggest where further sampling and analysis may be warrante'i. We have also 

produced maps from the merged databases showing the lateral and stratigraphic distribution of trace elements of environmental concern within the major New Mexico coal fields. 

The coal quality data for coals currently mired and burned in 

the Colorado Plateau area, where this industry is a mainstay 

of the local economy, will be used to assess the potential 

environmental consequences of coal combustion on this 

fragile, semiarid ecosystem.

118
PAPERS REPRESENTING PANEL MEMBERS' VIEWPOINTS

Fossil Energy Technologies for the 

21st Century

Thomas F. Bechtel, U.S. Department of Energy,

Morgantown Energy Technology Center,

3610 Collins Ferry Road, Morgantown WV 26505

I appreciate the opportunity to discuss my vision of the 

future for fossil energy. My government experience is limited, but I bring a perspective derived from 28 years as a 

technologist and business manager in the private sector. I 

have watched the commercial side of the business through 

the eyes of the technologist and vice versa and appreciate the 

difference between "market pull" and "technology push" 

and the tension it creates between the commercial and technology communities as they debate corporate R&D investment strategies. As we in government attempt to take on a 

customer focus and learn the language and culture of the private sector, the traditional competition between basic 

research and applied technology that clouds resource allocation in the Federal R&D program takes on new meaning.

The National Energy Policy/Plan, which is currently in 

an update cycle, provides a vision for the early years of the 

next century. That vision provides immense challenges to 

the fossil energy community. But it also provides a strategic 

format for setting technology development goals and providing much needed focus to energy R&D efforts. By providing 

technology market opportunity and timing scenarios, it 

allows us to plan research program phasing and investments 

that are more realistically aligned with the product life cycle 

planning of our private sector partners. It can help us avoid 

moving technologies toward development too rapidly and 

ensure that we move into expensive large development 

efforts with the most advanced technology feasible to meet 

market opportunities. Its emphasis on sustainable strategies 

forces environmental considerations up front in the R&D 

cycle; a more balanced solution will surely evolve. The strategic perspective also forces our new ideas to compete with 

competitors of the future, not today's accepted product. For 

example, new coal-fired power generation ideas must compete with the Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle 

(IGCC), not today's standard pulverized coal plant.

Before going too far down the philosophical path, I'd 

like to briefly summarize the challenge that this future presents to the oil, gas, and coal communities.

Reducing the total consumption of petroleum products 

and reversing the decline curve for domestic production, that 

is, increasing domestic product market share in a declining 

market, without using taxes, tariffs, or mandates to distort 

market forces, is a significant marketing challenge in any 

case and defies all conventional marketing wisdom in the

situation where the import has a significant cost advantage 

over the domestic product. Our challenge is to produce the 

"new domestic product" at a cost lower than the impoted 

product it is displacing. Natural gas utilization is envisioned 

to grow to 22-24 TCF (trillion cubic feet) annually by the 

year 2000 and remain at that level for an extended period. 

The demographic and economic forces behind that projection are already at work; the electric power industry with its 

growing complement of cogenerator and independent pc wer 

producers already envisions at least 3 TCF in projects 

already well along in development. The remainder of the 

demand will likely come from industrial and commercial 

backout of petroleum use. Small amounts of demand will 

accrue from residential and fleet transportation. The annual 

supplier industry investment in production, transmission, 

distribution, and storage systems implicit in this growth projection far exceeds traditional levels for the natural gas 

industry. It may require the user industry, with its higher traditional investment base, to absorb both the utilization and 

storage investments (and possibly some of the others) via 

"capacity charge" approaches similar to those used with 

independent power producers. That is by no means an obvious solution, as many of the changes in the electric utility 

market have been driven by their need to reduce their investment exposure.

The role that coal is envisioned to play is critically 

dependent on Fossil Energy programs that are targeted to 

reduce capital costs and provide superior environmental performance in power generation systems. Much of this targeted market advantage comes directly from process design 

features, but a significant contribution comes from the dramatic improvements in energy efficiency projected for the 

new generation of power generation equipment such 

things as gas turbines, fuel cells, MHD all of which promise efficiencies in the 50 percent range as compared to the 30 

percent range for the existing power supply system in this 

country. This overall increased efficiency translates ir*o a 

33 percent reduction in the amount of fuel consumed to provide the same amount of electricity. As most environmental 

damage correlates with fuel use, this efficiency kicker is an 

automatic environmental benefit. When combined with 

cleaner fuels and improved pollutant removal systems, we 

envision dramatic gains in the environmental acceptal ;Uty 

of coal-fired systems. The fossil Energy (FE) Program is 

addressing these challenges in both the R&D and Clean Coal 

Technology (CCT) Programs.

In the Oil Program, we are working on (1) domestic 

resource characterization to reduce risk when independents 

acquire resources from majors, (2) field demonstrations of 

drilling and production stimulation technology to improve 

the ability of independents to employ advanced production 

techniques, (3) advanced production stimulation techniques

119
that will increase the ultimate yield of all fields, and (4) environmental assessment and mitigation technology that will 

reduce the ecological risk of oil production.

The Gas Program has broadened its perspective: it recognizes that transmission, distribution, storage, and utilization technology and regulatory improvements will play just 

as important a role as resource identification and production 

in the future role of natural gas in the U.S. energy picture. 

Consequently, FE activity will continue to include the 

resource characterization and production R&D, which has 

already paid off in substantial reserve increases in coal bed 

methane, Eastern Shale, and Tight Sands and will continue 

to do so as we move into other basins, such as the Green 

River. However, it also includes advanced molten carbonate 

and solid oxide fuel cells for both stationary power applications, advanced gas turbines for combined cycle applications, and in-place storage systems for on-site fuel storage to 

alleviate daily demand peaks. These storage approaches are 

production in reverse. Advanced drilling and fracturing 

techniques are used to create new reservoirs or to expand 

depleted ones. They are then filled with gas from the pipeline in off-peak periods and produced during peak demand 

periods. By providing on-site storage, it is possible to 

expand gas utilization without exceeding the capacity of the 

natural gas delivery system.

The Coal Program has many technologies "in the pipeline" to meet the demands of the 21st century. MHD, Coal 

Gasification Fuel Cells, Indirectly-Fired Gas Turbines, 

Advanced IGCC, and Advanced PFB are all far enough 

along in the R&D cycle that they were proposed for demonstration in the fifth round of CCT solicitations; all but MHD 

were selected and are under contract. All of these technologies are ultra-clean and highly efficient; they meet the reliable, affordable, clean energy demands of the early decades 

of the next century.

These technology programs have provided the U.S. 

energy industry and Federal energy policy leaders with the 

technological tools to sustain the low-cost/environmentally 

acceptable energy competitive edge that the U.S. economy 

has long enjoyed. Our productive past and the vision of a 

promising future should give you some level of confidence 

that we can sustain that advantage in the future.

The Outlook for the Natural Gas Industry

Michael I. German, Senior Vice President,

American Gas Association,

1515 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22209

Introduction

Four major factors will influence future gas markets: 

environmental policy; energy policy; gas industry restructuring; and technological change. In general, these factors have

been and will be positives for industrial gas consumers, 

although Clean Air Act compliance will provide a challenge. 

Specifically, as regards the environment, Clean Air Act 

implementation, CFC phase-out, and a fcois on CC>2 all 

impact the place of natural gas in the energy mix. Implementation of previously passed energy legislation will generally 

help gas markets, specifically, NGV's, gas cooling, and gas 

in electric generation. Technology advance^1 will ensure gas 

availability at competitive prices and reduce the cost of using 

gas. Finally, gas industry restructuring will allow gas companies more flexibility to compete and tailor their products 

to meet customer needs.

History

Some of the reasons for natural gas' positive outlook 

are apparent. Gas consumption has jumped 25 percent from 

16.7 quads (quadrillion Btu) in 1986 to 20.8 quads in 1993. 

1993 gas consumption was at the highest l?-vel since 1979. 

In 1990 domestic natural gas use passed coal use for the first 

time since 1985 and natural gas' advantage has increased 

significantly since then. Gas use by industry has exceeded 

oil use. In 1992 new single family gas homes exceeded electric (65 percent to 29 percent) the best percentage since 

1971. Conversion of homes from electricity to natural gas 

reached an all-time high nearly 100,000. Finally, natural 

gas pipeline and distribution construction expenditures, 

including storage, increased to levels not se°-n since the late 

I960's with 1992 and 1993 expenditures between $10 billion and $11 billion. These statistical indicators all point in 

the same direction up.

Longer Term Gas Supply

Whenever natural gas is discussed by customers, the 

question of the adequacy of gas supplies is raised. From a 

supply perspective, the situation for oil is often associated 

with natural gas it shouldn't be. Over the last 10 years, the 

focus for exploration and production companies has undergone a major shift from oil to natural gas The lower 48 

States are a gas-prone geologic area. Since the early 1980's, 

gas producers have replaced over 93 percent of production 

with reserves additions. In 1993 gas well completions were 

up 8 percent over 1992 levels, while oil v^ll completions 

were down. For most of 1994, more rigs were drilling for 

gas than oil.

U.S. natural gas production in 1993 was about 18.4 

TCP. The Nation has discovered and has available to be 

produced 155 TCP of proven reserves in the lower 48 

States. Proved reserves are inventory and we have roughly 

8 years. The Potential Gas Committee the industry group 

that evaluates undiscovered gas resources has estimated 

that an additional 753 TCP of potential gas resources can be 

produced with foreseeable technology and economics. 

Therefore, conventional lower 48 States ga^ resources total

120
approximately 900 TCP. This is equivalent to 50 years supplies at the current usage level. It is important to note that 

the United States has had 8 to 10 years of proved reserves 

and 50 years of conventional resources since 1977 and will 

have these amounts well into the next century.

In addition to conventional gas resources, currently producing unconventional gas resources could double our gas 

potential. These unconventional sources include eastern 

Devonian shales, western tight sands, coal seam methane 

and enhanced gas recovery. Technology development will 

result in these vast supplies eventually becoming conventional: some of these resources are already being produced 

commercially (1 TCF/yr of coal seam gas is being produced 

today).

In addition to lower 48 States gas (both conventional 

and unconventional), a number of other gas supply sources 

will increase their contribution. These include Canadian gas 

(10 percent of U.S. supplies) and LNG (liquefied natural 

gas) (after 2000 up to 3 percent).

Gas Technology and Gas Supply

Over the last 10 years the "consensus" projections that 

could always be counted on as being wrong were (1) the 

forecast of gas reserve additions, (2) the imminent demise of 

the gas bubble, and (3) the coming gas price spike. In each 

of these instances, gas supply potential was underestimated. 

These incorrect forecasts were related they failed to understand improved technologies and efficiencies occurring in 

the Nation's gas fields.

Technological changes influence three basic elements 

of gas supply: exploration, production, and new resources. 

These are not mutually exclusive areas in fact some recent 

successes have resulted from integrating them but characterizing new technologies in these areas can clarify their 

impact on gas supply and economics.

Exploration. Significant advances have been made in 

geophysics, geology, and geochemistry. These advances 

have improved finding rates and discoveries per well drilled. 

After 15 years (1965-1980) of declining discoveries per well 

drilled (both in term of success rates and gas found per success), these ratios stabilized in the early 1980's and began to 

rise in the late 1980's. Exploration advances have been the 

product of new computer technology. Generally, a tremendous amount of geophysical/geologic data has always been 

available to the exploration geologist. The bottleneck has 

been handling and interpretation of these data. Computers 

are solving this problem. An example of this is three-dimensional seismology. This technology significantly helps identify drilling sites in complex geologic formations 

successes in the Western overthrust belt and the subsalt play 

in the offshore Gulf of Mexico can be attributed to 3D seismology.

Gas supply models have tended to lag behind the 

advances already made in geologic/geophysical capabilities.

This results in less gas found per well, more dry ho'es, and 

thus less gas at higher costs in gas supply forecasts tvan can 

occur in the real world. This failure to incorporate new technology partially explains why gas supply potential was 

nearly always underestimated in the 1980's.

Production. The cost of producing natural gar from a 

discovered field and the amount of gas recovered are dependent on production technology. Technology in this area has 

advanced rapidly since the mid-1970's. Successes in this 

area include horizontal drilling, deep-water production facilities, and new fracturing technology. Advances in each of 

these areas have lowered the cost of producing gas ir identified areas and often increased the amount of gas recoverable 

from identified reservoirs. For example, both honzontal 

drilling and new fracturing techniques should allow more 

rapid and greater recovery of natural gas from tight formations. This will result in greater gas supplies at lower prices. 

Deep-water drilling and production technology also 

increases "forgettable" resources and lowers costs. Each of 

these technologies will change the shape of the rational 

"natural gas supply curve" favorably.

New Resources. Certain types of natural grs have 

been historically excluded from the conventional resource 

base. The most obvious was and is coal seam gas Until 

1988 no coal seam gas was included in the conventional 

resource base. Today 147 TCP of coal seam methane is 

included from basins evaluated in the lower 48 States and 

Alaska, with the potential of 600 TCP more beinj: added 

over time. Other areas that fall in the "new resource:" category include western tight formations, eastern Devonian 

shales, and enhanced gas recovery. With coal seanr, these 

four categories could add about 100 years supply at the current consumption rate. For practical purposes, none of this 

potential is included in most forecasts of future gas supplies.

The two things most interesting about new gas supply 

technologies are (1) the diversity of advances behi£ made, 

and (2) the failure of most analysts to integrate these 

advances into their supply models. These two pheromena 

are related. It is much easier to model a one-time technological "miracle," than to estimate the impact of a dozen technological advances, most of which are evolution^y and 

ongoing.

Although a number of the technologies previously 

listed apply to both oil and natural gas, their application will 

be increasingly gas-prone. Until the last decade, the development of the natural gas resource base (including uV? application of new technology) was a stepchild of oil exploration 

and development activities. This has changed somewhat it 

will change dramatically over the next decade. The relative 

size of the undiscovered resource base, as well as tve economics of exploration and production, will increasingly 

favor natural gas. A survey of literature (such as annual 

reports) by major and independent oil companies confirms 

the view that the exploration and production indr^try is 

increasingly viewing gas as the fuel of the future.

121
Structural Changes

An overriding economic philosophy underpins the regulatory changes at FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) and some State regulatory commissions. This 

ongoing philosophy involves (1) the unbundling of utility 

rates and services; (2) rates that reflect the market value of 

the level of services received; (3) accountability on the part 

of the purchaser for its gas purchase decisions; and (4) the 

development of incentives to improve operating efficiency 

and increase throughput. These are straightforward concepts 

providing gas companies the opportunity to offer a wide 

array of services as well as the traditional one-stop shopping. 

FERC's Order 636 directly addresses the first three issues. 

Order 636, by increasing customer choice and accountability, pushes risk downstream. LDC's (local distribution companies) and end-users (when they choose to buy their own 

gas and delivery capacity) will be increasingly responsible 

for gas reliability and price. Over time, more and smaller 

customers will buy their own gas and arrange for transportation and other services. The pushing of risk downstream puts 

additional pressure on State public service commissioners to 

be responsive to changing market and financial risk conditions.

The gas transportation network is market-driven today. 

Contractual arrangements, gas services, rates, and operational considerations are all principally determined by competitive forces. Pipeline and distribution company services 

are increasingly unbundled; contractual terms are increasingly innovative and flexible; rate structures are being overhauled; and operating procedures are undergoing changes in 

order to respond to market requirements.

Gas Demand

The significant gas demand growth over the past 7 

years has occurred in two areas: (1) the industrial sector, and 

(2) the residential and commercial sectors. Industrial gas use 

jumped from 6.7 quads in 1986 to 9.2 quads in 1993. Residential and commercial demand rose from 6.8 quads in 1986 

to 8.1 quads in 1993. In contrast, electric utility gas use 

remained flat. This electric utility performance should be 

contrasted with a 1-quad increase in cogeneration gas use (a 

use of gas primarily to generate electricity that is included in 

the industrial sector).

Residential demand growth occurred despite the continuing 1 percent per year efficiency gains (conservation) in 

this service sector.

Given the high market share for natural gas (approximately 60 percent in new residential and commercial construction), it is projected that one-third of the growth in gas 

demand between 1993 and 2000 will come from these sectors. In fact, the one million residential customers added per 

year adds 100 BCF (billion cubic feet)/year of gas demand.

The industrial sector will supply another one-third of 

the gas demand growth between 1993 and 2COO. The use of 

gas in cogeneration facilities will continue, but not at the 

robust growth rates of the late 1980's and early 1990's. The 

slowdown in growth will be the product of slow electricity 

demand growth.

Finally, clean air regulations will supply the remaining 

one-third with conversion of existing electric and industrial generation plants to gas for clean air purposes dominating this market in the near term and natural gas vehicles 

increasing in importance throughout the period.

The Winter of 1993/94

The gas industry hoped to test itself in tve post-636 era 

with a normal winter. Instead it faced an extraordinary January (1994) in many regions of the country.

An estimated 2,543 BCF of natural gas was consumed 

in January 1994, which exceeds by 5 percent the previous 

record set in January 1979.

Questions about the Nation's natural gar network under 

FERC Order 636 were at least initially ar^wered by the 

strong performance of pipelines and local distribution companies during the weather-related crisis.

 Most major pipeline systems reported no interruptions of firm service, and, in fact, when all th?. data are available, will likely report all-time peaks on several of those 

systems.

 Many interruptible customers were interrupted, just as 

the system is supposed to work. However, by the end of that 

week in January, many of the companies that had earlier 

restricted interruptible transportation and storage services 

had restored these services to applicable customers.

 Isolated instances of service disruptions were generally traced to the failure of metering or regulating equipment, 

which when discovered was repaired in a short period of 

time.

 Service was disrupted briefly on one pipeline system 

because compressors powered by electricity were subjected 

to rolling power outages. As a result, the abil;ty to move gas 

through the system was reduced for a period of 15 hours. 

Excellent communication between the pipeline and affected 

LDC's helped to alleviate difficulties associated with the 

temporary disruption.

 At least one pipeline system was temporarily denied 

approximately 300 MMCFD (million cubic feet per day) of 

supply due to a failure at a processing plant. Fifty percent of 

capacity was restored within 24 hours with the remainder 

restored with 72 hours.

When all the data are in, many LDC's in the Midwest, 

Mid-Atlantic, and New England regions will report a singleday record throughput sometime during the period January 

17-21, 1994. LDC's reported that gas supply was not an 

issue. Instead, LDC design capacity was severely tested in 

many areas. However, instances of cooperation between

122
distribution companies to ensure reliable service to customers were the rule rather than the exception, and in all but a 

few isolated situations firm customers were served.

Verdict: Gas system was much more reliable than 

December '89 (last major test). Systems have been put in 

place to improve communication and cooperation. New 

pipelines and storage have been built. Existing system is 

improved. All this has made natural gas a very reliable fuel.

Economics

The wellhead price of natural gas measured in inflationfree 1994 dollars is projected to increase gradually from 

$1.83 per MMBtu ($1.88 per MCF) in 1992 to $3.06 per 

MMBtu ($3.15 per MCF) in 2010. Compared to an anticipated crude oil price (composite average refinery acquisition) of $4.31 per MMBtu ($25 per barrel) in 2010, measured 

in inflation-free 1994 dollars, the average in-the-field price 

of natural gas is projected to be 71 percent of average refinery acquisition price of crude oil, on a dollars-per-MMBtu 

basis.

Natural gas is projected to remain competitive, on a dollars-per-MMBtu basis, in the commercial and industrial sectors. The average price of distillate oil in 2010, for the United 

States as a whole, is projected to be 20 percent higher than 

that of natural gas to commercial users, and 68 percent 

higher than that of natural gas to industrial users. The U.S. 

average price of electricity to commercial users is projected 

to 3.9 times that of natural gas, and 3.5 times that of natural 

gas to industrial users in 2010.

Natural gas is projected to remain competitive with 

residual fuel oil and coal to electric utilities. For the United 

States as a whole, on a dollars-per-MMBtu basis, residual 

fuel oil is projected to cost electric utilities 8 percent more 

than natural gas in 2010. Coal is projected to cost electric 

utilities 47 percent less than natural gas, on a dollars-perMMBtu basis, on average in 2010, but suffers from higher 

handling and operating costs.

Conclusion

The technology of finding and producing gas has 

changed. Simultaneously, the basic legal and regulatory 

structure under which the gas industry operates has changed. 

These technological and structural changes, in conjunction 

with the fundamental economic and environmental advantages of gas energy, will result in gas becoming the cornerstone of future U.S. energy consumption. The structural 

changes when completed will eventually facilitate the development of gas supplies, help in the promotion of new gas 

markets, and facilitate greater efficiency.

Historically, a single energy source rises to prominence 

and achieves a preeminent market share of total energy consumption over an extended period. In the United States and 

worldwide this has already occurred for wood, coal, and oil;

and the beginnings of the natural gas era date from the 

1950's. Worldwide, the trend towards a gas era has moved 

forward steadily, with gas use in major industrial nations 

outside the United States tripling between 1970 and 1P86. In 

the United States natural gas use increased at a spec^cular 

rate between 1950 and 1972, with natural gas satisfying onethird of energy demand in 1972. This growth was inflated by 

very low wellhead price controls that resulted in market 

share growth at afaster rate than would have occurred otherwise. The 21 percent decline in natural gas consumption 

from 1970 to 1986 was the inevitable result: The U.S. gas 

industry went through a period of rapid growth growth 

over-stimulated by price controls and a period of cintraction caused by the same controls. With wellhead controls 

gone, the steady movement towards a gas era in the United 

States should resume, mirroring market share trends occurring elsewhere in the industrialized world.

REFERENCES

American Gas Association, 1994a, Fact sheet on natural ga" industry actions January 1994, American Gas Association Issue 

Brief 1994-2, February 4, 1994.

 1994b, The gas energy demand and supply outlook 

1993-2010: American Gas Association, January 1994.

DOE/EIA, 1994, Monthly energy review, June 1994.

Potential Gas Agency, 1993, Potential supply of natural grs in the 

United States (December 31, 1992): Colorado School of 

Mines, Potential Gas Agency, May 1993.

Application of Geosciences to DecisionMaking It's an Idea Worth Trying and 

Long Overdue

Richard L. Lawson, President,

National Coal Association, 1130 17th St. N.W.,

Washington, D.C 20036-4677

America's 265-billion ton reserve of recoverable coal is 

95 percent of our fossil-fuel reserve. It must be used if concerns about the social, economic, and natural environments 

are to be balanced.

Only science and technology can achieve this balance; 

but they can achieve it only if scientists, such as thos*1 here, 

determine to address the way politics uses and sometimes 

abuses your profession.

And so I'd like to speak to the overall conference 

theme the Application of Geosciences to DecisionMaking before discussing coal and related question*1

Application of science to Federal decision-making is a 

good idea. On recent major questions it is one that has not 

been "tried and found wanting"; rather it has not been 

wanted and gone untried.

123
Think of the recent Clean Air Act. USGS and other 

Federal agencies participated in the half-billion dollar 

National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program, called 

NAPAP, through the 1980's. Nothing like it had ever been 

done before on an environmental question. Science was 

mobilized to find answers: solid work was done toward solid 

decisions.

All the while the professional environmental lobby 

published cut-and-paste-together studies and called it science; they featured the scare and predictions of an end to life 

as we know it. Some studies became the basis of news 

opportunities for allies in Congress. Some seemed aimed at 

discrediting NAPAP interim findings. Pressure grew.

Then NAPAP reported: there is no acid rain crisis and 

immediate action is not necessary. But NAPAP reported too 

late. Perceptions had outrun the science and politics 

responded. A cost estimated at $30 billion a year was 

imposed on Americans despite the science.

Two views of science are at work. Let's examine them 

by pairing recent remarks on climate change with to-thepoint observations from classic thinkers.

First, climatologist Stephen Schneider, when associated 

with the National Center for Atmospheric Research: "***we 

need to ***capture the public's imagination***offer up 

scary scenarios, make***dramatic statements* **make little 

mention of any doubts.***Each of has to decide***the right 

balance***between being right and being effective***."

And now biologist T.H. Huxley: "The great tragedy of 

science the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly 

fact."

Next, Vice President Gore, on climate change, from 

Earth in the Balance: "If we are to succeed, we must resist 

being overwhelmed by the flood of information***."

And, finally, the economist Adam Smith in The Wealth 

of Nations: "Science is the great antidote to the poison of 

enthusiasm and superstition."

NAPAP also produced the term "scientific McCarthyism." It was coined by a participant scientist who said on 60 

Minutes that the "problem is so small it's hard to see," and 

for his remark was publicly scolded by an administration 

official as having limited credibility even in a limited area.

"Scientific McCarthyism" seeks to discredit the scientist rather than answer the ugly facts the scientist raises: like 

the original political article, it wants to intimidate rather than 

elucidate.

Something similar is happening in debate of the climate-change postulation. On a Nightline presentation on 

ABC television last February 24th, Ted Koppel's summation 

was as follows: "***the issues have to be debated and settled 

on scientific grounds, not politics***the measure of good 

science is neither the politics of the scientist nor the people 

with whom the scientist works. It is the immerson of hypothesis into the acid of truth.

"That's the hard way to do it but it is the only way that 

works."

Science is not my profession, and I shall not presume to 

tell scientists what to do about the politicize tion of science. 

My former profession was national security and my present 

one concerns energy and economic security; all three are 

intertwined.

And I do know the following:

 That we have two kinds of science vying in policy 

the cut-and-paste kind that ignores "ugly" facts to achieve 

scares and political objectives; and the kind that seeks understanding;

 That science diligently mobilized and 1 nnestly applied 

can identify and quantify problems induing the climate 

postulation and then develop the techno'ogy to deliver 

solutions;

 That if those who honor the traditions of science stand 

silent, the cut-and-paste scares will prevail e^ery time;

 And that Mr. Koppel is right seeking the truth is the 

hard way, but the only way that works.

The postulation of climate change is not politics as 

usual. Every domestic and international activity associated 

with it is aimed at taking away energy from society's use.

Too little energy at too high a cost car be a matter of 

war and peace; energy makes the difference between subsistence and a strong standard of living, betw^-en widespread 

social unrest and a country confident the fu*Mre can always 

be better than the present.

Within this, America's 265 billion tons of recoverable 

coal equal the energy in all the world's prcved reserves of 

oil. Today coal provides 33 percent of domestically produced fossil energy, the largest share; and 57 percent of the 

Nation's electric power; and it is 95 percent cf all the domestic fossil energy we have for the future.

Tomorrow coal will have to provide more if computers 

are to function reliably and traffic to run smoothly on the 

information highway. Advanced technology exists to do this 

in ways that resolve concerns about the environment and 

deliver economic strength.

But it will not happen if scares, perceptions, and politics 

are again allowed to outrun the science if the "ugly" facts 

and findings, that even now call the climate postulation into 

question, are again ignored.

The application of science to decision-making is a good 

idea. It's one well worth trying and long overdue.

Geoscientists, Fossil Fuels, and 

Climate Change A Defector's View

Dr. Jeremy Leggett, GREENPEACE, Canonbury 

Villas, London N1 2PN, U.K.

I left my career as a university geoscien*ist and consultant to the oil industry in the late 1980's hi large part because 

of my growing fears about human-enhancement of the

124
greenhouse effect as a result of fossil-fuel dependency. But 

since then, many highly placed individuals in the oil and coal 

businesses have assured me that my concerns are groundless. 

An oil company CEO has told me that I have fallen victim to 

"terrorising theories and accusations" (and more, that I am 

now guilty of perpetuating them). A Chairman of the World 

Coal Institute has told me that he can't see the relevance of 

the global wanning debate to the "real world." After 5 years 

as an environmentalist, I can recount many other such examples of senior oil and coal industry figures dismissing the 

prospect of an enhanced greenhouse effect, and consequent 

climate change, as a non-problem.

Employees and servicers of the coal and hydrocarbon 

businesses, such as geoscientists, can clearly be forgiven for 

concluding that they need not bother themselves with the 

debate. The message from the top seems to be that business 

as usual can be the order of the day, perhaps with a few routine concessions to energy efficiency and non-greenhouse 

emissions. Sit tight, the message reads, and take comfort in 

the case of the scientific sceptics, and their regular drip of 

"Global Warming Disputed" stories.

Yet a look at the real world, I submit, shows there is real 

and growing cause for concern. For instance, it has not 

escaped the attention of one industry, far bigger than the coal 

and oil businesses, that if global wanning does come to pass 

as so many climate scientists now expect, the years to come 

might involve economic ruin. The $1.4 trillion insurance 

industry is waking up fast to the threat inherent in greenhouse-gas emissions. It is easy to see why. Between 1966 

and 1986, no climate-related natural catastrophe, anywhere 

in the world, clocked up more than a billion US dollars. 

Between 1987 and today, no less than 15 have.

Whether a first faint signal of human-enhanced greenhouse warming is emerging in statistics like these is a matter 

of debate. But the world's biggest reinsurance company, 

Munich Re, is among the growing body of institutions which 

needs no further persuasion that a signal is appearing, and 

more importantly, that there is much worse to come. Munich 

Re has made the first public industry demand for action, calling on governments, businesses, and insurers alike to "take 

immediate action" to address the "dramatic development of 

natural catastrophes." "The threatened climatic changes 

demand urgent and drastic measures," the company has said.

In Europe, North America, and Japan, senior figures in 

the industry now talk of real fears for the very future of the 

insurance business. As the President of the Reinsurance 

Association of America has put it, "The insurance business 

is first in line to be affected by climate change***it could 

bankrupt the industry." Without a healthy insurance industry, it is far from clear how one runs a healthy economy. At 

the top of the list of knock-on [domino] effects, the employment and pensions implications do not bear thinking about.

Conventional wisdom in the citadels of the fossil-fuel 

businesses has it that there are too many uncertainties 

involved in global wanning to warrant action. Uncertainties

there certainly are, but global warming is all about threat 

assessment in the face of uncertainty. And as ore looks 

around the world in 1995, how lucky can one feel that the 

stakes are not huge, and the odds are not weighted? 1990 was 

the hottest year since records began 140 years ago. 1991 was 

the third hottest, despite the significant cooling effe?t of the 

Mount Pinatubo eruption. The eight hottest years have all 

now been since 1980. Incidences of coral bleaching, and 

mass mortality, are proliferating in reefs frequently in 

waters of unusual warmth in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific 

and Indian Oceans. Suspiciously intense droughts have 

struck southern Africa, northern Brazil, California, southeast 

England, and other places. Huge inundations have, caused 

ruinous flooding in the United States, Pakistan, Clrna, and 

elsewhere. Peculiar insect infestations have been reported in 

a number of countries.

No one of these things could be taken as proof that the 

first signs of global warming are emerging. But all of them? 

Don't listen to me, listen to the growing number of scientists 

who are professing that the signal is already clea~ most 

recently spokespersons from the German Bundestag's 

Enquette Commission, the Japanese Maritime Safety 

Agency, and the Russian Hydrometeorological Centre.

And what of the future? Where science is concerned, 

there seems to be a constant drip of bad news. Anrong the 

particularly depressing discoveries recently, in February 

1993 we learned that the demonstrably warming Alaskan 

tundra has transformed from a carbon dioxide sinv into a 

source. Biogeochemical feedbacks such as this are- mostly 

omitted from climate models, suggesting that the dreadful 

rates of wanning the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 

Change forecasts may in fact be underestimates. In August 

1993, we learned that ice core work in Greenland suggests 

that when the world was last l°-2° warmer on average, catastrophic shifts in climate took place within a matter of years. 

Such changes, oceanographers tell us, are most likel;- driven 

by ocean currents turning on and off. And in Februa-y 1994, 

we learned that the Scott Polar Institute has documented a 

dramatic slowdown of thermohaline circulation in the 

Greenland Sea over the last decade.

Many people in the oil industry do in fact see the writing on the wall in discoveries like this. The average chief 

executive would be amazed if he knew how many o;i industry middle managers have conceded the case to me, told me 

how they fear for their children the way I do for nrne, told 

me they would be quite happy to see the BP Oils aM Shell 

Oils of today become the Total Energy companies of tomorrow, making their money in multi-million dollar markets in 

solar technology and energy services.

And yet, at the intergovernmental climate negotiations, 

I have worked opposite high-powered lobbyists from multimillion-dollar lobby groups funded by the Board" of oil, 

coal, and automobile companies. They are there tc try and 

stop governments agreeing to limit greenhouse-gas emissions, and one of their tools is the attempted discrediting of

125
the science underlying the climate models run by NASA, 

NOAA, NCAR, and other climatic research centres around 

the world. I can tell tales from the front lines of this particular carbon war which would make the honest geoscientist 

cringe with shame at how corporate interests can so pervert 

a robust broad scientific consensus.

One no longer has to be an environmentalist to believe 

that global warming threatens economic ruin, maybe even 

the end of civilization as we know it. The role of fossil fuels 

is central in generating global warming. The role of geoscientists is central in propping up the fossil-fuel status quo. 

Who, in the real world, wants that status quo on their consciences unchallenged while solar power, the rest of the 

renewables, and demand-side management are all so 

severely underemployed?

Ten Reasons Why

Natural Gas Prices Will Not Rise

Dale M. Nesbitt, Senior Vice President, 

Decision Focus, Inc., 650 Castro St. Suite 300, 

Mountain View, CA 94041-2055

Some industry observers, buoyed by the destructive 

hurricane Andrew and the concomitant runup in spot gas 

prices, are optimistic and have proclaimed more bullish natural gas prices. Enron CEO Kenneth Lay stated in the New 

York Times (Sunday, September 20,1992) that "We are getting back very close to a balance of supply and demand in 

natural gas," implying that gas prices could well increase. Is 

the gas bubble over? Will gas prices inexorably increase? Is 

gas in reality the depletable resource people believed during 

the crisis years of the 1970's?

Recent increases in natural gas prices are temporary, 

and long-term price trends for natural gas are flat, at best. 

Here are 10 reasons that provide ample evidence to believe 

that the short-term phenomenon will not persist.

1. The Wall Street Journal, September 23, 1992 

shows that natural gas futures prices retreat to the same low 

levels in September 1993 where prices have languished for 

several years. Any bet on prices other than these future 

prices is tantamount to gambling against the market. If gas 

markets are efficient, as they will increasingly be as FERC 

Order 636 and 636A foster price transparency and competition, then futures prices are an important indicator. Empirical observations of the market do not justify assertions of 

nominal-dollar gas price escalation, much less real (inflation-adjusted) escalation. In fact, they suggest erosion from 

today's spot levels in real terms. Betting against a market 

would require accurate insider information or blind luck. 

Why bet against a price we can lock in today?

2. Spot prices have increased significantly since the 

end of August. However, it appears from the futures price

that the destruction from hurricane Andrew has simply 

accelerated the normal winter pattern as pecnle seek to buttress commitments and inventories earlier t^an they might 

otherwise have. The near-term runup in gas price will surely 

abate, just as the NYMEX futures market prces suggest.

3. There is too much natural gas in the ground to sustain today's price. The National Petroleum Council (NPC) 

and the Energy Information Administration (EIA) have independently estimated the existence of almos* 2,000 TCP of 

natural gas potential in the United States and Canada. (This 

amounts to 100 years consumption at present rates.) Furthermore, DFI's World Gas Trade study shows quite clearly that 

LNG (liquefied natural gas) is virtually limitless if domestic 

prices on the North American continent rise to approximately $4.00 per MMBtu. Canada reports approximately 

100 TCP of "established" natural gas resources, and the 

United States has some 160 TCP. (Both estimates are generally perceived to be understated.) Establish?.d-field reserve 

growth continues to surprise many observers. Advanced 

seismic- and horizontal-drilling technologies have decreased 

finding cost and offer the potential in many areas of the 

North American continent to substantially expand reserves. 

The pipeline system is equipped to deliver in excess of 25 

TCP per year, and there are still significant new pipeline 

projects in late stages of development. It is 1 ard to conceive 

of anything but a world of surfeit supply w; th concomitant 

low prices.

4. Parties are interested in continued free trade 

between the United States and Canada. The I Tational Energy 

Board (NEB) of Canada has stated its willingness to "let the 

market decide" regarding pipeline export capacity. Peter 

Miles of the NEB said in a National Petroleum Council 

meeting in Denver last year that the regula*ory and export 

environment in Canada has become more benign and more 

economically driven. This is extremely plausible given the 

realization that an increasing portion of the Canadian 

resource base has come under the control of multinational oil 

companies (such as Esso, Shell, Amoco, C evron, Mobil), 

who assuredly do not wish to operate with hi?her inventories 

in Canada than elsewhere. The desire to shrink inventory 

presages substantially increased export of Crnadian gas with 

concomitant downward pressure on United States gas prices. 

To wit, more Canadian gas in the United Sta^s means lower 

prices in the United States.

5. There is no historical precedent for sustained, real 

commodity price escalation at the bullish rates suggested, for 

example, in either the GRI Baseline or Enron Outlook. It is 

impossible to find a commodity whose historically observed, 

real (inflation-adjusted) prices escalated over a long period 

of time as rapidly as the Outlook or the Baseline suggests. 

While there will assuredly be short-term sp'Ves and valleys 

in spot price, there will just as assuredly be intensive activities to substitute for dwindling conventional supplies of gas 

as prices rise. The very fact that rising price has been 

observed to bring myriad entrants to the market research

126
and development organizations, producers, alternative 

sources of supply, new supply regions, demand suppression, 

and so forth. Each of these entrants, individually and collectively, places downward pressure on gas price and upward 

pressure on gas supply. DFI's North American Natural Gas 

(NARG) program has repeatedly shown natural gas price 

increase to be modest at best over the next 10 or more years.

6. Gas and oil prices in North America are at present 

quite decoupled. Gas-on-gas competition is clearing markets 

at prices substantially below the Btu equivalent price of oil. 

Escalation in oil price (if it occurs) will be largely irrelevant 

to natural gas price. Softening in oil price might, if sufficiently severe, drag down gas price. In fact, there is a strong 

case to be made that oil prices will fall within the next 5 to 

10 years.

7. Rates of return in financial markets (interest rates) 

have been dropping (in real terms) from the unprecedented 

highs of the 1980's to levels more consistent with long run 

historical average. It is not rational for the market to allow 

gas inventories to appreciate in value faster than interest 

rates. Producers will face tremendous incentives to liquidate 

gas resources if interest rates rise, turning their gas into 

money and enjoying the benefits of escalation of that money. 

As they do so, near-term prices will fall and rates of subsequent price escalation will increase. Conversely, if interest 

rates drop, producers will have incentives to hold gas inventories, thereby holding their wealth hi gas rather than in cash 

(which is worthless if it does not escalate in value). As they 

hold gas inventories, near-term prices firm and rates of subsequent price escalation slow. There is an intimate coupling 

between the price of an elemental commodity such as natural 

gas and the return in financial markets, which represents the 

aggregate of all other industries combined. Natural gas cannot earn above-market or below-market returns for any 

appreciable period of time.

8. Drilling productivity has increased tremendously, 

and the productivity increases seen to date will not disappear. One simply does not need as many rigs to prove oil 

and gas reserves, just as one does not need as many fabrication facilities to produce semiconductor chips. Like semiconductors, productivity has increased at unprecedented 

levels in the hydrocarbon exploration industry. As productivity gains permeate heretofore under-explored areas inside 

and outside North America, low-cost reserves are bound to 

soar.

9. Industry practice has accommodated low prices. 

Reserves-to-production ratios have fallen. Producers and 

customers have realized that they do not need to warranty 

contracts with reserves. The market itself takes care of all 

necessary warranties. Gas producers are behaving more like 

"just-in-time" (JIT) manufacturers in other industries. Producers and customers alike can now rely on a plethora of 

emerging market mechanisms to elicit necessary supply (for 

example, San Juan royalty trust, NYMEX, third party

trading). Price signals will be unequivocal in communicating to producers any need for additional supply.

10. Oil-directed drilling is bound to create additional 

gas reserves. Oil-directed drilling, catalyzed by today's 

rather attractive oil price, will add gas reserves in two ways: 

(i) associated gas in successful oil wells and (ii) dry gas 

found "by accident" in the quest for oil. Gas reserves will 

grow inside as well as outside North America, placing additional downward pressure on price.

In such an environment, how can gas prices escalate?

The message would seem to be clear. Purchase.rs of gas 

will strive to "sell short," avoiding locking in prio? for the 

long term. Despite efforts to "sell long," attempting to 

secure indexed prices at or above today's price, gar providers are unlikely to succeed. For example, fixed-price contracts at high levels (for example, $3.00/MCF indexed to 

inflation) are unlikely to be consummated. In the present 

and foreseeable market, purchasers simply need not consider 

such contracts.

Global Geologic and Economic Aspects of 

Oil and Gas Resources

Dr. Nahum Schneidermann, 

Chevron Overseas Petroleum, 

Exploration Evaluation Dept, 

6001 Bollinger Canyon Road, A/3080, 

San Ramon, CA 94583

Oil resources of the world are distributed unevenly in 

the Earth's crust. Almost 50 percent of the world's proven

011 reserves (as published in the trade journals) are associated 

with four countries Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, and Iran. 

Of the 69 countries containing any appreciable oil reserves, 

only 34 have reserves larger than 1 billion barrels. The top

12 countries account for 90 percent of the world's proven 

reserves. The United States ranks tenth in proven oil 

reserves, with about 23.7 billion barrels (Oil and Gas Journal). At present rates of production (2.5 billion barrels a year 

for 1993) and without adding new reserves, the United States 

has a Reserve to Production Ratio (R:P) of about 9-10 years 

only. For comparison, Saudi Arabia has a R:P of about 90 

years, Iran of 70 years, and Kuwait 138 years.

The present global oil production rates are nof directly 

related to the reserve distribution. Overall, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has the highest daily oil 

production, followed by Saudi Arabia and the United States. 

However, this large production is delivered from about 

145,000 producing wells in the CIS, more than 600,000 in 

the United States, and only about 1,400 in Saudi Arabia. The 

remaining reserves in the CIS and United States will be

127
found in technically difficult and risky areas, in areas of 

environmental sensitivities or high operational costs. Our 

future dependence on imported oil increases every time 

another area of our country becomes closed to petroleum 

exploration.

Another measure of oil richness is achieved by adding 

volumes of oil already produced to the proven reserves. This 

number is referred to as DID discovered-to-date. A Maturity Index (expressed as percentage) is obtained by calculating the ratio of oil already produced to the entire DTD. The 

U.S. industry has discovered to date about 190 billion barrels, of which we have already produced about 166 billion (a 

Maturity Index of >87 percent). By comparison, Saudi Arabia, with DTD of 327 billion, has a Maturity Index of only 

21 percent, Iraq of about 19 percent, Norway a DTD of about 

16 billion and Maturity Index of about 41 percent.

Global gas reserves are also concentrated in very few 

areas of the world, mainly the Middle East, North America, 

and Russia. However, the economics of gas development are 

very different from those of oil. The gas business is market 

dependent, has very high development and transportation 

costs, and requires long-term contracts. As a result, gas 

resources are developed mainly as a function of distance to 

specific markets (North America, Northwest Europe, and 

Southeast Asia) or long-term favorable economics. Consequently, the very large Middle East resources are undeveloped. The largest present producers are the CIS with about 

27 TCP/year production and R:P ratio of 74 years; United 

States with 19 TCP/year and only about 9 years remaining; 

Canada with about 5.5 TCP/year and 17 years R:P; and 

Netherlands at 3 TCP/year production and 22 years R:P 

ratio. On the other hand, at present rates of production (1 

TCP or less per year), the Middle East giants Iran, Iraq, 

Qatar, Abu Dhabi, and Saudi Arabia have reserves with hundreds of years of potential production. Development of these 

resources will require investment in pipelines and LNG (liquefied natural gas) projects of the order of hundreds of billions of dollars. Outside of a few specific markets, gas 

cannot compete with oil as a global energy source at present 

prices. For that reason, much of the world's natural gas 

reserves cannot be economically developed.

A compelling argument for increased use of gas is the 

environment. Gas combustion results in fewer of the pollutants that contribute to acid rain, smog, and other air quality 

problems. Sulfur dioxide emissions (a primary contributor 

to acid rain), are virtually zero. Paniculate emissions are 

minimal; nitrogen oxide and carbon emissions are much 

lower; and with gas there is no waste disposal problem. Gas 

is not only cleaner but also provides a very efficient energy 

source. Gas is becoming a major source of electrical power 

generation for the growing economies of the world.

Most of the major oil and gas discoveries in the 1990's 

are being made in relatively mature, highly petroliferous 

basins. These include development of existing or similar 

plays in the same basin, new play discoveries, or

technological breakthroughs such as deep-w?*er-production 

technology and imaging beneath complete structures, for 

example. However, international oil company budgets for 

exploration have to compete with large-scale opportunities 

in improving recovery from producing fields which have 

opened up lately due to economic and political changes in 

many previously closed countries. These opportunities 

include both development of newly discovered, technically 

complex or marginally economic fields (for example, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Timan Pechora, West Siberia, or Chevron's Tengis J.V. in Kazakhstan), and mature fields with 

declining production (for example, Venezuela, India, People's Republic of China, and Algeria). These abundant, lowgeologic-risk opportunities compete extensively with worldwide frontier exploration for diminishing func%g. In making 

decisions for the investment of funds, all international corporations compare the political, economic, and geologic risks 

of all ventures with their expected economic returns before 

making significant commitments. Outside of the U.S. Gulf 

of Mexico, attractive exploratory opportunities are rare or 

nonexistent in all areas of the United States still open to the 

industry. Overmaturity of domestic exploration and production, scarce frontier acreage, increasingly corrilex and everchanging regulations, taxation, and local polit'~s have forced 

our industry to seek growth opportunities intmationally.

The Gas and Oil Industry in the Yeir 2024 

A Question of the Road Not Taken

Reginal W. Spiller, U.S. Department of Energy, 

Office of Fossil Energy, Washington, C .C 20585

The energy choices that we make today will determine 

the energy situation 30 years from now. Natr-1^ gas and oil 

will remain critical components of the energy supply in our 

Nation for the foreseeable future. The United States, long a 

dominant producer of oil for domestic consumption, has 

become a mature producing region. As a result, the Nation 

is increasingly depending on imports from areas with more 

accessible oil. This paper will explore the expcted impacts, 

issues, and changes in regards to the strategic role of energy 

in the United States up to the year 2024. The advanced 

research important to the gas and oil industry and the Nation 

will receive the main focus.

Introduction

In the 1970's, two major oil price increases sparked a 

desire to develop alternative transportation fuels as insurance against petroleum shortages and high prices (Energy 

Information Administration, 1994). Subsequent lower

128
petroleum prices, plentiful supplies, and higher costs of 

alternate fuels caused interest to wane. Now the United 

States is renewing its attention to transportation fuels that 

might replace gasoline and diesel fuel. The current effort is 

directed at improving air quality as well as increasing 

domestic energy security. Alternate fuels and the vehicles 

powered by them are viewed as ways to reduce harmful air 

pollutants and greenhouse gases (fig. 1).

The shift to importing more foreign oil has been significant for over 20 years, and costs for imported oil have 

amounted to more than 60 percent of our trade deficit 

(U.S. Department of Energy, 1993). Between 1980 and 

1992, the United States paid $742 billion (1987 dollars) 

to other countries to purchase imported crude oil and 

petroleum products. In comparison, over the same period 

Americans paid $498 billion for imported automobiles. 

In fact, oil import trends are rising. In 1992, imports 

accounted for 41 percent of U.S. consumption. The 

Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects that by 

1995 or 1996 this figure will exceed 50 percent. The 

U.S. Office of Technology estimates that by the year 

2000, the preceding figure could rise to as high as 70 percent. These changes in the energy sector that will occur 

over the next 30 years will be addressed through three 

questions in this paper. The questions concern advanced 

research programs at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Industry in a Changing E&P Climate 

Drivers:

 Lack of access to capital;

 Natural gas and oil price volatility;

 Mature U.S. production from onshore regions;

 Expensive and time-consuming permitting processes 

required for drilling in certain domestic areas; and

 Increased competition from cheap foreign oil.

Results:

 Increased business climate uncertainty and reduced 

industry profitability;

 Increased percentage of E&P budgets spent 

overseas;

 Reduced RD&D funding by the private sector;

 Decreased domestic oil production and increased oil 

imports;

 Decreased domestic natural gas completions; and

 Significant decreases in industry jobs.

Figure 1 (Spiller). Drivers of and results from a changir^ exploration and production (E&P) climate (U.S. Department of Energy, 

1994).

Discussion

Question 1. How different will gas and oil technologies be? Workstations and digital databases were around 

in 1979, a short time ago, but many of us may not have 

been fully utilizing them. When 1979 is compared to 

1994, there are some dramatic changes from 15 years 

ago; however, many of the tools of our trade remain the 

same. Paper well logs, seismic sections, and some of the 

exploration and production methods are similar today to 

30 years ago. Much work done today in the industry is 

based on information collected in the past. This fact can 

be verified with a visit to a conventional core storage 

warehouse, where a large amount of data will be found 

firmly fixed to the technology of that day.

Question 2. What are the drivers of technology? Where 

are dollars being spent today in R&D? What "market pull" 

technologies are on the horizon? The U.S. Department of 

Energy is funding R&D that is being demonstrated today and 

will be used in the year 2024. The Secondary Recovery Gas 

Project is cofunded with the Gas Research Institute (GRI) 

and is managed by the Bureau of Economic Geology in Austin, Texas. The nature of this project is drilling "smart wells" 

in fields. When geologic and engineering data are integrated 

with 3-D seismic surveys, fewer wells potentially extract 

more reserves. Three demonstration projects provided excellent results in 1993.

Some "market pull" gas technologies are receiving 

great emphasis, including fuel cells, gas turbines, nat^al gas 

cooling systems, natural gas lighting in hom^s and 

restaurants, solar power electrical ignition for natural gas 

street lights, and natural gas vehicles. These techrologies 

are all being cost-shared by the Department of Energy and 

industry to give an incentive to further develop our natural 

gas reserves.

Question 3. What is the effect of existing leg'Nation, 

such as Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and other related legislation on the 

petroleum industry; and how will these acts evilve or 

change? Legislation such as the Clean Air Act, Clea~» Water 

Act, and other legislation is having a major impac* on the 

future of the oil and gas business sectors such as exploration, 

production, transportation, and refining. The Nation?' Petroleum Council (NPC) last year reported that the cost to refineries for complying with existing legislation was gong to be 

$32 billion by the year 2010. In accordance with leg'^lation, 

changes that are being analyzed by industry concern discharges of fluids, tank storage, drilling waste and products, 

emergency response, and cooperation among industry, environmentalists, and regulators. Sound environmental programs must be developed in all phases of oil and gas 

exploration, production, and processing. The ef^cts of

129
legislation to the year 2024 will be felt in the business, but 

more cooperation between participants can reduce the 

impacts of the legislation.

Conclusions

The changes in the energy picture have been explored 

and will be significant to the year 2024. The changes are 

controlled by the choices we make today and in some cases 

by the past choices made. The energy security of the United 

States that the U.S. Department of Energy is promoting is 

being accomplished through advanced research, development, and demonstration programs. The future energy picture to the year 2024 will be shaped by our use of natural gas 

as an alternate fuel and the implementation of advanced 

technologies.

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Charles E. Brown, U.S. Department 

of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy, for review of this 

manuscript.

REFERENCES

Energy Information Administration, 1994, Alternatives to traditional 

transportation fuels An overview: U.S. Department of 

Energy, DOE/EIA-0585/0,148 p.

U.S. Department of Energy, 1993, The domestic natural gas and oil 

initiative Energy leadership in the world economy: 36 p.

 1994, Advanced computational technology initiative, Draft 

report: 79 p.

[Note: Panel members' papers were solicited to engender debate and to show differences 

of opinion on complex subjects of energy and the environment. The views are those of the 

panel members and do not reflect USGS or U.S. Government policy.]

130
AUTHOR INDEX

Abbott, M.M. 87 

Ackman, T.E. 88 

Affolter, R.H. 44 

Ahlbrandt, T.S. 1 

Anderson, I.E. 109 

Asher-Bolinder, Sigrid 111 

Attanasi, E.D. 10 

Axon, A.G. 48

Back, William 34 

Bates, A.L. 82 

Baedecker, M.J. 34 

Bechtel,T.F. 119 

Been, J.M. 98 

Begay, Stephanie 118 

Bernknopf, R.L. 33 

Beyer, L.A. 56 

Biewick, L.R.H. 50 

Bird, K.J. 45,56 

Booth, J.S. 68 

Bragg, L.J. 38 

Bricker, O.P. 90 

Brown, C.L. 91 

Bryant, Karen 50 

Byrer, C.W. 72

Campbell, E.G. 93 

Carlson, P.R. 105 

Carpenter, George 63 

Carter, M.D. 48 

Cetin, H. 48 

Chaiken, R.F. 88 

Chapelle, F.H. 93 

Charpentier, R.C. 10 

Chavez, P.S., Jr. 33 

Clayton, J.L. 78 

Cole, Frances 45 

Coleman, D.F. 68 

Collett, T.S. 68 

Condon, S.M. 66 

Craigg, S.D. 95 

Cravotta, C.A. IH 34 

Crovelli, R.A. 70 

Cunningham, K.I. 66,98

BD

Damberger, H.H. 

Dersch, J.S. 52 

Dillon, W.P. 68 

Dolton, G.L. 8

99

DuChene, H.R. 98

Edenborn, H.M. 109 

Eggleston, J.R. 102,109 

Ellis, M.S. 50

Fedorko, N. 48 

Fehlhaber, Kristen 68 

Ferderer, D.A. 50 

Filipek, L.H. 36 

Finch, W.I. 111 

Finkelman, R.B. 14,38,102 

Fitzpatrick, Joan 20 

Flores, R.M. 58 

Plug, Marshall 103 

Fouch, T.D. 10 

Frohne, K.H. 70

Gardner, N.K. 48 

Gautier, D.L. 8,41 

German, M.I. 120 

Geroyan, R.I. 48 

Gluskoter, H.J. 12 

Gough, L.P. 82 

Growitz, Douglas 109 

Gundersen, L.C.S. 22,111

EH

Hatch, J.R. 44 

Heise, Bruce 105 

Herring, J.R. 56,82 

Hettinger, R.D. 50 

Holm, M.R. 52 

Holmes, C.W. 79,82 

Horton, G.W. 55 

Houseknecht, D.W. 3 

Howell, D.G. 45 

Huffman, A.C., Jr. 66

Isaacs, C.M. 

Johnson, R.C.

56

58

K

Karl, H.A. 33 

Keefer, W.R. 58 

Keller, M.A. 56 

Kharaka, Y.K. 25 

Kirn, A.G. 88 

Kirschbaum, M.A. 50

131
Kleinmann, R.L. 109 

Kotra, R.K. 82 

Kruger, D.W. 72 

Kvenvolden, K.A. 17,68,105

Robbins, E.I. 109 

Roberts, L.N.R. 50 

Roberts, S.B. 50 

Rohrbacher, T.J. 48 

Ryder, R.T. 70

Landmeyer, I.E. 93 

LaRock, E.J. 98 

Larson, B.S. 66 

Law.B.E. 70 

Lawson, R.L. 123 

Lee, M.W. 68 

Leggett, Jeremy 124 

Lerch, H.E. 82 

Leventhal, J.S. 78,81 

Lillis, P.O. 56 

Luoma, S.N. 91

Magoon, L.B. 45,56 

Manydeeds, S.A. 60 

Martin, Suzette 118 

Masters, C.D. 7 

Mazzella, A.T. 114 

McCabe, P.J. 27 

McGregor, B.A. 1 

Merewether, E.A. 60 

Micbel, Jacqueline 107 

Michmerhuizen, C.M. 84 

Molnia, C.L. 50

Nesbitt, Dale 126 

Norden, A.W. 109 

Oman, C.L. 38 

Orem, W.H. 82 

Oremland, R.S. 17 

Otton,J.K. 36,111 

Owen, D.E. Ill

Passmore, M.E. 109 

Pavia, Robert 107 

Petkewich, M.D. 93 

Pierson, C.T. Ill 

Piper, D.Z. 56 

Podwysocki, M.H. 109 

Pollastro, R.M. 64 

Price, L.C. 56 

Prugh, B.J., Jr. 109

Ray, P.K. 63 

Reimer, G.M. 66,98,111 

Rice, D.D. 10,72,78 

Rice, K.C. 90 

Ridgley, J.L. 66

M

N,OR

SanFilipo, J.R. 75 

Schatzel, S.J. 88 

Schenk, C.J. 64 

Schmoker, J.W. 10,70 

Schneidermann, Nahum 127 

Schumann, R.R. Ill 

Semken, S.C. 118 

Siskind, D.E. 88 

Sites, R.S. 48 

Smith, B.D. 60,114 

Seller, D.R. 33 

Spencer, C.W. 70 

Spiker, E.G. 82 

Spiller, R.W. 128 

Stanley, R.G. 56 

Stanton, M.R. 109 

Stricker, G.D. 50 

Striegl, R.G. 84 

Sundquist, E.T. 16 

Sutherland, W.M. 70 

Sweet, P.C. 109 

Szabo, Zoltan 22 

Szarzi, S.L. 98

Takahashi, Ken 41 

Taylor, D.J. 42 

Teeters, D.D. 48 

Tennyson, M.E. 56 

Tewalt, S.J. 38 

Thamke, J.N. 95 

Tosta, Nancy 6 

Trevits, M.A. 88 

Treworgy, C.G. 48 

Turk, J.T. 30

Vandyke, T.M. 109 

Viger, R.J. 64 

Wanty, R.B. 25,72 

Warwick, P.D. 75 

Watson, W.D. 50 

Weintraub, V.C. 82 

Weisenfluh, G.A. 48 

Wilshire, H.G. 117 

Winters, W.J. 68

Zech, R.S. 66 

Zielinski, R.A. Ill 

Zihlman, F.N. 42

V,W

132
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Manuscript approved for publication November 10, 1994 

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