Prepared in cooperation with the Arkansas Geological Commission 

Reflectance Measurements of Well Cuttings from Ashley 

and Bradley Counties, Arkansas 

By Paul C. Hackley1, Michael E. Ratchford2, and Peter D. Warwick1 

Open-File Report 2006-1155 

This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards and stratigraphic 

nomenclature. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only, and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. 

Geological Survey. 

1

U.S. Geological Survey, MS 956 National Center, Reston, VA 20192 

2

Arkansas Geological Commission, Vardelle Parham Geology Center, 3815 W. Roosevelt Rd, Little Rock, AR 72204 

U.S. Department of the Interior 

U.S. Geological Survey 
U.S. Department of the Interior 

Gale A. Norton, Secretary 

U.S. Geological Survey 

P. Patrick Leahy, Acting Director 

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 2006 

For product and ordering information: 


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Suggested citation: 


Hackley, P.C., Ratchford, M.E., and Warwick, P.D., 2006, Reflectance measurements of well cuttings from 


Ashley and Bradley Counties, Arkansas: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2006-1155, 29 p., 


http://www.pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1155/.

Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply 

endorsement by the U.S. Government. 

Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual 

copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted material contained within this report. 

ii 
Contents 

Introduction............................................................................................................................................................................1


Procedure ...............................................................................................................................................................................1 


Results ...................................................................................................................................................................................1 


References .............................................................................................................................................................................2


Figures 

Figure 1. Location of conventional oil and gas wells, Bradley and Ashley Counties, Arkansas ........................................3


Figure 2. Examples of oxidized vitrinite from the Georgia Pacific No. 1 well.....................................................................4


Figure 3. Photomicrographs from Jackson A 1-6, Potlatch No. 1, and Pugh Estate No. 1 .................................................5


Tables 

Table 1. Reflectance measurements of well cuttings, Ashley and Bradley Counties, Arkansas.......................................6 


Appendix 

Vitrinite Reflectance Reports ................................................................................................................................................7


iii 
Reflectance Measurements of Well Cuttings from 

Ashley and Bradley Counties, Arkansas 

By Paul C. Hackley, Michael E. Ratchford, and Peter D. Warwick 

Introduction 

Vitrinite reflectance measurements were determined for twenty-three well cuttings samples from Ashley 

and Bradley Counties, Arkansas, to evaluate coal rank and coalbed gas potential in the Desha Basin of the 

southern Missisissippi Embayment. Samples were selected from the Norman F. Williams Well Sample Library 

using geophysical logs to identify coaly shale and coal intervals from conventional oil and gas wells. Results 

indicate that maturation of vitrinite ranges from lignite to subbituminous B in the Wilcox Group (PaleoceneEocene) at depths of 1400-2300 feet, and from subbituminous C to subbituminous A/high volatile bituminous C 

in the Trinity Group/Hosston Formation (Lower Cretaceous) at depths of 3000-3100 feet. 

Procedure 

Cuttings samples from five wells located in Ashley and Bradley Counties, Arkansas (fig. 1) were 

handpicked for coal fragments. The wells originally targeted hydrocarbons reservoired in the Jurassic 

Smackover Formation at depths of 5500-6000 feet during the 1960s-1970s. For this study, cuttings were 

collected from Wilcox and Trinity Group/Hosston Formation strata (fig. 1) at depths of 1400-3100 feet. 

Collected cuttings were cast in epoxy and polished following the procedures outlined in Pontolillo and 

Stanton (1994). One mount was made for each sample. Measurement of random vitrinite reflectance in 

immersion oil (Ro ran) was performed according to the ASTM D2798 standard for coal (ASTM, 2005). The 

number of reflectance measurements per sample is less than ASTM protocol of 100. 

Results 

Determinations of the mean random reflectance of vitrinite range from 0.31-0.54 (summarized in Table 1). 

Many samples show some evidence of post-sampling oxidation and desiccation, including rinds, cracks, and 

patches of higher reflectance occurring in high-permeability pathways (fig. 2A-D). During analysis, care was 

taken to avoid areas containing obvious oxidation effects; however, some of the reflectance results may 

contain a possible bias toward higher values due to post-sampling oxidation. Heat flow and hydrothermal 

circulation from buried Upper Cretaceous igneous rocks (fig. 1) also may have impacted maturation of organic 

matter (e.g., Heydari and others, 1997) in some samples (Lower Cretaceous Trinity Group/Hosston Formation). 

 For rocks with dispersed organic matter, Barker and Pawlewicz (1993) recommended using a minimum of 

20-30 measurements of indigenous vitrinite to calculate mean random reflectance. In several cases, 

insufficient sample was available to obtain a statistically significant number of measurements (<15); these 

values are noted in italic in Table 1, and should be considered suspect. Data for individual determinations of 

mean random reflectance, including a histogram of measurement data and description of the sample, are 

included in the Appendix. 

1
Many of the cuttings samples contain fragments of well-developed coals (fig. 3A-D). Evaluation of 

historical geophysical logs from conventional oil and gas wells with respect to the location of the coaly 

intervals will be valuable for future coalbed gas exploration prospects in the Desha Basin. 

References 

American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), 2005, Annual book of ASTM standards: Petroleum 

products, lubricants, and fossil fuels; Gaseous fuels; coal and coke, sec. 5, v. 5.06. ASTM International, 

West Conshohocken, PA, 675 pp. 

Barker, C.E., and Pawlewicz, M.J., 1993, An empirical determination of the minimum number of measurements 

needed to estimate the mean random vitrinite reflectance of dispersed organic matter: Organic 

Geochemistry, v. 20, p. 643-651. 

Ewing, T.E., and Lopez, R.F., 1991, Principal structural features, Gulf of Mexico Basin in Salvador, A. (ed.), The 

Gulf of Mexico Basin: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America, The Geology of North America, v. 

J, Plate 2, scale 1:2,500,000. 

Heydari, E., Byerly, G.R., and Henry, D.J., 1997, Contact metamorphism and over maturation of organic matter 

associated with an igneous intrusion in the Smackover Formation, northeastern Louisiana: Gulf Coast 

Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 47, p. 201-213. 

Pontolillo, J., and Stanton, R.W., 1994, Coal petrographic laboratory procedures and safety manual II. U.S. 

Geological Survey Open-File Report 94-361, 69 pp. 

Schruben, P.G., Arndt, R.E., Bawiec, W.J., and Ambroziak, R.A., 1994, Geology of the conterminous United 

States at 1:2,500,000 scale; a digital representation of the 1974 P.B. King and H.M. Beikman map: U.S. 

Geological Survey Digital Data Series DDS-0011, http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds11/. 

2
Figure 1. Location of conventional oil and gas wells collected from in this study, Bradley and Ashley Counties, 

Arkansas. Also shown are outcrop of coal-bearing strata (from Schruben and others, 1994), location of buried 

Upper Cretaceous igneous rocks (from Ewing and Lopez, 1991), and the southern margin of the Desha Basin 

(northern margin of the Monroe Uplift). 

3
Figure 2. A-D) Examples of oxidized vitrinite from the Georgia Pacific No. 1 well. All under incident white light 

illumination in oil immersion. 

4
Figure 3. A-D) Photomicrographs from Jackson A 1-6 (A-B), Potlatch No. 1 (C), and Pugh Estate No. 1 (D). All 

under oil immersion in white light except B, which is the same field of view as A except under blue light 

illumination. 

5
Table 1. Mean random reflectance measurements of well cuttings from Ashley and Bradley Counties, Arkansas.


Well Information Sample ID Stratigraphy Age Ro ran s.d. #measurements


Well: Potlatch L No. 1 Potlatch L No. 1 1810-1840' Wilcox Group Paleocene-Eocene 0.31 0.05 3 

API: 03011100470000 Potlatch L No. 1 1840-1870' Wilcox Group Paleocene-Eocene 0.31 0.06 4 

County: Bradley Potlatch L No. 1 1870-1900' Wilcox Group Paleocene-Eocene - - 0 

Latitude: 33.3172 

Longitude: -92.07861 

Well: Potlatch No. 1 Potlatch No. 1 3050-3060' Trinity Group Lower Cretaceous 0.54 0.07 15 

API: 03011100770000 Potlatch No. 1 3060-3070' Trinity Group Lower Cretaceous 0.45 0.02 15 

County: Bradley Potlatch No. 1 3070-3080' Trinity Group Lower Cretaceous 0.47 0.04 15 

Latitude: 33.3398 

Longitude: -92.17203 

Well: Pugh Estate No. 1 Pugh Estate No. 1 2150-2180' Wilcox Group Paleocene-Eocene 0.43 0.05 50 

API: 03003100020000 Pugh Estate No. 1 2180-2210' Wilcox Group Paleocene-Eocene 0.43 0.04 40 

County: Ashley Pugh Estate No. 1 2210-2240' Wilcox Group Paleocene-Eocene 0.43 0.04 50 

Latitude: 33.21525 Pugh Estate No. 1 2240-2270' Wilcox Group Paleocene-Eocene 0.42 0.05 25 

Longitude: -91.49544 Pugh Estate No. 1 2270-2300' Wilcox Group Paleocene-Eocene 0.43 0.04 30 

Well: Georgia Pacific No. 1 Georgia Pacific No. 1 1410-1440' Wilcox Group Paleocene-Eocene 0.37 0.02 19 

API: 03003100340000 Georgia Pacific No. 1 1500-1530' Wilcox Group Paleocene-Eocene 0.43 0.04 50 

County: Ashley Georgia Pacific No. 1 1680-1710' Wilcox Group Paleocene-Eocene 0.43 0.05 50 

Latitude: 33.16521 Georgia Pacific No. 1 1710-1740' Wilcox Group Paleocene-Eocene 0.38 0.04 20 

Longitude: -92.01332 Georgia Pacific No. 1 1740-1770' Wilcox Group Paleocene-Eocene 0.43 0.04 25 

Georgia Pacific No. 1 1830-1860' Wilcox Group Paleocene-Eocene 0.39 0.04 7 

Georgia Pacific No. 1 3120-3150' Trinity Group Lower Cretaceous 0.40 0.04 25 

Well: Jackson A 1-6 Jackson A 1-6 1770-1800' Wilcox Group Paleocene-Eocene 0.43 0.05 20 

API: 03011100520000 Jackson A 1-6 1800-1830' Wilcox Group Paleocene-Eocene 0.41 0.05 30 

County: Bradley Jackson A 1-6 1830-1860' Wilcox Group Paleocene-Eocene 0.41 0.04 50 

Latitude: 33.34907 Jackson A 1-6 3070-3080' Trinity Group Lower Cretaceous 0.39 0.05 50 

Longitude: -92.17284 Jackson A 1-6 3080-3090' Trinity Group Lower Cretaceous 0.35 0.02 10 

Ro ran values listed in italic are based on a limited number of measurements and should be considered suspect. 

6
APPENDIX: Vitrinite reflectance reports 

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