Short Courses

Instructors: Sarah George, Assistant Professor, University of Oklahoma; Gilby Jepson, Assistant Professor, University of Oklahoma;
Location: TBD

This short course will provide an overview of how geochronology and thermochronology are used to resolve tectonic and thermal evolution of sedimentary basins. Dr. Jepson will introduce students to low-temperature thermochronometers commonly applied to basins. Our focus will be on apatite and zircon fission-track and apatite and zircon (U-Th-[Sm])/He, and how these radiogenic systems are used to reconstruct the thermal and tectonic history of a basin. Dr. George will cover common U-Th-Pb geochronometers. We'll address how these systems are used to provide chronostratigraphic frameworks, resolve sediment routing, and develop tectonic models for basin evolution.

Instructor: Sina Saneiyan, Assistant Professor, University of Oklahoma
Location: TBD

It is estimated that about 3 million orphaned and abandoned oil and gas wells exist in the U.S. that are leaking greenhouse gases and dangerous chemicals to the environment and thus pose both environmental and health risks to the public. Although about 130,000 of these wells have been identified, a large portion of them have either missing or incomplete documents making them difficult to locate and plug. Most of these wells have been out of use since the early 1900s and may be missing wellheads or are rusted and covered by overgrown vegetation. Therefore, they are difficult to visibly notice and locate. However, the majority of them use one form of iron alloy casings. Such alloys are magnetic and can be sensed by magnetometers. Most smartphones nowadays come with a magnetometer (as a compass) sensor. Here we utilize our smartphone for the purpose of locating an abandoned well in central Oklahoma. We show that it is relatively simple to find an orphan well using a smartphone.

Covered material:

• Collecting geolocated magnetic raw data with a smartphone using the PhyPhox app
• Downloading the raw data of a smartphone magnetometer and creating a survey dataset using Excel
• Creating shaded relief magnetic maps using ParaView
• Georeferencing magnetic maps with QGIS
• Creating final survey maps showing the location of anomalies (i.e., abandoned wells) with QGIS or Google Earth Pro

Specific Learning Objectives:

• Understanding Earth’s magnetic field and magnetic survey basics
• Ability to read raw magnetic data and distinguish anomalies from the background field
• Basics of GIS and ability to create georeferenced raster TIFF files
• Interpreting magnetic survey maps

Instructor: Molly Turko, Devon Energy
Location: TBD

Understanding the impact of faults and fractures is vital to a variety of industries including petroleum, carbon capture, geothermal, and mining. This short course introduces participants to the basics of fracture mechanics and the role of mechanical stratigraphy. By understanding the relationship between faults/fractures and stress, we can start to predict trends in a basin related to the tectonic history. We’ll look at things like fault damage zones and fault geometries, and how these can be used to predict areas of enhanced fracturing and the impact on fluid flow. Lastly, we will discuss what it means for a fault/fracture to be critically stressed and the importance of having a trap and seal in faulted and fractured reservoirs. This short course will include several quizzes and exercises to help establish these vital concepts in hopes that the participants will leave with a better understanding of fault and fracture mechanics.

Instructor: David Lubo, University of Oklahoma
Location: TBD

This short course provides an overview of the main concepts and workflows of 3-D seismic interpretation using seismic attributes and machine learning (ML). Through lectures and practical applications using the Attribute-Assisted Seismic Processing & Interpretation (AASPI) software developed at the University of Oklahoma, the course covers 1) seismic data conditioning, 2) geometric, spectral, and texture attributes, 3) and unsupervised and supervised ML techniques to understand the stratigraphic and structural framework of subsurface geologic formations.

Instructor: Benmadi Milad, Oklahoma Geological Survey
Location: TBD

This course will cover the basics and fundamentals of CCS, explore policy incentives, and gain insights into storage operations, including surface infrastructure, subsurface geology, and plume behavior. We will review the data integration workflow for the modeling approach to assessing the economic and technical feasibility of carbon geo-sequestration. A case study of CO2 geological storage and CO2 plume will be presented. At the end of the course, the attendees will have gained valuable insights into the fundamentals of CCS.