Jasper Interval, East Texas Gulf Coast

General Setting

The Jasper interval, East Texas Gulf Coast, was identified as the uppermost potential target area beneath Texas City, Galveston Bay, within the coastal plain the Gulf of Mexico. Texas City has a high concentration of refineries and therefore has the potential to be considered for pilot sequestration projects using high-pressure CO₂ available from some industrial processes. Texas City is underlain by a thick (>10,000 m) sequence of Cenozoic clastic strata that generally deepen and thicken seaward. Stratigraphic units are interrupted by numerous growth faults.

Information Search and Selection

The subsurface of this area has been well studied, driven by the search for domestic and industrial water supplies, petroleum, uranium, and geopressured-geothermal energy.

Because Texas City is underlain by a large number of sand units that have the porosity, permeability, and lateral continuity to potentially sequester CO₂, depth, salinity, and presence of an effective top seal were principal criteria in selecting a target interval. The middle and lower Miocene interval was selected as the primary interval for CO₂ sequestration in the Texas City area because it ranges in depth from about 1,300 to

2,000 m below mean sea level (bmsl), and the interval is directly overlain by a laterally continuous aquitard. Sands within the deeper Frio Formation are potential candidates throughout the Texas Gulf Coast, where we are assessing the potential for targeting a shallower unit in the most gulfward part of the coastal plain

Several names are used for this interval. The name Jasper aquifer comes from the shallow and landward (updip) parts of this unit, where it contains abundant fresh water (Baker, 1986). Along the coast the formation waters, too saline to be used for domestic and industrial water supply, may be considered for CO₂ sequestration. Stratigraphically the interval is composed of a progradational wedge of sediments of the Miocene Lagarto and Oakville Formations deposited in the coastal and nearshore zone along the margin of a large delta complex that was centered along the Texas–Louisiana border (Galloway and others, 1986). The sands of the Lagarto and Oakville Formations accumulated as beach and barrier-island deposits along a shoreline that generally parallels the present coast. These deposits accumulated during a delta progradational period, probably related to a relative lowering of sea level. These deposits were later partly offset by faults that generally parallel the coast and are the result of loading and basinward failure of the thick Cenozoic sedimentary prism. These sediments have not been deeply buried, they remain unconsolidated, and they have not been subject to significant diagenetic processes that would affect porosity and permeability.

Comments on Geologic Parameters

Next, each of the 14 parameters is briefly described, and the reasons for selection of the map or data source for the GIS are outlined. The reference list at the end of this summary summarizes documents that are relevant to the Fleming Formation in the study area.

1. Depth:	10. Fluid Residence Time:
2. Permeability/Hydraulic Conductivity:	11. Flow Direction:
3. Formation Thickness:	12. CO2 Solubility Brine	12a. Temperature:
4. Net Sand Thickness:		12b. Pressure:
5. Percent Shale:		12c. Salinity:
6. Continuity:	13. Rock/Water Reaction:
7. Top Seal Thickness:	14. Porosity:
8. Continuity of Top Seal:	15. Water Chemistry:
9. Hydrocarbon Production:	16. Rock Mineralogy:

References

Ambrose, W. A., 1990, Facies heterogeneity and brine-disposal potential of Miocene barrier-island, fluvial, and deltaic systems: examples from northeast Hitchcock and Alta Loma Fields, Galveston County, Texas: The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, Geological Circular 90-4, 35 p.

Baker, E. T., Jr., 1979, Stratigraphic and hydrogeologic framework of part of the coastal plain of Texas: Texas Department of Water Resources, Report 236, 43 p.

___________ 1986, Hydrology of the Jasper Aquifer in the southeast Texas coastal plain: Texas Water Development Board, Report 295, 64 p.

Core Laboratories, 1972a, A survey of the subsurface saline water of Texas: Volume 2 chemical analysis of saline water: Texas Water Development Board, Report 157, 378 p.

___________ 1972b, A survey of the subsurface saline water of Texas: Volume 3 aquifer rock properties: Texas Water Development Board, Report 157, 364 p.

Doyle, J. D., 1979, Depositional patterns of Miocene facies, middle Texas Coastal Plain: The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology Report of Investigations No. 99, 28 p.

Gabrysch, R. K., 1980, Development of ground water in the Houston District, Texas, 1970-74: Texas Department of Water Resources, Report 241, 49 p.

Galloway, W. E., 1988, Depositional framework and hydrocarbon resources of the early Miocene (Fleming) episode, northwest Gulf Coast basin: Marine Geology, v. 90, p. 19–29.

Galloway, W. E., Bebout, D. G., Fisher, W. L., Dunlap, J. B., Jr., Cabrera-Castro, R., Lugo-Rivera, J. E., and Scott, T. M., 1991, Cenozoic, in Salvador, A., ed., The geology of North America, v. J. The Gulf of Mexico Basin: Geological Society of America, p. 245–324.

Galloway, W. E., Ewing, T. E., Garrett, C. M., Tyler, N., and Bebout, D. G., 1983, Atlas of major Texas oil reservoirs: The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, 139 p.

Galloway, W. E., Jirik, L. A., Morton, R. A., and Dubar, J. R., 1986, Lower Miocene (Fleming) depositional episode of the Texas coastal plain and continental shelf: structural framework, facies, and hydrocarbon resources: The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology Report of Investigations No. 150, 50 p.

Grubb, H. F., 1984, Planning report for the Gulf Coast regional aquifer-system analysis in the Gulf of Mexico coastal plain, United States: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 84-4219, 30 p.

Kiatta, H. W., 1971, The stratigraphy and petroleum potential of the lower Miocene, offshore Galveston and Jefferson Counties, Texas: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 21, p. 257–270.

Kosters, E. C., Bebout, D. G., Seni, S. J., Garrett, C. M., Jr., Brown, L. F., Jr., Hamlin, H. S., Dutton, S. P., Ruppel, S. C., Finley, R. J., and Tyler, N., 1989, Atlas of major Texas gas reservoirs: The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, 161 p.

Kreitler, C. W., Akhter, M. S., Donnelly, A. C. A, and Wood, W. T., 1988, Hydrogeology of formations used for deep-well injection, Texas Gulf Coast: The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, open-file report prepared for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Cooperative Agreement ID No. CR812786-01, 204 p.

Kreitler, C. W., Guevara, E., Granata, G., and McKalips, D., 1977, Hydrogeology of gulf coast aquifers, Houston-Galveston area, Texas: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 27, p. 72–89.

Land, L. S., and Macpherson, G. L., 1992, Origin of saline formation waters, Cenozoic section, Gulf of Mexico sedimentary basin: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 76, p. 1344–1362.

Morton, R. A., Jirik, L. A., and Foote, R. G., 1985, Structural cross sections, Miocene series, Texas Continental Shelf: The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, Open-File Report.

National Imagery and Mapping Agency, 2000, Digital terrain elevation data (DTED Level 0), http:/www.gisdatadept.com.

Pettijohn, R. A., Weiss, J. S., and Williamson, A. K., 1988, Distribution of dissolved-solids concentrations and temperature in ground water of the gulf coast aquifer systems, south-central United States: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 88-4082.

Ragsdale, J. A., 1960, Petrology of Miocene Oakville Formation, Texas Coastal Plain: University of Texas, Austin, Master's thesis, 196 p.

Sharp, J. M., Kreitler, C. W., and Lesser, J., 1991, Ground water, in Salvador, A., ed., The geology of North America, v. J. The Gulf of Mexico Basin: Geological Society of America, p. 529–543.

Turcan, A. N., Jr., Wesselman, J. B., and Kilburn, C., 1966, Interstate correlation of aquifers, southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas: U.S. Geological Survey, Professional Paper 550-D, p. D231–D236.

Wallace, R. H., Kraemer, T. F., Taylor, R. E., and Wesselman, J. B., 1979, Assessment of geopressured-geothermal resources in the northern Gulf of Mexico basin: U.S. Geological Survey, Circular 790, 132–155.

Wilson, T. A., and Hosman, R. L., 1987, Geophysical well-log data base for the Gulf Coast aquifer systems, south-central United States: U.S. Geological Survey, Open-File Report 87-677, 213 p.

Prepared by Andrew Warne.