Dear GeoFluids Colleagues,

I write to update you on the status of the UT GeoFluids Consortium. I am pleased to announce that all members of the GeoFluidsIII consortium have now joined UT GeoFluids. In addition, the UT GeoFluids Consortium Meeting will be held Thursday and Friday, February 11-12, 2010 in Austin, Texas on the UT Pickle Research Campus in north central Austin. Please mark your calendars now. Details are provided below.

1)  UT GeoFluids WebPage:
At this location: 1) Executive Summary; 2) Research Summary; 3) the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA); 4) Recent Presentations;  5) Research Products (1,3, 5, and 10yr).

2)  UT GeoFluids Annual Meeting:
(SEE BELOW). Feb. 11 and 12—Pickle Campus, Austin, TX

3)  UT GeoFluids Membership Status: 
9 companies have joined the consortium.We have also visited Statoil and Schlumberger.

4)  Research Status: UT GeoFluids studies pressure, stress, deformation and flow through a) experiments, b) theoretical analysis, and c) field study. We are moving in all 3 directions. At UT, 5 folks are working in our lab, 1 student is modeling, and 2 students are pursuing field studies.
a. Experimental: At MIT and UT we are pursuing uniaxial strain experiments on re-sedimented material and we are coupling those analyses with fabric analysis.
b. Poromechanical modeling: We have hired two post-doctoral scientists with AGL (the BEG Salt Tectonics group) to study pressure, stress, and deformation in salt systems with a focus on Mad Dog, GOM. We are working with numerical modelers at UT to implement a new approach to model thrust belt deformation
c. Field Study: We are in negotiations with BHP for a detailed study of the MadDog area in the Gulf of Mexico. We are eager to work with other industry partners on either sub salt or thrust belt data sets.

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MEETING INFORMATION

AGENDA
A provisional agenda will be coming in mid-November.

DETAILS

DATE AND TIME: The meeting will begin at about 9 a.m. on Thursday, February 11, preceded by meeting registration, coffee and other refreshments from 8 a.m. onward. The meeting should finish by 12 p.m. the following day. A catered lunch in The Commons will be provided on Thursday and Friday.

ICEBREAKER DINNER: There will be a group dinner on Thursday evening, February 11th at 6:30pm at County Line BBQ in Austin. This is a good opportunity to unwind and catch up with news from your colleagues and we encourage everyone to attend.

ATTENDEES: Please disseminate this announcement as widely as possible WITHIN YOUR COMPANY, especially to other offices where appropriate. We have six available seats per company, but more may become available.

DRESS: Casual

REGISTRATION

REGISTRATION: Please email geofluids@psu.edu before February 1, 2010 to register for the meeting. Include your name, company and contact information. Please put “GeoFluids Registration” in the subject line.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Peter Flemings
Direct phone: 512-750-8411
E-mail: pflemings@jsg.utexas.edu

Ruarri Day-Stirrat
Direct phone: 512-471-7313
E-mail: ruarri.day-stirrat@beg.utexas.edu

TRAVEL

LOCATION: The Commons Building of The University of Texas's Pickle Research Campus, a few hundred yards south of the BEG/UTIG building.
Maps:
Map of Austin
Map of UT Pickle Research Campus
Map of Commons Building

HOTELS: Nearby hotels are listed below and shown on our website. But many of you might prefer to stay downtown for more restaurants and other diversions. For further information on downtown Austin, please browse http://austin.citysearch.com.

Hotels Near the UT Pickle Campus
Embassy Suites Austin Arboretum
9505 Stonelake Boulevard
Austin, TX 78759
(512) 372-8771 phone   

Stouffer Renaissance Austin Hotel
9721 Arboretum Boulevard
The Arboretum
Austin, TX 78759
(512) 343-2626 or 1-800-468-3571 phone.     

Holiday Inn NW Plaza
Mopac @ 183
(512) 343-0888 phone
(512) 343-6891 fax

La Quinta
11901 N. Mopac Expwy
Austin, TX 78759
(512) 832-2121 phone
(512) 832-5277 fax

Hampton Inn NW
3908 W. Braker Inn
Austin, TX 78759
(512) 349-9898 phone
(512) 399-9494 fax

Sincerely,

Peter Flemings, Professor and Director UT GeoFluids (pflemings@jsg.utexas.edu)