The 2010 Applied Geodynamics Laboratory Annual Meeting is scheduled for Thursday–Friday, November 18-19. Further details will be posted in the Members' Area in due course.
The beta version of Slide Set 28 from the 2009 Applied Geodynamics Laboratory Annual Meeting is now in the Members' Area.
Mike Hudec visited CGGVeritas in Houston on December 11 to advise on salt interpretations in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. 12/09 |
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Mike Hudec, Martin Jackson and Tim Dooleyattending a meeting with representatives from Statoil in Austin on December 10. The meeting was organized by the BEG’s Associate Director for Energy, Eric Potter to discuss potential areas of collaborative research between UT Austin and Statoil. 12/09 |
More than 250 delegates from the Applied Geodynamics Laboratory’s 32 member companies attended the 22nd AGL Annual Meeting, held in Austin December 3-4. This number represents a record for the AGL. Attendees listened to 20 presentations on salt tectonics over the course of the meeting, ranging in topic from physical modeling of allochthonous salt to numerical modeling of subsalt drilling hazards to subsalt structure in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. 12/09 Right - BEG Director Scott Tinker welcomes delegates from the 32 member companies. Click image for larger version. |
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Mike Hudec visited CGGVeritas’ Houston office on November 16–17 to discuss interpretation on salt structures in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and conduct research on Gulf of Mexico salt tectonics. 11/09 |
Mike Hudec visited the Houston office of CGGVeritas on November 2–3 to advise on salt interpretations on several deepwater Gulf of Mexico seismic volumes undergoing depth processing. The visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas’ membership in the AGL consortium. 11/09 |
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Mike Hudec spent the week of October 26–30 in CGGVeritas’ Houston office conducting research on salt tectonics in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. 10/09 |
Mike Hudec visited Nexen’s offices in Dallas on October 15–16 to build structural restorations of several deepwater Gulf of Mexico prospects. 10/09 |
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Mike Hudec visited the Houston office of CGGVeritas on October 8–9 to advise on salt interpretations on several deepwater Gulf of Mexico seismic volumes undergoing depth processing. The visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas’ membership in the AGL consortium. 10/09 |
Mike Hudec visited BP’s Houston office on October 7 to discuss evolution of structures in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The visit was provided as part of BP’s membership in the AGL consortium. 10/09 |
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Mike Hudec and Ph.D. student Bryce Wagner conducted fieldwork along the north flank of the Onion Creek diapir, Paradox Basin, Utah September 26 – October 1. The trip focused on patterns of folding and radial faulting near the diapir contact, and included several helicopter flights over the area. 09/09
Left - Mike Hudec examines secondary deformation along a radial fault adjacent to the Onion Creek diapir. Click image for larger version. |
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Mike Hudec led a field trip to the Paradox Basin, Utah, on September 21–25. 26 people from 8 companies attended the trip. Participants looked at exposures illustrating gravity-driven tectonics, diapir pinchoff, salt-wing emplacement, welding, basement control of salt tectonics, halokinetic sequences, crestal extension above diapirs, and the effects of regional extension on salt structures. Click image for larger version. 09/09 |
Mike Hudec visited CGGVeritas’ Houston office on September 9 to discuss interpretation of salt structures on several seismic volumes in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico currently undergoing depth processing. The visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas’ membership in the AGL consortium. 09/09 |
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Mike Hudec visited Pemex offices in Villahermosa, Mexico on September 4 to conduct a workshop on salt and basement tectonics in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. The visit was provided as part of Pemex’ membership in the AGL consortium. Click image for higher quality image.. 09/09
Left - workshop participants (from L to R) Rolando Peterson, Jaime Penloza, Ramón León, Mike Hudec, Enrique Reyes, Miguel Cruz, Raymundo Sánchez, Carlos Flores, and Andrés Pena |
Researchers from ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company visited AGL’s offices in Austin on September 2 to discuss ideas on finite-element modeling of salt structures. 09/09 |
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Mike Hudec visited PGS’ Houston office on August 18–19 to discuss salt interpretations in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The visit was provided as part of PGS’ membership in the AGL consortium. 08/09 |
Mike Hudec visited CGGVeritas’ Houston office on August 17 to discuss salt interpretations in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas’ membership in the AGL consortium. 08/09 |
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AGL also welcomes Post-Doctoral Fellow Maria Nikolinakou, who arrived in Austin on August 17. Maria joins the AGL following a long stint at MIT, where she obtained an M.S. and Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering, and also served as a Post-Doctoral Fellow. Prior to arrival in the US, Maria received an undergraduate degree from the National Technical University of Athens. Maria has strong expertise in finite-element modeling and soil mechanics, and will be working on numerical modeling of salt tectonics. Maria and Gang Luo (see above) have been hired jointly by AGL and Peter Flemings’ UT GeoFluids consortium, as part of an effort to understand stresses and fluid pressures around salt structures. 08/09 |
AGL welcomes Post-Doctoral Fellow Gang Luo, who joined the group on August 10. Gang comes to the BEG from the University of Missouri-Colombia, where he obtain a Ph.D. in Computational Geodynamics in summer 2009. Prior to his tenure at Missouri, Gang received a B.S. in Seismic Geology and an M.S. in Solid Geophysics at Peking University. Gang has a strong expertise in finite-element modeling, and will be working on numerical modeling of salt tectonics. Gang and Maria Nikolinakou (see below) have been hired jointly by AGL and Peter Flemings’ UT GeoFluids consortium, as part of an effort to understand stresses and fluid pressures around salt structures. 08/09 |
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Graduate student Bryce Wagner III spent the summer as an intern with Devon Energy in Houston. 07/09 |
Graduate student Mike Braunscheidel spent the summer as an intern with ExxonMobil in Houston. 07/09 |
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On July 21–23, Martin Jackson visited the Houston office of Woodside Energy USA, where he taught a short course and discussed salt tectonics in the Gulf of Mexico as part of Woodside's membership in the AGL consortium. 07/09 |
Mike Hudec visited CGGVeritas’ Houston office on July 13–14. During the visit Mike discussed salt interpretation on several Gulf of Mexico seismic volumes undergoing depth processing. This visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas’ membership in the AGL consortium. 07/09 |
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Mike Hudec visited Nexen’s office in Dallas on July 8, to discuss interpretation of salt structures in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. 07/09 |
New publication Adams, J. B., Gillespie, A. R., Jackson, M. P. A., Montgomery, D. R., Dooley, T. P., Combe, J.-P., and Schreiber, B. C., 2009, Salt tectonics and collapse of Hebes Chasma, Valles Marineris, Mars: Geology, v. 37, p.691-694. The paper presents photogeologic and model evidence that Hebes Chasma, a closed canyon 300 km long and 8 km deep formed by collapse and drainage of ~10E5 cubic kilometers of brines and entrained particulates through fractures in the chasma floor into a regional aquifer. Collapse caused extensional thinning, mass wasting, and flow of layered stratigraphy inferred to consist of salt, ice, and tephra. These processes of exhumation triggered widespread mobilization of deeper layers, leading to rise of small stocks, and the breakout of giant allochthonous flows up to 70 km long from the base of the chasma walls, from where they drained into pits. |
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On June 23, Mike Hudec and Martin Jackson presented Centennial Lectures at the BEG's Houston Research Center. Mike's talk was entitled "Structural style and evolution of thrust systems driven by spreading of allochthonous salt sheets." Martin's was entitled "How and where is the Sigsbee Escarpment advancing?" 06/09 |
On June 14-19, Mike Hudec led a field trip entitled “Salt and Extensional Tectonics in the Paradox Basin, Utah.” The trip visited salt-related structures in and around Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Utah. 06/09
Right - field trip participants overlooking the Colorado River at Deadhorse Point State Park, Utah |
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Mike Hudec and AGL grad student Bryce Wagner conducted mapping along the north flank of the Onion Creek salt diapir, Paradox Basin, Utah from June 11–13. 06/09
Left: looking west along the contact between the diapir (white) and the Permian Cutler Group (red). Cutler beds are complexly folded near the diapir contact. |
AGL staff authored or coauthored 6 papers at the AAPG Annual Convention in Denver, held June 8–10. 06/09 |
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Tomasso, Mark, Wright, Wayne, Costa, F. O., Araujo, M. B., Sant'Anna, M., Machado, E. C. V., Hudec, M. R., and Jackson, M. P. A., 2009, The relationship of salt-tectonic structures in pre-evaporite depositional and structural regimes and evaporite facies in the Campos Basin, offshore Brazil (abs.): American Association of Petroleum Geologists Annual Convention, v. 18, p. 214. |
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On June 7, Tim Dooley and coauthors Mike Hudec and Martin Jackson were presented with the 2008 Jules Braunstein Memorial Award for the best poster at the 2008 AAPG’s Annual Convention. The paper, entitled “Dismembered sutures formed during asymmetric salt-sheet collision” described the results of Tim’s physical modeling on the origin and evolution of sutures within canopies. 06/09
Right: Tim Dooley and Mike Hudec with AAPG President Scott Tinker |
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Mike Hudec visited CGGVeritas’ Houston office on May 21–22 to discuss salt interpretation of several Gulf of Mexico seismic volumes currently undergoing PSDM processing. This visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas’ membership the AGL consortium. 05/09 |
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Martin Jackson presented an AAPG short course on “Deepwater Salt Tectonics” in Austin on May 20-21. 05/09 |
On May 6–7 Mike Hudec visited the offices of Devon Energy in Houston to discuss salt tectonics in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. 05/09 |
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Mike Hudec visited with BHP Billiton Chief Geologist Frank Peel on May 1 to discuss ideas on crustal structure of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. 05/09 |
Mike Hudec participated in a seminar on the salt tectonics of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico at Chevron’s Houston office on April 30. The visit was provided as part of Chevron’s membership the AGL consortium. |
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On April 29 Mike Hudec presented “The paradox of minibasin subsidence into salt” at the Houston Geological Society April Luncheon. The talk was coordinated by HGS Vice President Art Berman of Labyrinth Consulting Services. 04/09 |
Mike Hudec traveled to Houston on April 22 to visit CGGVeritas. Mike discussed salt interpretation on several Gulf of Mexico seismic volumes currently undergoing PSDM processing. This visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas’ membership the AGL consortium. 04/09 |
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On April 21 Mike Hudec visited the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico City to give his Centennial lecture titled "Structural Style and Evolution of Thrust Systems Driven by Spreading of Allochthonous Salt Sheets" to approximately 175 faculty and students. We thank Ricardo Padilla and the faculty of UNAM for their gracious hospitality during Mike's visit. 04/09 |
Visiting Marathon Oil in Houston Martin Jackson presented a talk entitled “How and Where is the Sigsbee Escarpment Advancing” as part of the Bureau’s Centennial lecture series on April 16. 04/09 |
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Mike Hudec was in Dallas on April 13–16, working with Nexen Petroleum on salt tectonics in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. 04/09 |
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From March 31 to April 2, Martin Jackson attended the Geological Society's 7th Petroleum Geology Conference in the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre, London, where he gave a keynote paper titled "Some Emerging Concepts in Salt Tectonics from the Gulf of Mexico" and co-chaired a session, “Sediments and Structures in Passive Margins.” The previous week he visited Mærsk Olie og Gas AS in Copenhagen where he presented the same lecture to members of several oil companies (Mærsk, DONG E&P, Norwegian Energy Company), the Geological Survey and the University of Copenhagen. He also lectured and consulted on the geology of Angola’s Kwanza Basin and the Danish sector of the North Sea at Mærsk’s head office. 03/09 |
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On March 31, Mike Hudec presented a talk titled “Salt and plate tectonics in the deepwater South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico” in Houston at an internal Chevron conference on hydrocarbon systems. The talk was attended by about 40 Chevron geoscientists, and was provided as part of Chevron’s membership in the AGL consortium. 03/09 |
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Several geoscientists from Devon Energy visited Austin on March 26 to discuss salt tectonics in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. This visit was provided as part of Devon’s membership the AGL consortium. 03/09 |
Mike Hudec visited the Department of Geosciences at Penn State on March 24 to give a presentation titled “Structural style and evolution of thrust systems driven by spreading of allochthonous salt sheets.” The visit was hosted by Penn State’s Don Fisher, and was presented as part of the BEG’s Centennial Distinguished Lecturer series. 03/09 |
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Mike Hudec visited CGGVeritas’ Houston office on February 11–12 to discuss salt interpretation of several Gulf of Mexico seismic volumes currently undergoing PSDM processing. This visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas’ membership the AGL consortium. 02/09 |
On February 2, Mike Hudec presented a talk entitled “Episodic advance of the Sigsbee Salt Canopy, deepwater Gulf of Mexico” to the New Orleans Geological Society. The talk was coordinated by NOGS Vice President Al Melillo of Chevron. 02/09 |
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Mike Hudec visited CGGVeritas’ offices in Houston on January 20 to discuss salt interpretation on several Gulf of Mexico seismic volumes currently undergoing PSDM processing. This visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas’ membership in the AGL consortium. 01/09 |
Mike Hudec and Peter Flemings attended a series of meetings at BHP’s Houston offices on January 14. The meetings focused on plans for collaborative research involving the AGL and Flemings’ GeoFluids consortium. 01/09 |
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On December 11-12 Martin Jackson presented a short course on Deepwater Salt Tectonics in Houston as part of AAPG’s Fall Education Conference on Structural Geology. 12/08 |
Mike
Hudec visited Shell’s
Woodcreek office in Houston on December 10–11 to discuss salt
tectonics in the Gulf of Mexico. The visit was provided as part
of Shell’s membership in the AGL consortium. 12/08 |
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Martin Jackson visited Murphy Oil Corporation in Houston on December 10 to discuss salt interpretation in the Gulf of Mexico. The visit was provided as part of Murphy’s membership of the AGL consortium. 12/08 |
Mike Hudec visited CGGVeritas’ offices in Houston on December 9 to discuss salt interpretation on several Gulf of Mexico seismic volumes currently undergoing PSDM processing. This visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas’ membership in the AGL consortium. 12/08 |
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Mike Hudec visited StatoilHydro’s Houston office on December 5 to discuss salt tectonics in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The visit was provided as part of StatoilHydro’s membership in the AGL consortium. 12/08 |
Mike Hudec visited Nexen’s
offices in Dallas on December 4 to discuss salt interpretation in
the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The visit was provided as part of
Nexen’s membership in the AGL consortium. 12/08 |
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Mike Hudec visited Chevron in Houston on December 2–3 to discuss salt interpretation in offshore Brazil. The visit was provided as part of Chevron’s membership in the AGL consortium. 12/08 |
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Mike Hudec
visited CGGVeritas' Houston office
on October 27–28 to discuss salt interpretations on several
Gulf of Mexico seismic volumes currently undergoing PSDM processing.
The visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas' membership in the
AGL consortium. 10/08 |
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Before leaving on a vacation field trip to Kaokoland (northwest Namibia) to study Karoo glacial valleys and Neogene uplift in the Namib Desert, Martin Jackson lectured on “Neoproterozoic allochthonous salt tectonics during the Lufilian orogeny in the Katangan Copperbelt, central Africa” to the Geological Society of Namibia on October 31. 10/08 |
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As part of the plenary session for AAPG’s International Meeting in October 27-29, Martin Jackson presented a keynote lecture entitled “Interplay of basement tectonics, salt tectonics, and sedimentation in the Kwanza Basin, Angola” (coauthored by Mike Hudec). He also presented a paper on “Shortening and multiple detachments in thick salt: Insights from the Messinian saline giant, Eastern Mediterranean” (coauthored by Joe Cartwright and Simon Higgins of Cardiff University). 10/08 |
Martin Jackson presented an AAPG-sponsored short course on deep-water salt tectonics in October 25-26 at the Cape Town International Conference Centre, South Africa. 10/08 |
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Mike Hudec visited Nexen's Dallas office on October 20–24 to conduct section restorations in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. 10/08 |
| The AGL held its 21st Annual Meeting on October 16–17 in Austin. More than 180 delegates from AGL’s 31 member companies registered to attend, shattering the former record of 130. Delegates listened to 20 technical presentations during the course of the day-and-a-half meeting. Topics ranged from details of salt-sheet advance in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico to salt tectonics on Mars! Click on each photo to enlarge in a new window. 10/08
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Bill Hart and Russell Propes of BP visited AGL in Austin on September 30 to discuss interpretation of salt fabrics along the Sigsbee Escarpment in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. 09/08 |
Mike
Hudec led a field trip in the Paradox Basin on September
21–26. The trip was attended by delegates from AGL member
companies BHP Billiton, CGGVeritas, ConocoPhillips,
Hess, Marathon, Mariner, Nexen, and
Woodside, who enjoyed the opportunity to escape from the
aftermath of Hurricane Ike. This was the first in what is intended
to be a biannual series of field trips to the area. 09/08 |
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| Field trip participants at Deadhorse Point State Park, overlooking the Cane Creek salt anticline. Click image for large photograph. |
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Mike Hudec visited StatoilHydro's Houston office on August 27 to give a lunchtime presentation entitled "Is there a subsalt foldbelt in the central Gulf of Mexico?" The talk was based on research conducted in StatoilHydro's office earlier in the year. 08/08 |
Mike
Hudec visited Fugro's Houston
office on August 26–27 to conduct research on structural provinces
in the deep (autochthonous/ parautochthonous Louann) salt layer
in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. 08/08
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Martin Jackson visited Nexen’s Dallas office on August 18-21 to present a short course on salt tectonics and several lectures on AGL’s research in the Gulf of Mexico and consult as part of Nexen’s membership of the AGL consortium. 08/08 |
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Mike Hudec visited CGGVeritas' Houston office on August 14–15 to discuss salt interpretations on several Gulf of Mexico seismic volumes currently undergoing PSDM processing. The visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas' membership in the AGL consortium. 08/08 |
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Mike Hudec visited TGS-NOPEC's Houston office on August 13 to discuss possible membership in the AGL consortium.08/08 |
Mike Hudec spent the week of July 7–11 conducting research in CGGVeritas' Houston office. The focus of the research was interpretation of structural provinces in the deep (autochthonous/parautochthonous Louann) salt layer in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. 07/08 |
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Mike Hudec visited PGS' Houston office on June 26 to discuss salt interpretations on several Gulf of Mexico seismic volumes currently undergoing PSDM processing. The visit was provided as part of PGS' membership in the AGL consortium. 06/08 |
Mike
Hudec visited CGGVeritas'
Houston office on June 24–25 to discuss salt interpretations
on several Gulf of Mexico seismic volumes currently undergoing PSDM
processing. The visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas' membership
in the AGL consortium. 06/08 |
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Hudec was in the Paradox Basin, Utah from May 24-June 11.
During this time he led field trips for Shell
and CGGVeritas, and conducted 4 days
of field work along the flanks of salt diapirs in the Basin.
Kate Giles, Tim Lawton, and graduate student
Cody Buller of New Mexico
State University were guests on the CGGVeritas field trip.
The field party for the mapping also included Tim Lawton and Cody
Buller, along with AGL graduate student Bryce Wagner.
06/08 |
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| Photos (click to enlarge): Top left - participants in the Shell field trip work on an exercise near the entrance of Arches National Park, with the La Sal Mountains in the background. Top right - the desert blooms after an unusually wet spring. Bottom left - Kate Giles, Cody Buller, and Dixon Van Hofwegen model the latest in wet-weather field gear during the CGGVeritas trip. Bottom right - CGGVeritas group photograph at the Onion Creek salt diapir. |
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Martin Jackson spent from June 4 to 7 in Alps de Haute Provence (France) collaborating on field work with structural geologists Rod Graham, Robin Picher, and Bill Kilsdonk from Hess's London and Houston offices. The work shed light on the role of salt tectonics before and during Alpine folding. Photograph kindly provided by Paul Whitehouse, Hess. 06/08 |
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Mike Hudec
visited CGGVeritas' Houston office
on May 13-14 to discuss salt interpretations in several Gulf of
Mexico seismic volumes currently undergoing PSDM processing. The
visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas' membership in the AGL
consortium. 05/08 |
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Martin Jackson provided information on the Great Kavir to a National Geographic Society researcher for use in compiling their new map of Iran, which is due to appear in the August issue of their magazine. 05/12/08 |
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The Bureau of Economic Geology’s first award for an “Exemplary Publication of Scientific or Economic Impact” was presented to Mike Hudec and Martin Jackson on May 9th for their paper, “Terra Infirma: Understanding Salt Tectonics” published in Earth-Science Reviews (2007). 05/08 |
Tim Dooley and coauthors Mike Hudec and Martin Jackson won the 2008 Jules Braunstein Memorial Award for the best poster at AAPG’s Annual Convention. The paper, entitled “Dismembered sutures formed during asymmetric salt-sheet collision” described the results of Tim’s physical modeling on the origin and evolution of sutures within canopies. 04/08 |
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Mike Hudec visited StatoilHydro's Houston office on April 28-May 2 to conduct research on salt tectonics in the central Gulf of Mexico. 04/08 |
| AGL staff authored or coauthored 8 papers at AAPG’s Annual Convention in San Antonio. 04/08 |
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| Dooley, Tim, Jackson, M. P. A., Cartwright, J. A., and Hudec, M. R., 2008, Modeling of strain partitioning during gravity-driven deformation of multilayered evaporites and overburden (abs.): AAPG 2008 Annual Convention and Exhibition Abstracts Volume, v. 17, p. 46. Dooley, Tim, Jackson, M. P. A., and Hudec, M. R., 2008, Superposed deformation and structural control of salt breakout in radially expanding canopies (abs.): AAPG 2008 Annual Convention and Exhibition Abstracts Volume, v. 17, p. 46. Dooley, Tim, Hudec, M. R., and Jackson, M. P. A., 2008,
Dismembered sutures formed during asymmetric salt-sheet collision
(abs.): AAPG 2008 Annual Convention and Exhibition Abstracts Volume,
v. 17, p. 46. Hudec, M. R., 2008, Diachronous growth of fold limits from the Mad Dog Anticline: implications for base-salt deformation in the Atwater Fold Belt (abs.): AAPG 2008 Annual Convention and Exhibition Abstracts Volume, v. 17, p. 94. Jackson, M. P. A., Hudec, M. R., and Heyn, Teunis,
2008, How and where is the Sigsbee Escarpment advancing? (abs.):
AAPG 2008 Annual Convention and Exhibition Abstracts Volume, v.
17, p. 97. |
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New
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Martin Jackson taught a short course on salt tectonics to ConocoPhillips in Houston, 28-29th April. 04/08 |
On April 24th Dean Eric Barron presented a Jackson School of Geosciences Outstanding Service Award for 2008 to Martin Jackson on behalf of the school. 04/08 |
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On March
26-27, Mike Hudec taught a short course in salt
tectonics to staff members at TGS-NOPEC.
03/08 |
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On March 25, Mike Hudec visited CGGVeritas to discuss salt interpretations in several Gulf of Mexico seismic volumes currently undergoing PSDM processing. The visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas' membership in the AGL consortium. 03/08 |
On March 28th Martin Jackson consulted for Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold on Precambrian salt tectonics. 03/08 |
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New Publication: J. A. Cartwright and M. P.
A. Jackson, 2008, Initiation of gravitational collapse
of an evaporite basin margin: the Messinian saline giant, Levant
Basin, eastern Mediterranean: Geological Society of America Bulletin,
v. 120, p. 399–413. |
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On February 28–29, Martin Jackson taught a short course on salt tectonics to McMoRan Exploration Co in Austin (Texas). 02/08 |
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On February 26, Mike Hudec gave a series of presentations to potential geology graduate students touring the UT campus. These presentations highlighted opportunities for students in AGL research. 02/08 |
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Martin Jackson spent the week of February 18–22 in London (United Kingdom) with Sterling Energy, teaching a short course and consulting on salt tectonics in Gabon and Madagascar. 02/08 |
Mike Hudec spent the week of February
11–15 visiting Pemex's offices
in Villahermosa, Mexico. During the visit Mike taught a 2-day short
course in salt tectonics to Pemex interpreters, and spent the remaining
3 days consulting on salt interpretations in the Salina Basin. 02/08 |
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Mike Hudec visited the Houston offices of CGGVeritas on February 6–7, to provide input on the salt interpretation for a number of PSDM volumes currently in processing. The visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas’ membership in the AGL consortium. 02/08 |
Mike Hudec visited Mariner's Houston offices on February 4–5 to discuss seismic interpretations of salt structures in the Gulf of Mexico. This visit was provided as part of Mariner's membership in the AGL consortium. 02/08 |
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Martin Jackson spent the week of January 14–19 in Seattle (Washington) with colleagues in the University of Washington’s Department of Earth and Space Sciences, working on aspects of martian geology and presenting a talk titled “Subaerial morphology and subsurface advance of allochthonous evaporite sheets.” 01/08 |
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On January 11, Mike Hudec and Martin
Jackson visited Marathon Oil
(Houston, Texas) to discuss salt tectonics in the northern Gulf
of Mexico. The visit was provided as part of Marathon’s membership
in the AGL consortium.01/08 |
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Mike Hudec visited WesternGeco's Houston office on January 10 to give a presentation on the AGL consortium. The meeting was attended by members of WesternGeco's research group. 01/08 |
On January 9–10, Mike Hudec visited CGGVeritas' Houston office to conduct research on salt tectonics in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. 01/08 |
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Mike Hudec visited Shell's Houston office on January 7–8 to provide a summary of the 2007 AGL annual meeting, and to discuss a variety of Shell's prospects in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Part of the visit was provided as a benefit of Shell's membership in the AGL consortium. 01/08 |
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On December 11, Martin Jackson visited Total in Houston and presented several talks at an exploration workshop on the Gulf of Mexico and Angolan margin. 12/07 |
Tim Dooley attended the AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco from December 10-15th. Tim was lead author on an oral presentation entitled "Effects of a weak crustal layer in a transtensional pull-apart basin: results from a scaled physical modeling study" along with co-authors Francis Monastero (US Navy Geothermal Program Office) and Ken McClay (University of London). 12/07 Image to right - Moscone Center, San Francisco |
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Mike Hudec also visited Fugro’s office in Houston on December 7, to discuss ideas for collaborative research using Fugro’s Deep Focus dataset in the Gulf of Mexico. 12/07 |
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Mike Hudec visited WesternGeco’s Houston office on December on December 7 to give a presentation on the AGL consortium. The visit was attended by members of WesternGeco’s multiclient group. 12/07 |
Angela McDonnell was selected to receive AAPG's A. I. Levorsen Memorial Award for Best Oral Presentation at the 2007 Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Meeting, which was held in Corpus Christi in October. The paper (coauthored by Mike Hudec and Martin Jackson) is titled “Importance of Allochthonous Salt in Texas State Waters: Paleo-Canopy Presence and New Exploration Paradigms." Angela's research was funded by the Bureau's Deep Shelf Gas project. The A. I. Levorsen Memorial Award is presented in recognition of an outstanding paper, with particular emphasis on creative thinking toward new ideas in exploration. 12/07 |
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Mike Hudec visited the Houston offices of CGGVeritas on December 5–6, to provide input on the salt interpretation for a number of PSDM volumes currently in processing. The visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas’ membership in the AGL consortium. 12/07 |
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On December 3-4, Professor Joe Cartwright of the School of Earth, Ocean, and Planetary Sciences at Cardiff University (Wales) visited to continue joint research on Messinian salt tectonics in the Eastern Mediterranean. 12/07 |
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On December 2–5, Mike Hudec attended the 27th Annual GCSSEPM Foundation Bob F. Perkins Research Conference, entitled “The Paleogene of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Basins: Processes, Events, and Petroleum Systems.” The conference was held in Houston, and focused on discussions of the anomalously thick Paleogene sand packages in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. 12/07 |
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Researchers Mike Hudec and Martin Jackson’s 2007 paper, "Terra Infirma: Understanding Salt Tectonics", Earth Science Reviews, May, p. 1-28, was recently included in Science Direct's Top 25 Hottest Articles. The paper came in at number 18 on the chart. 11/07 |
Mike Hudec visited CGGVeritas’ Houston office on November 7–8 to discuss salt interpretations in several Gulf of Mexico seismic volumes currently undergoing PSDM processing. The visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas’ membership in the AGL consortium. 11/07 |
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Mike Hudec visited the Houston offices of Nexen Petroleum on November 5–6 to discuss salt tectonics in the Gulf of Mexico. The visit was provided as part of Nexen’s membership in the AGL consortium. 11/07 |
Mike Hudec visited StatoilHydro’s Houston office October 31–November 1, to discuss salt tectonics in the Gulf of Mexico. The visit was provided as part of StatoilHydro’s membership in the AGL consortium. 11/07 |
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Mike Hudec taught three short course for the staff of CGGVeritas in Houston during the week of October 22–26. Two of these were 2-day introductory courses in salt tectonics, and the other was a 1-day advanced seminar on the tectonics of allochthonous salt sheets in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. 10/29/07 |
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On October 16,
Mike Hudec presented a talk entitled "Mechanics of
the advance of allochthonous salt sheets: implications for predicting
subsalt pore pressure" at the GeoFluids
III consortium meeting in Austin, Texas. This consortium,
under the leadership of UT's Peter Flemings, investigates
the state and evolution of pressure, stress, and fluid migration
in subsalt environments, shallow water flow regimes, and thrust
belts. Plans are underway for AGL to collaborate with GeoFluids
III in the coming year, as we investigate the evolution of pressure
and deformation below allochthonous salt sheets. 10/29/07 |
| Nearly 100 delegates from 27 member companies attended the Applied Geodynamics Laboratory Annual Meeting on October 8–9, 2007. In celebration of AGL's 20th anniversary, the meeting was held in Moab, Utah, on the crest of the Spanish Valley salt wall. Delegates listened to 14 presentations on salt tectonics in the Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean, Paradox Basin, South Atlantic, and Mars(!), along with another 5 presentations showing physical models of salt structures. In additions to AGL geoscientists Tim Dooley, Mike Hudec, and Martin Jackson, the AGL welcomed guest lecturers Frank Peel of BHP and Angie McDonnell from the BEG's Deep Shelf Gas Project. Following the meeting, more than 50 attendees stayed on to participate in a 2-day field trip in the Paradox Basin. The trip, led by Mike Hudec, visited the Needles fault zone, Upheaval Dome, the Cane Creek salt anticline, and Onion Creek salt dome. Here's to another 20 years for the AGL consortium! 10/29/07 Click on each photo for a larger image. |
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Congratulations to Ph.D. candidate Bryce Wagner, who was recently awarded three scholarships: (1) ConocoPhillips SPIRIT Scholarship, (2) Michael Bruce Duchin Endowed Presidential Scholarship, and (3) SEG Foundation Scholarship (renewed). Bryce has started his research on salt tectonics in the Applied Geodynamics Laboratory, supervised by Martin Jackson and Mark Cloos; his committee also includes BEG's Mike Hudec. 09/19/07 |
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This photograph, taken by Bureau scientist Martin Jackson in Iran, has been selected for multimedia presentation at an exhibition entitled 'Séismes et Volcans' in the Palais de la Découverte [French Education Ministry], in Paris. The exhibition will open on October, 1, 2007, and will run for 10 years. 08/10/07 |
| Michael Hudec visited BP's Houston office on July 2nd to discuss structural and stratigraphic patterns in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The visit was provided as part of BP's membership in the AGL consortium. |
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Martin Jackson visited the Houston offices of Cobalt International Energy on June 26 to discuss salt tectonics in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic. The visit was provided as part of Cobalt's membership in the AGL consortium. 06/07 |
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The AGL bids a regretful farewell to Jozina Dirkzwager, who leaves us to accept a job with Chevron in Houston. Jozina spent about a year with AGL, during which time her finite-element modeling was critical in advancing our knowledge of salt-sheet advance mechanisms. We're sorry to see her go, but congratulate her on obtaining a job that's in the same city as her husband. Best wishes Jose. 06/07 |
| Maersk Oil and Gas AS hosted a lecture by Martin Jackson in Copenhagen on June 15, attended by Maersk staff and members of Copenhagen University, the Geological Survey of Denmark, PGS, Altinex, and Dong Energy. The talk, entitled "Tectonic squeezing of salt stocks: field observations from Arctic Canada and laboratory simulations" included the results of modeling by AGLs Tim Dooley and field mapping with Chris Harrison of the Geological Survey of Canada. 06/07 |
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On May 29, Mike Hudec received notice that his promotion to Senior Research Scientist was approved by the Provost of the University of Texas. Senior Research Scientist is the BEG’s highest technical level, and is the research equivalent of a full professor. Mike is reportedly very excited about the additional committee responsibilities that come with the new position. 05/07 |
Statoil delegates analyze stratigraphic patterns on a salt-diapir flank near the entrance to Arches National Park. Click image for a larger view. |
On May 21-25, Mike Hudec led a field trip to the Paradox Basin, Utah, for Statoil. Participants discussed gravity-driven salt tectonics, structures associated with salt-dome pinchoff, deformation at the base of salt sheets, fault relays, salt welds, and a host of other topics while basking in the sun and scenery of southeast Utah. Martin Jackson also attended the trip as a guest of Statoil. 05/07 |
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| On May 18, Martin Jackson gave an invited lecture, entitled “Surface morphology of terrestrial salt structures: analogs for Mars?” at the University of Washington’s Quaternary Research Center in Seattle. This formed part of the QRC’s annual Spring Workshop on Martian Glaciation, which was attended by experts on Martian geology from the United States and Europe. Next day, there followed a six-hour informal discussion devoted to evidence for large-scale salt tectonics on Mars. 05/07 |
A Martian impact crater contains a remnant of water ice cap in its center and a seasonal frosting of atmospheric CO2 on its rim. Image courtesy of QRC. |
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On May 8, Mike Hudec was named a Jackson Research Excellence Fellow by Jackson School Dean Eric Barron. This two-year fellowship was one of 10 such awards given to researchers in the Jackson School. Congratulations, Mike! 05/07 |
Mike Hudec visited the offices of CGGVeritas on May 7-8 to discuss salt interpretations in several Gulf of Mexico seismic volumes currently undergoing PSDM processing. The visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas’ membership in the AGL consortium. 05/07 |
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Graduate students Tyler Hannah and Thomas Hearon of New Mexico State University visited AGL on April 27 to discuss interpretation of aerial photographs of their field areas in the Flinders Ranges, Australia. The pair will be conducting fieldwork in the area this summer. Their work is supported by the Institute for Tectonics studies, under the leadership of Kate Giles. 04/07 |
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Mike Hudec spent April 16-17 at CGGVeritas’ offices in Houston. Mike spent these days consulting with CGGVeritas staff on salt interpretations in several 3D PSDM datasets that are currently in processing. The visit was provided free as part of CGGVeritas’ membership in the AGL consortium. 04/07 |
| Martin Jackson participated in Hydro’s “Professor Meeting,” an informal workshop to discuss the latest ideas and issues in salt tectonics research. The meeting was held on April 12–13 in Paracuru, a small seaside town near Fortaleza in northeastern Brazil. Participants at the workshop included geoscientists from Hydro and Petrobras and from University of Barcelona, New Mexico State University, Imperial College, Royal Holloway, IFP Paris, and Rennes University, and the University of Texas at Austin. After full days of intellectual jousting, participants were exposed to a grueling social calendar each evening to lubricate further discussion. 04/07 |
Attendees at the Hydro Salt Tectonics "Professor Meeting". Click for a larger image. |
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Mike Hudec spent the week of March 26-30 in Poza Rica, Mexico, visiting Pemex’s offices. Mike presented a short course on salt tectonics, then spent several days discussing salt tectonics along the Mexican Gulf Coast with Pemex interpreters. 03/07 |
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Mike Hudec visited Marathon’s Houston office on March 7 to discuss salt tectonics in the Gulf of Mexico and West Africa. Mike also gave a lunchtime technical presentation based on recent AGL research concerning evolution of the salt-canopy system in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The visit was provided as part of Marathon’s membership in the AGL consortium. 03/07 |
Mike Hudec visited the Houston offices of ConocoPhillips on March 5-6 to discuss salt tectonics in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The visit was provided as part of ConocoPhillips’ membership in the AGL consortium. 03/07 |
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Mike Hudec presented two short courses on salt tectonics at PGS’s Houston office on February 20-22. The first was a two-day course on basic salt tectonics. The second was a newly developed one-day module on advanced concepts in interpretation of allochthonous salt. 02/07 |
Mike Hudec visited Houston on February 19 to consult with CGGVeritas staff regarding salt interpretation on several Gulf of Mexico data volumes currently undergoing depth processing. This visit was provided as part of CGGVeritas’ membership in the AGL consortium. 02/07 |
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Nancy Cottington and Martin Jackson attended an ESRI training course on ArcGIS in San Antonio, Texas, on January 29-30. Nancy uses this software for AGL’s digital atlas, The Salt Mine, and for other projects, such as the compilation of global salt basins. 01/07 |
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Bureau Research Scientist Mike Hudec recently completed his second two-week tour as a 2006-07 AAPG Distinguished Lecturer. During the tours, Mike made presentations to the Asociación Mexicana de Geólogos Petroleros A.C. (Delegación Poza Rica), New Mexico State University, The University of Texas – El Paso, Montana State University, the Montana Geological Society (Billings), University of Wyoming, Dalhousie University, Bowling Green State University, Ohio State University, Northern Illinois University, Indiana University, University of Missouri – Rolla, University of Kentucky, and Florida International University. Mike’s two talks were entitled “Advance mechanisms of allochthonous salt sheets: implications for predicting subsalt pore pressure” and “Evolution of suprasalt minibasins in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.” 01/07 |
Martin Jackson discussed seismic interpretation in the northern Gulf of Mexico while visiting the offices of Maxus (Repsol) in The Woodlands, Texas on January 18–19. 01/07 |
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Mike Hudec presented a short course in salt tectonics at ConocoPhillips’ Houston office on January 11-12. Discussion was extremely lively during the course, with the result that delegates never even got a chance to work the final exercise! 01/07 |
Mike Hudec spent a day at Veritas’ Houston office on January 10, consulting on various depth-imaging projects in the Gulf of Mexico. The visit was provided free of charge as part of Veritas’ membership in the AGL consortium. 01/07 |
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December 2006 Highlights
| New Publication. Based on field work in 2004, this is the first paper from a joint study by the Applied Geodynamics Laboratory and Geological Survey of Canada on exposed evaporite diapirs in the Sverdrup Basin. Jackson, M. P. A., and Harrison, J. C., 2006,
An allochthonous salt canopy on Axel Heiberg Island, Sverdrup Basin,
Arctic Canada: Geology, v. 34, p. 1045–1048. |
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Left: Muskox Ridge - thrusted diapir on canopy. CLick for larger image. |
Martin Jackson spent December 14-15 at Maersk’s offices in Copenhagen, where he presented lectures and discussed the geology of deepwater Angola and Brazil. Picture shows Maersk geoscientists, Lene Clausen and Niels Schødt near Maersk’s headquarters in the harbor. |
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New Publication: Summary publication from the salt tectonics/stratigraphy/paleosol study in the Paradox Basin conducted jointly with researchers from Baylor University. Prochnow, S. J., Atchley, S. C., Boucher, T. E., Nordt, L. C., and Hudec, M. R., 2006, The influence of salt withdrawal subsidence on paleosol maturity and cyclic fluvial deposition in the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation: Castle Valley, Utah: Sedimentology, v. 53, p. 1319–1345. |
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Mike Hudec conducted the first of two AAPG Distinguished Lecturer tours on November 27-December 6. On this trip he presented lectures for the Asociación Mexicana de Geólogos Peroleros (Poza Rica Chapter), New Mexico State University, The University of Texas at El Paso, Montana State University, the Montana Geological Society (Billings), and the University of Wyoming. A second tour will take place in late January – early February. 12/06 |
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Martin Jackson spent November 27-30 at Statoil’s offices in Houston, teaching a short course on salt tectonics and discussing Gulf of Mexico seismic data. 11/06 |
Mike Hudec spent the week of November 6-10 consulting for various companies in Houston. On November 6-7 he taught a short course to Veritas. On November 8 Mike spent the day in Woodside’s office discussing Gulf of Mexico seismic data. Finally, on November 9-10 Mike taught another salt-tectonics short course, this time for Fugro.11/06 |
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Attendance was 130 strong, attendees representing 20 companies, at the Applied Geodynamics Laboratory’s 19th annual Industrial Associates meeting, which was held in Austin November 2 and 3. AGL members José Dirkzwager, Tim Dooley, Mike Hudec, and Martin Jackson presented 15 talks over the 1½ -day meeting, covering topics that ranged from submarine thrusts in the Gulf of Mexico to salt canopies in the Canadian Arctic. Guest speakers Joe Cartwright (Cardiff University, Wales), Teunis Heyn (BP), and Patricia Montoya (Anadarko) presented additional material that was based on seismic interpretations in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Gulf of Mexico. The finale of the meeting was a tour of AGL’s physical modeling facilities, during which delegates were presented an overview of the technology that goes into simulating salt structures in the lab and were given the opportunity to watch an actively deforming model. 11/03/06 |
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| Tim brings up a 3D laserscan image of the running model. The rig he is leaning on is the new strike-slip deformation table recently installed in the laboratories. Click for a larger image. | Mike and Tim explain the model to the enthusiastic audience. Click for a larger image. |
New Publication: A summary of AGL’s recent thinking on the development of allochthonous salt sheets. Hudec, M. R., and Jackson, M. P. A., 2006, Advance of allochthonous salt sheets in passive margins and orogens: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 90, no. 10, p. 1535–1564. |
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Mike Hudec filled in for Martin Jackson in teaching Martin’ new two-day short course entitled “Deep-Water Salt Tectonics” on September 14-15. The course premiered as part of AAPG’s Fall Education Conference in Houston. Illness prevented Martin from teaching his course, and Mike was a last-minute replacement. Delegates to the conference report that they survived the experience. |
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Martin
Jackson visited the exploration office of Petrobras
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August 30 to September 1. He taught
a one-day short course in salt tectonics for Petrobras staff and
discussed salt-tectonics in several Brazilian basins as an AGL service.
Martin then traveled north to Aracaju as a guest of Petrobras to
present an invited talk at the Brazilian
Geological Congress, titled “Salt extrusion, roof
dispersion, and deep intrusion of salt into and out of squeezed
stocks”, coauthored by Tim Dooley, who
carried out the physical modeling for the paper, and Mike
Hudec. |
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On August
22, Mike Hudec and Martin Jackson
visited AGL member, BP Exploration,
Houston, to examine seismic data and discuss progress in joint research
on salt tectonics in the Gulf of Mexico. |
On August
24, we made presentations to visiting geoscientists from Chevron
about the AGL research program, which Chevron supports. |
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Mike Hudec visited Woodside’s
offices in Perth, Australia from August 28-September 1. While there,
Mike taught a 2-day short course in salt tectonics for staff from
Woodside, Roc
Oil, and Hardman Resources.
Mike also discussed salt-tectonic interpretations with Woodside
interpreters in several basins. A portion of the visit was provided
free of charge as a benefit of Woodside’s membership in the
AGL. |
Mark Rowan (Rowan Consulting,
Boulder) visited on July 29 for discussions with Martin
Jackson. We compared salt tectonics in the Sverdrup Basin
in Arctic Canada (Carboniferous to Eocene) and the Flinders Ranges
in South Australia (Neoproterozoic to Cambrian). Despite their vastly
different age, these provinces have many similarities, especially
the occurrence of allochthonous tectonics, mild orogenic overprint,
good to excellent outcrop, and a dearth of seismic data. |
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On July 17-18, Mike Hudec visited Veritas’
Houston office. The purpose of the visit was to study subsalt structures
in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, as part of a new study of salt-stock
canopy geometries. |
On July 11, Martin Jackson and
Mike Hudec visited BP’s
offices in Houston. They participated in a seminar discussing models
for salt-sheet advance, and the implications for these models on
slope stability. |
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New Publication: Invited paper based on AGL Ph.D. student Patricia Montoya’s dissertation research: Montoya, P., Tatham, R., Fisher, W., Steel, R., and Hudec, M., 2006, Definition of depositional geological elements in deep-water minibasins of the Gulf of Mexico using spectral decomposition in depth domain, in EAGE 68th Conference and Exhibition, Paper Number C008, Session: Best of SEG, Vienna, Austria, June 12–15, p. 480–485. |
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Photo: Structures in layered evaporites within
the Onion Creek salt diapir. Click for larger image. |
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Mike Hudec visited AGL member Veritas
Hampson-Russell at their Houston office on June 19-20. Mike
consulted with VHR's PSDM Interpretation team, providing input on
salt interpretations for Veritas Gulf of Mexico datasets currently
in processing. |
Mike Hudec visited AGL member ExxonMobil's
Houston offices on June 21-22. Mike consulted with teams working
in the Gulf of Mexico and Africa. |
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Above - some of the geothermal facility and spectacular volcanic domes. Right - a test well lets off some steam. Click the photos for larger image. |
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On
Saturday, June 24th, the Bureau hosted a full day of filming salt-tectonics
research for a 4-hour television series called
The
scene then shifted to the AGL work area, where Martin Jackson continued
his commentary, on camera, while the crew’s own experiment
(Fun with Silicone) was captured by time-lapse photography. The
film will feature material contributed by Tim, Martin, and Mike
Hudec. The film crew’s next assignment was to shoot
Charlie Kerans in the Guadalupe Mountains.May 2006 Highlights
| Martin Jackson was
awarded the Joseph C. Walter Excellence Award by Dean Bill
Fisher on behalf of the University's Jackson School of
Geosciences. The award is given annually to faculty and research
staff "in recognition of outstanding service and special contributions
to teaching and research programs." |
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Petroleum Systems Manager Sylvia Couto Anjos and
Senior Geologic Advisor Adali Ricardo Spadini of AGL member Petrobras
visited Austin on May 11. Mike Hudec provided an
overview of AGL research and gave them a demonstration of The Salt
Mine – AGL’s interactive atlas of salt tectonics. 05/2006 |
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April 2006 Highlights
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| Ken Umbach of AGL member EnCana visited AGL in Austin on April 20 to discuss salt tectonics in Oman. The day was spent looking at seismic and discussing the roles of basement structure and sedimentation in controlling evolution of InfraCambrian Hormuz salt in the area. 04/2006 |
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AGL Ph.D. candidate Patricia Montoya successfully defended her dissertation on April 18. Her dissertation was entitled “Salt tectonics and sequence-stratigraphic history of minibasins near the Sigsbee Escarpment, Gulf of Mexico.” Mike Hudec and Jackson School dean Bill Fisher co-supervised the project. Other committee members were Martin Jackson, Ron Steel and Bob Tatham from the UT Department of Geosciences, and Lou Liro of Maxus Energy. Congratulations Dr. Montoya! 04/2006 |
| Tim Dooley and Mike Hudec were both senior authors on talks at the 2006 AAPG Annual Meeting in Houston. Mike’s talk, entitled “Mechanics of the advance of buried salt sheets and implications for predicting subsalt pore pressure” summarized AGL’s recent research on the emplacement of buried salt sheets. Martin Jackson and Dan Schultz-Ela were coauthors. Tim’s talk was titled “Allochtonous salt extrusion, roof dispersion, and intrusive import and export of salt in squeezed stocks.” This paper showed some of Tim’s physical models of squeezed diapirs, and included several truly striking movies of salt-sheet extrusion. Martin Jackson was a co-author. Mike Hudec presented the talk on behalf of Tim. 04/2006 |
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Mike Hudec was presented with the 2006 AAPG George C. Matson award on April 9, at the opening session of the 2006 AAPG Annual Meeting. The award is given to the presenter of the AAPG paper judged the best at the previous year’s annual meeting. The award was given for “A compressional origin for minibasins near the Sigsbee Escarpment, Gulf of Mexico.” Mike’s coauthors on the paper were Martin Jackson and Dan Schultz-Ela. 04/2006 |
| Mike Hudec provided an overview of the AGL to staff from the China University of Petroleum on April 7. These delegates were visiting the Bureau of Economic Geology to explore possible joint research initiatives. 04/2006 |
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March 2006 Highlights
New Publication: Results from a joint salt tectonics/stratigraphy/paleosol study in the Paradox Basin conducted jointly with researchers from Baylor University. Prochnow, S. J., Nordt, L. C., Atchley, S. C., and Hudec, M. R., 2006, Multi-proxy paleosol evidence for middle and late Triassic climate trends in eastern Utah: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecolology, v. 232, p. 53–72. |
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Mike Hudec and Martin Jackson visited BP's Houston office on March 1–3 to look at seismic data along the Sigsbee Escarpment in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico. This work was part of AGL's research program investigating advance mechanisms of allochthonous salt sheets. 03/2006 |
| AGL graduate student Patricia Montoya gave a technical presentation summarizing her Ph.D. research to the Department of Geological Sciences on March 9. Patricia's dissertation examines the influence of salt tectonics on sediment-transport systems in deep-water minibasins in the Gulf of Mexico. This work is based on 3200 km2 of 3-D pre-stack depth migrated seismic data donated to AGL by Veritas Marine Surveys. 03/2006 |
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Mike Hudec gave a presentation entitled "Mechanics of the advance of buried salt sheets and implications for predicting subsalt pore pressure" in Houston on March 21. The talk was presented at a 1-day research conference sponsored by GX Technology entitled "Connecting the dots across the northern Gulf of Mexico Basin." 03/2006 |
February 2006 Highlights
| Mike Hudec taught short courses on "Principles and Applications of Salt Tectonics" and "Allochthonous Salt Tectonics" to geophysicists at Veritas Hampson Russell on February 27–28. 02/2006 |
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Bureau scientists Tim Dooley
and Martin Jackson spoke at the Friday, February
24 seminar on "Modeling of Allochthonous Salt Extrusion, Roof
Dispersion, and Intrusive Import and Export of Salt in Squeezed
Stocks." [Abstract]
They also presented a similar talk for the seminar series of UT's
Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering. The paper is
coauthored by Mike Hudec. 02/2006 |
Mike Hudec visited BP's offices in Sunbury, England on February 20–21. Mike presented highlights from the 2005 AGL annual meeting, and consulted with interpreters from several groups working in the Lower Congo Basin and West Africa. 02/2005 |
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Martin Jackson was nominated for the University Cooperative Society 2006 Career Research Excellence Award, the premier award for researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. 02/2005 |
| AGL Ph.D. candidate Patricia Montoya received notification that her paper "Definition of depositional geological elements in deep-water minibasins of the Gulf of Mexico using spectral decomposition in depth domain" was selected as one of the top 25 papers presented at the 2005 SEG Annual Meeting. The meeting was held in Houston on November 6–11. Co-authors on the paper were Robert Tatham, Bill Fisher, and Ron Steel of the UT Department of Geological Sciences, and Mike Hudec of AGL. 02/2006 |
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January 2006 Highlights
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Mike Hudec taught a short course "Principles and Applications of Salt Tectonics" to students in UT's Department of Geological Sciences on January 25 and 27. The course was sponsored by the University of Texas AAPG Student Chapter, and was attended by 20 graduate and undergraduate students. 01/2006 |
Mike Hudec visited ExxonMobil's Houston offices on January 16–17. Mike presented highlights from the 2005 AGL annual meeting, and consulted with interpreters from several Gulf of Mexico work groups. 01/2006 |
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December 2005 Highlights
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Tim Dooley was promoted to Research Scientist at the Bureau of Economic Geology in November and started officially in that capacity on December 15th, 2005. 12/2005 |
| New Publication: The final paper in a quartet of papers dealing with salt tectonics and tectonics in the Kwanza Basin of Angola was published.
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Joe Cartwright spent a week examining outcrops
in the Santa Cruz and Panoche Hills regions of central California,
to attempt to refine our understanding of the genesis of sandstone
intrusions. He spent two days at an ExxonMobil-hosted
symposium on the characteristics of fine-grained rocks. This symposium
was held at the Upstream Research, Technical Training Center in
Houston, and Joe delivered two seminars, "The Impact of Polygonal
Faults on E and P", and "Are Seismic Facies really non-unique?"
He also visited the Houston office of Anadarko
to present a seminar on "The Physical properties of Caprocks."
Joe's work with Martin Jackson on the Messinian
of the Eastern Mediterranean commenced with a regional review, and
definition of the key technical issues. 12/2005 |
| Mike Hudec was the speaker at the Houston Geological Society's Joint General and North American Dinner Meeting on December 12. Mike's presentation was entitled "A compressional origin for minibasins near the Sigsbee Scarp, Gulf of Mexico." 12/2005 |
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Mike Hudec visited
Kerr-McGee's Houston office on November29–December
2. Mike taught a short course and discussed salt interpretations
in the Gulf of Mexico. 12/2005 |
| Martin Jackson and Mike Hudec joined in a field trip to the La Popa Basin in the Chihuahua desert of northeast Mexico, north of Monterrey. Kate Giles (New Mexico State University at Las Cruces) and Mark Rowan (Consultant, Boulder) led the excursion, for the benefit of Maxus and Kerr-McGee oil companies. This well-exposed, tiny basin has four diapirs and two salt welds, some of which have been intensively studied for a decade by NMSU's Institute for Tectonic Studies, under the leadership of Kate Giles and Tim Lawton, with broad industry support. 12/2005 |
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| Martin Jackson spent a day with Anadarko (The Woodlands), where he presented a lecture on salt welds and discussed salt tectonics in the northern Gulf of Mexico. 12/2005 |
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November Highlights
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On November 22, Mike Hudec gave a talk to UT graduate students as part of their weekly Technical Session Series. Mike's presentation was entitled "A compressional origin for minibasins near the Sigsbee Escarpment, Gulf of Mexico." 11/2005 |
| Mike Hudec and Martin Jackson visited BP's Houston office on November 3 to discuss plans for continuation of our research into mechanisms of salt-sheet advance. 11/2005 |
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Oriol Ferrer, a PhD candidate at the University of Barcelona, Spain, continued his three-month stay in Austin, interpreting seismic data from the offshore extension of the Cantabrian-Aquitaine Basins in the Bay of Biscay. The purpose of his stay, was to interact with AGL staff to explain this little-known region of contractional salt tectonics, including allochthonous salt. Oriol's visit was funded by the Spanish government and hosted by Martin Jackson; Josep Anton Muñoz supervises his PhD in Barcelona. 11/2005 |
| Tim Dooley spent a couple of weeks in the UK during November to renew his visa as well as working with Ken McClay and Paul Whitehouse at the Geology Department, Royal Holloway University of London, near Windsor in Surrey. 11/2005 |
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October Highlights
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Piotr Krzywiec of the Polish Geological Institute and Andrzej Przybycin of the Polish Ministry of the Environment visited AGL on October 26–27 to discuss the possibilities for joint research on the salt tectonics of the Central Polish Trough. 10/2005 |
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On October 20 and 21, 2005, the Applied Geodynamics Laboratory held its 18th annual review meeting for companies sponsoring the consortium. A record 114 visitors registered to hear 19 new technical |
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presentations by the AGL team on the diverse topics of salt tectonics. Guests Joe Cartwright and Peter Cobbold were featured speakers. The meeting concluded with an optional tour of the physical modeling lab, where a model is under way. 10/2005 |
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| Mike Hudec visited Forest Oil's offices in Denver October 4–6 to present a short course and to discuss salt tectonics in offshore Gabon with Forest Oil and their partners Paladin Resources, Tullow Oil, Petro SA, and la Direction Générale des Hydrocarbures (DGH, Gabon). 10/2005 |
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September Highlights
Mike Hudec presented “A compressional origin for minibasins near the Sigsbee Scarp, Gulf of Mexico” during a BEG Technical Seminar on Friday, September 12. The paper, presented earlier this year at the AAPG Annual Meeting in Calgary, presents evidence that most minibasins near the Sigsbee Escarpment formed as a result of shortening induced by flow patterns in the Sigsbee salt canopy. 09/2005 |
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Mike Hudec led a field course to the Paradox Basin, Utah for AGL Industrial Associate Hydro Oil and Energy on September 25–30. Despite occasional vehicular forays into the mud, a good time was had by all. 09/2005 |
August Highlights
Mike Hudec has been chosen to receive the 2006 George C. Matson Award from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists for his talk “A Compressional Origin for Minibasins near the Sigsbee Escarpment, Gulf of Mexico.” [Abstract] Mike's talk was judged as the best oral presentation at the 2005 annual convention held in June in Calgary, on the basis of both scientific |
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| quality of content and excellence in presentation. The paper was co-authored by Martin Jackson and AGL alumnus Dan Schultz-Ela. The research is based on AGL's analysis of a Veritas 3-D prestack-depth-migrated volume along the Sigsbee Escarpment. Theory and observation suggest that many minibasins above the Sigsbee salt canopy began subsiding during shortening. If so, minibasin stratigraphy can be divided into three phases: (1) preshortening, in which the minibasin did not exist, (2) synshortening, in which sands are concentrated in linear synclines between thrust anticlines, and (3) postshortening, in which sands are broadly distributed across the floor of the subsiding basin. Reservoir geometries are likely to be very different depending on which phase they are associated with. Continuing research is investigating the quantitative seismic geomorphology associated with each stage of minibasin evolution. 08/2005 |
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July Highlights
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Mike Hudec visited AGL member BHP-Billiton
on July 18–20 to discuss salt tectonics in the Gulf of Mexico.
Mike presented a one-day short course on allochthonous salt systems,
and spent the other conducting workshops on various subsalt datasets.
08/2005 |
| New Publication: Prochnow, S. J., L. C. Nordt, S. C. Atchley, M. Hudec, and T. E. Boucher, 2005, Triassic paleosol catenas associated with a salt-withdrawal minibasin in southeastern Utah, U.S.A.: Rocky Mountain Geology, v. 40, p. 25–29. 07/2005 |
June Highlights
| Martin Jackson travelled to Beijing, China from June 25th to July 5th to attend the international conference, "Theory and Application of Fault-related Folding in Foreland Basins". Martin presented a talk entitled “Progressive Effects of Shortening Superposed on Extensional Diapirs and Faults in Deep-Water Lower Congo Basin, Gabon” and attended the post-conference field trip to the north and south Tianshan foreland basin. 06/2005 |
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Mike Hudec spent June 6–10 in Houston,
visiting AGL members Woodside and
ConocoPhillips. Discussions were focused
on salt and subsalt interpretation in joint venture acreage in the
Gulf of Mexico. 06/2005 |
| Mike Hudec was in Calgary June 19–22 to attend the AAPG Annual Meeting. While there, Mike presented a talk entitled "A compressional origin for minibasins near the Sigsbee Scarp, Gulf of Mexico." 06/2005 |
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Martin Jackson visited AGL member ExxonMobil on June 15 to discuss salt tectonics in the Middle East. 06/2005 |
May Highlights
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Mike Hudec and Martin Jackson visited AGL Member Hydro Oil and Energy's offices in Bergen and Oslo, Norway, on May 23–26. They presented a short course and discussed salt tectonics with members of Hydro's research and exploration groups. 05/2005 |
New Publication AGL's research on stratigraphic effects of translation across the Atlantic Hinge Zone in the deep-water Kwanza Basin was published as:
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| Tim Dooley's work on basement controls on salt tectonics, conducted for Shell UK during his tenure as Lab Manager at Royal Holloway University of London was published as:
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Richard Kilby completed his Masters thesis on “Thrust kinematics in the Lower Congo Basin, deepwater southern Gabon.” The thesis was based on a proprietary 3-D seismic volume provided by Total Astrid Marin Gabon and included restoration, fault analysis, and physical modeling. Martin Jackson and Mark Cloos (University of Texas Department of Geological Sciences) co-supervised the thesis. Richard joined Shell Exploration and Production Company in New Orleans (Louisiana). 05/2005 |
April Highlights
| Martin Jackson visited AGL member, Maxus (The Woodlands, Texas) on April 26 and 27 to discuss aspects of salt tectonics in the deepwater northern Gulf of Mexico. 04/2005 |
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Mike Hudec and Martin Jackson visited AGL member, BP (Houston, Texas) on April 13 to discuss salt-related exploration issues in the northern Gulf of Mexico. 04/2005 |
| Mike Hudec and Martin Jackson attended a workshop on the CongoSpan dataset at GX Technology (Houston, Texas) on April 14. 04/2005 |
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The Jackson School of Geosciences awarded research fellowships to Martin Jackson and Mike Hudec. These fellowships are awarded annually on a merit basis. They provide funds to supplement research activities in addition to those provided by AGL industrial associates. 04/2005 |
March Highlights
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Dr. Van Mount of Anadarko (The Woodlands, Texas) visited us to discuss aspects of salt tectonics in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. 03/2005 |
A new deformation rig was installed in the physical modeling laboratories in early March. The rig was designed by Tim Dooley and built by Roger Gary, UT Department of Geological Sciences. Please see the Members' Area for further details. 03/2005 |
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Bureau Post-doctoral Fellow and AGL Laboratory Manager Tim Dooley visited Royal Hollway University of London during the week of March 7th to discuss ongoing modeling into strike-slip deformation in Coso Range, eastern California. 03/2005 |
February Highlights
New publication:
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| The Jackson School of Geosciences appointed Joe Cartwright a Visiting Distinguished Scientist for his sabbatical stay in Austin, beginning in October 2005. Joe is Director of Research at the School of Earth, Ocean and Planetary Sciences at Cardiff University (Cardiff, Wales) and Editor of Basin Research. He will be collaborating with AGL on seismic-based research. 01/2005 |
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Former AGL graduate research assistant Dr. Joel Le Calvez, now with Schlumberger, visited AGL on January 27 to discuss ideas for possible joint research. 01/2005 |