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November 9, 2020

Kelly Hattori

Kelly Hattori

Geology of the Pettet Formation, East Texas Basin

Pettet A

A new STARR research project aims at providing a new level of detail regarding the history of deposition for the Early Cretaceous carbonate Pettet Formation in East Texas. The study involves detailed mapping and description of the formation's units. Preliminary mapping results by Bureau geologist Kelly Hattori focusing on the Rusk-Gregg-Panola County region have shed light on the development and migration of ooid and green algae shoals, which are commonly productive reservoir facies in this area.

Further work will expand the study area to encompass the East Texas Basin and incorporate wireline, seismic, and core data to provide a comprehensive picture of the Pettet Formation. The project also promises to provide exciting new insights into the architecture of the East Texas Basin, particularly regarding the impact of migrating salt on local carbonate depositional systems and associated reservoir facies distribution.

 


Peng Li

Peng Li

Are there any earthquakes in Texas and, where are they?

TexNet earthquake catalog

As a seismologist at the Bureau of Economic Geology, my research is focused on using computational, numerical, and physical methods to understand the characteristics of  earthquakes in Texas. My current projects include improving accuracy of earthquake location predictions in West and South Texas and computing focal mechanisms of earthquakes in South Texas. Accurate earthquake locations can tell us which faults have been reactivated and where new faults are generated by earthquakes. Earthquake focal mechanism provides information about the dynamic rupture and energy release of an earthquake. These characteristics of earthquakes are also essential to understanding the causes of earthquakes and evaluating spatial dependent seismic risk in Texas. I am also interested in modeling the sedimentary basin and crust structures from seismic data.


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