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Maria Spencer was a petroleum geologist. She attended the University of Oklahoma, where she obtained her Master's degree in 1930. After graduating, Maria became a district geologist during the second World War. She worked in several locations throughout her career, such as Dallas, Oklahoma, California, Calgary, Amarillo, and Los Angeles, but most of her work was based out of Midland, Texas. [1] In Midland, Spencer was a part of the Midland One project, which was a well sitting job and doing tests on wildcat wells. From there, she moved to work on Andros in the Bahamas, where she developed the Bahamas Deep Test, which focused mostly on strati-graphic testing. [2]
On April 13, 1946, Maria Spencer traveled to the Bahamas to begin her work in Andros, conducting strati-graphic testing on the land. This testing was done at a location off of the eastern shore, approximately 7 miles inland. This location was picked specifically due to the lack of influence from the talus deposits that were built out from the reef, as well as minimal movement from the reef front’s tectonic waves. This included possible slumping of the land and movement in the layers of the earth. In other words, it was the most stable place to do the testing. It was noted that this location was also chosen because it allowed a complete penetration, which allowed for uncomplicated data extraction. This location yielded inconclusive geological and geophysical data at the time of its selection. [3]
The testing continued until April 1, 1947, almost a year after the start date, reaching a depth of 14,585 ft. From this analysis, gas and oil were not found in a sufficient form. This experimental discovery paved the way for new understandings of late Cretaceous period strata. Because the depth reached was insufficient to analyze early Cretaceous strata, Maria compared it to that of strata samples taken southern Florida. It was concluded that the Cretaceous strata in Andros No. 1 consisted of small traces of anhydrite, as well as crystalline dolomite and dolomite limestone. In southern Florida, the composition of strata was anhydrite, with interbred dolomite and fossiliferous chalky limestone. One of the major differences in the strata samples from each location was the difference in the porousness of each layer. It was observed that there were minor signs of poorly developed porosity in the Florida sample, while the sample collected in Andros No. 1 showed large, thick areas of well-developed porosity. [3]
This information allowed geologists to conclude that at approximately 14,500 ft., the well in Andros no. 1 would have reached the Early Cretaceous strata. [3]
Limestone is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of CaCO3. Limestone forms when these minerals precipitate out of water containing dissolved calcium. This can take place through both biological and nonbiological processes, though biological processes, such as the accumulation of corals and shells in the sea, have likely been more important for the last 540 million years. Limestone often contains fossils which provide scientists with information on ancient environments and on the evolution of life.
The Permian Basin is a large sedimentary basin in the southwestern part of the United States. It is the highest producing oil field in the United States, producing an average of 4.2 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2019. This sedimentary basin is located in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico.
The Llano Uplift is a geologically ancient, low geologic dome that is about 90 miles (140 km) in diameter and located mostly in Llano, Mason, San Saba, Gillespie, and Blanco counties, Texas. It consists of an island-like exposure of Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks surrounded by outcrops of Paleozoic and Cretaceous sedimentary strata. At their widest, the exposed Precambrian rocks extend about 65 miles (105 km) westward from the valley of the Colorado River and beneath a broad, gentle topographic basin drained by the Llano River. The subdued topographic basin is underlain by Precambrian rocks and bordered by a discontinuous rim of flat-topped hills. These hills are the dissected edge of the Edwards Plateau, which consist of overlying Cretaceous sedimentary strata. Within this basin and along its margin are down-faulted blocks and erosional remnants of Paleozoic strata which form prominent hills.
The Gulf of Suez Rift is a continental rift zone that was active between the Late Oligocene and the end of the Miocene. It represented a continuation of the Red Sea Rift until break-up occurred in the middle Miocene, with most of the displacement on the newly developed Red Sea spreading centre being accommodated by the Dead Sea Transform. During its brief post-rift history, the deepest part of the remnant rift topography has been filled by the sea, creating the Gulf of Suez.
The Leduc Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Late Devonian (Frasnian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It takes its name from the city of Leduc, and it was formally described from the B.A. Pyrz No. 1 well in central Alberta, between the depths of 1,623.7 m (5,327 ft) and 1,807.5 m (5,930 ft), by Imperial Oil Limited in 1950. Supplementary information came from a complete section of the formation that was cored in Imperial Oil's Leduc No. 530 well between 1,633 m (5,358 ft) and 1,863 m (6,112 ft).
The Muskeg Formation is a geologic formation of Middle Devonian (Givetian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It extends from the plains of northwestern Alberta to northeastern British Columbia, and includes important petroleum and natural gas reservoirs in the Zama lake and Rainbow Lake areas of northwestern Alberta.
The Beaverhill Lake Group is a geologic unit of Middle Devonian to Late Devonian age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin that is present in the southwestern Northwest Territories, northeastern British Columbia and Alberta. It was named by the geological staff of Imperial Oil in 1950 for Beaverhill Lake, Alberta, based on the core from a well that they had drilled southeast of the lake, near Ryley, Alberta.
The Elk Point Group is a stratigraphic unit of Early to Middle Devonian age in the Western Canada and Williston sedimentary basins. It underlies a large area that extends from the southern boundary of the Northwest Territories in Canada to North Dakota in the United States. It has been subdivided into numerous formations, number of which host major petroleum and natural gas reservoirs.
The Woodbend Group is a stratigraphical unit of Frasnian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.
The Winterburn Group is a stratigraphical unit of Frasnian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.
The Bonneterre Formation is an Upper Cambrian geologic formation which outcrops in the St. Francois Mountains of the Missouri Ozarks. The Bonneterre is a major host rock for the lead ores of the Missouri Lead Belt.
The Cairn Formation is a geologic formation of Late Devonian (Frasnian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It was named for the Cairn River near its junction with the Southesk River in Jasper National Park by D.J. McLaren in 1955.
The Wetterstein Formation is a regional geologic formation of the Northern Limestone Alps and Western Carpathians extending from southern Bavaria, Germany in the west, through northern Austria to northern Hungary and western Slovakia in the east. The formation dates back to the Ladinian to Carnian stages of the Late Triassic. The formation is named after the Wetterstein Mountains in southern Germany and northwestern Austria. The center of its distribution, however, is in the Karwendel Mountains. It occurs in the Northern and Southern Limestone Alps and in the Western Carpathians.
The Mansfield Natural Gas Field is located west of Mansfield, Ohio, within the Appalachian foreland basin. The field is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long by 1.4 miles (2.3 km) wide and is in a general oval shape, stretching northward. This field, although small, is an analog for many of the natural gas fields that occur within the Appalachian Basin. It was first discovered by the Pan American Petroleum and Transport Company in the early 1930s. It is part of the Utica – Lower Paleozoic system, which is estimated to make up 15 to 20 percent of the total hydrocarbon abundance of the Appalachian Basin.
Fanny Carter Edson was an American petroleum geologist, She graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1910 and returned to further specialize in Precambrian geology, earning her master's degree in 1913.
Slaughter Field is a 100,000+ acre conventional oil and gas field 40 miles west of Lubbock, TX in Cochran, Hockley, and Terry Counties. It was discovered in 1936 by a three-way venture between Honolulu Oil Company, Devonian Oil Company, and Cascade Petroleum Company. The area was originally two different fields: Duggan Field and Slaughter Field. When it was proven that both Duggan Field and Slaughter Field were producing from the same formation, they were combined under a single field regulation named Slaughter Field. In March 2015, it ranked 25th on the United States Energy Information's Top 100 U.S. Oil and Gas Fields.
The geology of Moldova encompasses basement rocks from the Archean and Paleoproterozoic dating back more than 2.5 billion years, overlain by thick sequences of Neoproterozoic, Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks.
The geology of Bahrain is poorly studied before the Cenozoic. Extensive sedimentary formations from the Eocene through recent times cover much of the island.
The geology of Mississippi includes some deep igneous and metamorphic crystalline basement rocks from the Precambrian known only from boreholes in the north, as well as sedimentary sequences from the Paleozoic. The region long experienced shallow marine conditions during the tectonic evolutions of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, as coastal plain sediments accumulated up to 45,000 feet thick, including limestone, dolomite, marl, anhydrite and sandstone layers, with some oil and gas occurrences and the remnants of Cretaceous volcanic activity in some locations.
The geology of Missouri includes deep Precambrian basement rocks formed within the last two billion years and overlain by thick sequences of marine sedimentary rocks, interspersed with igneous rocks by periods of volcanic activity. Missouri is a leading producer of lead from minerals formed in Paleozoic dolomite.
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