Randi Martinsen

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Randi Martinsen
Randi Martinsen.jpg
Randi Martinsen in Wyoming after receiving her Master's in Geology
BornOctober 1950

Randi Martinsen is an American geologist and senior lecturer in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Wyoming. [1]

Contents

Overview

Martinsen has worked extensively on the Western Interior Cretaceous basin with a particular interest in stratigraphic trap exploration, paleotectonic influences on depositional systems and clastic reservoir characterization. [2]

Martinsen is a former president (2014 - 2015) and the second woman ever elected to head the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Foundation (AAPG), an organization that provides educational programs, scientific research, and engineering services in communities around the world. [3] [4] [5]

Early life and education

Martinsen was born and raised in New York City. She spent most of her summers as a child in the Ramapo Mountains of New Jersey, which sparked her interest in the natural world. [6]

Five years after starting work at Cities Service Company in Denver, she married Jim Steidtmann, a geology professor at the University of Wyoming. [6]

In 1971, she received her Bachelor of Science (BS) in Earth and Space Science at the State University in Stony Brook, New York. In 1975, she completed her MS in geology at Northern Arizona University; [7] she was the only woman in her class. [6]

Martinsen spent most of her career as a senior lecturer at the University of Wyoming for the petroleum geology program before retiring in 2015. The courses she taught included physical geology, advanced stratigraphy, petroleum geology, methods in petroleum geology, and topics in geology. [1] Throughout her career, she also taught courses in petroleum geology and engineering, clastic depositional systems, sequence stratigraphy, reservoir characterization and physical geology. [8]

Martinsen's hobbies include equestrian three-day events, traveling, scuba diving, and skiing. She has two children, Dana and Matt and one stepchild, David. She has three grandchildren: Lauren, Kaya, and Rylan. [9]

Career

From 1974 to 1979, Martinsen worked as a geologist for the Cities Service Company in Denver, Colorado. [7] Martinsen later worked as a consulting geologist in Laramie, Wyoming from 1980 to 2011. [7] She took up a position as a lecturer at the University of Wyoming's Department of Geology and Geophysics in 1981 and later became a senior lecturer from 1995 to 2014. [7] In 2011, Martinsen worked as a principal at Hydrocarbon InSight, LLC. In 2015, Martinsen briefly returned to the University of Wyoming's Department of Geology and Geophysics to work as a lecturer emeritus. From 2014 to 2015, Randi Martinsen served as the American Association of Petroleum Geologists' president. [10] [7] She retired in 2015.

After becoming the first woman to be sworn in as an expert in the Wyoming and Gas Commission in the 1970s, Martinsen was stopped at the Casper Petroleum Club upon entering because she was a woman. [6] In 1979, Martinsen submitted an abstract to the Rocky Mountain Section American Association of Petroleum Geologists about the Hartzog Draw, a giant oil field. [6] This proposal was rejected because the program chair believed that "it was too important for a female to present." [6] Upon hearing the reason for the rejection, Martinsen fought back by forcing the program chair to reverse his decision and later offered her to present. [6]

Research

Randi Martinsen has made contributions to the field of geology related to the exploration and production of hydrocarbons from stratigraphically trapped accumulations [1] as well as the assessment of the different types and characteristics of reservoir quality rocks found located within the systems of the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway systems. Martinsen identified the significance of the remnants of sedimentary rock deposits that originate from an existing depositional system [11] for the construction of accurate stratigraphic frameworks, facies models, and paleogeographic maps. Martinsen studied depositional remnants within the Western Interior of the Cretaceous basin and documented that these remnants have a vastly different geometry compared to the strata located underneath them. Her research emphasized the importance of identifying this phenomenon in relation to the field of petroleum geology on the basis that if depositional systems are not correctly identified, then accurate exploration and production strategies for the reservoirs cannot be developed and, in return, could result in inefficient petroleum extraction from these systems. [2]

Her recent projects include:

While teaching at the University of Wyoming, she was an Ex Officio which she contributed to: Exploration Memoir No. 1, A New Approach to Exploring for Anomalously Pressured Gas Accumulations (2005). [12]

Awards and honors

During her time working with the AAPG, Martinsen received honors and awards including the Stratigraphic Compartmentalization of Reservoir Sandstones: Examples from the Muddy Sandstone Power River Basin, Wyoming and Montana, AAPG Memoir 61 (1995), the A.I Levorsen Memorial Award (1979), two Certificates of Merit (2001 and 2006), and the Distinguished Service Award (2009). [12] She was a recipient of WGA's Frank A. Morgan award. [8]

Martinsen was first woman sworn in before the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. [6] In a Forbes article written on May 10, 2020, Martinsen is recognized as contributing to the evolution of women in the field of geology. She served as President of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists alongside other outstanding women in the field. [13]

Publications

Martinsen has published 27 peer-reviewed articles and presentations with the AAPG and other organizations. [14] [15] The focus of these pertain to depositional system analysis, sequence stratigraphy, tectonics and sedimentation, anomalous pressures, hydrocarbon accumulation, and tight gas sandstones. [15] Along with these topics, Martinsen has also published course notes and field trip guides from her work at the University of Wyoming. [15]

Related Research Articles

Petroleum geology is the study of origin, occurrence, movement, accumulation, and exploration of hydrocarbon fuels. It refers to the specific set of geological disciplines that are applied to the search for hydrocarbons.

Sequence stratigraphy is a branch of geology, specifically a branch of stratigraphy, that attempts to discern and understand historic geology through time by subdividing and linking sedimentary deposits into unconformity bounded units on a variety of scales. The essence of the method is mapping of strata based on identification of surfaces which are assumed to represent time lines, thereby placing stratigraphy in chronostratigraphic framework allowing understanding of the evolution of the earth's surface in a particular region through time. Sequence stratigraphy is a useful alternative to a purely lithostratigraphic approach, which emphasizes solely based on the compositional similarity of the lithology of rock units rather than time significance. Unconformities are particularly important in understanding geologic history because they represent erosional surfaces where there is a clear gap in the record. Conversely within a sequence the geologic record should be relatively continuous and complete record that is genetically related.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maracaibo Basin</span> Foreland basin in Venezuela

The Maracaibo Basin, also known as Lake Maracaibo natural region, Lake Maracaibo depression or Lake Maracaibo Lowlands, is a foreland basin and one of the eight natural regions of Venezuela, found in the northwestern corner of Venezuela in South America. Covering over 36,657 square km, it is a hydrocarbon-rich region that has produced over 30 billion bbl of oil with an estimated 44 billion bbl yet to be recovered. The basin is characterized by a large shallow tidal estuary, Lake Maracaibo, located near its center. The Maracaibo basin has a complex tectonic history that dates back to the Jurassic period with multiple evolution stages. Despite its complexity, these major tectonic stages are well preserved within its stratigraphy. This makes The Maracaibo basin one of the most valuable basins for reconstructing South America's early tectonic history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dakota Formation</span> Rock units in midwestern North America

The Dakota is a sedimentary geologic unit name of formation and group rank in Midwestern North America. The Dakota units are generally composed of sandstones, mudstones, clays, and shales deposited in the Mid-Cretaceous opening of the Western Interior Seaway. The usage of the name Dakota for this particular Albian-Cenomanian strata is exceptionally widespread; from British Columbia and Alberta to Montana and Wisconsin to Colorado and Kansas to Utah and Arizona. It is famous for producing massive colorful rock formations in the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains of the United States, and for preserving both dinosaur footprints and early deciduous tree leaves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sirte Basin</span>

The Sirte Basin is a late Mesozoic and Cenozoic triple junction continental rift along northern Africa that was initiated during the late Jurassic Period. It borders a relatively stable Paleozoic craton and cratonic sag basins along its southern margins. The province extends offshore into the Mediterranean Sea, with the northern boundary drawn at the 2,000 meter (m) bathymetric contour. It borders in the north on the Gulf of Sidra and extends south into northern Chad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cadomin Formation</span>

The Cadomin Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Early Cretaceous age in the western part of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It is extends from southeastern British Columbia through western Alberta to northeastern British Columbia, and it contains significant reservoirs of natural gas in some areas. It was named after the mining town of Cadomin, which is an acronym of "Canadian Dominion Mining".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bluesky Formation</span>

The Bluesky Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Lower Cretaceous age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from the hamlet of Bluesky, and was first described in Shell's Bluesky No. 1 well by Badgley in 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mancos Shale</span> Late Cretaceous geologic formation of the Western United States

The Mancos Shale or Mancos Group is a Late Cretaceous geologic formation of the Western United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeanne d'Arc Basin</span>

The Jeanne d'Arc Basin is an offshore sedimentary basin located about 340 kilometres to the basin centre, east-southeast of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. This basin formed in response to the large scale plate tectonic forces that ripped apart the super-continent Pangea and also led to sea-floor spreading in the North Atlantic Ocean. This basin is one of a series of rift basins that are located on the broad, shallow promontory of continental crust known as the Grand Banks of Newfoundland off Canada's east coast. The basin was named after a purported 20 metres shoal labelled as "Ste. Jeanne d'Arc" on out-dated bathymetric charts and which was once thought to represent a local exposure of basement rocks similar to the Virgin Rocks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Offshore Indus Basin</span> Basin in offshore Pakistan

The offshore Indus Basin is one of the two basins in offshore Pakistan, the other one being the offshore Makran Basin. The Murray Ridge separates the two basins. The offshore Indus basin is approximately 120 to 140 kilometers wide and has an areal extent of ~20,000 square km.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North German basin</span> Passive-active rift basin in central and west Europe

The North German Basin is a passive-active rift basin located in central and west Europe, lying within the southeasternmost portions of the North Sea and the southwestern Baltic Sea and across terrestrial portions of northern Germany, Netherlands, and Poland. The North German Basin is a sub-basin of the Southern Permian Basin, that accounts for a composite of intra-continental basins composed of Permian to Cenozoic sediments, which have accumulated to thicknesses around 10–12 kilometres (6–7.5 mi). The complex evolution of the basin takes place from the Permian to the Cenozoic, and is largely influenced by multiple stages of rifting, subsidence, and salt tectonic events. The North German Basin also accounts for a significant amount of Western Europe's natural gas resources, including one of the world's largest natural gas reservoir, the Groningen gas field.

The Halibut Field is an oil field, within the Gippsland Basin offshore of the Australian state of Victoria. The oil field is located approximately 64 km offshore of southeastern Australia. The total area of this field is 26.9 km2 and is composed of 10 mappable units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delta Field (Niger Delta)</span>

The Delta Field is located offshore from Nigeria on Oil Mining Leases (OML) 49 and 95. This is located within the Niger Delta Basin and sits in 12 feet of water. In 1965, the Delta 1 well was completed and the Delta Field opened in 1968 for production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Val Verde Basin</span> Foreland basin

The Val Verde Basin is a marginal foreland basin located in West Texas, just southeast of the Midland Basin. The Val Verde is a sub-basin of the larger Permian Basin and is roughly 24–40 km wide by 240 km long. It is an unconventional system and its sediments were deposited during a long period of flooding during the Middle to Late Cretaceous. This flooding event is referred to as the Western Interior Seaway, and many basins in the Western United States can attribute their oil and gas producing basins to carbonate deposition during this time period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bolivar Coastal Fields</span>

The Bolivar Coastal Fields (BCF), also known as the Bolivar Coastal Complex, is located on the eastern margin of Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela. Bolivar Coastal Field is the largest oil field in South America with its 6,000-7,000 wells and forest of related derricks, stretches thirty-five miles along the north-east coast of Lake Maracaibo. They form the largest oil field outside of the Middle East and contain mostly heavy oil with a gravity less than 22 degrees API. Also known as the Eastern Coast Fields, Bolivar Coastal Oil Field consists of Tía Juana, Lagunillas, Bachaquero, Ceuta, Motatán, Barua and Ambrosio. The Bolivar Coast field lies in the Maracaibo dry forests ecoregion, which has been severely damaged by farming and ranching as well as oil exploitation. The oil field still plays an important role in production from the nation with approximately 2.6 million barrels of oil a day. It is important to note that the oil and gas industry refers to the Bolivar Coastal Complex as a single oilfield, in spite of the fact that the oilfield consists of many sub-fields as stated above.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater Green River Basin</span> River basin in southwestern Wyoming, United States

The Greater Green River Basin (GGRB) is a 21,000 square mile basin located in Southwestern Wyoming. The Basin was formed during the Cretaceous period sourced by underlying Permian and Cretaceous deposits. The GGRB is host to many anticlines created during the Laramide Orogeny trapping many of its hydrocarbon resources. It is bounded by the Rawlins Uplift, Uinta Mountains, Sevier overthrust belt, Sierra Madre Mountains, and the Wind River Mountain Range. The Greater Green River Basin is subdivided into four smaller basins, the Green River Basin, Great Divide Basin, Washakie Basin, and Sand Wash Basin. Each of these possesses hydrocarbons that have been economically exploited. There are 303 named fields throughout the basin, the majority of which produce natural gas; the largest of these gas fields is the Jonah Field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cindy Ann Yeilding</span> American geologist

Cindy A. Yeilding is an American geologist from Houston, Texas. Yeilding is Senior Vice President of British Petroleum, America. She was formerly Vice President of exploration technology and assurance, and has held various other positions at BP in oil and gas, exploration of the Gulf of Mexico and geoscience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rub' al Khali Basin</span> Large basin containing the Rub al Khali desert

The Rub' al Khali Basin or ar-Rubʻ al-Khālī / ar-rubʿ al-ḵālī Basin, Arabic for "Empty Quarter Basin", is a major endorheic sedimentary basin of approximately 560,000 square kilometres (220,000 sq mi) in southern Saudi Arabia, northeastern Yemen, southeastern Oman and southeasternmost United Arab Emirates. The onshore foreland on Mesozoic rift basin is geographically defined by the eponymous Rub' al Khali and covers the regions of Najran and Riyadh and the Eastern Province. The basin is geologically bound by the Central Arabian Arch in the north, the Oman Thrust in the east, the Northern Hadramaut Arch in the south, and the Arabian Shield in the west. Politically, the southwestern boundary is formed by the border with Yemen and the border with Oman forms the southeastern boundary.

Maria Antonieta Lorente is a geologist who specializes in stratigraphy and biostratigraphy.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Ms. Randi S. Martinsen | Geology and Geophysics | College of Arts & Sciences | University of Wyoming". www.uwyo.edu. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Martinsen, Randi S. (December 1, 2003). "Depositional remnants, part 1: Common components of the stratigraphic record with important implications for hydrocarbon exploration and production". AAPG Bulletin. 87 (12): 1869–1882. doi:10.1306/080503200128p1. ISSN   0149-1423.
  3. Ponton, Rebecca. "New Era For AAPG As Executive Committee Has Potential To Achieve Equal Representation". Forbes. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  4. "UW's Randi Martinsen President-Elect of World's Largest International Geological Association | News | University of Wyoming". www.uwyo.edu. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  5. "Randi Martinsen, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Foundation: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 camille.erickson@trib.com, 307-266-0592, Camille Erickson. "Randi Martinsen didn't let rampant sexism keep her from a successful career in Wyoming's oil and gas industry". Casper Star-Tribune Online. Retrieved December 11, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Heritage of the petroleum geologist: Volume 2. Sternbach, Charles A. (Charles Alan), American Association of Petroleum Geologists. Tulsa, Okla. 2017. ISBN   978-0-89181-832-8. OCLC   1055420011.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. 1 2 "Society of Petroleum Engineers" (PDF).
  9. "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  10. Ponton, Rebecca. "New Era For AAPG As Executive Committee Has Potential To Achieve Equal Representation". Forbes. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  11. 1 2 Martinsen, Randi S. (December 1, 2003). "Depositional remnants, part 2: Examples from the Western Interior Cretaceous basin of North America". AAPG Bulletin. 87 (12): 1883–1909. doi:10.1306/080503200128p2. ISSN   0149-1423.
  12. 1 2 A New Approach to Exploring for Anomalously Pressured Gas Accumulations: The Key to Unlocking Huge, Unconventional Gas Resources.
  13. Ponton, Rebecca. "New Era For AAPG As Executive Committee Has Potential To Achieve Equal Representation". Forbes. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  14. ResearchGate, Retrieved 2023-05-23
  15. 1 2 3 "Randi S. Martinsen". AAPG. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  16. Martinsen, R. S. (1997). "AAPG Memoir 67: Seals, Traps, and the Petroleum System. Chapter 13: Stratigraphic Controls on the Development and Distribution of Fluid-Pressure Compartments": 223–241.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  17. TILLMAN, R. W.; MARTINSEN, R. S. (1987), "Sedimentologic Model and Production Characteristics of Hartzog Draw Field, Wyoming, A Shannon Shelf-Ridge Sandstone", Reservoir Sedimentology, Society for Sedimentary Geology, pp. 15–112, doi:10.2110/pec.87.40.0015, ISBN   0-918985-69-2 , retrieved December 11, 2020
  18. MARTINSEN, R. S.; TILLMAN, R. W. (1985), "Hartzog Draw, A New Giant Oil Field", Shelf Sands and Sandstone Reservoirs, Society for Sedimentary Geology, pp. 349–350, doi:10.2110/scn.85.13.0349, ISBN   978-1-56576-242-8 , retrieved December 11, 2020
  19. Roderick W. Tillman, Randi S. Marti (1983). "Possible Tectonic Influence on and Facies Distribution of Shannon Ridge Sandstones, Wyoming: ABSTRACT". AAPG Bulletin. 67. doi:10.1306/03b5b9d9-16d1-11d7-8645000102c1865d. ISSN   0149-1423.
  20. Martinsen, Randi S. (1998). "Compartmentalization of Sandstone Reservoirs Due to Syndepositional Faulting, Almond Formation, Washakie Basin, Wyoming".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. Martinsen, Randi S.; Tillman, Roderick W. (1989). "Haystack Mountains Formation": 263–268.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)