In this month's AAPG BULLETIN...

August 2008

E&P NOTE

Hydrocarbon potential of the Barnett Shale (Mississippian), Delaware Basin, west Texas and southeastern New Mexico

Travis J. Kinley, Lance W. Cook, John A. Breyer, Daniel M. Jarvie, and Arthur B. Busbey

The Mississippian Barnett Shale in the Delaware Basin (Texas and New Mexico) has the potential to be a prolific gas producer. Realizing the protential of these resources depends upon current efforts to optimize drilling and completion techniques for this shale-gas play.

Manuscript received October 26, 2007

GEOLOGIC NOTE

Tectonics and subsidence evolution of the Sirt Basin, Libya

Abdulbasset M. Abadi, Jan-Diederik van Wees, Paul M. van Dijk, and Sierd A. P. L. Cloetingh

The Sirt Basin, Libya, has been the target of intensive exploration and production, yet, little is known on its stratigraphy and structure. Backstripping analysis provides new constraints on basin development and reveals four distinct tectonic phases from Late Jurassic to present.

Manuscript received June 20, 2006

ARTICLES

Predicting methane accumulations generated from humic Carboniferous coals in the Donbas fold belt (Ukraine)

Dani Alsaab, Marcel Elie, Alain Izart, Reinhard F. Sachsenhofer, and Vitaliy A. Privalov

Numerical modeling of the Donbas fold belt, Ukraine, is used to reconstruct its burial and thermal history, as well as to evaluate the factors controlling coalification patterns. Two thousand billion cubic feet of methane are predicted within the main accumulation zones.

Manuscript received May 24, 2007

Architecture and stratigraphy of alluvial deposits, Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic), Utah

Audun V. Kjemperud, Edwin R. Schomacker, and Timothy A. Cross

A unique stratigraphic cross section containing braided stream and associated floodplain deposits is presented as a resource to geoscientists. In addition, these data highlight the architectural expression of changes in accommodation space versus sediment supply.

Manuscript received October 15, 2007

Modeling of gas generation from the Cameo coal zone in the Piceance Basin, Colorado

Etuan Zhang, Ronald J. Hill, Barry J. Katz, and Yongchun Tang

Some of the largest unconventional gas resources in the Rocky Mountain region are sourced from the Cameo coal zone, Piceance Basin, Colorado. Quantitative evaluation of the generative potential indicates that this area has great potential to contain commercial accumulations.

Manuscript received February 1, 2006

About the BULLETIN

First published in 1917 as the Bulletin of the Southwestern Association of Petroleum Geologists--AAPG’s predecessor organization--in order to disseminate scientific material from annual meetings of the S.A.P.G., the AAPG Bulletin changed its name one year later when S.A.P.G. became AAPG.

The AAPG Bulletin has been delivering quality research to the scientific world ever since. The first issue contained papers written by the best-known geologists of the day, and included papers on such topics as South America, Europe, and general geologic problems of structure and sedimentation.

While the 21st-century AAPG Bulletin has undergone some changes since 1917, enlarging to 8 ½ x 11” size to incorporate more material and being published digitally as well as in print, it continues to adhere to the primary purpose of the organization, which is to advance the science of geology especially as it relates to petroleum, natural gas, other subsurface fluids, and mineral resources.

Delivered digitally or in print monthly to each AAPG Member as a part of membership dues, the AAPG Bulletin is one of the most respected, peer-reviewed technical journals in existence, with recent issues containing papers focused on such topics as the Middle East, channel detection, China, permeability, subseismic fault prediction, the U.S., and Africa.