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Michelle R. Plampin

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Bravo Dome is a commercial natural CO2 field that supplies the gas to depleted oil fields for enhanced oil recovery. In order to understand the distribution of CO2 across the greater Bravo Dome region, including southeastern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico, and to assess the impacts of high CO2 concentrations on microbes in the subsurface, 7 samples were collected from sites associated with high natural CO2 concentrations. Four water samples were collected, two from wells producing within Bravo Dome, one from an oil and gas field north of Bravo Dome associated with high CO2 concentrations, the Oakdale field, and one sample from a shallow groundwater well on the Rafter K ranch that effervesces CO2. Three samples...
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Hydraulic testing has revealed dramatic underpressures in Paleozoic shales and carbonates at the Bruce nuclear site in Ontario. Although evidence from both laboratory and field studies suggests that a small amount of gas phase methane could be present in the shale, previous studies examining causal linkages between gas phase and the underpressure have been inconclusive. To better elucidate processes in such a system, we used a highly simplified 1-D representation of the site to test, using iTOUGH2-EOS7C, the effects of various factors on the evolution of gas phase methane and pressures within the system. Heterogeneity was represented using three stratigraphic regions with distinctly different capillary pressure...
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Using iTOUGH2-EOS7C, a simple 1-D model was developed to represent a site in Ontario, Canada which is being considered for nuclear waste disposal. The site exhibits substantially underpressured water and potential evidence for gas phase methane within a thick section of sedimentary rocks. To investigate possible mechanisms for the development of the underpressure in a multiphase system, hydromechanical coupling during a glacial cycle was simulated with and without gas phase methane present. Results indicate that, while the gas dampened the effects of the loading cycle, it did not preclude underpressure development. This USGS data release contains all of the input and output files for the simulations described in...
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