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Rocky Flats Part 2 Geology
Rocky Flats Part 2 Geology
128 870W
Jefferson County, Colorado
Plainview Prospect
T2S R70W
Copy No._ 10 _
1
Table of Contents
Page
Executive Summary. 4
Introduction . 4
Regional Structure. 5
Lyons Sandstone . 7
References . 11
Appendix I - Summary of P-Lyons Fields .. 15
Appendi x I I - oi 1 Seeps . 16
2
Illustrations
List Qt Fiqures
Plates
3
Plainview Prospect
T2S R70W
Jefferson County, Colorado
~xecutive Summary
Introduction
Plainview oil and Gas has acquired leases over an area that is
attractive for oil and gas exploration. The acreage is located
northwest of Denver, between the towns of Golden and Boulder,
along the Colorado Front Range (figs.l&3).
4
Regional QiL~~lure
5
produced about 13,000 barrels of 11° ~PI. oil. from fractured .f...L,
Hayes. Limestone member of the Niobrar~ For!:!tat~--,- Note also the
z one of def orma t i on wi th overturned sect i on wedged bet ween two
primary faults that form the Golden Thrust. Displacement on the
Precambrian is about 6000 ft.
With this new model in mind, the Colorado School of Mines seismic
line down Highway 72 can be interpreted. This data was shot as
12 fold vibroseis in 1977 (Davis and Young,1977), but has been
reprocessed by Domoracki,1986 (fig.7&8). When a 30° thrust fault
is placed on the section it becomes clear that reflections
underneath the fault are probably associated with fault blocks in
the basin. of particular interest is an arching reflection just
underlying the leading edge of the thrust which appears to be a
high faul t block. At this posi tion there is not much vel oci ty
pull-up created since the thrust carries Pierre shale over the
Pierre shale in the basin. Velocity pull-up will begin to
6
increase west of SP 15 where the Niobrara limestone is present In
the overthrust block (see Plate 1).
Lyons Sandstone.
The color of the Lyons ranges from red to white. The gray or
white color of the Lyons has been attributed to the presence of
7
oil which reduced the red iron oxides to form gray colored Lyons
(Levandowski and others,1973). Petroleum accumulations are found
within the reducing facies or gray colored sandstones.
8
The nosing may be related to a NW-SE trending fault as seen In
the Precambrian outcrop. The structural discontinui ty is shown
in the shallow Fox Hills structure map also (Plate 5). A second
NW-SE trending structural nose is also contoured by Van Horn,
1976, through the Teton Energy Church Estate #22-1 well. This
structural trend could be part of the trapping mechanism for "J"
in the well even though it is structurally much lower than wells
in the Superior Field. This structural trend may also be
indicating a basement flexural trend that would create closure
under the Golden Thrust.
Niobrara Chalk
9
times; twice while drilling the top 120 feet interval in the
Niobrara and once while drilling the basal Fort Hayes member. In
addition, several wells (Sec.13&25) in the Superior Field produce
from the Codell interval immediately underlying the Ft. Hayes
Limestone. Electic logs run on wells in the vicinity show high
electrical resistivities through a large part of the Niobrara
formation. High resistivity readings like these correspond to--\
producing areas in the Austin Chalk trend of south-central Texas
(Hinds&Berg,1990) and in the QilQ_ Fiel--9,of §'.Quthe~st RLQ.ming..,
!herm~ Maturity
~onclusions
R. Randy Ray
Geologist/Geophysicist
10
Geologic Maps
Van Horn, R., 1972, Surficial and Bedrock Geologic Map of the
Golden Quadrangle, Jefferson County, Colorado: U.S. Geol.
Survey Map 1-761-A.
Structure
11
Davis, T.L., and Young, T.K., 1977, Seismic Investigation of
the Colorado Front Range Zone of Flank Deformation
Immediately North of Golden, Colorado; in Veal, H.K., ed.,
Exploration Frontiers in the Central and Southern Rockies:
Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, p. 77-88.
Lyons Sandstone
12
Momper, J.A., 1963, Nomenclature, Lithofacies and Genesis of
Permo-Pennsylvanian Rocks, Northern Denver Basin: Rocky
Mtn. Assoc. Geol. Guidebook, 14th Ann. Field Conf., p. 41-
67 .
Niobrara Formation
Upper Cretaceous
Thermal Maturation
13
Rice, D.D., 1989, Relation of hydrocarbon occurrence to thermal
maturity of organic matter in the Upper Cretaceous
Niobrara Formation, eastern Denver Basin: Evidence of
biogenic versus thermogenic origin of hydrocarbons; in J.
Woodward, F.F. Meissner and J.L. Clayton, eds.,
Hydrocarbon Source Rocks of the Greater Rocky Mountain
Region, RMAG 1984 Guidebook, p. 365-368.
Seismic Data
14
,';
~. :. 'f't .
-
.' .
Pierce 14 10,933,952
Black Hollow 11 10,515,313 j." , ~~ . i i ~~
Berthoud 3 306,820
New Windsor 1 825,522
Ft. Collins 1 Q,L 718
TOTALS 30 22,588,325 , , ., ~ f; .I
~! {:
Black Hollow
& pierce 25 21,449,265 -
15
Appendi~ li
NOTE: This is a 11st of the 011 seeps campi 1 ed by W. Alan
stewart, 1953, structure and Oil Possibilities of the West
Flank of the Denver Basin North-Central , Colorado: Colo.
Sch. Mines PhD Thesis #777, 121p. My comments are added
in brackets [*]. oil seeps are plotted on Plate 5.
Local i ty
1)
This locality is a live oil seep occurring in a gulch emtying
into Golden Gate Canyon about 1 1/2 miles northwest of Golden.
The seep occurs in metamorphic rocks and is located one-half mile
west of the crystalline-sedimentary contact. The stream gravels
in the bottom of the gulch are locally cemented by asphaltic
residue. In summer when the stream has nearly dried up, pockets
of live, green, high gravity oil accumulate in the gravels. It
is believed that this oil rises through fractures in the
crystallines from sedimentary rocks underthrust below them in the
footwall of the Golden Fault. [* Probably sourced from
Cretaceous age rocks. Cretaceous oil is generally green, 44-480
API gravity, paraffinic, 40°F pour point. ]
2 )
About 1 1/4 miles northeast of the first locality, a live green
oil seep was encountered when the Denver Fire Clay Company drove
an adit into the Dakota sandstones to open up a fire clay seam
(Van Tuyl, p.744, 1932).
3)
Van Tuyl (oral communication) reports an occurrence of high
gravity petroleum in a water well drilled near the Fountain-
Basement contact, west of Morrison and south of Red Rocks Park.
4)
An oil show in the Dakota sandstone is recorded in the driller's
log of the Midas Oil and Gas Company, No.2 well, near Morrison in
T5S, R69W (Barb, p.134, 1946).
16
5)
Van Tuyl (oral communication) states that a construction crew
driving the pilot tunnel for the first tunnel on U.S. Highway 40
in Clear Creek Canyon, encountered a pocket of heavy, black, dead
oil in th joints of the metamorphic rocks. This locality is
about three-fourths of a mile west of the Fountain-Basement
contact. [*probably sourced by Paleozoic rocks. Paleozoic oil
is generally black, 36-41° API gravity, paraffinic, OOF pour
point. ]
6)
LeRoy (p.31, 1946) describes occurrences of a black brittle,
bituminous substance in the shales and limestones of the basal
Lykins formation in Glennon Canyon south of Morrison.
7 )
LeRoy (p.31, 1946) reports a similar occurrence in a limestone,
15 feet above the Lyons-Lykins contact on Ralston Creek.
8)
Heavy, black, brittle bituminous material was observed by Van
Tuyl (personal communication) in a road cut near the parking lot
behind the amphi theater at Red Rocks Park. This material was
found in the four to five feet of the basal Fountain and in
joints of the underlying crystal lines.
9)
South of the Turkey Creek water gap in the Dakota hogback, there
is an old quarry developed in an occurrence of bituminous
sandstone at the top of the Dakota formation. An attempt was
made once to extract the bitumen by a hot water or steam process.
17
(2) Area Of Mature Source Rocks
C.1. = 500'
POG fig. 1
0 '., ..- O"-:::-~-=:'-
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;::--TERTI FJ
AGE ERALARAMIE
uDEN 0 V;•......
'
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Figure 4. Generalized tectonic map of northeast Front Range foothills and adjacent Denver basin, Colorado. Compiled from various
sources, including Burbank and others (1935)" Fisher (1946), Lovering and Goddard (1950), Hunter (1955), Parker (1961),
Spencer (1961), Abbott (1970), Punongbayan (1972), Nesse (1977). a ft er W arner, 1980
paG fig. 3
pz Mz
c.
pz
6000
EAST
APPROXIMATE
+ SCALE
l' :0< 10,000'
Sea Level
E.I~~~~~~~_-_6_0_00_
Figure 5. Golden fault structural models: A-Ziegler
(1917, Fig. 6), through Golden; B-Stewart (1953, Plate
10), near Golden Gate Canyon, SP indicates shotpoint; C-
Birdsall (1956, Fig. 19), along Golden Gate Canyon; D-
Bieber (1983, Fig. 5), near Ralston Creek; E-Money
(1977, Fig. 14C), one mile north of Golden Gate Canyon.
Ty=Tertiary; Mz=Mesozoici Pz=Paleozoic; pC=Precambrian.
after Domoracki, 1986
POG fig. 4
sw JOHNSON
TO 9655'
*
I
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Figure ~7. Final stack Golden Gate Canyon. Horizontal
scale is compressed 2:1. MF-mountain front; Gr-surface trace
or Golden fault; LB-line bend. after Domoracki, 1986
POG fig. 6
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o Figure 21. Final stacks - state Highway 72. Display scale
-
(j)
co
is' near 1: 1. after Domoracki, 1986
(XI
76° E dip Fox Hills ~
[liST _ outcrop
FAULT
JOI
31'11
CIP
G.
I.'
1.1
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K nio"" K pierre
K dak:::
P Iyons-.f-;
T
] I.
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/
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TRUE SCALE
TR
LYONS SS f I- '" ...'\ -'"'\
~PERJ,\
/, PC BASEMENT" \. .•• '\ ,. , ... " /" , /,'/ , ", ,.I'\ ~" -"'000 f(
Pf 9201-9210, Pumped 317 BOPD
-SOOO It
-u Figure 2. oI : 1.41
Typical electric log Pierce field area showing Lykins
o
G) and Lyons Formations (California Co. # 1 Priddy, NW SW
Sec. 23, T8N, R66W). Figure 5. Structural cross section through Pierce structure. Note
to how sublle the structure is on true scale cross section.
--"
after Sonnenberg, 1984
o
:••
••
., WY.i +
.......... 4'-
c o.
ARE A of
~
F IG.\2
tD
-
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9 DENVE R
t
N
I
o 10 20 30 40 50 o 10 20 30
I I I I I I l ! I 1
km m
Figure 1: Index map showing area of Figure 2 from Stone, 1969, Pi. I, with New Windsor anticlinal
axis added. R-I2 is the "Pierce-Black Hollow" right-wrench zone, here called the Windsor Fault. R-IIls
the "Colorado Mineral Belt." after Stone, 1985
POG fig. 11
Figure 2: Seismic structure map on the Lyons Formaticn of the Pierce-Black Hollow-New Windsor oil
field complex, Weld County, Colorado. after Stone, 1985
POG fig.12
Weimer and Sonnenberg
Sequences Formations Members HE SE 13; is - lOW SE HE SW 5: 1S - 69W SEHE2; 1S-69W HE HW 13: is - 68W
<:l - .>
'"
> ----- > ~
=<
0 ~
-~ PIERRE
------ Smoky
~ ~ ~ J
--;
0
.~ 4
-- Ft. Hay"
4 ~ CARLILE
Z
a: Bridge Creek Ls.
o
J: Hartland Sh.
Z
UJ
UJ
3 "a: x -
Lincoln Ls.
BENTONITE
GRANEROS
LYTLE
TS ••:::::::MOWRY
SKULL
PLAINVIE\I
MORRISON Tn
1
2
~~ LS!!:
T'I:[~ LSI!: CREEK
MUDDY (J) WATTEN
Ln
Tn
La ••
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o
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(Q
....•
c.u Figure 15. East-west electric-log section from Eldorado Springs outcrop (modified from MacKenzie,
1971) to east side of Watten berg Field (see Figu re 3 for section location). Lithologic symbols for surface
section are shown on Figure 7. after Weimer and Sonnenberg, 1989
DUDLEY D. RICE
o 50 kilometers
l J
r 1
o 30 miles
FIgurE! 1. Index map of Denver basin showing present-day depth of burlal to top of Niobrara Fom1atlon (modified from Shurr, 1980~ Contour
values are In meters. Location of wells from which gas samples were analyzed are labeled by numbers and from core samples
were analyzed are label&d by letters.
after Rice, 1984
POG fig. 14
')."
;;
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"tJ'"? I KANS
~"O
t.;.o
i~~
I
!C/~'--,0::
I /
' 2.5
Gradients F/100 ft
Plainview Prospect
AREA OF MATURE
SOURCE ROCKS (TAINTER. 1984)
POG fig. 15