| Date | Speaker | Title | Description | Downloads |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | ||||
| Tuesday, December 6, 2011 | Eric Lewis, West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, Morgantown, West Virginia |
An Overview of Marcellus and other Devonian Shale Production in West Virginia | The Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale Play has put the Appalachian Basin at the center of a national debate concerning America's future energy supply. Although it has been received in the region with mixed reviews, this highly organic shale formation has secured itself as a major contributor to the natural gas supply of West Virginia and other states in the Basin. As production continues throughout West Virginia, areas of high production continue to emerge; however, it appears that some of these "sweet spots" may not actually be within the "Marcellus" per se, but rather, in other, overlying Devonian shales. Various aspects of shale production will be explored including vertical versus horizontal completions. | Abstract (PDF, 149.17 KB) |
| Tuesday, October 25, 2011 | Leslie Hopkinson, Civil and Environmental Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia |
Reach-Scale Influence of Riparian Vegetation on Headwater Channel Morphology | A strong link exists between riparian vegetation and channel morphology. Small streams (watershed area < 100 km2) with forested riparian vegetation are significantly wider than similar streams with herbaceous riparian vegetation. Additionally, channels with grass vegetation migrate at a greater rate than similar forested channels. Increased understanding of the interactions between stream channel morphology and riparian vegetation is needed to guide stream management and restoration decision-making. This talk will examine the role of riparian vegetation form on the hydraulic forces applied to the streambank, and will introduce current research projects at WVU. | Abstract (PDF, 104.14 KB) |
| 2010 | ||||
| Monday, December 6, 2010 | Jim Truman, Principal Analyst, Wood Mackenzie | West Virginia Coking Coal Market Drivers | Global crude steel production peaked in April 2010. Companies overproduced based on expected demand, as opposed to just-in-time orders. At the same time, economies did not recover as quickly or as robustly as had been expected and steel demand fell. As a result of the surge in production and weaker demand, stockpiles of crude steel rose and steel prices fell. Since April, steel production has slowed and in some countries, most notably China, stockpiles have been drawn down. | Abstract (PDF, 103.43 KB) |
| 11/08/2010 | Daniel J. Soeder, U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Morgantown, WV | Environmental Research on Natural Gas Production from the Marcellus Shale | The National Energy Technology Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy is performing geological characterization and environmental research on the Marcellus Shale and other shale gas resources. The goals of the environmental research are to collect rigorous data on the potential impacts of shale gas drilling and production on water resources, air quality, and ecosystems. Sources of drilling—related environmental impacts may include air emissions, land use changes, habitat fragmentation, ecological degradation, solids disposal, and possible contamination of surface streams and groundwater from improper disposal of produced water or flowback fluids. | Abstract (PDF, 105.40 KB) |
| 2009 | ||||
| 11/09/2009 | Ricardo A. Olea, James A. Luppens, and Susan J. Tewalt, United States Geological Survey (USGS) |
New Methodology for Quantifying Geological Uncertainty in Coal Assessments with an Application to a U.S. Gulf Coast Deposit | The current USGS coal resource assessment methodology follows USGS Circular 891 (Wood and others, 1983). It handles uncertainty in terms of distance from a site to the closest drill hole and uses drill hole spacing as the sole criteria for defining geological assurance on coal resource estimations. Circular 891 groups estimates into a few reliability categories without any quantification of expected error. Because geological assurance is more than just thickness variability between drill holes, evaluation of uncertainty should be based on models integrating drill data at different spacings, coal bed structure, and surface topography. | Abstract (PDF, 48 KB) Other References: USGS Open File Publication 2009-1103 SGeMS Software of Stanford University |
| 9/14/2009 | Steven Kite, Department of Geology and Geography, WVU |
Ice Mountain: Ice-Age Ecosystem Refuge in West Virginia | So where is Ice Mountain and what's the big deal?
The Ice Mountain Preserve ("Nature's Ice Box") is owned by the Nature Conservancy and is located in Hampshire County. In the past, ice was present among the rocks of the talus slope all summer long as late in the year as September. It was used to make ice cream or chipped off and carried home in the days before refrigeration. Now ice is present in the preserve only as late as June. Geologically, it is unclear why the area stays so cold for so long. There are no limestone caves beneath the talus slope. Dr. Kite and his students have studied the area with shallow geophysics and the talus does not appear to be unusually thick. Read more on the Ice Mountain Preserve from the Nature Conservancy: http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/westvirginia/preserves/art1208.html |
Abstract (PDF, 57 KB) |
| 8/24/2009 | Gayle (Scott) McColloch, WVGES |
The National Geologic Map Database – an Evolving Resource for Earth Scientists | A talk about the National Geologic Map Database Project (NGMDB) and a tour through the NGMDB web site which has an enormous amount of useful information for those producing paper and digital geologic maps and databases. | Abstract (PDF, 88 KB) |
| 6/1/2009 | Kelby Hicks, WVGES |
Iceland | ||
| 4/27/2009 | Katharine Lee Avary, Petroleum Geologist and Manager, Oil and Gas Program, WVGES |
Geology of the Marcellus Shale | Lee will tell us about the geology of the Marcellus Shale and what makes this gas play viable now, even though we’ve known about it for a long time. | Abstract (PDF, 433 KB) |
| 3/23/2009 | Tara Miller, Environmental Services Project Manager and GIS Specialist, CTL Engineering of West Virginia, Inc. |
Water Quality Regulations and Policies Governing Authority of Testing Treatment and Consumption | Using GIS to calculate surface-water contaminant loads in relation to regulatory water-quality standards. | Abstract (PDF, 199 KB) |
| 3/2/2009 | Shahab D. Mohaghegh, Ph.D., Professor of Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineering, WVU |
Top-Down, Data Driven Reservoir Modeling —TD3RM | Engineers are fascinated with precision and reservoir engineers are no exception. Traditional reservoir simulation and modeling has a precise approach to modeling fluid flow in the porous media. Our understanding of natur's characteristics, especially when expanded to interpret the entire reservoir from well-based observations and measurements, is far from being precise. | Abstract (PDF, 199 KB) |
| 2008 | ||||
| 11/17/2008 | Valerie Smith, Department of Geology and Geography, WVU |
Modeling Natural Fracture Networks: Establishing the Groundwork for Flow Simulation at Teapot Dome, Wyoming | This talk will cover some of the research our speaker conducted for her thesis. Valerie will discuss how she used Petrel, a sophisticated software program developed by Schlumberger, to perform the 3D modeling. However, she promises that her presentation will not be too technical, and will have many eye-catching graphics as well as nice photos of Wyoming. So you don’t have to be a geologist to appreciate this talk (but it might help). | Abstract (PDF, 219 KB) |
| 10/20/2008 | Taryn Bell, WVGES |
What is Being an American in a Developing Country? West Virginia to Nepal and Back Again | Come escape to the Himalayas on Monday 20, 2008 at |
Abstract (PDF, 55 KB) |
| 9/15/2008 | Steven Kite, Department of Geology and Geography, WVU |
Ice Mountain Preserve in Hampshire County | View and listen to an article on Dr. Kite and the subject on WV Public Broadcasting's website link: http://www.wvpubrad.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=3772 | Abstract (PDF, 60 KB) |
| 8/25/2008 | Tom Kammer | Sea Level Changes in the Early Mississippian of the U.S. Resulting from Gondwanan Glaciation | He and Dr. Dave Matchen have a paper forthcoming that discusses new data supporting sea level changes at the Kinderhookian-Osagean (K-O) boundary. | Abstract (PDF, 41 KB) |
| 6/2/2008 | Paul Ziemkiewicz, Director of the West Virginia Water Research Institute and Principal Investigator of the Monongahela Basin Mine Pool Project |
Flooding Coal Mines: Turning Lemons into Lemonaide | A general overview of mine drainage including a discussion on some of the findings of the Mon Basin Project as well as potential uses for mine water before it breaks out onto the ground surface. | Aabstract (PDF, 133 KB) |
| 4/14/2008 | E. Ray Garton, Curator, WVGES Museum |
Megalonyx jeffersonii: The New West Virginia State Fossil | Workers mining saltpeter in a Monroe County cave
discovered fossil bones in 1797 that eventually became the
property of President Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson thought
they belonged to a large prehistoric lion, but they were
later identified as a Pleistocene ground sloth. Although
Thomas Jefferson misidentified the fossil, he is credited for
the discovery that bears his name. The bones were recently
Carbon dated and found to be over 38,000 years old. Megalonyx has been found in two Monroe County caves, a Pendleton County cave and a Greenbrier County cave. Megalonyx jeffersonii also has been uncovered on the coastal shelf off New Jersey as well as in California and Washington. Ray Garton, curator of the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey Museum, was the main force behind making Megalonyx jeffersonii the official state fossil. Ray worked with lawmakers for two legislative sessions to finally get the resolution passed in March 2008 |
Abstract (PDF, 87.34 KB) |
| 3/3/2008 | Greg Good, Department of History, WVU |
Heresy in Cambridge, Take 2: Paleomagnetism and Continental Drift in Cambridge before Vine and Matthews | This talk gets behind some of the well known events in the plate-tectonic revolution, such as the work of Harry Hess, Fred Vine, and Drummond Matthews. In the background: cosmic rays, stellar magnetic fields, and the geodynamo. Believe it or not. | Abstract (PDF, 30.2 KB) |
| 2/25/2008 | Dorothy Vesper, Department of Geology and Geography, WVU |
The Water Flows Forth - The Mystery and Geology of Spring Water | We are drawn to springs for many reasons: therapeutic, spiritual, aesthetic, thirst. Springs also provide a window for studying groundwater, surface water - ground water interactions, and human impact on the environment. This talk will focus on the origin and types of springs from a geologic perspective, historic and cultural aspects of springs, and our current spring research projects at WVU. | Abstract (PDF, 76 KB) |
| 2/4/2008 | Kelby E. Hicks, Deptartment of Earth Sciences, University College London, London, England |
Effects of Elevated pH Levels Resulting from Persistent Volcanic Degassing of SO2 on Ambrym Island, Vanuatu (Including Accounts of Working in the Cannibal Islands) | View photos at http://www.volcan.org/vanuatu.html | Abstract (PDF, 52 KB) |
| 1/7/2008 | Mitch Blake, Coal Geologist and Section Manager, WVGES |
The Age of the Dunkard: Have We Learned Anything in 120 Years? | Discussion of the controversy over the age of the Dunkard Group. Is it Pennsylvania? Is it Permian? The debate has been raging for over a century and is still a hot topic. | Abstract (PDF, 22 KB) |
| 2007 | ||||
| 12/3/2007 | Ron McDowell, Manager and Senior Research Geologist, WVGES |
Ichnofossils | Abstract
(PDF, 45 KB) |
|
Page last revised: December 8, 2011
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