Regional assessment of the Mancos Shale, Uinta Basin, as a prospective shale gas play Andrew McCauley

The Mancos petroleum system across the Douglas Creek Arch and Uinta and Piceance Basins. Black dots represent oil and gas production (Kirschbaum 2003, fig. 5).

PaleoenvironmentThe Mancos Shale was deposited in the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway (97 – 80 Ma)

This seaway was formed in the foreland basin of the Sevier fold and thrust belt to the West, so subsidence was most rapid on its western margin.

The Mancos and other coeval shales were deposited across a wide expanse of what is now the American west.

The Mancos in Utah was deposited in an embayment, which may have contributed to the development of anoxic conditions, and greater preservation of organic matter.

NA c. 85 Ma (Blakey)

Mancos in Outcrop

Photos courtesy of Dr. Lauren Birgenheier

Typical gamma log from Uinta Basin (Schamel 2006, fig. 4)

Well Log and Core Description Data

Core description from Mancos. Courtesy of Brendan Horton

My field area: PETRA well log correlation software