ISGS - September 2003 Activity Highlights

Peoria Area Shale Resources Promising

Mapping of shale resources in the Peoria area, a project funded by the Illinois Clean Coal Institute (ICCI), is nearly complete. The project aim was to find and map shale resources within a 15-mile radius of a coal-fired power plant in Peoria that could serve as raw materials to feed a new brick manufacturing plant. The proposed brick plant would make the bricks by blending the shale with fly ash from the power plant. Collection of lithologic and stratigraphic data from approximately 1,200 well records has been completed, and preliminary maps, including depth to the top of usable shale and shale thickness, have been prepared. Several areas with potential mineable shale resources suitable for brick manufacture have been delineated. (Contacts: Z. Lasemi, P Weibel)

ISGS to Lead DOE-Funded Carbon Sequestration Study

A consortium of scientific researchers and industrial partners, led by the ISGS, has received $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy, $300,000 from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and about $1.4 million of in-kind support from the industrial partners to look at ways of storing CO₂ within deep, uneconomic coal seams, numerous mature oil fields, and saline reservoirs that lie beneath the 60,000-square-mile Illinois Basin, which underlies most of Illinois, western Indiana, and western Kentucky. As part of the two-year study, the consortium will assess technical and economical options to determine the feasibility of using these geological sinks for long-term storage of carbon dioxide. (Contact: R. Finley)

Geologic Mapping Coalition Projects Continued

Funding for the Geologic Mapping Coalition project in Lake County was renewed by the U.S. Geological Survey for FY 04. The Fox Lake Quadrangle, just west of the Antioch Quadrangle, will be the focus of the second phase. The three-year pilot study of the Antioch quadrangle was completed, and the deliverables (surficial geology map, bedrock topography map, 3-D model) are in final stages of production. A report is being prepared on the protocols for developing the database, integrating various geophysical techniques into the mapping, and data verification. (Contact: M. Barnhardt)

Geologic Modeling Software Licenses Donated

Two companies have made substantial donations of valuable software for use in training university students and in research. Landmark Graphics, a division of Haliburton Corporation, has provided a three-year grant of software licenses valued at $2.4 million. The software will be used by students and researchers to develop geologic and reservoir engineering models of oil and gas reservoirs, gas storage reservoirs, and other similar projects. Roxar, Inc., of Denver, CO, has allowed the ISGS to purchase, at nominal cost, several site licenses (each valued at $200,000). These site licenses will be used for the carbon sequestration project recently funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The Roxar grant will contribute significantly to the value of the in-kind match for this contract. The ISGS is working with both companies on publicity regarding the grants. (Contacts: H. Leetaru, D. Keefer)

New Herrin Coal Elevation Maps Guide Coal and Methane Exploration

New statewide and county-scale maps of the topography of the Herrin Coal are helping to guide exploration for new areas where the Herrin Coal may be mined, as well as areas where deeply buried parts of the coal seam may be drilled for development of coal bed methane resources. The maps incorporate data from thousands of drill holes. Faults and other structural features shown in the maps are of special interest to those exploring for coalbed methane. (Contacts: S. Elrick, C. Korose)

Updated 08/08/2012 SLD