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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database
AAPG Bulletin
Abstract
AAPG Bulletin, V.
Structure and geomorphology of the Duchesne graben, Uinta basin, Utah, and its enhancement of a hydrocarbon reservoir
Alicia Groeger,1 Ronald Bruhn2
1Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112; email: [email protected]
2Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112; email: [email protected]
AUTHORS
Alicia Groeger has a B.S. degree in geology (University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, 1995) and spent one year of undergraduate study at the Geosciences Institute of Gottingen University in Germany. She then received her M.S. degree in geology (University of Utah, 1997) with a concentration in structure and tectonics. Since then Alicia has been living in Peru, working in exploration geology and in sustainable development, cultivating responsible relationships between large mining companies, local peasant communities, and the Peruvian national park system.
Since receiving his Ph.D. in geology (Columbia University, 1976), Ron Bruhn has worked as a professor of structure and tectonics at the University of Utah, where he has received numerous teaching and research awards. Bruhn's research interests include the application of structural geology to problems in petroleum geology, seismic hazards, and mining. He is an internationally recognized expert on the origin, hydrologic properties, and modeling of fracture systems in fault
zones.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by a Department of Energy grant awarded to R. L. Bruhn at the University of Utah as a subcontract from Terra Tek Inc. We thank S. R. Bereskin for initiating the project and providing both technical expertise and encouragement. Richard Jarrard provided invaluable advice on the interpretation of well logs. We also thank Robert Balou, John Bartley, and Dave Chapman for their thoughtful comments and suggestions.
ABSTRACT
The Duchesne fault
zone (DFZ) in the Uinta basin of northeastern Utah is a system of normal faults and joint zones that forms prominent, east-trending lineaments tens of kilometers long. The Duchesne graben, an asymmetrical
fault
-bounded trough in the western part of the DFZ, is the focus of this article. A master
fault
bounds the southern margin of the structural half graben, dips steeply northward, and accommodates about 200 m of slip. This
fault
either terminates downward by 1400 m depth or flattens into a north-dipping, low-angle detachment
fault
at about 1000 m depth. The half graben is developed along the crest of an open, low-amplitude flexure in the southern limb of the Uinta basin syncline. This faulted flexure trapped hydrocarbons that migrated southward from depth in the Uinta basin. Intense fracturing within the half graben also created migration pathways for hydrocarbons and generated shallow reservoirs in the Green River Formation.
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