Post-lease sale exploraton of the Navarin Basin, Bearing Sea, Alaska
Although the basin had optimistic beginnings, interest in further exploration of the Navarin Basin is waning because of disappointing d r i g results. Eight exploratory wells were drilled in the Navarin Basin in the year following Lease Sale 83 in 1984. All of these wells tested Tertiary fill that drapes or folds over simple, broad basement highs. Significant reservoir rocks were absent in all of these wells. Immature to mature Eocene kerogen with possible hydrocarbon-generating characteristics was found in a stratigraphic test well and two exploratory wells located on the flanks of the Pervenets subbasin. However, no signs of oil or oil migration were evident. A third exploratory well d r i ed on the southeast flank of the Pinnacle Island subbasin encountered thermogenic gas from a thin, probably lenticular Paleocene sandstone. The gas was probably sourced from interbedded, resinous coal. The geologic information collected from seven of the eight exploratory wells has now been released to the public. Of the leases acquired in Sale 83, 74 percent have been relinquished as of January 1988.
Review of Petroleum Geology of Anadyr and Khatyrka Basins, USSR
Two sedimentary basins bordering the Bering Sea in northeastern Siberia, the Anadyr and the Khatyrka, have been the targets of recent Soviet exploration for oil and gas. Drilling in the Anadyr basin has produced noncommercial quantities of gas and condensate from Tertiary volcaniclastic rocks. The Anadyr basin lies due west of Norton basin, a large unexplored sediment-filled Tertiary basin that underlies Norton Sound. Geologically, Anadyr basin lies between a late Mesozoic belt of volcanic and plutonic rocks similar to the Sierra Nevada of California and a complex foldbelt on the south that is structurally and lithologically similar to Franciscan terrane of the California Coast Ranges. Less extensive exploration in the Khatyrka basin has discovered only noncommercial quantities of oil and gas. The Khatyrka basin extends offshore between Capes Rubicon and Navarin near the northwest end of the Navarin basin on the Bering Shelf, and contains Tertiary sediment deposited within a structurally complex Mesozoic foldbelt that parallels the edge of the continental shelf.
Geological, mineralogical and chemical characterization of Devonian kaolinite-bearing sediments for further applications in the ceramic (tiles) industry in La Paz, Bolivia
Clay minerals are widely distributed in Bolivia; among them, illitic clays are most common in the Altiplano where they are mined for use in the ceramic industry that has been growing in the last few years. In addition to illitic sediments, kaolinitic sediments have been recently discovered in sedimentary units in the Bolivian Altiplano. Residual ball clay occurrences in Devonian sedimentary units were studied as part of this work. Geological mapping and geophysical studies (ERT and GPR) were done for better understanding the origin of the deposits and were part of a preliminary study of the mineral potential to define the relationship with the host rock. Chemical and mineralogical techniques such as X-Ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Inductively Coupled Plasma analyses were performed in samples from the studied area to verify the presence of kaolinite. Atterberg limits and behaviour of the raw material in ceramic specimens supported by chemical analyses show that this material is suitable for manufacturing tile ceramics. This study provides fundamental knowledge for deposit exploitation and future generation of an alternative source of employment for the inhabitants of Micaya.