Relationships Between Regional Hydrogeology and Hydrocarbon Occurrences in Michigan, Usa

Abstract

Compilation of hydrologic data for deep aquifers in the Michigan Basin makes it feasible to test the hydraulic theory of hydrocarbon migration in Michigan. Comparison of equipotential sufaces and patterns of hydrocarbon deposits shows that commercial oil deposits in most aquifers and the more prollJic gas deposits in the St. Peter Sandstone are preferentially associated with regional groundwater discharge areas, as predicted by the hydraulic theoyy. Shallow natural gas deposits occur in regional groundwater recharge areas of Devonian and Mississippian aquifers. The gases in these deposits have chemical compositions suggesting a biogenic origin. Their occurrence in regional recharge regions is believed to be due to a combination of high interfacial methane-water tension due to low subsurface temperature and pressure and watersaturated, gas-impermeable rock surrounding the deposits.

Paleowaters in Silurian-Devonian carbonate aquifers: Geochemical evolution of groundwater in the Great Lakes region since the Late Pleistocene

“…The basal Cambrian-Ordovician aquifers in all three basins are principally comprised of sandstones and carbonates (dolomite and limestone), confined by the overlying Maquoketa grey shale (also referred to as the Utica Shale). The Silurian carbonates in the Michigan and Appalachian basins contain thick sequences ($1 km) of bedded halite and anhydrite, predominately in the Salina Group, which are relatively impermeable (Vugrinovich, 1988). Overlying Devonian carbonates also contain localized halite and anhydrite.…”

Major ion pore-water chemistry evolution in Lake Michigan benthic sediments: Evidence for direct input from Michigan Basin saline groundwater

“…The geochemical signatures reported here were observed in settings adjacent to regional lowland areas (Michigan Lowland area and Saginaw Lowland area; Figs. 6 and 7), supporting the conceptual model of a topographically driven, regionally focused groundwater flow system with the hydraulic potential for upward flow from deeper units within the Michigan Basin (Cartwright et al, 1979;Vugrinovich, 1986Vugrinovich, , 1988. Vugrinovich (1986, p. 8) reported that within the Devonian D3 aquifer unit, "[f]low is directed to topographic lows and outcrops beneath Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Erie."…”

“…Several Michigan Basin geological formations are known to contain Ca-rich brines (Frape et al, 1989;Wilson and Long, 1993b;Ma et al, 2005) and/or evaporite minerals, i.e., gypsum and anhydrite (Cvancara and Melik, 1961), but the extent to which these formations underlie southern Lake Huron (Fig. 1; Cvancara and Melik, 1961;Vugrinovich, 1986) or whether there exists sufficient hydraulic drive for cross-formational flow in this setting (Vugrinovich, 1988;Bahr et al, 1994) are not well known.…”

“…Likewise, groundwater is an important transport vector for dissolved solids from anthropogenic and natural sources (Harrington et al, 2022;Mackie et al, 2022), especially on time scales ranging from years to decades and longer (Kornelsen and Coulibaly, 2014;Grannemann and Van Stempvoort, 2016;Cartwright, 2020). Groundwater flow in the Michigan Basin generally is focused regionally toward topographic low areas, with upward hydraulic gradients (Vugrinovich, 1986(Vugrinovich, , 1988Westjohn and Weaver, 1996a), indicating the potential for upward flow and direct discharge to the Great Lakes. Although recent estimates (Xu et al, 2021) indicate that direct groundwater discharge is a minor component (∼0.8%) of the Great Lakes water budget, the effect of this component on dissolved solids transport is unknown.…”