Semester
Spring
Date of Graduation
2007
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Geology and Geography
Committee Chair
Richard Smosna.
Abstract
Pennsylvania's Murrysville sandstone has been a proven gas producer since 1859 and a gas storage field since 1951. Using 49 side-wall cores from a gas well drilled in Westmoreland County, depositional environment and diagenesis are examined. In thin section, 5 microfacies are recognized. The lower two-thirds of the Murrysville is equivalent to the Cussewago of northwestern Pennsylvania and is interpreted as fluvial deltaic. The upper third is equivalent to the Berea of Ohio and is interpreted as being a marine transitional stream deposit.;Compaction was not extensive due to low amounts of ductile grains, rigid grain stability and matrix occupying space between grains. Chlorite cement, most commonly in the form of radiating needles, inhibited other cements and preserved primary porosity. Quartz cement, calcite cement and siderite cement are also present, quartz being the most abundant cement. Secondary porosity is present as moldic and intragranular porosity. Feldspars and rock fragments were most commonly leached. Permeability values ranged from 0.005 to nearly 1000 millidarcies.
Recommended Citation
Sager, Melissa L., "Petrologic study of the Murrysville sandstone in southwestern Pennsylvania" (2007). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 2522.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/2522