![Louann Salt stratigraphic column for Texas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Louann_Salt_stratigraphic_column_for_Texas.png)
The Haynesville Shale is an informal, popular name for a
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...
Period
rock formation that underlies large parts of southwestern
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
, northwest
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, and
East Texas
East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that comprises most of 41 counties. It is primarily divided into Northeast and Southeast Texas. Most of the region cons ...
. It lies at depths of 10,500 to 13,000 feet below the land’s surface.
[Anderson, E. G. (1979]
''Basic Mesozoic Study in Louisiana, the North Coastal Region, and the Gulf Basin''.
Folio Series no. 3. Louisiana Geological Survey, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 58 sheets.[Eversull, L.G. (1984]
''Regional Cross Sections, North Louisiana''.
Folio Series no. 7. Louisiana Geological Survey, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 10 sheets. It is part of a large rock formation which is known by geologists as the Haynesville Formation. The Haynesville
Shale underlies an area of about 9,000 square miles and averages about 200 to 300 feet thick. The Haynesville Shale is overlain by
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
of the Cotton Valley Group and underlain by
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
of the Smackover Formation.
[Ground Water Protection Council and ALL Consulting (2009]
''Modern Shale Gas Development in the United States: A Primer.''
Reported prepared under contract no. DE-FG26-04NT15455 for U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy and National Energy Technology Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington DC. 96 pp.[Salvador, A. (1991) ''Chapter 8. Triassic–Jurassic.'' In A. Salvador, ed., pp. 131- 180, The Geology of North America, vol. J, The Gulf of Mexico Basin. Boulder, Colorado Geological Society of America. ]
It contains vast quantities of recoverable natural gas. This natural gas is known as "
shale gas
Shale gas is an unconventional natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations. Since the 1990s a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has made large volumes of shale gas more economical to produce, and some ...
" because the wells produce from low permeability mudstones that are also the source for the natural gas. It was known to contain large quantities of natural gas prior to 2008. However, prior to that time, it was uneconomic to extract the natural gas. As a result of rising gas prices and improved technology in
hydraulic fracturing and
directional drilling
Directional drilling (or slant drilling) is the practice of drilling non-vertical bores. It can be broken down into four main groups: oilfield directional drilling, utility installation directional drilling, directional boring (horizontal dir ...
, it became possible to extract the gas from the Haynesville Shale in an economic and cost-effective manner.
Source of name
The Haynesville Formation, from which the Haynesville Shale gets its name, was named after the town of
Haynesville, Claiborne Parish, Louisiana. The type location for Haynesville Formation, is the Hunt Oil Company No. 1 well in Haynesville oil field, sec. 3, T. 23 N., R. 7 W., Claiborne Parish, Louisiana. In many geological reports and journal papers, the Haynesville Shale was classified as part of the Bossier Shale, although they are now classified as separate
formation
Formation may refer to:
Linguistics
* Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes
* Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes
Mathematics and science
* Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...
s.
[Goebels, L.A. (1950) ''Cairo Field, Union County, Arkansas. Cairo field, Union County, Arkansas.'' American Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bulletin. v. 34, pp. 1954-1980.][Stamm, N. (nd]
''Geologic Unit: Haynesville.''
National Geologic Map Database. United States Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia.
Lithology of Haynesville Shale
The Haynesville Shale is a lithological heterogeneous, often organic-rich,
mudstone. The composition of these mudstones varies greatly depending on position on geographic location and stratigraphic position. They vary from calcareous mudstone near the carbonate platforms and islands to argillaceous mudstone in areas where submarine fans prograded into the basin and diluted organic matter. For example, the Haynesville Shale has been observed to vary in composition from 25 to 35 percent
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
and 5 to 30 percent
calcite in samples recovered from one oil and gas well. In that well, the Haynesville Shale consists of silty, argillaceous mudstones, silty, calcareous mudstones, and
dolomitic
Dolomite () is an anhydrous carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate, ideally The term is also used for a sedimentary carbonate rock composed mostly of the mineral dolomite. An alternative name sometimes used for the dolomiti ...
mudstones and
dolomite Dolomite may refer to:
*Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral
*Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock
*Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community
*Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...
s. The silty, argillaceous mudstones contain more than 30% silt-sized siliceous grains. The silt often occurs as
lamination
Lamination is the technique/process of manufacturing a material in multiple layers, so that the composite material achieves improved strength, stability, sound insulation, appearance, or other properties from the use of the differing materia ...
s within these mudstones. In addition, the argillaceous matrix of such mudstones frequently contains numerous calcareous particles and stringers. The calcareous particles include
coccolith
Coccoliths are individual plates or scales of calcium carbonate formed by coccolithophores (single-celled phytoplankton such as '' Emiliania huxleyi'') and cover the cell surface arranged in the form of a spherical shell, called a ''coccosphere' ...
s,
bivalve, and
gastropod fragments, and calcispheres. Organic matter in the form of amorphous
kerogen
Kerogen is solid, insoluble organic matter in sedimentary rocks. Comprising an estimated 1016 tons of carbon, it is the most abundant source of organic compounds on earth, exceeding the total organic content of living matter 10,000-fold. It ...
coats the argillaceous material. Silty, calcareous mudstones contain more than 20% calcite. In these mudstones, the calcite occurs as silt-sized microfossil hash composed of fragmented fossils and carbonate mud. Where organic matter is low and silts are rare, the calcareous microfossil and carbonate mud has recrystallized. Possibly, further alteration of silty, calcareous mudstones has resulted in the formation of the dolomitic mudstones and dolomites. Both the silty, argillaceous mudstones and silty, calcareous mudstones often exhibit sparse to abundant, laminated pelletal fabrics.
[Ewing, T.E. (2001) ''Review of Late Jurassic depositional systems and potential hydrocarbon plays, northern Gulf of Mexico Basin.'' Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions. v. 51, pp. 85-96.][Spain, D. R., and G. A. Anderson (2010) ''Controls on reservoir quality and productivity in the Haynesville Shale, northwestern Gulf of Mexico Basin.''Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions. v. 60, pp. 657-668.]
![Haynesville Shale Map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Haynesville_Shale_Map.png)
The Haynesville Formation consists of marine and coastal plain limestone, shale, mudstone, and sandstone. In addition to the Haynesville Shale, the Haynesville Formation contains two formal subdivisions, which geologists call
member
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
s. They are the Gilmer Limestone, also informally known as the Cotton Valley Limestone, and Buckner Anhydrite members. The Gilmer Limestone and Buckner Anhydrite members represent coastal and shallow marine deposits, which form along the northern boundary of the basin in which the Haynesville Shale accumulated and separate it from contemporaneous undifferentiated nonmarine deposits that occur beneath Arkansas further north. In addition, the Gilmer Limestone member also represents a carbonate platform with
oolite shoals that lie beneath central
Upshur and western
Smith
Smith may refer to:
People
* Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals
* Smith (given name)
* Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland
** List of people wi ...
counties, Texas. They comprise the western boundary of the ancient
shelf basin within which Haynesville Shale accumulated. A third, informal member, which called the "Gray sandstone," of the Haynesville Formation interfingers with Haynesville Shale along its northern edge. This sandstone is regarded as having accumulated as submarine fans carrying sediment from the coastline into the basin within which the Haynesville Shale accumulated.
Fossils and age
Very limited detailed descriptions of the Haynesville Shale indicated that it is fossiliferous. The reported fossils include unidentified coccoliths, bivalves, gastropods, and calcispheres. Both stratigraphic relationships and a nannofossil (coccolith) assemblage described from it indicates that it is
Kimmeridgian
In the geologic timescale, the Kimmeridgian is an age in the Late Jurassic Epoch and a stage in the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 157.3 ± 1.0 Ma and 152.1 ± 0.9 Ma (million years ago). The Kimmeridgian follows the Oxford ...
, 151 to 157 million years old, in age.
[Cooper, W.W., and B.L. Shaffer (1976) ''Nannofossil biostratigraphy of the Bossier Shale and the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary.'' Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies. v. 26, pp. 178-184.]
Depositional Environment
The Haynesville Shale was deposited in a restricted basin that was located on a southward sloping
continental shelf covered by relatively shallow water. The mudstone comprising it accumulated as a widespread and laterally continuous blanket across the limits of this restricted basin. The accumulation of pelleted, fossiliferous, organic-rich carbonate mud and even and wavy-lenticular laminated beds of very fine quartz silt and detrital clay reflects the mixed accumulation of carbonate sediments generated within this basin and clastic sediments that came from outside it. The northern edge of this basin consisted of shallow coastal waters floored by carbonate muds and oolite shoals lying just north of the modern Louisiana - Arkansas border. The shallow coastal waters were bordered further north by an arid coastal plain characterized by extensive
sabkha
A sabkha ( ar, سبخة) is a coastal, supratidal mudflat or sandflat in which evaporite-saline minerals accumulate as the result of semiarid to arid climate. Sabkhas are gradational between land and intertidal zone within restricted coastal p ...
s. The western edge of the basin in which the Haynesville Shale accumulated consisted of a broad north-south carbonate platform with prominent oolite shoals. The southern rim of this ancient basin and extent of the Haynesville Shale was an ancient Jurassic island, called "Sabine Island. This ancient island now lies deeply buried beneath the surface of Sabine County, Texas.
[Ewing, T. E. (2009) ''The ups and downs of the Sabine Uplift and the northern Gulf of Mexico Basin: Jurassic basement blocks, Cretaceous thermal uplifts, and Cenozoic flexure.'' Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions. v. 59, pp. 253-269.]
The carbonate platforms, their oolite shoals, the Sabine Island, and prehistoric Gulf of Mexico coastline created a restricted basin that marine currents could only readily access from the east. As a result of these restrictive conditions, anoxic conditions frequently occurred during the deposition of the sediments that form the Haynesville Shale. Anoxic bottom water conditions allowed organic matter falling to the floor of this basin to be preserved and incorporated into sediments that became the Haynesville Shale. The mechanisms by which organic matter accumulated within these sediments consisted of a complex interplay of local carbonate generation, clastic input from outside sources, variable burial rates, and variable bottom water anoxia and euxinia.
Natural gas
![Gas Production from Haynesville 2000-2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Gas_Production_from_Haynesville_2000-2013.png)
The Haynesville Shale came into prominence in 2008 as a major producer of
shale gas
Shale gas is an unconventional natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations. Since the 1990s a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has made large volumes of shale gas more economical to produce, and some ...
in East Texas and Louisiana. Producing
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
from the Haynesville Shale involves drilling wells from and to deep; the formation becomes deeper to the south.
In 2008, the Haynesville Shale was thought to be the largest natural gas field in the
contiguous 48 states with an estimated 250 trillion cubic feet (7.1×10
12 m
3) of recoverable gas. More recently, as of 2009, the Haynesville was estimated to have 75 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas, second only to the
Marcellus Formation
The Marcellus Formation or the Marcellus Shale is a Middle Devonian age unit of sedimentary rock found in eastern North America. Named for a distinctive outcrop near the village of Marcellus, New York, in the United States,
it extends throughou ...
in the US. Some scientists estimated recoverable reserves average of 6.5 billion cubic feet per well.
[Hammes, U. (2009) ''Sequence stratigraphy and core facies of the Haynesville mudstone, East Texas.'' Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 59, p. 321-324.] The US
Energy Information Administration estimated that the average well would produce 2.67 billion cubic feet of gas.
Production has boomed since 2008, creating a number of new millionaires in the
Shreveport, Louisiana region. Haynesville gas production peaked at 7.2 billion cubic feet per day in November 2011. In January 2013 the formation produced 6.2 billion cubic feet per day, 9.3% of all the gas produced in the US.
The other members of the Haynesville Formation are also the source of oil and gas production. Oil and gas is currently produced from shelf-edge carbonate reservoirs which consist of oolite shoals within the Gilmer Limestone and Buckner Anhydrite members. The submarine fan sandstones of the Gray sand in north Louisiana are also significant producers.
[Atwell, B.W., B. Henk, F.C. Meendsen, and J.A. Breyer (2008) ''Depositional setting and petroleum production, Gray Sandstone (Upper Jurassic), Cotton Valley Field, northern Louisiana.'' Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions. v. 58, pp. 49-63.]
Proved reserves
* 2010, US Energy Information Administration: 24.5 trillion cubic feet of gas
* 2011, US Energy Information Administration: 29.5 trillion cubic feet of gas
Documentary film
A documentary film entitled "Haynesville: A Nation's Hunt for an Energy Future" has been made on the subject of the mineral rights leasing "gold rush" and the potential impact of the Haynesville Shale gas play on national and global energy picture.
[Haynesville: A Nation's Hunts for an energy Future](_blank)
a film by Gregory Kallenberg
Mineral Owner Collaboration
Not long after the land-leasing boom began in 2008, new mineral owners across northwest
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
and
East Texas
East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that comprises most of 41 counties. It is primarily divided into Northeast and Southeast Texas. Most of the region cons ...
joined online forums and began sharing information with each other about the process of oil and gas leasing, leasing bonus payments and well production results. GoHaynesvilleShale.com was the first and largest of its kind with over 20,000 members.
See also
*
Shale gas in the United States
Shale gas in the United States is an available source of unconventional natural gas. Led by new applications of hydraulic fracturing technology and horizontal drilling, development of new sources of shale gas has offset declines in production fro ...
*
Brown Dense
References
External links
information page Louisiana Department of Natural Resources information Page.Haynesville-Bossier Shale Play, Texas-Louisiana Salt Basin (Map) Energy Information Administration, Washington DC.
''Haynesville Shale: News, Map, Videos, Lease and Royalty Information''Geology.com News and Information About Geology and Earth Science.
*Project Starr (nd
The Haynesville/Bossier Shale-Gas Plays of East Texas.STARR Unconventional Resources
Bureau of Economic Geology
The University of Texas, Austin, Texas.
{{Authority control
Shale formations of the United States
Oil-bearing shales in the United States
Natural gas fields in the United States
Jurassic Arkansas
Jurassic Louisiana
Jurassic Texas
Kimmeridgian Stage
Jurassic System of North America