Event Information

2024

IASGT Workshop: Deformation Mechanisms, Processes and Fabric Analysis in Earth Material from the Global to the Nano Scale — Methods and Applications”. S.E. Laubach presents: Fracture network and spatial arrangement quantification and the role of chemical/mechanical interaction across scale, Kharagpur (India) 26-28 February 2024

2023

Topical Session GSA | Fracture Patterns and Diagenesis in Low-Enthalpy Geothermal Reservoirs and Outcrop Analogs, S.E. Laubach, Convenor. GSA Connects 2023, Pittsburgh, PA 15-18 October. Abstract submission portal opens 1 May. Talks to be listed here.

J. F. W. Gale et al., Properties of Natural and Hydraulic Fractures: Continuing Relevance in Petroleum Reservoirs, and New Applications in Low-Enthalpy Geothermal and Carbon Storage in Unconventional Reservoirs, IMAGE, Houston, August

Energy Geoscience Conference, Aberdeen, May 16-18

• Laubach, S.E., 2023. The role of chemistry in fracture pattern development: applications to the energy transition (invited keynote) (abs.). Energy Geoscience Conference, PSGB & The Geological Society, May 16-18, Aberdeen, Scotland.
• Forstner, S.R., Laubach, S.E., 2023. Mapping fracture trace patterns in outcrop analogs for low-enthalpy geothermal targets: the role of contingent nodes (abs.). Energy Geoscience Conference, PSGB & The Geological Society, May 16-18, Aberdeen, Scotland.
• Wang, Q., Laubach, S.E., 2023. Using new spatial arrangement methods to document fractures in hydrocarbon and geothermal reservoirs and reservoir outcrop analogs (abs.). Energy Geoscience Conference, PSGB & The Geological Society, May 16-18, Aberdeen, Scotland.
• Corrêa, R., Marrett, R., Laubach, S.E., 2023. Quantification of spatial arrangement in two dimensions using fracture traces and barycenters. (abs.). Energy Geoscience Conference, PSGB & The Geological Society, May 16-18, Aberdeen, Scotland.
• Shakiba, M., Lake, L.W., Gale, J.F.W., Laubach, S.E., Pyrcz, M.J., 2023. Spatial analysis of fractures and pattern reconstruction (abs.). Energy Geoscience Conference, PSGB & The Geological Society, May 16-18, Aberdeen, Scotland.
• Lee, B.T., Olson, J.E., Laubach, S.E., Numerical modeling of natural fracture patterns using a 3D coupled model (abs.). Energy Geoscience Conference, PSGB & The Geological Society, May 16-18, Aberdeen, Scotland.

EGU General Assembly 2023

Scale-dependent fracture patterns and flow in low-enthalpy geothermal targets: the role of diagenesis and contingent nodes by Stephen Laubach and Stephanie Forstner, invited talk, Stress, strain, deformation mechanisms and fluids in folded and faulted rocks, Vienna, room D1, Monday, 24 April 2023, 14:35

Public Lecture

Hosted by The Geologists of Jackson Hole, S.E. Laubach ‘Bizarre secrets of fractures in the Flathead sandstone and why they matter for geothermal everywhere’ March 7, Tuesday, 6 p.m., via zoom and live at Teton County Library. More information

Tectonic Studies Group meeting, 2023, Leeds

• Gale, J.F.W., Laubach, S.E., Ukar, E., Elliott, S.J., Rysak, B.G., Olson, J.E., 2023. Natural and engineered fractures in the energy transition: learnings from core, models, and outcrops (abs). Tectonic Studies Group, Annual General Meeting, January 10-12, Leeds, UK

2022

Penrose Conference: Progressive Failure of Brittle Rocks | S.E. Laubach, Member, International Advisory Panel and Keynote Address. For more information. June 20-24, Flatrock, NC

• Laubach, S.E., 2022. Role of chemistry in fracture pattern development (invited keynote) and published abstract. Geological Society of America Penrose Conference Penrose Conference: Progressive Failure of Brittle Rocks, June 20-24, Flat Rock, NC.
• Laubach, S.E., Wang, Q., Correa, R., Forstner, S.R., Shakiba, M., Lee, B.T., Hebel, N., Elliott, S., Hooker, J.N., 2022. Cement deposits in opening-mode fractures in sandstone: implications for size, spacing, connectivity, and erosion. Short Papers and Extended Abstracts, Geological Society of America Penrose Conference Penrose Conference: Progressive Failure of Brittle Rocks, PRF2022. Flat Rock, N.C., 20-24 June.

November 2022 FRAC meeting: in person, Austin, TX

2021

FRAC meeting in November: virtual/zoom.

2020 AAPG ACE Houston

Esti Ukar is serving on the Theme 4 organizing committee for the Petroleum Structure & Geomechanics Division effort for this meeting. The theme title is ‘Structure, Tectonics and Geomechanics’. Meeting is 7-10 June, 2020, Houston, Texas.

2020 Fluid inclusions, Canada

• GeoConvention Canada 2020 — Calgary, May 11-13
• Min. Assoc. Can. (MAC) Short Course: Fluid Inclusions: Applications — Calgary, May 15-16.
• PACROFI 2020 — Calgary, May 18-20

2020 Reservoir Characterization of Mature Fields

21-22 April, 2020, Mexico. S.E. Laubach, Member, Program Committee, SPE Workshop.

2020 Reservoir Modeling Week: University of Brasilia

27 to 31 January, 2020, Faculty of Technology, University of Brasilia. S.E. Laubach for information.

2020 Chemical Council Meeting

15 January. Gaithersburg, MD. S.E. Laubach, Council member.

2019 Brittle structure short course

St. Anthony, Idaho, December 7 through 15th. Contact S. Laubach for information

2019 AGU meeting

Quantifying natural fracture clustering in basement rocks: application of the Normalized Correlation Count method. Qiqi Wang, S. Laubach, J. Gale. Thursday, 12 December. AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA. H41H-1792; Moscone South.

2019 SDI Research Review & FRAC Meeting

Austin, Texas. 4-6 November, 2019. ROC facility on UT Research Campus. A field trip in the Texas Hill Country was held on Nov. 5.

2019 Journal of Structural Geology Student Author of Year Award Ceremony

Friday, November 1, 2019. 730 to 9 pm, 301 West Ave. S.E. Laubach, presiding. By invitation.

2019 Gussow Geoscience Meeting

J. Gale; Banff, Canada October 15-17. Presentation.

2019 Geological Society of America Meeting, Phoenix

Chemical effects on opening-mode fracture size and spatial arrangement | S. Laubach, Q. Wang*, S. Forstner, J. Hooker | Monday 23 September 5:15 Session 142, Room 229A North Building

Poroelastic models for fault reactivation in response to wastewater injection and hydrocarbon production | Eichhubl, Callahan

2019 SEG Fractured Reservoir & Unconventional Resources

1-3 September, Lanzhao, China. S. E. Laubach, P. Eichubl, Members, Organizing Committee; P. Eichhubl, keynote

2019 URTeC | Denver

Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, 22-24 July

Natural fracture characterization in the Wolfcamp Formation at the Hydraulic fracture Test Site (HFTS), Midland, Texas | J.F.W. Gale, S.J. Elliott, J.Z. Li, S.E. Laubach doi: 10.15530/urtec-2019-644 | view

2019 ARMA 53rd Symposium | New York

Brooklyn, NY 23-26 June

Coupled effects of diagenesis and deformation on fracture evolution in low porosity sandstones-insights from natural examples and geomechanical model: Q. Wang, S.E. Laubach and others | paper

Threshold horizontal stress contrast for fully cemented natural-fracture reactivation: dependence on intersection angle and initial reservoir pressure: M. Haddad, P. Eichhubl, S.E. Laubach | paper

2019 AAPG ACE | San Antonio

Peter Hennings, Technical Program Chair

Julia Gale, Session Chair, Characterizing Brittle Deformation and its Impact on Reservoirs (May 20)

What Drives the Formation of Natural Fractures in Unconventional Reservoirs?: P. Eichhubl, J.F. Gale, S.E. Laubach, A. Fall, E. Ukar, The University of Texas at Austin | abstract

Opening-Mode Fracturing and Cementation Timing in the Barnett Shale, Delaware Basin, West Texas: J.F. Gale, A. Fall, W.A. Ali, S.E. Laubach, P. Eichhubl, R. Bodnar, The University of Texas at Austin | abstract

Quantified Fracture (Joint) Clustering in Archean Basement, Wyoming: Application of Normalized Correlation Count Method: Wang, Q., S.E. Laubach, J.F. Gale, M. Ramos, The University of Texas at Austin | abstract

AAPG Petroleum Structure & Geomechanics Division Annual Meeting | Tuesday, May 21, 5:30-9:30 pm
Grand Hyatt San Antonio, Lone Star Ballroom

AAPG Petroleum Structure & Geomechanics Division, Best Recent Paper Award: Marrett et al. 2018 | view
Award Ceremony: Tuesday, May 21, 6:15 pm

Discussion presentation: The Complete Mechanics or the Complete Chemistry; S.E. Laubach

2019 Fractured Shale European Lecture Tour

E. Ukar: Invited lectures at various European universities. Contact Ukar for details.

2019 EAGE Shale Conference

Natural fractures in the Vaca Muerta Formation, Argentina: E. Ukar

2018 Geological Society of London | Burlington House

• Fracture corridors and structural diagenesis. Keynote. Laubach

2018 SEG Workshop | Dubai

• A Value of Information analysis of fracture prediction methods. A. Abdulaziz, S. Laubach, E. Bickel, R. Schultz. Invited. In: Maximizing the Value of Geophysics in Unconventional Resource Plays. 2-4 October

2018 DFNE

• Gaps in DFN models and how to fill them. Gale, Ukar, Laubach

2018 EAGE | Copenhagen

• Chemical-mechanical feedback and fracture size and spacing patterns. Laubach, Olson, Lander (Invited)
• Process-oriented forward diagenetic models. Lander, Bonnell (Invited)

2018 PACROFI XIV | Houston

Presentations include:

• Constraining the history of fluid events using the fluid inclusion assemblage (FIA) method for collecting, displaying and interpreting microthermometric data. Fall
• Evolution of deformation in the Buck Mountain Fault damage zone, Cambrian Flathead sandstone, Teton Range, WY. Forstner, Laubach, Fall | Forstner_2018-PACROFI
• Unraveling the history of ultra-deep fractures in sedimentary basins. Wang, Laubach, Fall | Wang_2018-PACROFI

2018 Statoil Fellowship Poster | Austin

• Accurate determination of mechanical stratigraphy in prospective unconventional formations. Gallardo Giozza, Espinoza, Torres-Verdin, Laubach

2017 GSA Meeting | Seattle

SDI will be at the Seattle Geological Society of America meeting. Presentations include:

• Structural diagenesis of faults in sandstone (invited) | Laubach (Sunday, 9:55 am Tahoma 2)
• Chemically assisted fracture growth in hydrothermal systems: experimental results | Callahan, Eichhubl (Sunday, 8:25 am, Tahoma 2)
• Effect of fluids chemistry and diagenesis on fracture processes in a fault zone | Major, Eichhubl (Sunday, 10:15 am, Tahoma 2)
• Structural diagenesis of natural fractures: implications for water, energy, environment, and hazard | Eichhubl, Laubach (Sunday, 3:50, Tahoma 2)
• Characterization of bedding-parallel fractures in shale: morphology, size, distribution and spatial organization | Q. Wang, J. Gale (Poster: Sunday)
• Decameter-scale bit drops at 7 km depth in the Yijianfang Formation, Halahatang oilfield, Tarim Basin, China: fault-related deep-seated dissolution | Baques et al. (Poster: Tuesday)
  
• Combined effects of overpressure and bed-parallel contraction on the formation of bed-parallel and vertical fractures in the Vaca Muerta Formation, Argentina | Fall et al. (Tuesday, 11:35 am, Skagit 2)
  
• Slip behavior of a subduction zone: preliminary inferences from quartz and calcite filled veins (hydrofractures) in an exhumed accretionary wedge, Shimanto belt, Japan | Elliott et al. (Poster: Tuesday) UT-Penn State collaboration
• Regional brittle deformation, strain, and paleostress trajectories, Teton Range, Wyoming, USA | Forstner, Laubach, Fall (Poster: Wednesday)
  

2017 Master’s Saturday, UT

• Lizzy McKinnon: Structural diagenesis of a sub-salt reservoir, carbonate rocks, NE Brazil (S. Laubach, E. Ukar)
• John Li: Quantifying opening-mode fracture spatial organization in horizontal wellbore image logs, core and outcrop: application to Upper Cretaceous Frontier Formation tight gas sandstones, USA (J.F.W. Gale, S.E. Laubach)
• Abdulaziz Almansour: Multidisciplinary technology and economic impact study of fracture prediction methods (S.E. Laubach)

Matt Ramos chaired Session 5

ACE Salt Lake City: Planning for 2018 meeting

J.F.W. Gale is co-chair of Theme 5: Structure, Tectonics, and Geomechanics

2017 AAPG Convention | Houston

2-5 April 2017, Houston Texas. Initiative scientists are involved in the program.

• Annual Convention Theme Chair, Julia F. W. Gale, for Structure, Tectonics, and Geomechanics
• Invited presentation by R. Lander to Diagenesis Research Group ‘Interaction of fracture development and quartz cementation’ by Lander, R. and Laubach, S.
• Session chair, J. Gale, Structure/Geomechanics: Geomechanics
• Session chair, J. Gale, Structure/Geomechanics: Structural Analysis in Fractured and Unconventional Reservoirs
• Session chair, S.E. Laubach, Structure/Geomechanics: Fault Seal and Fault Zone Modeling
• New type of kinematic indicator in bedding-parallel veins and vertical fracture abundance and timing in Vaca Muerta Formation, Argentina: Ukar, E., Lopez, R., Fall, A., Manceda, R., Gale, J., Laubach, S.
• Timing of opening and cementation of bedding-parallel and vertical fractures, Vaca Muerta Formation, Argentina: Fall, A., Ukar, E., Lopez, R., Gale, J., Manceda, R., Laubach, S.
• Structural and diagenetic evolution of deformation bands in contractional and extensional tectonic regimes and implications for sandstone diagenesis: Elliott, S. O’Brien, C., Eichhubl, P.
• Clastic reservoir quality prediction models: past, present and future: Lander, R., Bonnell, L.
• Report on Division activities for AAPG Petroleum Structure and Geomechanics Division: J. Gale
• Distinguished Lecture Committee meeting: S. E. Laubach, member
• University of Illinois Geoscience Council meeting: S. Laubach, R. Lander, L. Bonnell, members

2017 GSA Annual Meeting | Invited Lecture

S.E. Laubach has been invited to give a lecture at the 2017 GSA Fall Meeting in a faults and fluids session titled: “Spatiotemporal variations and the role of fluids in fault-zone hydromechanical properties”

2017 Deformation Mechanisms, Rheology and Tectonics

The Deformation Mechanisms, Rheology and Tectonics (DRT) conference is a biennial international meeting that has been running for 40 years, organised and hosted by academic staff from different European universities. DRT is one of the main world forums for presenting and discussing research in the fields of rock deformation, structural geology, rheology, tectonics, microstructures, rock physics and interactions between deformation and metamorphic/diagenetic reactions.

The 21st International Conference on Deformation Mechanisms, Rheology and Tectonics will be held 30 April to 4 May 2017 in Inverness, Scotland.

S.E. Laubach is on the Scientific Committee, and is a session chair and speaker.

Chemical-mechanical feedback and fracture size and spacing patterns Invited lecture presented by S.E. Laubach; co-authors J.E. Olson, R.H. Lander and J.N. Hooker, 4 May

2016 Oxford University | Invited Lecture

S. E. Laubach: Reconstructing fracture opening histories and timing using structural diagenesis: invited lecture, presented at Oxford University, Oxford UK, December 2, 2016.

2016 FRAC Picnic and SDI Student Event

Saturday, November 5, 2016, Turner Ranch Road, Marble Falls, Texas. Contact Steve Laubach for information.

2016 SDI Review and FRAC Meeting

September 19-21, Hyatt Regency, Lost Pines of Texas. Arrival reception, Tuesday evening, September 19. Field trip September 19. Technical sessions September 20-21. Contact Rich Schultz or Julia Gale for information and invitation.

2016 Invited Talks | China

Randy Marrett and Steve Laubach will deliver a series of invited talks in Beijing and Korla, China, in connection with field work and core description in the Tarim Basin in May.

2016 DOE Basic Energy Sciences Workshop | Leesburg VA

S.E. Laubach, J. Olson, R. Lander and R. Schultz are involved in the BES fracture mechanics workshop ‘Fracture mechanics and fracture pattern evolution in deep, hydrothermal and reactive environments‘. The workshop runs from Sunday May 8 through Tuesday May 10th. Contact S. Laubach for more information.

2016 EBSD Meeting | Keynote

The Micoanalysis Society‘s Electron Backscatter Diffraction 2016 conference on May 24-26th at the University of Alabama will feature an invited keynote lecture by Esti Ukar of rock fracture and EBSD methods in the technical symposia. According to the society the EBSD 2016 technical symposia are the heart of the conference and consist of an exciting group of invited speakers at the forefront of the technology and its applications.

Ukar’s talk will highlight results recently published in Geosphere: Ukar, E., Laubach, S.E., and Marrett, R., 2016, Quartz c-axis orientation patterns in fracture cement as a measure of fracture opening rate and a validation tool for fracture pattern models: Geosphere, v. 12, no. 2, p. 1–38, doi: 10 .1130/GES01213.1. | view at publisher

Lecture at Texas A & M

S. E. Laubach  presented an invited lecture at the Department of Petroleum Engineering, Texas A&M University on April 4. The topic of the talk was project work on structural diagenetic controls on development of fracture patterns and fracture length distributions.

2015 American Geophysical Union

Session for Fall meeting organized by Jon Major, Owen Callahan and others.
Fractures and fracturing in chemically reactive environments

Chemical-mechanical interactions influencing fracture initiation, growth, and coalescence pose a first order control on the time and deformation rate dependent failure of rocks and the development of fracture networks. For example, in the subsurface subcritical fracture growth may lead to time-dependent or progressive failure. Mechanical effects occur almost simultaneously with deformation, while chemical effects occur over longer time scales. Understanding these coupled effects and what controls their spatial and temporal impacts will lead to new insights on the evolution of fractures over all time scales. These processes are relevant to natural and engineered systems, such as fault zone development, advanced recovery of hydrocarbons, storage of CO₂ and waste fluids, ore forming processes, and managing geothermal reservoirs.  This session is for research focused on coupled chemical-mechanical processes influencing fracture mechanics, fracture properties, and fluid flow in fractured media. We welcome results from numerical simulation, experimental studies, and field based projects.

Session Conveners

• Jonathan Major (Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin) JMajor@mail.utexas.edu
• Owen Callahan (Bureau of Economic Geology The University of Texas at Austin) ocallahan@utexas.edu
• Pania Newell (Sandia National Laboratories) pnewell@sandia.gov
• Anastasia Ilgen (Sandia National Laboratories) agilgen@sandia.gov

Abstract submission deadline August 5, 2015

2015 The Geology of Geomechanics

Keynote: Julia F. W. Gale “Challenges of Incorporating Geology in Geomechanical Models”
October 28, 2015, Burlington House, The Geological Society, London

Also on the program: J. English, S.E. Laubach “Driving Mechanisms of Regional Opening-Mode Fracture Systems”

2015 FRAC Annual Meeting | North Austin/UT

Fracture Research & Application Consortium Meeting 

September 24-25, The University of Texas Research Campus, 10100 Burnet Road, Austin, Texas. Workshop, technical sessions, & field trip on September 23rd. Contact Julia Gale for agenda and invitation.

2015 GSA Symposium | Casper Wyoming

Symposium, May 21-23, Rocky Mountain GSA Section Meeting in Casper, Wyoming in May, 2015. The topic is Brittle Structures of Rocky Mountain Reservoirs and Reservoir Analogs. S. E. Laubach session organizer. Abstract deadline is December 16, 2014.

SDI Guest Speaker | Bureau of Economic Geology Lecture series
Matthew Becker, Cal State Long Beach | 9 am February 27th

2014 AGU Fall Meeting December | San Francisco

Monday 12/15	Slip-flow in complex porous media as determined by a multi-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann model	Chris Landry
	Understanding flow in unconventional reservoirs fractures: influence of compaction and cementation	Adenike Tokan-Lawal
	Long-term effect of fault-controlled CO2 alteration on the weakening and strengthening of reservoir and seal lithologies at Crystal Geyser, Green River, Utah	Jonathan Major
Tuesday 12/16	Effects of coupled structural and diagenetic processes on deformation localization and fluid flow properties in sandstone reservoirs of the southwestern United States	Sara Elliott
Friday 12/19	Was the Timpson, Texas, M4.8 event induced by fluid injection?	Zhiqiang Fan
	Growth kinematics of opening-mode fractures	Peter Eichhubl
	Permeability of calcite-cemented fractures in mudrocks: Flow highway or hindrance?	Chris Landry

SDI Speaker | Bureau of Economic Geology Lecture series
Esti Ukar: The use of Dauphiné twins in quartz as paleostrain (stress) indicators | 9 am December 5

2014 FRAC Annual Meeting | Texas Hill Country

Fracture Research & Application Consortium Meeting 

September 15-17, Camp Balcones Springs, near Austin, Texas. Workshop, technical sessions, & field trip. Contact Julia Gale for agenda and invitation.

Details available on FRAC website.

2014 GSA Annual Meeting Geomechanics Session

Applications of Structural Geology and Geomechanics in the Petroleum Industry (T190)  organized as a technical session for the GSA Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada by Peter Hennings, Steve Davis, and Steve Laubach.

GSA 2014 Meeting presentations

Propagation rate and timing of fractures in deep reservoirs. Fall, Eichhubl, Laubach

Natural hydraulic fracturing of tight-gas sandstone reservoirs, Piceance basin, Colorado. Fall, Eichhubl, Bodnar, Laubach, Davis

Influence of diagenesis on regional and fold-related fracture size distribution. Copley, Labuach, Marrett

Contact us for copies of abstracts or slides.

2014 EGU Meeting

Relationships between induced seismicity and fluid injection: development of strategies to manage injection: Eichhubl, Frolich, Gale, Olson, Fan, Gono — EGU2014-14451

Synkinematic quartz cementation in partially open fracture in sandstone: Ukar, Laubach, Fall, Eichhubl | EGU2014-4545

Matrix-fracture connectivity in Eagle Ford shale: Landry, Tokan-Lawal, Prodanovic, Eichhubl | EGU2014-14544

Effects of coupled structural and diagenetic processes on deformation localization and flow properties of deformation bands in sandstone: Elliot, Eichhubl, Landry | EGU2014-9363

2014 AAPG Convention, Houston

Fracture growth processes in sandstone inferred from textural and fluid inclusion investigations of crack-seal fracture cements: Alzayer, Fall, Laubach, Eichhubl

How tight was the Williams Fork tight gas reservoir at the time of gas generation and fracturing, Piceance Basin, Colorado? Ozkan, Bonnell, Milliken, Laubach, Cumella

2014 Workshop | Austin

Effects of concurrent cement precipitation on fracture growth: Fracture reconstructions and linked geomechanical and diagenetic models: Open discussion workshop

January 31, Austin, Texas | Followed by: FRAC Picnic & SDI Student Event on February 1st

Contact Steve Laubach for more information.

2013 FRAC Annual Meeting | Austin

Fracture Research & Application Consortium Meeting

September 16-17, Austin, Texas

Details available on FRAC website.

2013 GSA National Meeting Session | Denver

2013 SEG Session Invited Talk | Houston

2013 URTeC Denver | Meeting Organization

2013 EGU Vienna | Technical Session & Talks

2013 GSA South-Central Section Meeting, Austin