Research Project
Logging and Surface NMR in the High Plains Aquifer, Nebraska
The Place
The High Plains aquifer is located beneath eight states in the central United States and is used for agricultural and domestic water needs. At the field site in Lexington, Nebraska, the High Plains Aquifer consists of the upper Alluvial aquifer and the lower Ogallala aquifer.
Our Approach
Logging NMR data, along with a suite of advanced geophysical logs were acquired in a borehole drilled to a depth of 128 m. A description of the driller's cuttings, an aquifer test and wellbore flow (WBF) logging data were used to study the link between the NMR data and hydraulic conductivity. Surface NMR data were acquired in the area immediately surrounding the borehole, allowing us to compare the relaxation times measured with the surface and logging NMR methods.
The High Plains Aquifer is one of the world's largest aquifers and spans eight states throughout the Great Plains in the United States. (Source: Kansas Geological Survey, Kansas Ground Water)
Project Lead/Contact
Katherine Dlubac (PhD student, Stanford), Rosemary Knight (PI, Stanford), Yi-Qiao Song (Co-PI, Schlumberger Doll Research)
Project Collaborators
Elliot Grunewald (Ph.D. student, Stanford)
James C. Cannia (US Geological Survey, Nebraska Water Science Center)
Angeline Kneppers (Schlumberger Water Services)
Ned Clayton (Schlumberger Water Services)
David Walsh (Vista Clara, Inc.)
Jared D. Abraham (US Geological Survey Crustal Imaging and Characterization Team)
Bruce D. Smith (US Geological Survey Crustal Imaging and Characterization Team)
Project Publications and Presentations
- Knight, R., E. Grunewald, T. Irons, K Dlubac., Y-Q Song, H. Bachman, B. Grau, D. Walsh, J. Abraham, J.Cannia, Field experiment provides ground truth for surface NMR measurement, Geophy. Res.Lett., doi:10.1029/2011GL050167
- Knight, R. J., B. Grau, N. Bachman, K.I. Dlubac, Y.Q. Song, G. Steele, J. Williams, E. G. Grunewald, (2011) Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Logging to Estimate Permeability in the High Plains Aquifer, Conference Proceedings from Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems (SAGEEP), April 2011, Charleston, SC, Abstract # 277.
- Dlubac, K.I. and R.J. Knight (2010) An assessment of the use of the Kozeny-Carman equation to estimate permeability in anisotropic materials from NMR data, SEG Expanded Abstracts 29, 2644-2648, doi:10.1190/1.3513390.
- Knight, R. J., J.D. Abraham, J. Cannia, K.I. Dlubac, B. Grau, E.D. Grunewald, T. Irons, Y.Q. Song, D. Walsh (2010) Field Experiment Provides Ground Truth for Surface NMR Measurement. Eos Trans. AGU, 91(26), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract #NS22A-08
