Assessment of the Potential for Carbon Dioxide Sequestration Nevada mafic rock isopach map

Table of Contents



IDENTIFICATION_INFORMATION

Citation: Citation_Information: Originator: Sturmer, D.M. Originator: LaPointe, D.D. Originator: Price, J.G. Originator: Hess, R.H. Publication_Date: 2007 Title: Assessment of the Potential for Carbon Dioxide Sequestration Nevada mafic rock isopach map Edition: 1 Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: Map Publication_Information: Publication_Place: Reno, Nevada Publisher: Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Other_Citation_Details: Online_Linkage: www.nbmg.unr.edu/dox/dox.htm Larger_Work_Citation: Citation_Information: Originator: Sturmer, D.M.; LaPointe, D.D.; Price, J.G.; Hess, R.H. Publication_Date: 2007 Title: Assessment of the Potential for Carbon Dioxide Sequestration by Reactions with Rocks in Nevada, Report 52 Publication_Information: Publication_Place: Reno, Nevada Publisher: Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Online_Linkage: www.nbmg.unr.edu/dox/dox.htm Description: Abstract: One option for decreasing the amount of greenhouse gas that is added to the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels is to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) and react it with certain minerals found in rocks. This report investigates the potential for such carbon sequestration using rocks in Nevada. There are sufficiently large volumes of basalt (a rock rich in the oxides of magnesium, iron, and calcium) in Nevada to consider reaction of those rocks with CO2 from coal-fired power plants. Reaction with minerals has theoretical advantages over many other schemes for carbon sequestration in that it would be essentially permanent disposal (that is, there would be no leakage as possibly from geological storage in deep saline aquifers, oil fields, or other geological environments, and there would be no threat of loss of CO2 from wildfires, as with terrestrial sequestration in trees or other biomass). Nonetheless, the technology for mineral reaction is unproven. Considerably more research would be needed before a commercial operation could be seriously considered. Whereas there is plenty of basalt in Nevada to meet the CO2 sequestration demands for several large power plants, there are insufficient quantities of other rock types considered (serpentinite, iron and manganese ores, wollastonite, and brucite) to be of significance for sequestering CO2 from a large power plant. In-situ reaction of CO2 with basalt is impractical, because the large volume increases that would result from the creation of carbonates of magnesium, iron, and calcium would plug up pore spaces. Basalt would therefore have to be mined. It may make more sense to locate a coal-fired power plant close to the source of basalt than to transport mined basalt to an existing plant that may be located close to a source of coal. Solid waste products from burning the coal and other waste materials brought in by rail could be disposed along with the carbonates created from reacting CO2 with the basalt, partly in the holes dug to mine the basalt. When and if commercial viability is demonstrated, those areas most likely to be of interest in Nevada would be ones with large volumes of basalt or chemically similar rock near railroads and major power lines. Those areas would most likely be northwestern Washoe County; southern Washoe, Storey, Lyon, Churchill, and Pershing Counties; the Humboldt lopolith in Churchill and Pershing Counties; the Battle Mountain area in Lander and Eureka Counties; and southwestern Mineral and northwestern Esmeralda Counties. Purpose: Document the volume of basalts in Nevada. Supplemental_Information: Dataset is in UTM Zone 11 projection, NAD 1927, meters. Time_Period_of_Content: Time_Period_Information: Range_of_Dates/Times: Beginning_Date: 1977 Ending_Date: 2007 Currentness_Reference: 2007 Status: Progress: Complete Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: None planned Spatial_Domain: Bounding_Coordinates: West_Bounding_Coordinate: -120.1427 East_Bounding_Coordinate: -113.7952 North_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.9925 South_Bounding_Coordinate: 34.9902 Keywords: Theme: Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None Theme_Keyword: Geology Theme_Keyword: Mafic rocks Theme_Keyword: Mineral carbonation Theme_Keyword: Carbon dioxide Theme_Keyword: carbon dioxide sequestration Theme_Keyword: Nevada Theme_Keyword: Ultramafic rocks Theme_Keyword: Basalt Place: Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: None Place_Keyword: Nevada Place_Keyword: Washoe County Place_Keyword: Humboldt County Place_Keyword: Pershing County Place_Keyword: Carson City Place_Keyword: Storey County Place_Keyword: Lyon County Place_Keyword: Mineral County Place_Keyword: White Pine County Place_Keyword: Elko County Place_Keyword: Churchill County Place_Keyword: Esmeralda County Place_Keyword: Nye County Place_Keyword: Clark County Place_Keyword: Lincoln County Place_Keyword: Lander County Place_Keyword: Eureka County Place_Keyword: Douglas County Access_Constraints: Although these data have been processed successfully on the computer system at the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the accuracy or utility of the data on any system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. This disclaimer applies both to individual use of the data and aggregate use with other data. It is strongly recommended that these data be directly acquired from the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology. It is also strongly recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of the metadata and readme files associated with this data. The Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology shall not be held liable for improper use of the data described and/or contained herein. By using this data you hereby agree to these conditions. Use_Constraints: Reference and acknowledge the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology or the specific author in products derived from this data. Do not reproduce for commercial purposes. Point_of_Contact: Contact_Information: Contact_Organization_Primary: Contact_Organization: Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Contact_Person: Ronald H. Hess Contact_Position: Chief Information Officer Contact_Address: Address_Type: mailing and physical address Address: University of Nevada, Reno MS 178 City: Reno State_or_Province: Nevada Postal_Code: 89557-0178 Country: USA Contact_Voice_Telephone: (775) 784-6692 Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (775) 784-1709 Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: rhess@unr.edu Hours_of_Service: 8 am -3 pm pst Native_Data_Set_Environment: ArcView version 3.3 shapefile format d:\grad\final2\mafic_thick.shp Top

DATA_QUALITY_INFORMATION

Attribute_Accuracy: Attribute_Accuracy_Report: For model and presentation purposes at 1:500,000 scale or smaller. Logical_Consistency_Report: N/A Completeness_Report: N/A Positional_Accuracy: Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy: Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Report: Merged polygon data designed to be used at 1:500,000 scale or smaller. Vertical_Positional_Accuracy: Vertical_Positional_Accuracy_Report: N/A Lineage: Source_Information: Source_Citation: Citation_Information: Originator: John H. Stewart Originator: John E. Carlson Originator: Gary L. Raines Originator: Katherine A. Connors Originator: Lorre A. Moyer Originator: Robert J. Miller Publication_Date: 2003 Title: Spatial digital database for the geologic map of Nevada. Edition: Version 3 Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: map Publication_Information: Publication_Place: Menlo Park, California Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey Other_Citation_Details: Digital Geologic Map of Nevada: USGS Open-File Report 03-66, Digital database, version 3.0, Spatial Digital Database for the Geologic Map of Nevada, Geology compiled by John H. Stewart and John E. Carlson; Digital database by Gary L. Raines, Katherine A. Connors1, Lorre A. Moyer, and Robert J. Miller, 2003 (map originally published in 1978). Online_Linkage: HTTP://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/of03-66/ Larger_Work_Citation: Citation_Information: Originator: John H. Stewart; John E. Carlson Publication_Date: 1978 Title: Geologic map of Nevada Publication_Information: Publication_Place: Reston, Virginia Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey and Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Online_Linkage: N/A Source_Scale_Denominator: 500,000 Type_of_Source_Media: digital vector data Source_Time_Period_of_Content: Time_Period_Information: Range_of_Dates/Times: Beginning_Date: N/A Ending_Date: N/A Source_Currentness_Reference: N/A Source_Citation_Abbreviation: Bedrock Source_Contribution: Areas identified as bedrock mafic and ultramafic units. Process_Step: Process_Description: The procedure for assessing mafic rock volume in the selected fields involved using existing volume estimates, existing geologic maps, LANDSAT images, existing thickness data, air photos, and field reconnaissance. The first step was to constrain the aerial extent of basalt in the selected fields using the 1:500,000-scale digital state geologic map (Stewart and Carlson, 1977) and 92/93 LANDSAT images (available at http: HTTP://keck.library.unr.edu/data/landsat/pathrow.html). The state geologic map was converted from a NAD 1927 projection to NAD 1983 projection so that 1:24,000-scale digital orthophotoquads (DOQs) could also be overlain on the geologic map. The geologic map was set on 60% transparency and laid over the DOQs in ARCMAP 9.1. Mafic and ultramafic areas of interest were then redigitized in ARCMAP 9.1 based on the state geologic map but modified by the color contrasts seen on the LANDSAT images. Thicknesses were estimated using a combination of existing data, air photos, topographic maps, and field photos. Several control points were chosen for each study area. Estimates for the dip and percentage of basalt at a control point were taken from the air photos and geologic maps, and an apparent thickness was calculated using elevation differences from a topographic map. Field reconnaissance photography was also done to help estimate basalt thickness. Photos were taken (usually at distance) in order to find estimates of percent basalt and basalt dip at a control point and then combined with data from a topographic map to calculate thickness. At each measurement point, true thickness of mafic rock, t, was estimated using the following formula: t = f•a•cos(d), where f = fraction of thickness that is mafic rock (as opposed to, for example, interbedded tuff); a = apparent thickness measured from topographic elevations; and d = approximate dip of the mafic rocks. Using the thickness control points, we then contoured the areas containing mafic rocks with a 30 meter contour interval, with the exception of the Humboldt lopolith (100 meter contour interval). The digitized lines and points were converted into polygons in ARC Catalog, and the newly created shape file with basalt thickness polygons was brought back into ARCMAP 9.1. In order to calculate the volume, the area of each polygon was multiplied by the basalt thickness for that polygon and converted from m3 to km3. The thickness values given for each polygon are the average of the bounding thickness contours. When there is only one bounding contour (thickest sections), the thickness used is a pre-existing maximum thickness estimate (if one exists) or 15 m greater than the highest contour (if a maximum thickness estimate does not exist). Because this procedure does not involve actually measuring sections, it probably has a fair amount of error associated with it, such that thickness estimates are probably good to one significant figure. This error will propagate through to the volume calculation so that the volumes are only accurate to one significant figure. For the purposes of this report, that is acceptable, but if and when basalt is going to be used to sequester CO2 in Nevada, the field should be studied in more detail to generate more accurate volume estimates. Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: Mafic Process_Date: 2007 Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: N/A Process_Contact: Contact_Information: Contact_Person_Primary: Contact_Organization: Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering Contact_Person: Daniel M. Sturmer Contact_Position: Graduate Research Assistant Contact_Address: Address_Type: mailing and physical address Address: University of Nevada, Reno MS172 City: Reno State_or_Province: Nevada Postal_Code: 89557-0172 Country: USA Contact_Voice_Telephone: (775) 745-2909 Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (775) 784-1709 Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: sturmerd@unr.nevada.edu Hours_of_Service: 8 am to 3 pm pst Top

SPATIAL_DATA_ORGANIZATION_INFORMATION

Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Vector Point_and_Vector_Object_Information: SDTS_Terms_Description: SDTS_Point_and_Vector_Object_Type: GT-polygon composed of chains Point_and_Vector_Object_Count: 604 Top

SPATIAL_REFERENCE_INFORMATION

Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition: Planar: Grid_Coordinate_System: Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator Universal_Transverse_Mercator: UTM_Zone_Number: 11 Transverse_Mercator: Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.999600 Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -117.000000 Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.000000 False_Easting: 500000.000000 False_Northing: 0.000000 Planar_Coordinate_Information: Planar_Coordinate_Encoding_Method: Coordinate pair Coordinate_Representation: Abscissa_Resolution: Ordinate_Resolution: Planar_Distance_Units: Meters Geodetic_Model: Horizontal_Datum_Name: North American Datum of 1927 Ellipsoid_Name: Clarke 1866 Semi-major_Axis: 6378206.4000000 Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 294.98 Top

ENTITY_AND_ATTRIBUTE_INFORMATION

Overview_Description: Entity_and_Attribute_Overview: Shape System field for polygon coverage Objectid Key ID field used to link thickness calculation tables to polygons Geology_ty Unit ID and upper bounding thickness contour value in meters Shape_leng Length of polygon arc in meters Shape_area Area of polygon in square meters Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: Top

DISTRIBUTION_INFORMATION

Distributor: Contact_Information: Contact_Organization_Primary: Contact_Organization: Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Contact_Person: Ronald H. Hess Contact_Position: Chief Information Officer Contact_Address: Address_Type: mailing and physical address Address: University of Nevada, Reno MS178 City: Reno State_or_Province: Nevada Postal_Code: 89557-0178 Country: USA Contact_Voice_Telephone: (775) 784-6692 Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (775) 784-1709 Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: rhess@unr.edu Hours_of_Service: 8 am to 3 pm pst Resource_Description: Digital coverage in shape file format, UTM zone 11 - NAD 27, projection, showing areas of mafic rock in Nevada. Distribution_Liability: Requestor hereby releases the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, University of Nevada, Reno, their agents, consultants, contractors or employees from any and all claims, actions, or causes of action for damages including, but not limited to any costs of recovering, reprogramming or reproducing any programs or data stored in or used with this data, damage to property, damages for personal injury or for any lost profits, lost savings, or other special, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of or inability to use this data, even if said parties have been advised of the possibility of such damage. Requestor agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, University of Nevada, Reno, their agents, consultants, contractors and employees from any and all liability claims or damages to any person arising from or connected with the use of this data. Top

METADATA_REFERENCE_INFORMATION

Metadata_Date: 2007 Metadata_Review_Date: 2007 Metadata_Contact: Contact_Information: Contact_Organization_Primary: Contact_Organization: Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Contact_Person: Daniel M. Sturmer Contact_Position: Graduate Research Assistant Contact_Address: Address_Type: Mailing and physical address Address: University of Nevada, Reno MS172 City: Reno State_or_Province: Nevada Postal_Code: 89557-0172 Country: USA Contact_Voice_Telephone: (775) 745-2909 Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (775) 784-1709 Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: sturmerd@unr.nevada.edu Hours_of_Service: 8 am to 3 pm pst Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC CSDGM Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998 Top