REGIONAL STRATIGRAPHY OF THE QUEENSTON FORMATION IN NEW YORK STATE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR GEOLOGIC CARBON STORAGE POTENTIAL

The Upper Ordovician Queenston Formation is among potential targets for subsurface geologic carbon dioxide storage in New York State. As a step to estimate the total pore volume of the Queenston Formation in our 11 county central New York study area, we seek to understand the unit’s lateral variability. In central NY, the Queenston Formation is a sequence of southward-thickening subsurface sandstones, whereas in western NY and Ontario, Canada, the Queenston Formation crops out and is composed of shale, siltstone, and sandstone that thin into Canada. We analyze here the correlations, facies changes, paleogeographic implications, and reservoir storage implications of the Queenston unit lateral variations. Log, core, and seismic data reveal that central NY Queenston sandstones accumulated in a fluvial system with mobile channels and unstable floodplains. In contrast, western NY outcrops reveal deposits of lower energy coastal plain distributary channels and tidal flats which grade westward into beach and shallow marine deposits. Six stacked petrophysical zones that range from 5 to 300 feet (2 to 90 meters) thickness are revealed in central New York well log data, and these zones are dominated by baselevel fall trends (progradation). In western NY, the Queenston log signature also defines six baselevel cycles, but these are dominated by baselevel rise (transgressive) trends. The dissimilar baselevel patterns indicate that the Queenston may be partially diachronous from east to west. Western NY fault systems that were active during the Ordovician may have controlled sediment supply to their west. Additional spatially varying controls on the accommodation would contribute to regional variations in strata, such as tectonic accommodation in central NY and eustatic accommodation in western NY and Ontario. Regardless of the regional depositional model adopted, the Queenston Formation lacks the porosity necessary for CO2 storage west of Livingston County (~77°45’W). In the central NY study area, we estimate that the Queenston sandstones have sufficient pore space to sequester decades of statewide CO2 emissions. However, the Queenston sandstones lack significant permeability, hence access to this pore volume would either be limited to localized naturally fractured regions or rely upon hydraulic fracturing.