CHARACTERIZATION OF THE TRIASSIC-AGED NEWARK RIFT BASIN IN NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY – ASSESSMENT OF CO2 STORAGE POTENTIAL

The Triassic-Jurassic Newark Rift Basin represents a potential carbon storage opportunity due to its proximity to major CO₂ emission sources in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. To better understand Basin structure and the properties of potential reservoir and confining units, the TriCarb Consortium for Carbon Sequestration undertook a characterization study that combined geophysical seismic profiling with data derived from a stratigraphic drilling, coring and logging program.

Borehole drilling was preceded by acquisition of two lines of 2D seismic across the northern part of the Newark Basin in Rockland County, New York, one line oriented east-west and the other north-south extending into Bergen County, New Jersey. The first of two borings was 6,885 feet in depth. It penetrated thick sequences of Triassic-aged fluvial and lacustrine deposits of the Passaic Formation that overlie the Palisades Sill diabase, which was approximately 1,575 feet thick at this location, and terminated in meta-sediments below the sill. Seventy-five sidewall cores and 150 feet of continuous whole core were collected from potential reservoir and confining units, along with an extensive suite of open-hole wireline logs. A second borehole was completed on the campus of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. It was continuously cored from a depth of 645 feet, near the base of the Palisades Sill, to a depth of 1,802 feet, terminating within pre-Triassic metamorphic basement. The borehole was logged with a suite of slim-hole wireline tools.

Porosity, permeability and mineralogy analyses were performed on core samples, which, along with the wireline data, were used to characterize sequestration targets and potential confining units. By integrating seismic interpretations with rock core and logging data, TriCarb developed a 3D characterization model for the northern end of the Basin. Potential CO₂ sequestration zones have been identified through log data and corroborated by core and thin section analysis. Sandstone beds are the most promising reservoir units, some with porosities exceeding 10 per cent and permeabilities exceeding 100 mD. Low-permeability mudstones and the Palisades Sill represent potential confining units.