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Baseline studies of surface gas exchange and soil-gas composition in preparation for CO ₂ sequestration research: Teapot Dome, Wyoming

¹ Department of Chemistry and Geochemistry, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401; rklusman{at}mines.edu

Ronald Klusman received a B.S. degree in chemistry and a Ph.D. in geology and geochemistry at Indiana University. During graduate studies, he was an instrumental analyst at the Indiana Geological Survey. From 1969 to 1972, he was an assistant professor of geosciences at Purdue University, and from 1972 to 2001, he was an associate professor and a professor of chemistry and geochemistry at the Colorado School of Mines. In 2001, he became professor emeritus, continuing research on a part-time basis.

A baseline determination of CO ₂ and CH ₄ fluxes and soil-gas concentrations of CO ₂ and CH ₄ was made over the Teapot Dome oil field in the Naval Petroleum Reserve 3 in Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. This was done in anticipation of the experimentation with CO ₂ sequestration in the Pennsylvanian Tensleep Sandstone underlying the field at a depth of 5500 ft (1680 m). The measurements were made in January 2004 to capture the system with minimum biological activity in the soils, resulting in a minimum CO ₂ flux and a maximum CH ₄ flux. The CO ₂ fluxes were measured in the field with an infrared spectroscopic method. The CH ₄ fluxes were determined from gas-chromatographic measurements on discrete samples from under the flux chambers. The CO ₂ and CH ₄ were determined at 30-, 60-, and 100-cm (11-, 23-, and 39-in.) depths in soil gas by gas chromatography. A total of 40 locations had triplicate flux measurements using 1.00-m ² (10.763-ft ²) chambers, and soil gas was sampled at single points at each of the 40 locations.

Carbon dioxide fluxes averaged 227.1 mg CO ₂ m ^–2 day ^–1, a standard deviation of 186.9 mg m ^–2 day ^–1, and a range of –281.7 to 732.9 mg m ^–2 day ^–1, not including one location with subsurface infrastructure contamination. Methane fluxes averaged 0.137 mg CH ₄ m ^–2 day ^–1, standard deviation of 0.326 mg m ^–2 day ^–1, and a range of –0.481 to 1.14 mg m ^–2 day ^–1, not including the same contaminated location.

Soil-gas CO ₂ concentrations increased with depth, averaging 618, 645, and 1010 ppmv at 30, 60, and 100 cm (11, 23, and 39 in.), respectively. Soil-gas CH ₄ concentrations averaged 0.128, 0.114, and 0.093 ppmv at 30, 60, and 100 cm (11, 23, and 39 in.), respectively. The decrease in CH ₄ with depth reflects a slow rate of methanotrophic oxidation, even during winter conditions. The ¹³C of the soil gas CO ₂ was also determined in the soil-gas samples and in the atmosphere. These data demonstrated that the increased CO ₂ with depth was derived from the biological oxidation of soil organic matter.

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