Keegan Raines, MSc student, University of Calgary

Biography:

I am starting my Masters of Geology at the University of Calgary, under the supervision of Stephen Hubbard. Recently, I completed an Earth Science Major at the University of Victoria in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences. This well-rounded degree was very valuable to me and also inspired me to seek to further my knowledge about sedimentary systems, basin development and larger tectonic processes. While I started paying for my university by doing forestry work, I also received an NSERC grant to work in a marine geochemistry lab, worked as a summer student in a biogeochemistry facility, completed a co-op work term with the GSC marine geosciences group, worked as summer student geologist for EnCana, and worked for the BC Ministry of Energy, Mines, and Petroleum Resources. Through these jobs I have gained practical skills and knowledge related to remote field work, aqueous chemistry, geochemistry, geophysics, petrophysics, and, of course, sedimentary geology.

Project:

The objective of my research is map the subsurface architecture of Jurassic sandstone beds in northeastern British Columbia. There will be a focus on depositional environments, sediment distribution, stratigraphic correlations and reservoir potential. The thesis will employ both outcrop and subsurface studies, including core and well logs. I will employ genetic and sequence stratigraphy to create a predictive model of sandstone bed geometries. Provenance studies will assist with a tectono-stratigraphic model for the period when the passive margin developed into a tectonically active foreland basin. Also, the information gathered will help to build a including a predictive, regional high-resolution paleogeographic framework for the time period.

Deliverables