Collaborators: This is primarily the research of Ben Dockrill for his Ph.D. thesis and his advisor, Dr. Zoe Shipton, Trinity College, Ireland.  Dr. Jim Evans and two graduate students from Utah State University are also working on the project.

Research Abstract:
There are some CO₂-charged springs and geysers discharging from several normal faults in southeastern Utah resulting in the formation of travertine deposits.  The faults are hosted in the Phanerozoic sediments of the Colorado plateau.  Questions being addressed by the research focus on the migration of fluids in and around normal faults.  Do the faults behave as conduits or seals for fluid migration?  What is the source of CO₂?  Can CO₂ generated from industrial point sources such as power plants be stored in the subsurface for long periods of time and thus reduce the discharge of greenhouse-generating gases into the atmosphere.  Work is also being done to document the internal structures, hydrology, and temporal evolution of the travertine deposits.

 

This is Ben Dockrill, Trinity College, Ireland.	Crystal Geyser is a cold-water CO2-charged geyser that erupts several times a day, with water fountains upwards of 5 to 10 meters.
Exhumed travertine mound east of Crystal Geyser.	Shale under the travertine deposit is crosscut by an extensive network of veins.  These veins are presumed to be the conduit of fluids that discharged onto the land surface and formed the travertine.
Numerous carbonate textures are present in the deposit including mammalated (dripstone-like) layers.  The lobes in the layer are nearly vertical, consistent with their orientation during formation.