Introduction
Available FREE OF CHARGE:
The Resource Assessment Unit, Petroleum Tenure Branch, is responsible for maintaining a series of structure contour and isopach maps that are utilized in-house for decision-making on matters of trespass, offset commitments, valuations, landsales, royalty revenues, etc. In the past, these maps were also made available for sale to the general public as ‘prints of working drawings only’. In 2002, the Resource Assessment Unit launched the Phoenix Mapping Project that would see the replacement of 167 manually maintained mylar structure contour and isopach maps (pool area K-series and the regional T and E-series) with a series of digitally-generated maps whose contours and data are then subjected to a rigorous review and manual adjustments by Resource Assessment Unit geologists. The existing mylar maps were five to seven years out-of-date (10+ years for regional maps) due to the record number of wells drilled and the extremely labour intensive nature of the mapping process (drafted and contoured entirely by hand), so it was imperative that the new mapping procedure address this shortcoming and significantly reduce turn-around time for revisions. The Phoenix Mapping Project required the review of over 70,000 wells, more than 160,000 tops, 22 geological horizons, and resulted in over 53,000 square miles of coverage. In addition to the structure contour and isopach maps, a series of information sheets were created as guides to each geological horizon mapped. These guides include a brief geological description of the horizon(s), a bibliography of relevant references, production and reservoir data, type log(s), customized stratigraphic charts, and/or cross-sections and schematic diagrams. The 22 geological horizons were contoured on a regional scale and anomalous values were proofed through core and log analysis, tops were picked across provincial and international borders, existing K, T & E-maps that were maintained for over 50 years by department geologists were referenced, and the contours were manually adjusted to more realistically depict the subsurface.
Guides to the Geology of Saskatchewan (PDF Format)
These information sheets are provided as companions to the contour maps. Included on each sheet is a brief geological description of productive geological horizons for that portion of the province, reservoir characteristics and production information, bibliography and relevant publications, reference wells, type logs, schematics, and cross-sections. The areas and horizons covered are: Upper Cretaceous of Western Saskatchewan; Lower Cretaceous of NW Saskatchewan; Lower Cretaceous Mannville Group, Jurassic, and Mississippian of SW Saskatchewan; Wapella Area SE Saskatchewan; Mississippian SE Saskatchewan; Middle Bakken Sand West-Central Saskatchewan; and Devonian SE Saskatchewan.
The guide sheets are available in PDF format and may be viewed in Adobe Acrobat Reader or, if you require a hard copy, they are best printed on a plotter at paper size 36” x 48”
Map Lists (PDF Format)
It is recommended that you reference the Map Lists first to create a frame of reference before consulting the Index Maps. There are two Map Lists - one sorts the maps by geological horizon while the second sorts the maps by Map #. On these lists, those maps with partial coverage are noted and flagged. The Map Lists themselves include a provincial grid followed by a listing of maps available for each map of the grid.
The 'Code' identifies the map by type, map #, and horizon. The map types are SC (structure contour map), SUB (subcrop map), and ISO (isopach map). For example, SC 1 – Mes is read as 'structure contour map of the Mississippian Erosion Surface in map grid #1'. The 'Well Data Current to:' column indicates the off-confidential date that was used to generate the map. For example, 01-Jan-03 tells us that the well data used was based on an off-confidential date of January 1, 2003. The Map Lists will be updated as revisions, expansions, and new horizons are added.
Index Maps (PDF Format)
The Index Maps are used to determine the extent of coverage for a particular horizon. The geological horizons that are mapped include the Ribstone Creek Member (Belly River Formation), Milk River Formation, Medicine Hat Sandstone, Second White Speckled Shale, Lower Colorado Group, Viking Sand, Mannville Group, Index Horizon Above the Cantuar Marker (IHACM), Wapella Sand, Jurassic Erosion Surface, Base of the Jurassic Shale Marker, Base of the Roseray Sand, Lower Shaunavon Formation, Lower Watrous Formation, Mississippian Erosion Surface, Madison Group, Ratcliffe Beds, Base of the Oungre Evaporite, Midale Beds, Middle Bakken Sand, Birdbear Formation, and the Winnipegosis Formation.
Structure Contour, Isopach, and Subcrop Maps
The PDF maps can be viewed in Adobe Acrobat Reader or, if you require a hard copy, they are designed to be printed on a plotter at paper size 36” x 48” at a scale of 1” to 1 mile. However, if paper size restrictions are an issue, you can zoom in on the PDF map and print off that portion on a smaller paper size.
