2018-2019 Distinguished Lecturer – Julia Reece

Julia Reece

Texas A&M University

2018-2019 Distinguished Lecturer 

 

 

Mud and bugs under stress: compression of marine sediments beneath the seafloor

 

 

Fine-grained sediments such as mudstones are the most common sedimentary rocks preserved close to Earth’s surface. Mudstones are very susceptible to developing significant amounts of overpressure because their low permeability and high compressibility prevent pore fluids from draining. This can result in seepage, submarine landslides, or damage to offshore infrastructure. Additionally, mudrocks are fundamentally important as source, seal, and shale gas/oil reservoirs in petroleum systems or as seals for anthropogenic-related storage. In spite of the importance of mudstones to significant hazards and industry endeavors, a systematic, process-based understanding of the controls on hydromechanical properties in mudstones remains elusive. To study these questions Dr. Reece fabricates mudstones in her laboratory from natural, marine sediments, acquired through the International Ocean Discovery Program and its predecessors, using a technique called resedimentation. Resedimentation simulates the natural process of deposition and shallow burial under controlled conditions, is repeatable, and eliminates the problem of coring disturbance associated with testing on intact cores. Therefore, resedimentation is an ideal method for the study of fundamental mechanical behavior of marine sediments. In combination with microscale imaging techniques it also reveals how porosity, permeability, and fabric evolve with burial. Dr. Reece particularly focuses on the interactions between fine-grained detrital particles, microorganisms, microfossils, and pore fluid and their roles in early diagenesis. Here, Dr. Reece will present results from investigations of early chemical and physical diagenesis using mudstones from the Gulf of Mexico (IODP Expedition 308) and offshore Japan (IODP Expedition 322).

 

Dr. Reece is an assistant professor in the College of Geosciences at Texas A&M University and studies the hydromechanical behavior of marine sediments. She was a Schlanger Ocean Drilling Fellowship recipient and participated in two IODP Expeditions (Expeditions 308 and 322).

 

 

 

LECTURE SCHEDULE

  • September 4, 2018 – University of Louisiana at Lafayette; Lafayette, LA
  • September 6, 2018 – Mississippi State University; Starkville, MS
  • October 1, 2018 – University of Miami; Miami, FL
  • October 2, 2018 – Museum of Arts and Sciences; Macon, GA
  • November 15, 2018 – Rowan University; Glassboro, NJ
  • February 21, 2019 – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC
  • March 28, 2019 – Montana State University, Billings; Billings, MT
  • April 13, 2019 – Southwest Oregon Community College; Coos Bay, OR
  • May 3, 2019 – Central Washington University; Ellensburg, Washington