Exploring How to Use Groundwater Chemistry to Identify Migration of Methane near Shale Gas Wells in the Appalachian Basin

Tao Wen, Josh Woda, Virginia Marcon, Xianzeng Niu, Zhenhui Li, Susan L. Brantley

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

Methane (CH4) enters waters in hydrocarbon-rich basins because of natural processes and problems related to oil and gas wells. As a redox-active greenhouse gas, CH4 degrades water or emits to the atmosphere and contributes to climate change. To detect if methane migrated from hydrocarbon wells (i.e., anomalous methane), we examined 20â»751 methane-containing groundwaters from the Upper Appalachian Basin (AB). We looked for concentrations (mg/L) that indicated AB brine salts (chloride concentrations ([Cl]) > 30; [Ca]/[Na] < 0.52) to detect natural methane, and we looked for concentrations of redox-active species ([SO4] ≥ 6; [Fe] ≥ 0.3) to detect anomalous methane. These indicators highlight natural contamination by methane-containing brines or recent onset of microbial oxidation of methane coupled to iron-or sulfate-reduction. We hypothesized that only waters recently contaminated by methane still exhibit high iron and sulfate concentrations. Of the AB samples, 17 (0.08%) from 12 sites indicated potential contamination. All were located in areas with high densities of shale-gas or conventional oil/gas wells. In contrast, in southwestern Pennsylvania where brines are shallow and coal, oil, and gas all have been extracted extensively, no sites of recent methane migration were detectable. Such indicators may help screen for contamination in some areas even without predrill measurements.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)9317-9327
Number of pages11
JournalEnvironmental Science and Technology
Volume53
Issue number15
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 6 2019

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemistry
  • Environmental Chemistry

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