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Contents
Foreword--William J. Ebanks, Jr.
Foreword, 1976 (Solution Mining Research Institute)
Part 1: Salt Deposits of Kansas: Regional Geology
Hutchinson Salt Member of the Wellington Formation
Extent
Overview
Natural dissolution
Lithology
Thickness
Younger Permian Salts in Kansas
Lower Cimmaron Salt
Blaine Salt
Commercial development
Land subsidence
Part II: Land Subsidence Areas Associated with Salt Mining
Hutchinson, Kansas: Local Geology--Salt Resources
Unconsolidated Pleistocene beds
Bedrock; Permian formations
Salt resources
Wire line geophysical logs
Roof rocks above the Hutchinson Salt
Relation of roof rock failure to method of salt mining
Hutchinson, Kansas: Early Land Subsidence Areas
Three known areas
Morton Plant, 1914
Carey Salt Company, 1925
Barton Salt Company plant, 1952
Subsidence: Cargill Plant Site, 1974
Sequence of events
Area affected
Sources of information
Airlift Field
Early indication of subsidence
Historical background Cargill plant
Post-subsidence Activities and Investigations
Cargill, Inc.
Missouri-Pacific Railroad
State of Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Solution Mining Research Institute, Inc., Investigation
Cause, Mechanism, and Time Framework: 1974 Sinkhole
Cause
Mechanism and time factors
Kanopolis, Kansas: Land Subsidence Due to Cratering of Salt Mine Shaft
Subsidence sequence
Mine history; Crystal Salt Mine
Information, shaft and mine deterioration, Little River Salt Mine shaft
Volumetric data, Little River Mine
Application to Crystal Mine, Kanopolis, Ellsworth County
Part III: Land Subsidence Areas Associated with Oil and Gas Operations in Kansas
General Statements
Land subsidence: a rare event
Similarity to subsidence areas due to salt mining
Related to salt water disposal systems
Oil production, central Kansas
Oil-field subsidence areas
Possible undetected oil-related subsidence areas
Salt Dissolution in Oil and Gas Test Holes During Drilling
Methods of investigation
Caliper logs
Cementing experience
Neutron logs
Recovery of objects or tools, termed "fishing"
Calculation of salinity of the drilling fluid
Holes drilled with cable tools
Salt Dissolution in Oil and Gas Test Holes after Drilling
Method of investigation
Hydrology
Case histories--no surface casing
Recognition of salt dissolution
Hutchinson Salt in the Chase-Silica Oil Field
Chase-Silica oil field
Thickness and quality of salt
Salt dissolution in early tests during drilling
Salt dissolution within the Chase-Silica oil field after drilling
Panning Sinkhole--Barton County, Kansas
Well History, Panning 11-A
Observations by witnesses
Postulated sequence of events
Berscheit Sinkhole
Hilton Subsidence Area
Hutchinson Salt in the Gorham Oil field
Gorham oil field
Thickness and quality, Hutchinson Salt
Cross Section, Gorham oil field
Aquifers in the Gorham oil field
History of brine disposal--Gorham oil field
History of well plugging
Present status, aquifers, Gorham oil field
Surface Subsidence Areas--Gorham oil field
History of investigation
Direct evidence of dissolution of salt
Evidence for solution of salt by other than surface water
Source of water dissolving salt
Present status, Crawford Sink
Present status, Witt Sink
Appendix A--List of Localities Mapped in Figure 3
A. Subsidence Areas Related to Mining of Salt
B. Subsidence Areas Related to Oil and Gas Operations
C. Salt Test Holes, Cored
D. Underground (Dry) Salt Mines
E. Solution Well Fields
F. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Stored in Salt Cavities
Appendix C--Wells and Shafts, Cross Section C-D, Figure 4
Appendix D--Field Investigations at Cargill Sinkhole in 1977
Introduction
Drilling Program
Interpretation of Borehole Results
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Kansas Geological Survey, Geology
Placed on web July 24, 2009; originally published February 1978.
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