Office: ESB 4-15 
Phone: (780) 492-5659 
E-mail: Hans.Machel@ualberta.ca

1)Fluid Inclusions in Devonian Carbonates of the Alberta Basin

Profs. H.G. Machel and J. Richards are looking for max. two graduate students (two M.Sc. and/or one Ph.D.) for a study of fluid inclusions in diagenetic carbonates of the Alberta Basin. Previous studies that have used fluid inclusions as one of several tools in unraveling diagenetic histories have shown that many inclusions contain multiple-phase fluids (water, hydrocarbons, non-hydrocarbon gases), some with unusual phase behavior. The need for and extent of pressure corrections remains debated. Crushing/leaching of fluid inclusions with subsequent isotopic and/or ionic analysis has rarely been done. Most samples are from drill core obtained by the oil industry. The applicant(s) should have a general interest in petroleum geology, some background in carbonate petrology, and a special interest in diagenesis and geochemistry (isotopes), especially fluid inclusion work (phase behavior, crushing/leaching). This project will be co-supervised by Machel and Richards.

2)Cordilleran Structure and Tectonic Expulsion of Formation Fluids into the Alberta Basin

Profs. H.G. Machel and J. Waldron are looking for max. two graduate students (two M.Sc. and/or one Ph.D.) for a study of structure and tectonic expulsion of formation fluids into the Alberta Basin. The chosen study area are some thrust sheets between Jasper and the Saskatchewan Crossing in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Machel's group has been working on the tropic of tectonic expulsion of formation fluids in the Alberta Basin for several years, with emphasis on the deep foreland basin right in front of the limit of the disturbed belt (see attached paper: Machel et al. 2001). In order to extend this research southwestward into the outcrop equivalents, the structure of several thrust sheets has to be mapped or remapped, and samples must be taken from outcrops for further geochemical analysis. The applicant(s) should have a general interest in field work as well as lab work, and a special interests in structural analysis, isotope geochemistry, and/or paleofluid flow. In a collaborative agreement with IFP, France, the data may be used for paleohydrological modeling. This thesis project will be co-supervised by Machel and Waldron.