It has been an amazing (and exhausting) five months. It's gratifying to know that Phase 1 was carried out successfully as planned. To say the least, everyone involved is looking forward to the continuation of exciting science next year!
The 9 5/8 inch casing was cemented in place last night, and the final touches were put on the fiber optic strainmeter this afternoon. Scientific and drilling operations are wrapping up for the season. We'll spend the next several days packing up and rigging down.
We had a busy day at the SAFOD site today. Sixth graders from Shandon Elementary School stopped by to learn about the project and get a tour of the site. Meanwhile the casing operation continued in conjunction with installation of the fiber optic strainmeter. Tomorrow we expect to be cementing the casing.
A science team from U.C. San Diego worked through the night last night and all day today installing a fiber optic strainmeter on the outside of the 9 5/8 inch casing. Meanwhile more media (Second German Television station and CNN.com) visited the site to talk about the SAFOD project and last week's Parkfield earthquake.
High torque during the second coring run in this well section resulted in only eight feet of recovery. However, adding this to the full 30 feet from yesterday's run, we consider the coring program to be a big success. During the day today, the core sections were carefully processed and sealed at Core Labs and are now on their way to the USGS in Menlo Park, en route to storage at Texas A&M University.
Today we aquired the first of two 30 foot cores and it appears that we have 100% recovery. The core is made up of an interesting melange of granite and sedimentary rock. We are currently tripping back in for the second 30 foot core run.
After all the excitement of the magnitude 6 earthquake yesterday, routine operations continue at the SAFOD drill site as we trip out of the hole to pick up the diamond bit that will be used for coring.
Parkfield, the self-proclaimed earthquake capital of the world, was the location of a Magnitude 6 earthquake at 10:15am today. The epicenter was 15 miles south of the drill site on the San Andreas fault at a depth of 7.9 km. The drill site was subjected to fairly intense shaking but nobody was hurt and no significant damage was sustained. Scientists are thrilled to have witnessed ""the Big One"" and we anticipate a wealth of data associated with this event.
With a good ultrasonic image log today, we completed downhole measurements of the first phase of the SAFOD well. However, sidewall coring attempt was not successful because tool could not go down to sedimentary section of the hole. Now, the crew is preparing the rig for casing and cementing.
After sucessfully logging with resistivity imager and neutron-density-spectral gamma ray combo in the sedimetary section of the SAFOD well, now we are moving into the well with wire line ultrasonic imager.
Today we successfully logged multi-component sonic tool from 8800 ft to 6580 ft of the SAFOD well. Now we are moving into the hole with a pipe-deployed Neutron-Density-Resistivity imager combo to log the same interval.
Preparations continue for casing the well when geophysical logging is complete. Today, a resistivity log was obtained to the bottom of the hole using a pipe-deployed sonde (logging down). While carrying out a multi-component sonic log (logging up), the measurements were terminated after ~ 400m due to a problem with the logging cable. New cable has been brought to the site and the logging program continues..
Today we continued with TLC logging. After recognizing a latching problem between tool and telemetry wire, we had to pull out TLC first run but now we are steadily logging down with a sonic-induction combo.
As the attempt to log with wire line fails for the interval below 6000 ft, we have decided to log using TLC for this interval. Now we are moving into the hole with special TLC equipment and Platform Express tool to acquire basic open hole logs.
After a successful wire line logging between 4734 ft to 6300 ft, now we are wiping the hole below 6300 ft to decide whether we can log with wire line or have to use TLC (Tough Logging Condition).
Today we started wire line logging for 12.25 inch section of the SAFOD well. We are facing some difficulty to go below 6300 ft of the hole through wire line. Scientists are discussing possible causes and their solutions.
We're finally there!! The SAFOD well reached 10,010 feet at 11:15 this morning, total depth for the Phase I drilling season. As we condition the well and pull the bottom hole assembly out, scientists are on their way to the site to begin collecting the second set of wireline logs.
Pump repairs delayed drilling overnight last night, but we are now drilling into the home stretch (for this year, anyway!) and hope to reach 10,000 feet in the next 24 hours.
It's been a pleasantly busy day here at SAFOD. We've been drilling ahead since just before midnight last night, and we're currently at a depth of 9740 feet. As drilling business went on as usual, a film crew from CNN visited and shot some footage of the site and scientific operations.
Drilling is on hold today at SAFOD while some parts of the drilling mud system are replaced on the top drive. We expect drilling to resume this evening starting at 9600 feet.
After an overnight trip out of the hole to replace the MWD (measurement while drilling) tool, we are drilling ahead steadily and will soon pass the 9500 ft mark.
Drilling since morning, we've reached a depth of 9425 ft and continue to drill through a sedimentary formation that is primarily sandstone. We've observed a few, isolated gas shows and are anxious to see what this tells us about the San Andreas Fault Zone.
As the drill crew tripped out of the hole again today, USGS personnel were on site running a temperature log, and Berkeley scientists continued drilling a shallow well nearby for placement of a seismic source. Drilling should resume tonight.
Today the SAFOD drilling and measurment advisory panel visited drill site to discuss about the future plans of the well. Now we are at 9220 ft depth and drilling at an average rate of 9 ft/hr.
After observing high torque in the bit, we trip out to replace the bit and the bore hole assembly while we are drilling through a sand formation. Drilling will resume tonight.
As the SAFOD well reaches a depth of 8767 ft, the crew has to trip out again to change the bit while we are drilling through a hard shaly formation. A team from the Duke University laid out new 3C seismic array for a better drill bit seismic coverage.
Today the SAFOD advisory committee visited drill site to discuss future drilling plans. At 8472 ft depth the crew trips out for a bit change, while we are passing through a shaly formation.
Today we hosted a very successful VIP and media day at the SAFOD drill site. Drilling continued during the day as the SAFOD well reaches down to 8300 ft depth at an average rate of 10 ft/hr.
As the BBC filmed footage at the drill site and Earthscope finished preparing for VIP day tomorrow, drilling continued and the SAFOD borehole now extends below a depth of 8000 feet.
After 55 hours of drilling it is time for a bit change at 7881 feet. Thermasource takes advantage of this pipe trip to inspect the drilling string for wear and tear.
As SAFOD reaches a depth of 7780 ft, we are currently drilling through a well-rounded, fine-grained sandstone and holding an angle of 54 degrees toward the San Andreas fault.
The crew performed a routine test of the blow-out preventer today and it is working perfectly so we are prepared for any regions of high fluid pressure that may exist within the sediments.
Today the SAFOD well reaches down to 7250 ft. Additional scientists arrived at the drillsite to discuss the observed lithology changes on the way to San Andreas Fault. Between 7150-7180 ft we observe an increase in granite percentages, but now we are once again back to sediments.
After replacing the damaged kelly hose we are advancing at a rate of approximately 15 ft/hr at 7016 ft depth. The PASON mudloggers observe some percentage of anhydrite in the sediments.
We've been drilling ahead steadily since mid-morning and have reached a total depth of 6920 feet. So far we've been in the same rock type for about 600 feet. In addition, USGS personnel were on site today running a temperature log in the SAFOD Pilot Hole.
After 60 hours of drilling, it's time again to change the bit. We are currently tripping out of the hole, and drilling should resume tomorrow morning. We are all very anxious to see what type of rock we drill through next, as the latest evidence strongly suggests we are penetrating a section of sediments.
On this unseasonably cool day in Parkfield we continued to drill through a clay-rich formation with few returns to surface. Further drilling, mud gas, and other data will help reveal the nature of this lithology. We've reached a total measured depth of about 6650 ft, and the well is now deviated 48.5 degrees to the northeast.
Fault gouge or sediments? That is the question today at the SAFOD drill site. As we carefully continued building angle, we drilled into a new lithology with a high percentage of clay, rounded grains, and a distinct reddish color.
Drilling continued at a steady pace today, resulting in about 300 feet of progress. Scientists were on site planning ahead for future installation of the fiber optic strainmeters.