![Professor Andrew Hurst Professor Andrew Hurst](/img/200x200/staffpages/assets/images/default-profile-picture.jpg)
CGeol - Chartered Geologist, Geological Society of London
Chair Of Energy Geoscience
- About
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- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 273713
- Office Address
- School/Department
- School of Geosciences
Biography
How and why sediment is deposited, the processes by which it consolidates and lithifies, and its micro- and macro-mineralogy fascinate me. I integrate data from global to sub-micro-scale, examining basin evolution, sediment provenance and its relationship to climate change including weathering and erosion and diagenesis. While focussing on understanding process, my research has a strong element of resource evaluation, and its contribution to the inventory of Earth resources.
For more than 25 years, the Sand Injection Research Group (SIRG) studied the natural injection of fluidised sand into actively propagating hydraulic fractures, and their influence on fluid migration and expulsion. This is significant for resource entrapment and recovery, and waste (nuclear, CO2) or resource (hydrogen, CH4) sequestration. Other research includes a) self-sufficient low C energy systems in rural environments, b) the origin, physical characterisation, and climatic significance of loessite, specifically associated with mass extinction events, c) modelling the effect of micro-scale granular features on rock physical characteristics, d) mineral-chemical stratigraphy.
Since 1992 I held the Chair in Production Geoscience (now Energy Geoscience). I am a former Director of MSc IPG and taught MSc IPG, OGEM & Oil & Gas Engineering, as well as level 1 and 4 UG courses. In 2015 I was awarded a Blaustein Professorship at Stanford University.
I was an elected Trustee of the Geological Society of London and served on various GSL committees. I served on senior committees in the AAPG and EAGE and I am an active member of the International Association of Sedimentology. I co-founded and was Chief Editor of Petroleum Geoscience (GSL/EAGE). As part of the Deepwater Horizon Trial between 2011 and 2014, I was engaged as an expert witness for the prosecution during which I was cross examined in court.
Sand Injection Research Group (SIRG)
Sand injectites - Regional development of natural hydraulic fractures in the shallow crust, and concomitant sand fluidisation and injection; their role in the evolution of sedimentary basins.
Loessite – Origin and provenance of loessite and its significance as extra-basinal fill and as an indicator of ancient atmospheric circulation patterns.
Green rural energy – Self-sustainable energy by repurposing domestic waste, integrating agricultural waste with energy crops, and reduction of transport.
Qualifications
- PhD Geology1981 - University of Reading
- BSc Hons Geology & Mineralogy1977 - University of Aberdeen
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
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Throughout my career I assiduously avoided serving on University of Aberdeen committees.
- External Memberships
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I am member of the: Geological Society of London (C Geol), European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE), American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS), and Geoscience Energy Society of Great Britain.
Latest Publications
Investigation of coupled hydro-mechanical modelling of hydraulic fracture propagation and interaction with natural fractures
International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, vol. 169, 105418Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2023.105418
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Outcrop Characterization and Modelling of Sand Injection Complexes
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Provenance Variability in Coeval Slope Channel Systems: Hermod S2 Member Sandstone (Eocene), South Viking Graben (North Sea)
Geosciences (Switzerland), vol. 12, no. 12, 450Contributions to Journals: ArticlesPermeability heterogeneity of sandstone intrusion fluid-escape systems, Panoche Hills, California: Implications for sedimentary basins globally
Sedimentology, vol. 69, no. 6, pp. 2463–2485Contributions to Journals: ArticlesA giant sand injection complex: Processes and implications for basin evolution and subsurface fluid flow
American Journal of Science, vol. 322, no. 6, pp. 729-794Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.2475/06.2022.01
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Prizes and Awards
1993 William Smith Award (Geological Society of London)
2004 Wegener Medal (European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers)
2007 Distinguished Service Award (American Association of Petroleum Geologists)
2012 Grover E Murray Distinguished Educator Award (American Association of Petroleum Geologists)
2015 Blaustein Professor in Geology, Stanford University
- Research
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Research Areas
Funding and Grants
Since 1998 research on sand injectites became a huge part of my research activity. Chevron UK initiated the first 2-year project in 1998 that in 2000 became the Sand Injection Research Group (SIRG) consortium, which remains active today. Almost 40 energy companies have invested in SIRG consortia
- Publications
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Page 8 of 11 Results 71 to 80 of 109
Sand injectites provide a global exploration opportunity
Offshore, vol. 64, no. 12, pp. 54-56Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Fluidisation and injection in the deep-water sandstones of the Eocene Alba Formation (UK North Sea)
Sedimentology, vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 503-529Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2004.00634.x
The structural and diagenetic evolution of injected sandstones: examples from the Kimmeridgian of NE Scotland
Journal of the Geological Society , vol. 160, no. 6, pp. 881-894Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-764902-091
Characterisation of the physical properties of porous media using monochrome imaging
Contributions to Conferences: PapersFluid escape from reservoirs: implications from cold seeps, fractures and injected sands - Part II. The fluids involved
Journal of Geochemical Exploration, vol. 78-79, pp. 297-300Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0375-6742(03)00048-7
Down-channel variations in stratal patterns within a conglomeratic deepwater fan feeder system (Miocene, Adana Basin, Southern Turkey)
In: Confined Turbidite Systems (eds. Lomas, S.; Joseph, P.) Geological Society of London, pp. 241-260, 19 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersFluid escape from reservoirs: implications from cold seeps, fractures and injected sands - Part I. The fluid flow system
Journal of Geochemical Exploration, vol. 78-9, pp. 293-296Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0375-6742(03)00046-3
Fluidization structures in produced by upward injection of sand through a sealing lithology
In: Subsurface sediment mobilization (eds. Van Rensbergen,P.;Hillis,R.;Maltman,A. J.;Morley,C.K.), Geological Society Of London, London, pp. 123-137, 14 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2003.216.01.09
Palaeo-carbonate seep structures above an oil reservoir, Gryphon Field, Tertiary, North Sea
Geo-Marine Letters, vol. 23, no. 3-4, pp. 323-339Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-003-0145-y
Sandstone intrusions: detection and significance for exploration and production
First Break, vol. 9, no. 21, pp. 15-24Contributions to Journals: Articles