Daniel Burke Brunson is a doctoral student in Geology at the University of North Dakota Harold Hamm School of Geology and Geological Engineering in Grand Forks, ND with research advisor Dr. William Gosnold. His subdisciplines of focus are geophysics, structural geology, and geodynamics. His research interests include geothermics and computational modeling.
Burke assists in management of the UND Geothermal Lab, which specializes in techniques to characterize geothermal resources. These techniques include divided bar and portable divided bar thermal conductivity measurement devices, borehole temperature logging equipment, and a gamma ray spectrometer for rock material uranium, thorium, and potassium radioactivity measurements. The lab also contains various applied geophysics field and lab equipment. He also works as a Core Library Technician for the North Dakota Geological Survey’s Wilson M. Laird Core and Sample Library.
A Master’s thesis project involving creation of a computational 2-D thermal model and geothermal gradient assessment of the Williston Basin was undertaken in 2016-2017 and completed in December 2017. Prior to re-entering school, he worked for Schlumberger as a Geoservices Offshore Drilling Data Analyst out of Lafayette, LA. Burke holds a M.S. degree in Geology and GISc in Geography from University of North Dakota and two B.S. degrees from The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL and enjoys the outdoors for adventure and exercise activities.
Ph.D. in Geology, (current)
University of North Dakota
GISc in Geography, 2019
University of North Dakota
M.S. in Geology, 2017
University of North Dakota
B.S.G. in Geology, 2013
University of Alabama
B.S. in Biology and Chemistry (Dual Major), 2006
University of Alabama
Past researchers have suggested that elevated heat flow once existed in the Williston Basin during the Eocene Epoch or younger time frame, based on petroleum maturity indices data. Further, they have argued that those attempting to computationally model the region have incorrectly assumed constant heat flow through time. The present work attempts to address the different positions taken by updating geophysical modeling evidence concerning heat flow in the Williston Basin in which paleogeothermal conditions are variable over geologic time. After conducting the investigation, present research demonstrates that elevated heat flow may have existed in the Williston Basin in the geologic past but did not necessarily have to occur during or after the time period suggested. Furthermore, variable radioactivity in the crystalline basement rock demonstrated by the present models can explain the enhanced thermal maturity described by past researchers. Only more detailed study will eventually lead the scientific community to a more precise explanation of the cause and time constraints of such paleogeothermal conditions.