Michigan Basin Deep Drill Hole, Ithaca, Gratiot County, Michigan, USAi

Regional Level Types
Michigan Basin Deep Drill Hole	Oil Well
Ithaca	- not defined -
Gratiot County	County
Michigan	State
USA	Country

The deepest-ever Michigan hole drilled in the search for oil and gas was begun on June 2, 1974, In July, 1974 it discovered natural gas between 3,991 and 4,113 feet, but in only small quantities. At 9,695 feet, a frustrating accident occurred. While the tool string was being removed from the hole for a drill bit change, the Kelly bushing (the device that introduces the torque to the drill pipe to rotate the rotary drill bit) parted and went down the hole, along with some drill collars, A seven week "fishing" (removal of downhole obstructions) and drill pipe straightening job followed before drilling resumed.

In April, 1975, drilling reached 13,000 feet, shattering previous depth records. Already having received a "deepening" permit from the state to drill to 18,000 feet, everything was in the record books. It had taken 298 days and two fishing jobs to reach the new record drilling depth. At 12,193 feet the drill bit began to chew into an unfamiliar red formation described as predominantly shale with sand flecks. This red stuff was to last for over 5,000 feet, baffling all comers.

In October, 1975, a fourth drilling coring operation was run from 17,409 feet to what was later declared final total depth at 17,466 feet. The red stuff had come to an end when some green material was encountered at about 17,000 feet. Time, materials and resources exhausted, the decision was made to stop drilling. The hole was declared dry. However, before it was plugged and abandoned, the National Science Foundation and other earth scientists swarmed the location.

Copper was found in the altered upper basaltic-gabbroic unit as an accessory with bornite and digenite in albite-chlorite-calcite-epidote rock. Prehnite was found as an accessory in altered basalt (albite-epidote-actinolite-chlorite-relict augite) of the lower unit. Based upon these findings, it is postulated that the drill hole reached rocks associated with the Midcontinent Rift found in the Lake Superior basin.

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References