Robert H. Goldstein
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences - College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, GeologyRobert Goldstein is the Haas Distinguished Professor of Geology at the University of Kansas. In addition to his duties as Distinguished professor he has served as Associate Chairperson, Chairperson, Associate Dean for Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and Provost’s Special Advisor on Campus Development. He currently co-leads the Kansas Interdisciplinary Carbonates Consortium, an industry-funded research consortium concentrating its work on carbonate rocks and oil and gas reservoirs. His research concentrates on limestones and dolomites, how their diagenesis serves as geochemical records of events in geologic history and how their stratigraphy and diagenesis can be used to predict reservoir properties.
Teaching Interests
- Stratigraphy
- Carbonate sedimentology
- Geology
- Oil
Research
Goldstein's research specialties include sequence stratigraphy of carbonates, diagenesis, and fluid-inclusion research. Current research focuses on the following: (1) sea-level, paleotopographic, oceanographic, and climate controls on depositional sequence architecture of the Spanish Miocene; (2) modeling reservoir-analog architecture in deep-water and shallow water carbonates; (3) predicting porosity in reservoirs from new conceptual models of carbonate diagenesis; (4) effect of hydrothermal fluids on carbonate and sandstone reservoir rocks; (5) origin and distribution of early and late dolomite; (6) new fluid inclusion techniques for constraining thermal evolution of sedimentary systems; and (7) new fluid inclusion techniques for evaluating history of fluid composition. Currently, he and his students are working on a variety of projects dealing with upstream fossil fuel energy supply including both conventional and unconventional oil and gas resources.
Research Interests
- Fluid inclusions
- Diagenesis
- Sequence stratigraphy
- Sea-level, paleotopographic, oceanographic, and climate controls on depositional sequence architecture of the Spanish Miocene
- Modeling reservoir-analog architecture in deep-water and shallow water carbonates
- Predicting porosity in reservoirs from new conceptual models of carbonate diagenesis
- Effect of hydrothermal fluids on carbonate and sandstone reservoir rocks
- Origin and distribution of early and late dolomite
- New fluid inclusion techniques for constraining thermal evolution of sedimentary systems
- New fluid inclusion techniques for evaluating history of fluid composition
- Upstream fossil fuel energy supply including both conventional and unconventional oil and gas resources
Recent Publications:
Gregory S. Benson, Evan K. Franseen, Robert H. Goldstein, Zhaoqi Li (in press) Workflows for Incorporating Stratigraphic and Diagenetic Relationships into a Reservoir-Analog Model from Outcrops of Miocene Carbonates in Southeastern Spain: Petroleum Geoscience
Erin M. Ramaker, Robert H. Goldstein, Evan K. Franseen, W. Lynn Watney (in press) What controls porosity in cherty fine-grained carbonate reservoir rocks? Impact of stratigraphy, unconformities, structural setting and hydrothermal fluid flow: Mississippian, southeast Kansas: S. Agar and S. Geiger, eds., Fundamental Controls on Fluid Flow in Carbonates: Current Workflows to Emerging Technologies, Geol. Soc. London and AAPG Special Publication
Erik J. Hiemstra and Robert H. Goldstein (in press) Repeated injection of hydrothermal fluids into downdip carbonates: a diagenetic and stratigraphic mechanism for localization of reservoir porosity, Indian Basin field, New Mexico, USA: S. Agar and S. Geiger, eds., Fundamental Controls on Fluid Flow in Carbonates: Current Workflows to Emerging Technologies, Geol. Soc. London and AAPG Special Publication
Zhaoqi Li, Robert H. Goldstein, and Evan K. Franseen (in press): Geochemical record of fluid flow and dolomitization of carbonate platforms, Ascending freshwater mesohaline mixing. La Molata, Spain: S. Agar and S. Geiger, eds., Fundamental Controls on Fluid Flow in Carbonates: Current Workflows to Emerging Technologies, Geol. Soc. London and AAPG Special Publication
Paul A. Kenward, Masato Ueshima, David A. Fowle, Robert H. Goldstein, Luis A. González, Jennifer A. Roberts (2013) Ordered low-temperature dolomite mediated by carboxyl-group density of microbial cell walls: AAPG Bulletin, v. 97, no. 11, p. 2113-2125.
Robert H. Goldstein, Evan K. Franseen, and Christopher J. Lipinski (2013) Topographic and Sea-Level Controls on Oolite-Microbialite-Coralgal Reef Sequences: The Terminal Carbonate Complex of Southeast Spain: AAPG Bulletin, v. 97, no. 11, p. 1997-2034.
Christopher J. Lipinski, Evan K. Franseen and Robert H. Goldstein (2013) Reservoir-Analog Model for Oolite-Microbialite Sequences, Miocene Terminal Carbonate Complex, Spain: AAPG Bulletin, v. 97, no. 11, p. 2035-2057.
Zhaoqi Li, Robert H. Goldstein, and Evan Franseen, 2013, Freshwater mesohaline mixing: A new scenario for dolomitization: Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 83, 277–283 DOI: 10.2110/jsr.2013.24
Jennifer A. Roberts, Paul A. Kenward, David A. Fowle, Robert H. Goldstein, Luis A. González, David S. Moore, and Mason Burgess (2013) Surface chemistry allows for abiotic precipitation of dolomite at low temperature Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1305403110
Julienne Ruth Emry, Robert Goldstein and Evan K. Franseen (2012) A First-Cut Method to Evaluate Limestone Aggregate Durability: American Concrete Institute Materials Journal, v. 109, p 557-564.
Goldstein, R.H., (2012) Fluid Inclusion Geothermometry in Sedimentary Systems: From Paleoclimate to Hydrothermal in N. Harris (ed) SEPM Special Publication, Analyzing the Thermal History of Sedimentary Basins: Methods and Case Histories, p. 45–63
Martin K. Dubois, Robert H. Goldstein, and Stephen T. Hasiotis (2012) Climate controlled aggradation and cyclicity of continental siliciclastic sediments in Asselian-Sakmarian cyclothems, Permian, Hugoton embayment U.S.A.: Sedimentology, v. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3091.2012.01326
González-Acebrón, Laura, Goldstein, Robert H., Mas, Ramon, and Arribas, Jose, (2012) Easily altered minerals and reequilibrated fluid inclusions provide extensive record of fluid and thermal history: Gypsum pseudomorphs of the Tera Group, Tithonian-Berriasian, Cameros Basin. Central European Journal of Geosciences, v. 4, no. 2, p. 246-260
Laura González-Acebrón, R. H. Goldstein, Ramón Mas and José Arribas (2012) Answer to the comment of Casas et al. about González Acebrón et al.’s (2011) paper International Journal of Earth Sciences, Volume 101, Number 7, Pages 2049-2053
Robert H. Goldstein, Evan K. Franseen, Rachel A. Dvoretsky, and Rafferty J. Sweeney (2012) Controls on focused-flow and dispersed-flow deepwater carbonates: Miocene Agua Amarga Basin, Spain: Journal of Sedimentary Research v. 82, 499–520DOI: 10.2110/jsr.2012.46
Buijs, Govert, and Goldstein, R.H. (2012) Sequence architecture and palaeoclimate controls on diagenesis related to subaerial exposure of icehouse cyclic Pennsylvanian and Permian carbonates: in, Marcelo Ketzer and Sadoon Morad (eds.), Linking Diagenesis to Sequence Stratigraphy, Int. Assoc. Sedimentol. Spec. Publ. (2012) 45, 55–80
Ritter, Matthew E. and Goldstein, Robert H. (2012) Diagenetic controls on porosity preservation in lowstand oolitic and crinoidal carbonates of original calcite mineralogy: in, Marcelo Ketzer and Sadoon Morad (eds.), Linking Diagenesis to Sequence Stratigraphy, Int. Assoc. Sedimentol. Spec. Publ. 45, 379–406
Paul A. Kenward, Robert H. Goldstein, Andrea E. Brookfield, Luis A. González and Jennifer A. Roberts (2012) Model for how microbial methane generation can preserve early porosity in dolomite and limestone reservoirs, AAPG Bulletin, v. 96, no. 3 (March 2012), pp. 399–413, DOI:10.1306/06021111020
É. Csoma and R. H. Goldstein, (2012) Diagenetic Salinity Cycles: A link between carbonate diagenesis and sequence stratigraphy: in, Marcelo Ketzer and Sadoon Morad (eds.), Linking Diagenesis to Sequence Stratigraphy, Int. Assoc. Sedimentol. Spec. Publ. 45, 407–444
Jennifer A. Roberts, Paul A. Kenward, David A. Fowle, Robert H. Goldstein, Luis A. González, and David S. Moore (2012) Low-Temperature Dolomite Formation: Microbes and other mechanisms: AAPG Hedberg Research Conference, “Microbial Carbonate Reservoir Characterization” AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90153
Robert H. Goldstein, Zhaoqi Li, and Evan K. Franseen (2012) Duration and Climate Effects on Meteoric Diagenesis: Non-Karstic Control on Distribution of Porosity and Permeability: Fundamental Controls on Flow in Carbonates, AAPG/SPE/SEG Hedberg Research Conference Special volume, p. 129-133
Robert H. Goldstein, Evan K. Franseen, and Christopher J. Lipinski (2012) Controls on High-Frequency Oolite-Microbialite-Coral Reef Sequences, Upper Miocene, SE Spain: AAPG Hedberg Research Conference, “Microbial Carbonate Reservoir Characterization” AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90153
Christopher J. Lipinski, Evan K. Franseen, and Robert H. Goldstein (2012) Reservoir Analog Model for Oolite-Microbialite Sequences, Miocene Terminal Carbonate Complex, Spain: AAPG Hedberg Research Conference, “Microbial Carbonate Reservoir Characterization” AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90153
Gregory S. Benson, Evan K. Franseen, Robert H. Goldstein, Zhaoqi Li (2012) Data Collection, Interpretation, and Geologic Modeling of Outcrop: Cerro La Molata, Cabo de Gata, Spain: Fundamental Controls on Flow in Carbonates, AAPG/SPE/SEG Hedberg Research Conference Special volume, p. 81-86. Invited
