Mississippian Chat and Tripolite Zones in Osage County, Oklahoma: Paleokarst Interpretation based on 3D Seismic and Well Logs

Mississippian paleokarst Chat and tripolitic chert (tripolite) zones associated with the Mississippian Lime have been hydrocarbon exploration targets in Osage County for many decades. Chat is residual chert, either in place or transported, weathered out of chert-bearing Mississippian Limestone that was eroded at the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian unconformity. Thus, the formation of Chat is an epigene paleokarst process. Tripolite occurs as a highly porous, silica-rich interval within the Mississippi Lime. It is formed by in-place alteration of limestone by silica-rich surface waters or deep-seated hydrothermal fluids, making tripolite formation a mixed or hypogene paleokarst process. Here, we have studied Chat and tripolite by seismic analysis calibrated by well control with full-wave sonic and density log data. We identify that Chat and tripolite show clear separation from Mississippian Lime log-based acoustic impedance and VP/ VS, but there is no meaningful separation of Chat from tripolite, and they both exhibit total porosities greater than 20% with evidence of fracture porosity. We find that the sonic-based normal incidence wedge model for Chat bounded above by the Pennsylvanian Shale and below by the Mississippian Lime indicate that two seismic expressions are plausible: first, a strong negative amplitude when the Chat thickness is above the tuning thickness (for this survey it is 56 ft) and, second, a weak positive or negative amplitude associated with the small impedance contrast between Chat and overlying Pennsylvanian Shale. Our analysis suggests that the traditional Chat “strong response” and a new “dim-out” exploration strategy may be usefully applied in Osage County. We show that the tripolite response is consistently a negative amplitude event that strengthens with increasing tripolite thickness. We provide an interpretive framework for characterizing Chat and tripolite zones associated with the Mississippian Lime in the US Midcontinent, which may apply to regions around the world.

Settler Colonial Disease and Dis-Ease in August: Osage County

Tracy Letts’s screenplay, August: Osage County (2013), and John Wells’s film adaptation (2013) offer a compelling critique of American racism towards Native Americans which demands that viewers consider their own inculcation into ongoing settler-nation colonialism. The film layers the history of place (Oklahoma) with the Cheyenne character Johnna, whose Indigenous heritage is negotiated throughout by liberal academics, conservative rural matriarchs, and Johnna herself. The role is small but essential to the film’s allegorical analysis of settler-colonialism and racism. The Weston family’s secrets, addictions, and dysfunction starkly contrast with Johnna’s health and stability. Through Johnna, the film questions the toll colonialism takes on the mental and physical health of the American people. This paper analyzes the metanarrative association of the Weston family’s dysfunction and racism with ongoing colonialism that results in disease of the settler-colonial space as it emerges in the screenplay and film.

BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER IN DRAMA AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (2007) BY TRACY LETTS

The purpose of this analysis is to expose the issue of Borderline Personality Disordere which is represented by the main character and to know the contribution of the plot, setting, and character in revealing the Borderline Personality Disorder. This analysis is related to the concept neurosis by Freud that is supported by the text-based interpretation. The result of this analysis shows the main character has Borderline Personality Disorder that can be seen from the main character’s inappropriate emotional reactions and highly self-destructive behaviors.

REPRESENTATION OF THE ELDERLY PROTAGONIST IN TRACY LETTS’ AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

This article examines the literary portrayal of the female sexagenarian in the Pulitzer-Prize winning play. The gerontological portrait of the elderly is analyzed in the context of “the young old” adults. The theoretical background of the article is formed from an array of humanities-related disciplines: in particular, sociology, literary gerontology, medical humanities. The author of the article studies how the notion of normativity in late adulthood is represented in August: Osage County. The playwright subverts the concepts of successful and healthy aging in the images of Violet and Beverly Westons: Violet is a heavy smoker; Beverly is a heavy drinker. The issue of ableism allows us to detect the element of a new genre of pathography, a battle, which is indicative of the gerontological portrayal of the elderly protagonist. In his drama, Tracy Letts develops active and passive strategies of aging, which his elderly characters choose to cope with their disabilities in late adulthood.