Age and correlation of the Otuk formation, North-Central Brooks Range, Alaska
Allochthonous Triassic rocks of the north-central Brooks Range thrust belt were originally mapped as part of the Middle to Upper Triassic Shublik Formation. Recently, these strata were named the Otuk Formation. Detailed paleontologic studies of 11 measured sections more precisely document the age of the Otuk and show that its base is older than the base of the Shublik and that its top is younger than the top of the Shublik. Megafossils (pelecypods and ammonites) and microfossils (radiolaria, conodonts, and foraminifers) indicate an age range of Early Triassic (Dienerian-Smithian or older) to Middle Jurassic (Bajocian). The lithology consists of 120 m (390 ft) of interbedded, very fine-grained rocks (shale, limestone, and chert) representative of very slow deposition, below wave base in an open marine environment. The Otuk formation does not contain suitable reservoir rocks, but organic geochemical data indicate that the shales are possible oil source rocks. The Otuk formation is disconformable with both the underlying Permian (Wolfcampian-Guadalupian) Siksikpuk Formation and overlying Lower Cretaceous (Valanginian) coquinoid limestone and shale. These unconformities are correlative with similar unconformities in the northeastern Brooks Range and subsurface of the North Slope. Thus, the Otuk formation is a condensed, deeper water, more distal equivalent of the Ivishak and Shublik Formations, Karen Creek Sandstone, and lower Kingak Shale of the northeastern Brooks Range and equivalent subsurface units of the North Slope.
- Research Organization:
- Sohio Petroleum Co., Houston, TX
- OSTI ID:
- 6197325
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-8505215-
- Journal Information:
- Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States), Vol. 69:4; Conference: AAPG-SEPM-SEG Pacific section meeting, Anchorage, AK, USA, 22 May 1985
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ALASKA
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
DEPOSITION
FOSSILS
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
LIMESTONE
SANDSTONES
SHALES
TRIASSIC PERIOD
CARBONATE ROCKS
FEDERAL REGION X
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGY
MESOZOIC ERA
NORTH AMERICA
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
USA
020200* - Petroleum- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration