Mesozoic folds, fossil fields, and future finds ( )

Conference · Mon Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1988 · AAPG Bull.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6015937

Newman, G W; Witter, G G

Drilling and surface geologic mapping have shown that pre-Tertiary, post-Triassic folds and upthrusted anticlines in an eastern Nevada fold-belt have accumulated major oil columns. This Mesozoic foldbelt involves a Cambrian through Triassic section, which has hundreds of feet of porosity in Ordovician sandstones, Silurian and Devonian carbonates, and Mississippian sandstones. In addition to the Devonian Pilot and Mississippian Chainman shales, source rocks are found in Cambrian and Ordovician shales and in some Paleozoic carbonates. The occurrence of live and dead oil shows in hundreds of vertical feet of porosity in wells drilled on several of these Mesozoic structures is interpreted as evidence that these structures were giant oil fields prior to being breached by Tertiary Basin and Range extensional faulting, which allowed vertical hydrocarbon leakage. Noting that undrilled Mesozoic structures still exist in the foldbelt and noting that natural processes are seldom 100% efficient - including, probably, the disruptive effects of Basin and range extensional faulting - the authors suggest that there is a very good chance of finding one or more giant fields in the remaining structures of this foldbelt.

• OSTI ID: 6015937
• Report Number(s): CONF-880301-
• Journal Information: AAPG Bull.; (United States), Vol. 72:2; Conference: Annual meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Houston, TX, USA, 20-23 Mar 1988
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
MESOZOIC ERA
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
NEVADA
EXPLORATION
ANTICLINES
CAMBRIAN PERIOD
DEVONIAN PERIOD
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
MISSISSIPPIAN PERIOD
ORDOVICIAN PERIOD
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
TRIASSIC PERIOD
FEDERAL REGION IX
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
MINERAL RESOURCES
NORTH AMERICA
PALEOZOIC ERA
RESOURCES
USA
020200* - Petroleum- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration