Surface to subsurface correlation of the Claiborne and Jackson Groups, Colorado River to Trinity River
- Frontera Exploration Consultants, San Antonio, TX (United States)
Detailed correlation of dip and strike sections discloses the stratigraphic architexture of the Claiborne and Jackson Groups, long studied in surface outcrop because of well-exposed fossilferous horizons. Carrying sections updip to within a few miles of outcrop allows the detailed surface stratigraphic work to be carried into the subsurface and compared with names and ideas used in petroleum and natural gas exploration. The stratigraphic sequence is analyzed and divided by recognition of flooding surfaces. These subsurfaces can commonly be recognized on electrical logs and objectively correlated. Sequence boundaries can in some cases be recognized between flooding surfaces but are commonly cryptic and inferred. Major flooding surfaces (MFS) with underlying thick transgressive deposits (green sandstone, marl, and thin reworked sandstones) divide the succession into four major genetic stratigraphic units. The Queen City genetic unit begins at the MFS at the top of the Wilcox, marked by the top of a persistent marly zone equivalent to the Newby Member of the Reklaw Formation in outcrop. The Queen City is usually represented by two units formed by major sand deposition near the present outcrop, grading to equivalent silts and shales downdip. At its top is a thin unit of reworked and transgressive deposits, equivalents to part of the Weches Formation of outcrop. The Sparta genetic unit begins at a low-resistivity shale within the Weches. A basal progradational shale is succeeded by a thick, sharp-based sandstone. The upper part of the unit consists of a thick transgressive deposit correlative with the Stone City Beds of Stenzel, which is usually placed as the basal member of the Cook Mountain (equivalent to Crockett) Formation in outcrop. Both Queen City and Sparta cycles show little evidence of internal sequence boundaries, such as incised channels, lowstand delta complexes, or slope fans.
- OSTI ID:
- 45194
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-941065--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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