Relation between extensional geometry of the northern Grant Range and oil occurrences in railroad valley, East-Central Nevada

Journal Article · Tue Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1993 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States)

OSTI ID:5699181

Lund, K; Perry, Jr, W J ^[1]; Beard, L S ^[2]

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1. Denver Federal Center, CO (United States)
2. Geological Survey, Flagstaff (Azerbaijan)

In the northern Grant Range, heterogeneous Neogene extension was dominated by synchronous arching and attenuation. Attenuation was accomplished along a stacked set of attenuation faults that formed at low angles to bedding as the Paleozoic carbonate and Paleogene rocks arched about a north-northwest axis. The style and amount of attenuation was controlled by lithologic character and structural depth of rock units and by geometry of the arch. On the steeper west side of the Grant Range arch, the curviplanar low-angle attenuation faults converge into a single shallowly west-dipping fault zone along which the stratigraphic juxtaposition of Mississippian units over Middle Cambrian units and Late Cretaceous granite marks the zone of maximum attenuation. Arching and heterogeneous extension resulted from uplift of the Grant Range relative to the structural basin of Railroad Valley to the west. This structural differentiation is a complex zone of subparallel-to-bedding, shallow-dipping attenuation faults rather than as a simple high-angle range-front fault. Seismic and drill-hole data indicate that low-angle attenuation faults in the range extend into Railroad Valley and control the structure buried in the valley. Mississippian and Paleocene to Eocene petroleum source rocks and Devonian to Oligocene reservoir rocks in Railroad Valley oil fields are in extensively fractured rocks of the upper plate to the major extensional fault system. Thus, relatively cold upper-plate rocks, immature with respect to hydrocarbon generation, were brought relatively down into contact with hotter lower-plate rocks by Neogene attenuation faulting. Oil in Railroad Valley, which is sourced from rocks as young as Eocene, was probably generated by this juxtaposition during Neogene crustal attenuation, and subsequently migrated into upper-plate fractured reservoirs. 101 refs., 10 figs.

• OSTI ID: 5699181
• Journal Information: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States), Journal Name: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States) Vol. 77:6; ISSN 0149-1423; ISSN AABUD2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
58 GEOSCIENCES
580000 -- Geosciences
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
FORMATION DAMAGE
FRACTURED RESERVOIRS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC STRATA
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
MINERAL RESOURCES
MOUNTAINS
NEVADA
NORTH AMERICA
OIL FIELDS
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
RESOURCES
SEISMIC SURVEYS
SOURCE ROCKS
SURVEYS
USA