Effects of Mississippian tectonic movement on sedimentation and diagenesis of Greenbrier Group in Eastern Appalachian Plateau

Conference · Fri Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1985 · Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5848692

Yeilding, C A; Sullivan, E M; Textoris, D A; Dennison, J M

The Greenbrier Group of eastern West Virginia consists of marine carbonates interbedded and mixed with siliciclastics that were deposited on a shallow shelf in the Late Mississippian. The Denmar Formation is the lowest unit of the Greenbrier Group present in east-central West Virginia, and it represents a shallow tidal-flat and platform sequence deposited by a transgressing sea during the Meramecian. This transgression was followed by a regression with progradation of Taggard Formation terrigenous clastics onto restricted tidal flats during the earliest Chesterian. The Denmar tidal-flat deposits are characterized by pelleted mudstones, limited and depauperate fauna, calcite-filled and dolomite-filled geodes, caliche crusts, fenestral structures, dolomite, burrows, and channel deposits. The platform deposits include more diverse fauna, less micrite, cross-bedded and massive oolitic grainstones, and cross-bedded quartzarenites. Most of the siliciclastics were derived from the north and east of the Appalachian basin. Additional quartz silt, sand, and pebbles were eroded from an uplifted area within the basin and were incorporated into the tidal-flat and platform sediments. This Meramecian tectonic uplift, considered to be part of the 38th parallel lineament, created a subaerial and submarine topographic high that affected sedimentation patterns during the remainder of Greenbrier deposition. Early phreatic cementation occurred along the flank of the uplift in at least two stages. There is evidence of both penecontemporaneous and later replacement dolomite. In certain strata in the western outcrops, hydrocarbons migrated through permeable layers and filled remaining pores.

• Research Organization: Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• OSTI ID: 5848692
• Report Number(s): CONF-850322-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) Journal Volume: 69:2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
CARBONATE ROCKS
DEPOSITION
DIAGENESIS
FEDERAL REGION III
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
MINERAL RESOURCES
MISSISSIPPIAN PERIOD
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
NORTH AMERICA
PALEOZOIC ERA
PERMEABILITY
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
RESERVOIR ROCK
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SEDIMENTATION
TECTONICS
USA
WEST VIRGINIA