Paleokarstic and karstic features: Arbuckle and Hunton Groups, Oklahoma

Conference · Mon Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:6003786

Al-Shaieb, Z; Puckette, J; Matthews, F ^[1]; Lynch, M ^[2]

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1. Oklahoma State Univ., Stillwater, OK (United States). School of Geology
2. Unocal, Oklahoma City, OK (United States)

Cores of the Ordovician-age Arbuckle Group and Ordovician-Silurian-Devonian-age Hunton Group contain evidence of paleokarst. Arbuckle and Hunton Group rocks display surprisingly similar suites of distinct paleo-karstic features. Vugs, solution-enlarged fractures, cavities, collapse breccias, and sediment-filled solution features are evident. Phreatic cements are more commonly observed than vadose cements, while primary speleothemic precipitates are rare. A complex history of exposure, subsidence, and diagenesis is recorded in these rocks. Hunton and Arbuckle carbonates have been subaerially exposed for periods of variable intensity and duration during geologic history. Paleokarst appears to have developed subjacent to disconformities within and between formations of the Arbuckle Group and where these rocks subcrop below regional unconformities. Hunton paleokarstic horizons are apparent below the regional pre-Woodford unconformity, while evidence of inter- and intra-formational subaerial exposure is tenuous. This complex hierarchy of unconformities can produce numerous porous horizons. Porosity preservation may depend on subsidence rates or sea level rises rapid enough to prevent extensive low-temperature phreatic cementation and sediment infill of the existing pore network. Caves in the Arbuckle Group in Murray County, Oklahoma contain many karstic features similar to those observed in cores. Cemented collapse breccia and sediment-filled solution cavities are evident in caves developed in the Cool Creek Formation. These caves are part of an extensive internal drainage system associated with Honey Creek near the crest of the Arbuckle anticline. Cave speleothems and surficial travertine deposits are by-product of karstification processes.

• OSTI ID: 6003786
• Report Number(s): CONF-9303212--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States) Journal Volume: 25:1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
580000* -- Geosciences
CARBONATE ROCKS
CAVES
CAVITIES
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DEVONIAN PERIOD
DIAGENESIS
DISSOLUTION
DRILL CORES
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC FISSURES
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
NORTH AMERICA
OKLAHOMA
OPENINGS
ORDOVICIAN PERIOD
PALEOZOIC ERA
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SILURIAN PERIOD
USA