The post-Fusselman karst of the northern Franklin Mountains, west Texas and south-central New Mexico

Conference · Wed Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1992 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States)

OSTI ID:7003775

Colleary, W M ^[1]; Crafton, J W ^[2]; Farraro, J T; LeMone, D V ^[3]

---

1. Colorado School of Mines, Golden (United States)
2. Colorado School of Mines, Golden (United States) Gas Research Institute, Chicago, IL (United States)
3. Univ. of Texas, El Paso (United States)

The uppermost Fusselman Formation (Crazy Cat Member) at Anthony's Gap in the northern Franklin Mountains exhibits extensive karsting as documented by the presence of such features as sinkholes, breccia-filled solution channels, and preserved terra rosa. Karst control, post-El Paso as well as post-Fusselman, probably is developed by jointing resulting from recurrent fault movements in a pattern inherited from an ancestral Precambrian framework. The post-Fusselman karsting (Middle Silurian-Middle Devonian) in the Franklins developed over more than 40 m.y. The Fusselman represents the uppermost Tippecanoe sequence, and the disconformably overlying Canutillo Formation is the basal Kaskaskia in the Franklin Mountains. Overlying the Fusselman karst is a thin transgressive unit interpreted to be a silicified lag deposit. The unit has been observed to be only sporadically deposited in local swales and reaches a maximum thickness on the order of 30 cm. This dark-brown to black unit contains subrounded dolomitic pebbles of the Fusselman, as well as scattered fossil material, which in the vertebrates includes apparent teeth and bone material. This lag deposit is interpreted to represent an initial transgressive or flooding surface. This deposit has produced a significant radioactive 'hot' gamma-ray spike in a profile taken through the formation using a hand-held scintillometer. The top of the Fusselman in the Permian basin typically is marked on subsurface well logs by a 'hot' gamma-ray spike.

• OSTI ID: 7003775
• Report Number(s): CONF-9204139--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States) Journal Volume: 76:4
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200 -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
03 NATURAL GAS
030200 -- Natural Gas-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
58 GEOSCIENCES
580000* -- Geosciences
CARBONATE ROCKS
CATAGENESIS
CAVES
CAVITIES
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DISSOLUTION
FEDERAL REGION VI
GAMMA LOGGING
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGY
MINERAL RESOURCES
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
NATURAL RADIOACTIVITY
NEW MEXICO
NORTH AMERICA
PERMIAN BASIN
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
POROSITY
RADIOACTIVITY
RADIOACTIVITY LOGGING
RESERVOIR ROCK
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
STRATIGRAPHY
TEXAS
USA
WELL LOGGING