Depositional environment, stratigraphy, petrology, paleogeography, and organic thermal maturation of the Desmoinesian cyclothemic Excello black shale in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri

Thesis/Dissertation · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:7013171

Ece, O I

The Excello Shale is one of the most laterally continuous, thickest, and best exposed examples of a Pennsylvanian cyclothemic black shale in the Mid continent. The distribution of total organic carbon and kerogen types indicate that the Excello black shale was deposited in a epeiric highly productive sea with bottom anoxia. Thin, parallel laminations and fine particle sizes indicate quiet water conditions, while gentle undulations of strata suggest a generally flat bottom topography. The total organic carbon content averages about 10 wt% but can be as much as 17 wt%. The changes in shape and size of the phosphate nodules along the outcrop belt (spherical, bladed, elongated, and laminated) appear to be related to changes in sea water chemistry, fluctuation in organic productivity, terrestrial input and local diagenetic effects. Vitrinite reflectance (Ro% = 0.51-0.62) and elemental analysis of kerogen indicate that the outcrop samples are relatively immature with respect to hydrocarbon generation. The core samples from west-central and northwestern Oklahoma are mature (Ro% = 0.61-1.44), but most of their kerogen is recycled exhibiting multimodal distribution. This study suggests a warm and humid, climate, high rainfall, and abundant terrestrial vegetation to provide the structured kerogen which was transported into the Excello epeiric sea. A paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic model is proposed to account for the stagnant water conditions that profoundly affected the type and amount of organic matter, and the bulk sedimentation in the Excello Shale.

• Research Organization: Tulsa Univ., OK (USA)
• OSTI ID: 7013171
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040201* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Site Geology-- (-1989)
040500 -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Properties & Composition
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
BLACK SHALES
CARBON
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHATTANOOGA FORMATION
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
FEDERAL REGION VI
FEDERAL REGION VII
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC MODELS
GEOLOGY
KANSAS
KEROGEN
MACERALS
MATERIALS
MATURATION
MINERAL RESOURCES
MISSOURI
NONMETALS
NORTH AMERICA
OIL SHALE DEPOSITS
OIL SHALES
OKLAHOMA
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
ORGANIC MATTER
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
PALEONTOLOGY
PALEOTEMPERATURE
PETROLOGY
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
REFLECTIVITY
RESOURCES
STRATIGRAPHY
SURFACE PROPERTIES
USA