Cambrian-Ordovician sedimentary-tectonic evolution of Michigan basin
Recent drilling of lower Paleozoic rocks in deeper parts of the Michigan basin has produced numerous intriguing questions, but few answers. However, some broad conclusions may be possible, not the least of which is that the underlying Mid-Continent rift played a significant role in basin evolution. Although the Proterozoic rifting event ended approximately 1 billion years ago, the resultant rift valley influenced the basin's subsequent structural and depositional development at least until the Ordovician. For example, although little data exist, interpretive isopach mapping of the Upper Cambrian Mount Simon Sandstone indicates that the rift influenced the formation's distribution. To varying degrees, similar effects can be interpreted to extend to formations as young as the Middle Ordovician Bruggers sandstone. Such mapping also indicates an embryonic basinal structure was present during the earliest Paleozoic. The initial interpretation was that the rift acted as a zone of weakness, which resulted in the formation of horst and graben features and controlled deposition through differential subsidence. Later compressional events (i.e., Taconic and Acadian disturbances) imposed shear stresses on the existing extensional regime, which created significant space problems. These stresses appear to have been accommodated mainly through the formation of the major northwest-southeast-trending foldbelts. The early creation of these foldbelts was critical to the entrapment of lower Paleozoic hydrocarbons in the deeper parts of the Michigan basin.
- Research Organization:
- Placid Oil Co., Dallas, TX
- OSTI ID:
- 7053671
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-8610158-
- Journal Information:
- Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States), Journal Name: Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) Vol. 70:8; ISSN AAPGB
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Subsurface study of Lower Ordovician Prairie du Chien group and underlying Cambrian formations and their relation to pre-Glenwood unconformity in southern peninsula of Michigan
Updated isopach maps of Prairie du Chien, Trempealeau, and Munising of Michigan basin
Related Subjects
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
CAMBRIAN PERIOD
FEDERAL REGION V
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOLOGIC TRAPS
MICHIGAN
MINERAL RESOURCES
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
NORTH AMERICA
ORDOVICIAN PERIOD
PALEOZOIC ERA
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
RESOURCES
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
TECTONICS
USA