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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Sandstone distribution and lithofacies of the Triassic Dockum Group, Palo Duro Basin, Texas: Final report

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:7120646

The Triassic Dockum Group in the Palo Duro Basin consists of many interbedded sequences of coarse- to fine-grained terrigenous clastic sedimentary strata. Four sandstone-dominated progradational sequences appear in the lower Dockum section. Sandstone in the first unit has a relatively uniform distribution across the basin, owing to deposition by broad alluvial fans and fan deltas. Sandstones in the remaining units and the upper Dockum are unevenly distributed owing to deposition by deltaic and fluvial systems. Sediment sources for Triassic strata in the Palo Duro Basin, according to net-sandstone trends, indicate deposition from the west, north, and east for the basal unit, dominantly from the east for units 2 and 3, and mixed western and eastern sources for unit 4 and the upper Dockum. Net-sandstone distribution patterns and lithofacies trends suggest proximal depositional environments in the present eastern and northeastern Dockum and more distal environments to the west and southwest. Paleodip was apparently from east to west over most of the Texas side of the basin, possibly changing in the area of the Texas-New Mexico border. Basement structural elements within the basin were subtly active during deposition and influenced the local accumulation of sandstone. 38 refs., 25 figs., 3 tabs.

Research Organization:
Battelle Memorial Inst., Columbus, OH (USA). Office of Nuclear Waste Isolation; Texas Univ., Austin (USA). Bureau of Economic Geology
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-87CH10290; AC97-83WM46651
OSTI ID:
7120646
Report Number(s):
BMI/ONWI/C-164; ON: TI88016608
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English