Geopressure in the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer system of Texas

Conference · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1977

OSTI ID:7369244

Wesselman, J B; Meriwether, J

The normally pressured Carrizo--Wilcox aquifer system in Texas terminates downdip in a major growth--fault system. The faults are rooted in geopressured sediments of Cretaceous and Tertiary age and trend subparallel to the Texas coast. The fault system continues into Mexico and Louisiana. The top of the geopressurex zone occurs in the lowermost sediments of the Carrizo--Wilcox aquifer system at the updip edge of the growth--fault system. All Carrizo--Wilcox sediments are geopressured 6 to 30 miles downdip from this juncture. Ground water moves or has moved from the geopressured sediments through the fault system into the normally pressured aquifers. Zones of relatively fresh, warmer-than-normal water, which originated in the geopressured sediments, are present in normally pressured aquifers more than 10 miles updip from any geopressured Carrizo--Wilcox sediments. The depth to the geopessured zone varies with the gross lithologic character and formation geometry of the sediments. The top of the geopressured zone is downwraped where large sand bodies drain water from the pressured sediments and upwarped where the sand bodies are absent or discontinuous.

• Research Organization: National Space Tech. Lab., St. Louis, MO
• OSTI ID: 7369244
• Report Number(s): CONF-771153-P1-12
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
150201* -- Geology & Hydrology of Geothermal Systems-- USA-- (-1989)
AQUIFERS
CENOZOIC ERA
CRETACEOUS PERIOD
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOPRESSURED SYSTEMS
Geothermal Legacy
HYDROLOGY
LITHOLOGY
MESOZOIC ERA
NORTH AMERICA
RESERVOIR PRESSURE
SEDIMENTS
SOUTHWEST REGION
TERTIARY PERIOD
TEXAS
USA