Rebecca shoal barrier reef complex of Gulfian and Paleocene age - onshore and offshore Florida

Conference · Wed Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1989 · AAPG Bull.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5798357

Winston, G O

Surrounding the Florida Peninsula and the offshore portion of the South Florida basin is a 1300-mi long dolomite barrier reef complex that occupies a 3800-ft composite interval spanning most of the Gulfian and Paleocene. Forty-four wells have penetrated various aspects of this complex. Growth began with the Card Sound facies (some 1400 ft thick) in the lower Gulfian, shortly after the end of the Early Cretaceous. This facies is present in only two wells, 4 mi apart on Key Largo. The appearance of the Rebecca Shoal reef in the earliest Gulfian indicates that the Florida Straits were then present, as deep water would have been necessary to support a growing reef of this magnitude. During the late Gulfian, the reef (Plantation equivalent) expanded northward along the East Coast and westward along the Keys. The width now was over 6 mi. By the beginning of the Paleocene, the reef (Tavernier facies) had completely surrounded the peninsula, resulting in the deposition of the Cedar Keys dolomite-anhydrite lagoonal facies. The width of the complex was now as much as 20 mi. At the close of the Paleocene, the Rebecca Shoals reef ended abruptly. It was overlain by an orange/brown anhedral dolomite characteristic of the basal Eocene. The lithology of the outer region of the reef complex is characterized by a light-colored, porous, fine to medium crystalline euhedral dolomite. Large cavities, including a 60-ft cavern, have been reported. Two core samples show a taluslike rubble texture with vug porosity between the square-sided fragments. Behind the Tavernier reef, this facies is gradually replaced by nonporous anhedral and cryptocrystalline dolomite. Farther lagoonward, these three lithologies become interbedded with typical Cedar keys, a very fine microcrystalline to microcrystalline dolomite.

• OSTI ID: 5798357
• Report Number(s): CONF-890404-
• Journal Information: AAPG Bull.; (United States), Vol. 73:3; Conference: AAPG annual convention with DPA/EMD Divisions and SEPM, San Antonio, TX, USA, 23-26 Apr 1989
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
FLORIDA
REEFS
GEOLOGY
DOLOMITE
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
TERTIARY PERIOD
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
CALCIUM CARBONATES
CALCIUM COMPOUNDS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBONATE MINERALS
CARBONATES
CENOZOIC ERA
FEDERAL REGION IV
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
MAGNESIUM CARBONATES
MAGNESIUM COMPOUNDS
MINERALS
NORTH AMERICA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
USA
020200* - Petroleum- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration