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Title: The post-Fusselman karst of the northern Franklin Mountains, west Texas and south-central New Mexico

Abstract

The uppermost Fusselman Formation (Crazy Cat Member) at Anthony's Gap in the northern Franklin Mountains exhibits extensive karsting as documented by the presence of such features as sinkholes, breccia-filled solution channels, and preserved terra rosa. Karst control, post-El Paso as well as post-Fusselman, probably is developed by jointing resulting from recurrent fault movements in a pattern inherited from an ancestral Precambrian framework. The post-Fusselman karsting (Middle Silurian-Middle Devonian) in the Franklins developed over more than 40 m.y. The Fusselman represents the uppermost Tippecanoe sequence, and the disconformably overlying Canutillo Formation is the basal Kaskaskia in the Franklin Mountains. Overlying the Fusselman karst is a thin transgressive unit interpreted to be a silicified lag deposit. The unit has been observed to be only sporadically deposited in local swales and reaches a maximum thickness on the order of 30 cm. This dark-brown to black unit contains subrounded dolomitic pebbles of the Fusselman, as well as scattered fossil material, which in the vertebrates includes apparent teeth and bone material. This lag deposit is interpreted to represent an initial transgressive or flooding surface. This deposit has produced a significant radioactive 'hot' gamma-ray spike in a profile taken through the formation using a hand-held scintillometer.more » The top of the Fusselman in the Permian basin typically is marked on subsurface well logs by a 'hot' gamma-ray spike.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2]; ;  [3]
  1. Colorado School of Mines, Golden (United States)
  2. Colorado School of Mines, Golden (United States) Gas Research Institute, Chicago, IL (United States)
  3. Univ. of Texas, El Paso (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
7003775
Report Number(s):
CONF-9204139-
Journal ID: ISSN 0149-1423; CODEN: AABUD
Resource Type:
Conference
Journal Name:
AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 76:4; Conference: American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Southwest section meeting, Midland, TX (United States), 21-24 Apr 1992; Journal ID: ISSN 0149-1423
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
58 GEOSCIENCES; 02 PETROLEUM; 03 NATURAL GAS; PERMIAN BASIN; CATAGENESIS; POROSITY; STRATIGRAPHY; CARBONATE ROCKS; CAVES; DISSOLUTION; GAMMA LOGGING; GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS; GEOLOGIC HISTORY; NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS; NATURAL RADIOACTIVITY; NEW MEXICO; PETROLEUM DEPOSITS; RESERVOIR ROCK; TEXAS; CAVITIES; DEVELOPED COUNTRIES; FEDERAL REGION VI; GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS; GEOLOGY; MINERAL RESOURCES; NORTH AMERICA; RADIOACTIVITY; RADIOACTIVITY LOGGING; RESOURCES; ROCKS; SEDIMENTARY ROCKS; USA; WELL LOGGING; 580000* - Geosciences; 020200 - Petroleum- Reserves, Geology, & Exploration; 030200 - Natural Gas- Reserves, Geology, & Exploration

Citation Formats

Colleary, W M, Crafton, J W, Farraro, J T, and LeMone, D V. The post-Fusselman karst of the northern Franklin Mountains, west Texas and south-central New Mexico. United States: N. p., 1992. Web.
Colleary, W M, Crafton, J W, Farraro, J T, & LeMone, D V. The post-Fusselman karst of the northern Franklin Mountains, west Texas and south-central New Mexico. United States.
Colleary, W M, Crafton, J W, Farraro, J T, and LeMone, D V. 1992. "The post-Fusselman karst of the northern Franklin Mountains, west Texas and south-central New Mexico". United States.
@article{osti_7003775,
title = {The post-Fusselman karst of the northern Franklin Mountains, west Texas and south-central New Mexico},
author = {Colleary, W M and Crafton, J W and Farraro, J T and LeMone, D V},
abstractNote = {The uppermost Fusselman Formation (Crazy Cat Member) at Anthony's Gap in the northern Franklin Mountains exhibits extensive karsting as documented by the presence of such features as sinkholes, breccia-filled solution channels, and preserved terra rosa. Karst control, post-El Paso as well as post-Fusselman, probably is developed by jointing resulting from recurrent fault movements in a pattern inherited from an ancestral Precambrian framework. The post-Fusselman karsting (Middle Silurian-Middle Devonian) in the Franklins developed over more than 40 m.y. The Fusselman represents the uppermost Tippecanoe sequence, and the disconformably overlying Canutillo Formation is the basal Kaskaskia in the Franklin Mountains. Overlying the Fusselman karst is a thin transgressive unit interpreted to be a silicified lag deposit. The unit has been observed to be only sporadically deposited in local swales and reaches a maximum thickness on the order of 30 cm. This dark-brown to black unit contains subrounded dolomitic pebbles of the Fusselman, as well as scattered fossil material, which in the vertebrates includes apparent teeth and bone material. This lag deposit is interpreted to represent an initial transgressive or flooding surface. This deposit has produced a significant radioactive 'hot' gamma-ray spike in a profile taken through the formation using a hand-held scintillometer. The top of the Fusselman in the Permian basin typically is marked on subsurface well logs by a 'hot' gamma-ray spike.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/7003775}, journal = {AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States)},
issn = {0149-1423},
number = ,
volume = 76:4,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1992},
month = {Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1992}
}

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