The sedimentology and stratigraphy of Salt Creek Field, Kent County, Texas

The Horseshoe Atoll is one of the largest hydrocarbon accumulations in the Permian Basin, with a cumulative production of more than 2.7 Bbbl since 1948. This atoll is contemporaneous with the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA), perhaps the best-known Phanerozoic phase of glaciation after the Pleistocene. The Pennsylvanian-Early Permian stratigraphic record of the Horseshoe Atoll is contemporaneous with peak Marathon-Ouachita orogenesis. A critical question for understanding the Horseshoe Atoll geologic framework is whether LPIA-associated glacioeustacy or Ouachita tectonics was the main driver for the development of the observed stratigraphic architecture and the distribution of flow units within the framework. Detailed stratigraphic analysis focused on the Salt Creek Unit, one of several separate buildups within the Atoll trend. A unique set of 40 cores, four of which were characterized in detail sedimentologically, 3D reservoir model in Petrel integrated with 3D seismic data, and more than 250 wireline logs allowed the construction of the stratigraphic model. The reservoir is mid-late Pennsylvanian units composed of four composite sequences (Canyon-Cisco) in age, three of which are Canyon composite sequences and one Cisco composite sequence. Each composite sequence consists of 3-6 high-frequency cycles marked by sharp flooding surfaces and commonly well-developed subaerial exposure surfaces characterized by differential cementation and paleosol development. Depositional facies include fissile shale, crinoid-skeletal wackestone, crinoid and fusulinid-crinoid mud- and grain-dominated packstone, ooid-peloid grainstone, and a set of reefal facies dominated by phylloid algae forming buildup cores and lithoclastic-skeletal rudstone/breccia as flanking beds. Extensive paleosol development and dramatic vertical and lateral facies offsets across individual cycles support an interpretation that high-amplitude, high-frequency glacioeustacy was the primary driver of reservoir architecture.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Geoscience

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Geology

Grantor

The University of Texas at Austin

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Al Awami, Zahra Mohammed

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Kerans, C. (Charles), 1954-

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Mohrig, David
• Alnazghah, Mahmoud

• Horseshoe Atoll
• Icehouse
• Sedimentology
• Stratigraphy

Language dc:language.iso

English

Identifier URI

https://doi.org/10.26153/tsw/57868

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repositories.lib.utexas.edu:2152/130518