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Research about Oklahoma

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Oklahoma.

At least 343 records · Page 19Linked to original sources

Quantitative petrographic analysis of Desmoinesian sandstones from Oklahoma

Desmoinesian sandstones from the northern Oklahoma platform and the Anadarko, Arkoma, and Ardmore basins record a complex interaction between mid-Pennsylvanian source-area tectonism and cyclic sedimentation patterns associated with numerous transgressions and regressions. Framework-grain summaries for 50 thin sections from sandstones of the Krebs, Cabaniss, and Marmaton Groups and their surface and subsurface equivalents were subjected to multivariate statistical analyses to establish regional compositional trends for provenance analysis. R-mode cluster and correspondence analyses were used to determine the contributing effect (total variance) of key framework grains. Fragments of monocrystalline and polycrystalline quartz; potassium and plagioclase feldspar; chert; and metamorphic, limestone, and mudstone-sandstone rock fragments contribute most to the variation in the grain population. Q-mode cluster and correspondence analyses were used to identify four petrofacies and establish the range of compositional variation in Desmoinesian sandstones. Petrofacies I is rich in monocrystalline quartz (78-98%); mica and rock fragments are rare. Petrofacies II is also rich in monocrystalline quartz (60-84%) and averages 12% total rock fragments. Petrofacies III and IV are compositionally heterogeneous and contain variable percentages of monocrystalline and polycrystalline quartz, potassium feldspar, mica, chert, and metamorphic and sedimentary rock fragments. Quantitative analyses indicate that Desmoinesian sandstones were derived from sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic source areas. Sandstones of petrofacies I and II occur mostly in the lower Desmoinesian and are widely distributed, although they are most abundant in eastern and central Oklahoma; sandstones of petrofacies III and IV are widely distributed and occur primarily in the middle and upper Desmoinesian. The range of compositional variation and the distribution of petrofacies are related to paleotectonics and basin development, sediment recycling, and varying depositional environments.

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Mineralogic and textural relations in deeply buried rocks of the Simpson Group (Middle Ordovician)--implications in diagenesis and petroleum geology

The mineral composition and petrography of sandstones, shales, carbonates, and intermediate lithologies were determined on 112 core samples of the Middle Ordovician Simpson Group in the Sunray DX Parker No. 1 Mazur well, Grady County, Oklahoma. Core was recovered from present depths of about 15,900-17,200 ft and included all or parts of the Bromide, Tulip Creek, McLish, Oil Creek, and Joins Formations. The bulk-rock mineral composition of Simpson Group rocks is diverse. The mean weighted composition of 50 sandstone samples is 66% quartz, 14% clay, and 18% carbonate, as determined by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). Some sandstones from the Oil Creek and Tulip Creek Formations contain as much as 96% quartz. These quartz-rich sandstones were cemented early by silica. Feldspar averages 2%; some sandstones from the McLish Formation contain as much as 15% feldspar. Potassium feldspar is commonly more abundant than plagioclase; potassium feldspar overgrowths are found in some of the sandstones. Most of the shales are clay-rich and quartz-poor, averaging about 85% clay minerals, 7% quartz, and 3% feldspar, by weight, as determined by XRD. Carbonate, fluorapatite, and pyrite are present in variable amounts. Such high clay/quartz ratios are not characteristic of shales and suggest that silica has been expelled by diagenetic processes during burial. The main clay mineral in the Simpson Group at these depths is illite, although iron-rich chlorite is locally concentrated in sandstones. Illite typically makes up >90 wt. % of the clay minerals in sandstones and >95 wt. % of those in shale and carbonate. Total clay content, determined from XRD, correlates closely with total gamma-ray intensity from geophysical logs, because illite is the primary potassium-bearing phase in these deeply buried rocks. Therefore, the gamma-ray log is a good indicator of "shaliness" in potential Simpson reservoirs at similar depths. Much of the carbonate was introduced into the sandstones during burial as calcite, dolomite, or ankerite cement. Early iron-free calcite is commonly replaced by iron-bearing calcite, dolomite, or ankerite. Sandstones and carbonate rocks also contain rhombic dolomite. Many of the dolomite rhombs contain overgrowths of ferroan dolomite or ankerite, as evidenced by staining. Ankerite cementation is later and less selective than earlier dolomite and commonly replaces earlier carbonate or silica cements. Dolomite commonly replaces detrital clay and calcite. Spatial and textural relations suggest that the conversion of smectite to illite contributed, in part, to the formation of dolomite and ankerite cements. Scanning electron miscroscopy reveals that much of the diagenetic illite occurs as tabular fibers in pores or as pseudomorphic intergrowths after smectite. Most chlorite in sandstones is authigenic and occurs as a pore-lining cement or as a pseudomorphic replacement after kaolinite. Secondary porosity, formed mainly from the dissolution of intergranular carbonate cements, is best developed in sandstones from the Oil Creek and Tulip Creek Formations.

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Sulfide mineralization and magnetization, Cement oil field, Oklahoma

Geochemical, petrographic, and rock-magnetic studies were undertaken to investigate possible sources for reported positive aeromagnetic anomalies over the Cement oil field, Oklahoma. Ferrimagnetic pyrrhotite (monoclinic, Fe 7 S 8 ), intergrown with more-abundant, nonmagnetic pyrite (FeS 2 ), is present in well-cutting, core, and quarry samples at Cement, and it is the only identified source of possible enhanced magnetization in rocks over the field. Magnetite, found only in well cuttings from Cement, is contamination from drilling. Magnetite was considered previously by others to be the source of magnetic anomalies at Cement.

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Constraints on the Anadarko Basin-Wichita uplift boundary interpreted from aeromagnetic data

Modeling and interpretation of aeromagnetic data across the transition between the Anadarko basin and the Wichita uplift in the vicinity of the scarp on the Meers fault (Fig. 1) constrains structural relationships and lithologic contrasts at this boundary. We digitized aeromagnetic data from the map based on a detailed survey flown in 1954 (U.S. Geological Survey, 1975). The flight lines for this survey were oriented east-west, spaced 0.25 mi apart, and flown 500 ft above the ground. The digitized data were gridded using a minimum-curvature gridding program (MINC; Webring, 1981) and plotted as a color-shaded relief map using an unpublished program written by M. W. Webring. The color-shaded relief map was shown in the Anadarko Basin Workshop poster session. Figure 2 is a generalized contour map made from the digitized data, using the unpublished program CONTOURS, written by R. H. Bracken, R. H. Godson, and M. W. Webring.

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Analysis of sedimentary facies and petrofacies of lower Morrowan-upper Chesterian sandstones, Anadarko Basin, Oklahoma

Three major lithofacies have been identified within the Morrow (Pennsylvanian) and Springer (Pennsylvanian-Mississippian) units, in core from 30 drill holes ranging from the Oklahoma Panhandle to the southwestern portion of the Anadarko basin. The study included inspection of ~6,500 ft of core, examination of ~100 thin sections, and a scanning-electron-microscope study of butts of the material used for thin-section preparation. The lithofacies identified are (1) fluvial-influenced coastal, which includes the deltaic facies described by Swanson (1979), (2) tidal-influenced nearshore, and (3) mixed, which shows mixed tidal and nontidal marine influence. Our interpretation is supported by the investigations of Moore (1979), Haiduk (1987), and Swanson (1979). The fluvial-influenced coastal facies is restricted to the northwestern (Panhandle) portion of the Anadarko basin.

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Relationship of clay-mineral diagenesis to temperature, age, and hydrocarbon generation–an example from the Anadarko Basin, Oklahoma

Randomly interstratified illite/smectite (I/S) is present in Springeran and Morrowan rocks (Late Mississippian and Early Pennsylvanian) of the Anadarko basin, Oklahoma, at present-day depths <2,750 m, but disappears at depths of 2,750-3,050 m. Only ordered I/S is found in samples below 3,050 m. The work reported here relates the diagenesis of I/S to burial history and oil generation in the Anadarko basin and tests the dependence of the smectite-to-illite reaction on temperature and time. Published temperature models of clay diagenesis suggest that, for Tertiary and Cretaceous rocks, the transition from randomly interstratified I/S to ordered I/S occurs at 100-110°C. Burial reconstructions for the Anadarko basin indicate that maximum temperatures of 100-110°C correspond to present-day burial depths between 2,700 and 3,100 m. These independently calculated depths for the 100-110°C isotherm match the depths at which randomly interstratified I/S is observed to disappear in Morrowan-Springeran rocks. Thus, random I/S disappears at the same temperature in rocks that differ in age by some 300 m.y. Although the extent of the smectite-to-illite reaction is controlled by kinetics, and effects of time are apparent in laboratory experiments and short-lived geologic systems, the results of this study suggest that time plays a secondary role in long-term diagenetic settings.

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Formation resistivity as an indicator of the onset of oil generation in the Woodford Shale, Anadarko Basin, Oklahoma

The Upper Devonian and Lower Mississippian Woodford Shale is a black, organic-rich shale that is a major hydrocarbon source rock in the Anadarko basin. With the onset of oil generation, nonconductive hydrocarbons begin to replace conductive pore water in the Woodford, and formation resistivity increases. Crossplots of formation resistivity versus either vitrinite reflectance (R O ) or Lopatin's time-temperature index of thermal maturity (TTI) define two data populations that represent immature shales and shales that have generated oil. The midpoint of the resistivity zone marking the transition between immature and mature shales is -35 ohm-m. The onset of appreciable oil generation in the Woodford Shale of the study area occurs at maturity levels of R O near 0.57% and of TTI between 33 and 48.

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Stratigraphic evidence of Holocene faulting in the mid-continent: The Meers fault, southwestern Oklahoma

Stratigraphic relations and ten 14 C ages show that movement occurred on the Meers fault in late Holocene time. Movement on the fault postdates the Browns Creek Alluvium, which began to be deposited between 14,000 and 13,000 yr B.P., and predates the East Cache Alluvium, which was deposited between 800 and 100 yr B.P. Surface warping along the fault led to local stream incision on the upthrown side of the fault and deposition of slopewash and fan alluvium on the down-thrown side. Three 14 C ages of charcoal and soil humus buried by fan alluvium indicate that faulting probably occurred between 1400 and 1100 yr B.P. The soil that formed in the fan alluvium is only slightly more developed than that in the East Cache Alluvium, and the weak development of both soils indicates a geologically recent age that is consistent with the radiocarbon ages obtained for these deposits.

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Industrial halide wastes cause acute mortality of snow geese in Oklahoma

An examination of 97 dead migratory waterfowl collected at an industrial facility showed that the birds had had severe gastric and intestinal hemorrhaging. Water samples taken at on-site waste lagoons contained 6,750 mg/L fluoride, 4,500 mg/L bromine and 1,500 mg/L boron. Brain and liver tissues contained high levels of fluoride, as compared with tissues of birds collected at a control site. From the necropsy results, the high concentration of fluoride in the water samples and the elevated tissue residues, we conclude that the birds died from acute fluoride poisoning.

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Geohydrology of the Vamoosa-Ada aquifer east-central Oklahoma with a section on chemical quality of water

The Vamoosa-Ada aquifer, which underlies an area of about 2,320 mi 2 , consists principally of the Vamoosa Formation and the overlying Ada Group of Pennsylvanian age. Rocks comprising the aquifer were deposited in a nearshore environment ranging from marine on the west to nonmarine on the east. Because of changes in depositional environments with time and from place to place, the aquifer is a complex sequence of fine- to very fine-grained sandstone, siltstone, shale, and conglomerate, with interbedded very thin limestone. The aggregate thickness of water-bearing sandstones is greatest south of the Cimarron River, where it reaches a maximum of 550 ft in the vicinity of Seminole. North of the Cimarron River, the average aggregate thickness of the sandstones is about 100 ft, but locally it may be as much as 200 ft. Transmissivity values derived from seven aquifer tests made for this study range from 70 to 490 ft 2 per day; values decrease from south to north with decreasing sandstone thickness. Hydraulic-conductivity values range from 2 to 4 ft per day. Storage coefficients for the confined part of the aquifer, as determined from four aquifer tests made during 1944, have an average value of 0.0002. The average storage coefficient for the unconfined part of the aquifer is estimated at 0.12, based on an analysis of geophysical logs and grain-size data. The specific capacity of wells tested is generally less than 1 gallon per minute per foot of drawdown. An approximate hydrologic budget for the aquifer for 1975 gives values, in acre-feet per year, of 93,000 for recharge, 233,000 for runoff, and 2,003,000 for evapotranspiration. The total of these values is almost equal to the average annual precipitation of 2,330,000 acre-ft per year. The estimated amount of water containing a maximum of 1,500 milligrams per liter of dissolved solids stored in the aquifer is estimated at 60 million acre-ft. Of this amount, an estimated 36 million acre-ft is available for use. The quality of water in the Vamoosa-Ada aquifer generally is suitable for municipal, domestic, and stock use. Of 55 water samples analyzed in the laboratory, about 75 percent were of the sodium bicarbonate or sodium calcium bicarbonate type; the remainder were of the sodium sulfate, calcium sulfate, sodium chloride, or indeterminate types. Laboratory and on-site chemical-quality data indicate that mineralization of both ground and surface waters is greater than normal in some areas. Water samples from 7 wells and 12 stream sites had concentrations of bromide exceeding 1 milligram per liter; the only known source of bromide in the area is brine associated with petroleum production.

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