Abstract: Middle Paleozoic History of Anadarko and Arkoma Basins, Oklahoma

Thomas W. Amsden

The Anadarko and Arkoma basins are Paleozoic sedimentary-structural basins in the western third and eastern third of Oklahoma, respectively. These basins are separated in the south by the Arbuckle Mountains-Criner Hills and in the north by the structural complex that includes the Hunton arch and the central Oklahoma fault zone (Nemaha ridge). These basins are similar in many respects, but each has a different middle Paleozoic (Sylvan-Hunton-Woodford) history.

In the southern, deeper, part of the Anadarko basin, just north of the Wichita fault zone, Sylvan-Hunton-Woodford strata thicken progressively with increased depth, suggesting continuous deposition from Late Ordovician into Mississippian time. In the northern, shallower, parts of this basin, Hunton and Sylvan strata are truncated by pre-Woodford erosion, pointing to differential uplift in post-Early Devonian time, with the southern part continuing to subside and receive sediments while the northern half was uplifted and subjected to subaerial erosion.

In contrast, Sylvan-Hunton strata in the Arkoma basin are truncated along the southern, deeper, part as well as along the northern, shallower, part and now form an east-west-trending lens of sedimentary deposits quite unlike the wedge-shaped Anadarko sedimentary rocks. This suggests that following deposition of Lower Devonian strata the Arkoma basin was uplifted and eroded, probably by streams flowing in an easterly direction, followed in turn by renewed subsidence in Late Devonian (Woodford) time.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90968©1977 AAPG-SEPM Annual Convention and Exhibition, Washington, DC