--> ABSTRACT: Petroleum Exploration in Nevada, Then and Now, by Alan K. Chamberlain; #91033 (2010)
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Petroleum Exploration in Nevada, Then and Now

Previous HitAlanTop K. Chamberlain

Serious petroleum exploration in Nevada is nearly 40 years old, with the most significant advancements made in the last decade. Early exploration first centered on the Paleozoic sediments that were deposited in the Cordilleran miogeocline. The focus of exploration seemed to shift from the Paleozoic to the Tertiary after the discovery of Eagle Spring field in 1954. Most holes drilled from then until the early 1980s stopped at the Tertiary unconformity. This period of exploration resulted in the discovery of the Trap Spring field in 1976.

Discovery of Mississippian oil in Devonian carbonates at Grant Canyon and at Blackburn in the early 1980s caused the focus of exploration to shift back to the more promising Paleozoic rocks. New developments that may guide explorationists to new discoveries in Nevada include (1) a better understanding of depositional environments of the Mississippian Antler basin and their relation to source rock richness and maturation, (2) depositional environments of the Devonian carbonates and their relation to reservoir trends, and (3) the Mesozoic thrust-belt trend and its relation to oil generation, migration, and structural traps.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91033©1988 AAPG Rocky Mountain Section, Bismarck, North Dakota, 21-24 August 1988