Seismic Exploration of Ouachita Frontal Fairway, Southeastern Oklahoma

Allen J. Bertagne, Tim C. Leising

The Ouachita frontal fairway is defined as the area approximately 12 mi north and 12 mi south of the outcrop of the Choctaw fault. The area has been the site of considerable recent exploration activity and significant discoveries. The major exploration targets, located beneath and north of the Choctaw fault, consist of Spiro (Pennsylvanian) reservoirs on thrusted structures and Arbuckle (Cambrian-Ordovician) carbonates on structurally high, fault-bounded blocks. Favorable trends and prospects can be defined using high-quality seismic data.

Seismic data in the Fairway are typically acquired with a shothole dynamite source. Closely spaced geophone groups allow imaging of steep dips. In processing, care is taken when selecting migration velocities because the apparent size of a structure depends on the selected velocity. Seismic data should be interpreted simultaneously on migrated and unmigrated sections.

Recently acquired two-dimensional data illustrate the structural style of the frontal fairway in the vicinity of the new discoveries.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91025©1989 AAPG Midcontinent, Sept. 24-26, 1989, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.