--> ABSTRACT: Location of Oil Fields in Forest City Basin as Related to Precambrian Tectonics, by Marvin P. Carlson; #91025 (2010)

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Location of Oil Fields in Forest City Basin as Related to Precambrian Tectonics

Marvin P. Carlson

Accumulation of petroleum in the Forest City basin is strongly influenced by the tectonic framework established during the Precambrian. A series of Late Proterozoic orogenies created a fracture pattern in the northern Mid-Continent, which was emphasized by the late Keweenawan, Mid-Continent Rift System (MRS). Reactivated basement structures have created both a structural and depositional imprint on younger rocks. The Southeast Nebraska arch is defined by Middle Ordovician (Simpson) overlap of Arbuckle equivalents. Continuing differential movement along segments of the MRS within the North Kansas basin influenced the regional facies distribution of both the Late Ordovician (Viola) and the Late Devonian (Hunton). Middle Pennsylvanian compression from the Ouachita orogeny pr duced the Nemaha uplift and reactivated transform faulting on the MRS. Extensions of these southeast-trending fractures created offsets on the Nemaha uplift/Humboldt fault system and enhanced structures that host oil production. Fields that lie upon these wrench-fault trends within the Forest City basin have produced from the Simpson (St. Peter), Viola, and Hunton formations. The Precambrian structures and rock types produce strong geophysical signatures in contrast to the subdued anomalies of the Paleozoic sediments. Analyses of magnetic and gravity data provide an interpretation of the basement rocks and, by extrapolation, an additional exploration tool for locating Paleozoic trends related to reactivation of Precambrian tectonics.

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