Regional Stratigraphic Analysis of the Big Injun Sandstones (Mississippian) of West Virginia

XIANGDONG, ZOU, and ALAN C. DONALDSON, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

Regional and field-scale studies indicate the stratigraphic heterogeneity of the Big Injun sandstone oil reservoirs (Price/Pocono Formation, Mississippi System) of West Virginia. Regional scale (mega) studies for an area of approximately 19,000 km2 (7336 mi2) show the

oil fields reportedly produced from the Big Injun and their relationship to the pre-Greenbrier Limestone unconformity. This study concentrates on the Price/Pocono Big Injun sandstones, the siliciclastics rather than the carbonate-rich sandstones of the Big Lime (Greenbrier Limestone). Correlations show that some previously identified Big Injun sandstones are the Squaw, upper Weir, or Berea sandstone. The regional study shows the trend of the pinch-out of the upper Big Injun and lower Big Injun sandstones, and the trends of thickened Big Injun, Squaw, and upper Weir sandstones where they have not been affected by erosion. Thickness trends of these sandstones also are compared with the shoreline positions of the prograding Price/Pocono sequence. Deposystem analyses interpret river drain ge basins of the ancient coastal plain and shoreline environments including river-mouth bars, shelf, and distal fans. The association of the oil field and depositional environment is shown.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91005 © 1991 Eastern Section Meeting, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, September 8-10, 1991 (2009)