--> Abstract: The Greenville Basin, an Extension of the MAFla Jurassic Rift System into Central Mississippi, by L. R. Baria and J. S. Cox; #91012 (1992).

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ABSTRACT: The Greenville Basin, an Extension of the MAFla Jurassic Rift System into Central Mississippi

BARIA, LAWRENCE R., and JULIE S. COX, Jura-Search, Inc., Jackson, MI

The Greenville Basin of Central Mississippi appears to represent an extensional arm of the greater MAFla Mesozoic rift basin. Smackover, Norphlet, and older sediments abruptly thicken into the axis of this triangular-shaped embayment, while around the basin margin normal Late Jurassic on-lap and off-lap shelf and ramp sequences are exhibited. Triassic and older intrusions provide discrete paleostructures within the embayment over and around which local shoal deposits of Smackover carbonate and clastic sands have accumulated. Porous grainstone and clastic upper Smackover facies range from 50 to 250 ft (15-76 m) in thickness.

Syndepositional Jurassic tensional faulting controlled Smackover sand thicknesses in shelf-break situations. Post-depositional tectonism and intrusion during the Middle and Late Cretaceous imprinted a strong thermal regime on the older reservoirs. Locally high CO2 concentrations in Smackover gases appear to be associated with these intrusions.

Exploratory drilling within the Greenville basin has until recently been relatively sparse, with an average of less than one well per township (one well per 100 sq. kilometers). However, in the last few years, wells with as much as 260 ft (79 m) of gas/condensate column have been encountered near the center of the basin. With primary recoverable reserves running as high as 1 million barrels of condensate and 10 bcf per well from 9700 ft (2956 m), the Jurassic attributes of the Greenville basin should compare quite favorably with those of the established Smackover trends in the Mississippi Salt basin and southwest Alabama.

 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91012©1992 AAPG Annual Meeting, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 22-25, 1992 (2009)