Print this pagePICCOLI, LEONARDO H., University of Wisconsin, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, Madison, WI
ABSTRACT: Integrated Sedimentologic-Seismic Study of Icehouse 
Carbonate
Platforms: An
Example from the Wolfcampian (Permian) in West Texas
The proposed study combines outcrop, synthetic seismic, seismic
attributes, and outcrop seismic imaging; and it will provide a unique template for Late
Paleozoic carbonate platforms, specially those deposited during ice-house climatic
periods.
This project will contribute with a significant insight in the 3D facies distribution
and evaluation of sequence and seismic stratigraphic concepts in carbonate systems. It
will concentrate on Wolfcampian carbonates in the Hueco Mountains of West Texas, near El
Paso. These outcrops are important analogs to Paleozoic hydrocarbon producing intervals of
the same age in Texas and New Mexico.
The Hueco Mountains are characterized by shelf, slope and basinal carbonates systems
developed during this icehouse period. The Hueco Group shelf strata consist of fine
grained, grain supported cyclic carbonates that grade into shelf margin facies, mainly
composed of algal bioherms and fusulinid-rich shoals. Bioherm-derived breccias and
fusulinid wackestones dominate slope facies. The basinal section is composed of cherty
mudwackestones and turbidites. Lateral and vertical facies changes occur in short
distances, particularly near the shelf margin. The Hueco Group can be subdivided into
highfrequency sequences (HFS); conspicuous sequence boundaries on the shelf (amalgamated
sequence boundaries) expand basinward probably reflecting different hierarchical orders of
sea-level falls. The result of this heterogeneity is a series of stacked platforms, each
with distinctive facies and geometries.
The results of this study are relevant to icehouse platforms, which are strongly
controlled by high-amplitude, high frequency sea-level changes that affect the
distribution of facies
due to unfilled accommodation space and preserved topography.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90909©2000 AAPG Foundation Grants-in-Aid