--> ABSTRACT: Application of Tidal Mudflat Model to Sunniland Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of South Florida, by H. J. Mitchell-Tapping; #91042 (2010)

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Application of Tidal Mudflat Model to Sunniland Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of South Florida

H. J. Mitchell-Tapping

For many years, the Lower Cretaceous Sunniland oil-producing fields have been interpreted as reef deposits. Petrologic evidence from cores from field and wildcat wells strongly indicates on the bais of faunal composition and character, that the fields are producing from moundlike shoals. These shoals are considered to have been deposited in a mudflat environment similar to that of present-day Florida Bay. This present-day Florida Bay analog is used to determine the various environmental subzones and controls on the deposition of the Sunniland Formation. This concept of using a model together with a modern analog can be a powerful tool in the exploration of stratigraphic traps. A petrologic and petrophysical study of the Sunniland Formation in the wells that have been dril ed in the Florida Bay and Keys areas was made to extend the model and its application throughout the South Florida basin. The evaluation of these wells has produced new insights into the tectonics of this basin and its relationship to the Bahamas and Caribbean areas.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91042©1987 GCAGS and GC-SEPM Section Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, October 28-31, 1987.