--> Abstract: Sequence Stratigraphy of Salt Mountain Limestone in Alabama and Mississippi: Implications for Aquifer and Petroleum Reservoir Quality and Distribution, by Marsha Meinders Patelke; #90033 (2004)

Datapages, Inc.Print this page

Sequence Stratigraphy of Salt Mountain Limestone in Alabama and Mississippi: Implications for Aquifer and Petroleum Reservoir Quality and Distribution

Marsha Meinders Patelke
University of Minnesota Duluth, Department of Geological Sciences
Duluth, Minnesota
[email protected]

The Late Paleocene/Early Eocene Salt Mountain Limestone (SML), exposed in a single outcrop area in Clarke County, Alabama, has been interpreted to be a reef deposited in an otherwise siliclastic environment. Previously, the SML has been correlated as the down dip equivalent of the Nanafalia Formation which contains sands, marls and lignites. In Mississippi, the SML is reported to grade into the McKittrick Sand. Sequence stratigraphy is a method of studying the sedimentary record that uses time lines (surfaces) created by changes in sea level. An interpretation of the timing of the development of the reefal limestone in relation to the timing of clastic sediment input can be made by using the response of the sedimentary units to the rise and fall in relative sea level. The Nanafalia includes Lowstand, Transgressive and Highstand Systems Tracts (Mancini and Tew, 1988) which represent progradation and retrogradation of a siliciclastic shoreline due to relative changes in sea level and sediment supply. It is unclear how the SML specifically relates to these systems tracts. This study will create a detailed sequence stratigraphic framework for evaluation of the relationship of the SML reefal deposit with respect to the siliciclastic units. Well-log correlation will be used to construct several cross sections across southern Alabama and Mississippi to determine the distribution of the SML and create a sequence stratigraphic framework. Framework development will also include using outcrop observation, thin section work and drill core descriptions. Implications for aquifer and petroleum reservoir quality will also be reviewed.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90033©2004 AAPG Foundation Grants-in-Aid