Paleogeography and
Depositional Geometries of the Pennsylvanian/Upper Carboniferous Succession of
the Greater Permian Basin Region, Texas and New Mexico
Wright, Wayne R.1 (1) Bureau
of Economic Geology-John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences-The
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
The Permian Basin of west
Texas and New Mexico is the largest
petroleum-producing basin in the U.S.A., with cumulative oil
production of 28.9 Bbbl (c. 2000). Over 10% of that
production has come from the Pennsylvanian succession, which is the most
geologically complex interval in the basin and therefore offers some of the
greatest hydrocarbon-resource development potential in the region. The
Permian Basin is situated on a
tectonically complicated region containing the remnants of fabrics and features
associated with the Grenville orogeny.
On this template, multiple episodes of Paleozoic faulting, uplift, and erosion
occurred, including those related to the Ouachita orogenic
event. Crucial to any interpretation, Pennsylvanian sediments were also
deposited during initial to peak icehouse climatic conditions. This study
integrates outcrop, drill-core, geophysical, wireline-log,
biostratigraphic, reservoir-quality, and gravity data
in a unified sequence stratigraphic framework. New facies distribution and paleogeographic
maps for the Morrowan, Atokan,
Desmoinesian, Missourian, and Virgilian Series of the
Permian Basin are presented. Results
of this work include new depositional and sequence stratigraphic
models regarding distribution of the Pennsylvanian sediments and their sources,
insights into tectonic control on both facies
distribution and overall development of the basin and its subbasins
(Delaware, Midland, and Val Verde), and identification of several potential new
play types and exploration targets. The data and interpretations presented are
part of a much larger, ongoing project, which is producing a detailed and
comprehensive depositional and reservoir-systems history of the entire
Paleozoic Era in the Permian Basin.