Integrated Geophysical Studies on the Basement Structure of the Arkoma Basin, Oklahoma and Arkansas

The Arkoma basin is an arcuate structural feature that extends from the Gulf coastal plain in central Arkansas westward 400 km to the Arbuckle Mountains in south-central Oklahoma. The basin is characterized by down-to-the-south normal faults that affect Early Pennsylvanian and older rocks. Many folds in the Arkoma basin were produced by horizontal compressive forces related to the Ouachita orogeny. The compressive forces were directed north and northwest and decreased in intensity away from the Ouachita Mountains region. However, the deep structure of the basin is poorly known, and Precambrian basement structures in other areas of the continental United States have strongly influenced later Proterozoic and Phanerozoic tectonism within the continent.

The aim of this paper is to map the basement surface and the associated structural elements in the Arkoma basin area as well as to investigate the relationship between these structures and the Phanerozoic tectonic deformation in the area. We are calculating the depth to the basement surface using the Euler magnetic depth estimation method. Structural interpretation of the 3D seismic data of the basement surface is being conducted. Coherence and curvatures as well as other seismic attributes will be applied to the 3D seismic volume to delineate different subtle structural and stratigraphic features affecting the basement surface. Gravity modeling is being used as the integrative platform to synthesize seismic and well data and the depths obtained using the Euler technique.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90142 © 2012 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, April 22-25, 2012, Long Beach, California