Lithostratigraphy of the ‘Burbank’ (Red Fork) Sand in Western Osage County, Oklahoma
Abstract
A lithostratigraphic study of the ‘Burbank’ (Red Fork) Sand in western Osage County supports the commonly-accepted interpretation published by the Oklahoma Geological Survey of this unit as being deposited in a fluvial-deltaic sedimentary environment, within an incised valley. In this study well log correlations were used to define five sand units within the Red Fork, arbitrarily identified as ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ and ‘E’. Careful well log correlations suggest that the valley was created by two separate erosional events. The first event created the original incised valley, followed by the deposition of the underlying Bartlesville Sand. After a subsequent sea level fluctuation created a depositional interruption, a second erosional event removed some but not all of the Bartlesville sand, which is interpreted to compose the ‘E’ sand in areas where the Bartlesville was not removed. This was followed by deposition of the Red Fork Sand, filling the channel once more. The inferred depositional environment for the Red Fork is believed to have changed from fluvial-deltaic (‘E’ sand - Bartlesville) to near-shore marine (‘A’ sand).
AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90221 © 2015 Mid-Continent Section, Tulsa, Oklahoma, October 4-6, 2015