Master of Science / Department of Geology / Matthew W. Totten / Ness County, Kansas is situated along the western flank of the Central Kansas uplift, and has been an active center of oil exploration since the 1920’s. It currently ranks fourth among Kansas counties in oil production, largely from Mississippian-age carbonate reservoirs. Some production has been realized from lower Pennsylvanian-age carbonate formations, although the distribution of these reservoirs appears sporadic. The goals of this study were to develop an exploration model that predicts the development of reservoir conditions within the Marmatonage Fort Scott Limestone. A two-township area was studied to examine relationships between production rates and subsurface variations. No core was available through the Fort Scott, hence drill cuttings were thin-sectioned and examined under a petrographic microscope to see details of porosity type not easily visible under a binocular microscope. Production appears to be defined by stratigraphic variations in porosity controlled by original depositional environment. The best wells are within an oolitic limestone, with subsequent development of secondary, vuggy porosity. These conditions occur in bands along the Mississippian paleo-topographic highs. I interpret these bands to be ancient ooid shoals, with geometries and scales analogous to those previously reported from Lansing/Kansas City reservoirs in Russell County, Kansas. This study provides insights into production trends within the Fort Scott Limestone, and should be included during exploration in Ness County, Kansas.

Ooids of Great Salt Lake, Utah (GSL) have been studied periodically by geologists since the 1960's. These studies have documented the locations of ooid deposits, bulk composition, mineralogy, and internal structural variations of GSL ooids. Ooids have also been identified in sediment cores from lakes predating the Great Salt Lake, but similar descriptions have not been made for these ooids. Samples of ooids from cores in Pilot Valley, UT/NV and Knolls, UT have been obtained, along with samples from the Great Salt Lake at Bridger Bay and Rozel Point. The cortical fabrics and crystal morphologies of these ooids were studied in thin section and under scanning electron microscopy. Examples of cortex morphologies previously documented in GSL ooids were observed, to some degree, in ooids from Pilot Valley and Knolls. Knolls ooids had unique cortical layers that were resistive to acid and appeared to be dominantly comprised of clays. Bulk dissolution ages were obtained for ooids from each location. Ooids form both Pilot Valley and Knolls had average ages that pre-date Lake Bonneville, whereas GSL ooids from Bridger Bay had an average age of roughly 3,500 years before present (yr BP) and Rozel Point ooids had an average age of 500 yr BP. Along with a bulk age, ooids from Bridger Bay at the Great Salt Lake were subjected to serial dissolutions during which a split of gas was taken from each stage and an age was obtained. Ages spanned 7,000 years with the final dissolution stage delivering an average age of 9,000 yr BP. Based on this data it is likely that GSL ooids at Bridger Bay have been forming since the cessation of Lake Bonneville and that many of the nuclei in Bridger Bay ooids are remnant peloids from the Gilbert level of Lake Bonneville.

Grupo Corumbá representa um dos mais completos registros sedimentares do Ediacarano na América do Sul, com afloramentos de rochas siliciclásticas e carbonáticas ao longo da Faixa Paraguai Sul. Estas rochas contêm um rico conteúdo fossilífero, com ocorrências dos primeiros organismos com estruturas biomineralizadas (Cloudina sp). Este trabalho apresenta o estudo faciológico e quimioestratigráfico da Formação Tamengo, Grupo Corumbá na mina Laginha, sucessão carbonática de 130 metros de espessura, em contato erosivo na base com brechas calcárias e no topo com os pelitos da Formação Guaicurus. Para a Formação Tamengo foram descritas 4 fácies sedimentares: brecha calcária intraformacional (F1), grainstone oolítico (F2), packstone/grainstone oolítico (F3) e ritmito (F4), as quais representam a evolução de uma rampa interna-média com geração de barras oolíticas, submetida à ação de correntes e ondas de alta energia. Os dados geoquímicos e isotópicos dos carbonatos mostram as condições geoquímicas dessa rampa carbonática depositada em ambiente marinho de águas rasas. Análises isotópicas de carbono e oxigênio foram realizadas em 130 amostras de rocha, coletadas a cada um metro. Com base nos teores de Rb e Sr determinados por FRX, as 10 amostras com altas concentrações de Sr foram selecionadas para análise isotópica de Sr e geoquímica elementar. Na base da sucessão, os carbonatos oolíticos mostram valores de ?13C (V-PDB) de cerca de -3,5 ?, aumentando para +6,0 ? nos primeiros 70 metros basais da sequência. O aumento nos valores de ?13C é interpretado como resultado do aumento da taxa de matéria orgânica soterrada. Acima desse intervalo, observa-se uma tendência homogênea dos valores ?13C, oscilando entre 1,7 e 3,4 ?. A estabilidade nestes valores positivos pode estar relacionada ao equilíbrio entre a taxa de matéria orgânica soterrada e a reciclagem do carbono pela degradação da matéria orgânica. Os valores de ?18O (V-PDB) são todos negativos e mostram uma tendência progressiva em toda a seção, de -1,8 na base a -9,3 ? na parte superior. Os valores de ?18O provavelmente não refletem as composições isotópicas primárias devido à alteração pós-deposicional. As razões 87Sr/86Sr variaram entre 0,7085 e 0,7089, as quais são concordantes com a evolução global para o final do Ediacarano. Os resultados obtidos permitem inferir que estas razões representam a composição isotópica da água do mar na época da deposição. A presente investigação contribui para o conhecimento das condições geoquímicas presentes nos ambientes marinhos rasos da rampa carbonática onde as rochas da Formação Tamengo foram depositadas e suas implicações no desenvolvimento das comunidades biológicas que evoluíram no final do Ediacariano. / The Corumbá Group represents one of the most complete sedimentary records of the Ediacaran in South America, with outcrops of siliciclastic and carbonate rocks along the southern Paraguay Belt. These rocks contain a rich fossiliferous content, with occurrences of the first organisms with biomineralized structures (Cloudina sp). This work presents the faciologic and chemostratigraphic study of the Tamengo Formation, Corumbá Group, at the Laginha mine, a 130 - m thick carbonate succession, in erosive contact at the base with carbonate breccias and at the top with pelites of the Guaicurus Formation. Four sedimentary facies have been described in the Tamengo Formation: intraformational breccia (F1) oolitic grainstone (F2) oolitic packstone/grainstone (F3) and rhythmites (F4), which represent the evolution of an inner-mid ramp with oolitic bars generation, subjected to the action of currents and waves of high energy. Elementar and isotope geochemistry of carbonates show the chemical conditions in the shallow-water marine environments of this carbonatic ramp. Carbon and oxygen isotopic analysis were performed on 130 calcareous samples, collected each meter. Based on the Rb and Sr contents determined by XRF, ten samples with high Sr concentrations were selected for Sr isotope and elemental geochemical analysis. The ?13C (V-PDB) values start with -3.5 ? at the base of oolitic carbonates, increasing to +6.0 ? in the first 70 meters at the base of the sequence. The increase in ?13C values is preliminarily interpreted as a result of the increase in the organic matter buried. Above this interval, a homogeneous trend is observed in the ?13C values, oscillating between 1.7 and 3.4 ?. The stability of these positive values can be related to a balance between the buried organic matter and carbon recycling by organic matter degradation. The ?18O (V-PDB) values are all negative and show a progressive trend throughout the section, from -1.8 at the base to -9.3 ? at the top. This trend of the ?18O values probably do not reflect the primary isotopic composition due to post-depositional alteration. 87Sr/86Sr ratios ranged between 0.7085 and 0.7089, which are in accordance with the global Sr isotope evolution of the late Ediacaran seawater. The obtained results allow us to infer that these ratios represent the isotopic composition of seawater at the time of deposition. The present study contributes to the knowledge of the geochemical conditions of the shallow marine environments of the Tamengo Formation, which has implications in the development of the biological communities that evolved at the end of the Ediacaran.

No description available.

In the Permian Basin, strata of Leonardian age typically consist of interbedded carbonates and siliciclastics interpreted to be turbidite deposits. Happy Spraberry Field produces from a 100-foot thick carbonate section in the Lower Clear Fork Formation (Lower Leonardian) on the Eastern Shelf of the Midland Basin. Reservoir facies include oolitic- to-skeletal grainstones and packstones, rudstones and in situ Tubiphytes bindstones. Depositional environments vary from open marine reefs to shallow marine oolitic shoal mounds. Best reservoir rocks are found in the oolitic-skeletal packstones. Diagenesis occurred in several phases and includes (1) micritization, (2) stabilization of skeletal fragments, (3) recrystallization of lime mud, (4) intense and selective dissolution, (5) precipitation of four different stages of calcite cement, (6) mechanical compaction, (7) late formation of anhydrite and (8) saddle dolomite and (9) replacement by chalcedony. Oomoldic porosity is the dominant pore type in oolitic grainstones and packstones. Incomplete dissolution of some ooids left ring-shaped structures that indicate ooids were originally bi-mineralic. Bacterial sulfate reduction is suggested by the presence of (1) dissolved anhydrite, (2) saddle dolomite, (3) late-stage coarse-calcite cement and (4) small clusters of pyrite. Diagenetic overprinting on depositional porosity is clearly evident in all reservoir facies and is especially important in the less-cemented parts of the oolitic grainstones where partially-dissolved ooids were subjected to mechanical compaction resulting in "eggshell" remnants. Pore filling by late anhydrite is most extensive in zones where dissolution and compaction were intense. Finally, a porosity-permeability model was constructed to present variations in oolitic packstone- rudstone-bindstone reservoir rocks. The poroperm model could not be applied to oolitic grainstone intervals because no consistent trends in the spatial distribution of porosity and permeability were identified. Routine core analysis did not produce any reliable value of water saturation (Sw). An attempt to take advantage of wireline log data indicates that the saturation exponent (n) may be variable in this reservoir.

In the Permian Basin, strata of Leonardian age typically consist of interbedded carbonates and siliciclastics interpreted to be turbidite deposits. Happy Spraberry Field produces from a 100-foot thick carbonate section in the Lower Clear Fork Formation (Lower Leonardian) on the Eastern Shelf of the Midland Basin. Reservoir facies include oolitic- to-skeletal grainstones and packstones, rudstones and in situ Tubiphytes bindstones. Depositional environments vary from open marine reefs to shallow marine oolitic shoal mounds. Best reservoir rocks are found in the oolitic-skeletal packstones. Diagenesis occurred in several phases and includes (1) micritization, (2) stabilization of skeletal fragments, (3) recrystallization of lime mud, (4) intense and selective dissolution, (5) precipitation of four different stages of calcite cement, (6) mechanical compaction, (7) late formation of anhydrite and (8) saddle dolomite and (9) replacement by chalcedony. Oomoldic porosity is the dominant pore type in oolitic grainstones and packstones. Incomplete dissolution of some ooids left ring-shaped structures that indicate ooids were originally bi-mineralic. Bacterial sulfate reduction is suggested by the presence of (1) dissolved anhydrite, (2) saddle dolomite, (3) late-stage coarse-calcite cement and (4) small clusters of pyrite. Diagenetic overprinting on depositional porosity is clearly evident in all reservoir facies and is especially important in the less-cemented parts of the oolitic grainstones where partially-dissolved ooids were subjected to mechanical compaction resulting in "eggshell" remnants. Pore filling by late anhydrite is most extensive in zones where dissolution and compaction were intense. Finally, a porosity-permeability model was constructed to present variations in oolitic packstone- rudstone-bindstone reservoir rocks. The poroperm model could not be applied to oolitic grainstone intervals because no consistent trends in the spatial distribution of porosity and permeability were identified. Routine core analysis did not produce any reliable value of water saturation (Sw). An attempt to take advantage of wireline log data indicates that the saturation exponent (n) may be variable in this reservoir.

Sedimentary characteristics of grainy non-skeletal tidal flats along windward platform margins have not been described in modern environments and may be misidentified or misclassified in the rock record. This study describes the sedimentology of such an environment to aid in accurate identification and characterization in the ancient. At Shroud Cay, a grain-dominated tidal flat is sheltered from the high energy of the shelf by a ring of cemented Pleistocene and partly indurated Holocene eolianite islands separated by several narrow tidal passes. Depositional texture, environment of deposition and geobody mapping, extensive sediment sampling, and vibracoring have shown that, though the cemented island provide a barrier from the high energy of the shelf, a high degree of tidal energy still occurs behind this barrier as indicated by the overwhelmingly grainy nature of all of the tidal flat sub-environments. Intertidal flats comprise the majority of the tidal flat surface. These flats are characterized by patchy Scytonema mats overlying bioturbated peloid-ooid grainstones to packstones with cemented lithoclasts. Three main tidal channels dissect the tidal flat and allow diurnal flow, one of those tidal channels does not exit the tidal flat but dead-ends behind a cemented Holocene beach dune ridge along the eastern side of Shroud Cay. Peloid-ooid-skeletal grainstone tidal bars and peloid-ooid packstones fill much of the channels. Most of the channels are bordered by low-relief grain-rich packstone levees often capped by red mangroves and algal mats. The interior-most supratidal parts of the flat, often in the lee of the windward Holocene ridge, are covered by a thick (5-~25cm) Scytonema microbial mat underlain by grain-rich ooid-peloid packstones. Ancient grain-dominated carbonate tidal flats and eolianite deposits like Shroud Cay?s are the reservoir rocks in some of today?s largest hydrocarbon fields. We develop a model for the evolution of the grain-dominated tidal flat, document and compare differences between the grain-rich tidal flat and surrounding environments of deposition, and develop a set of criteria for recognition. These criteria can be used to more accurately characterize reservoirs such as the Jurassic Smackover fields, to avoid mis-classification of similar settings, and more effectively produce those reservoirs.