Three-dimensional seismic interpretation of a meteorite impact feature, Red Wing Creek Field, Williston Basin, western North Dakota

The Red Wing Creek field in the Williston Basin is one of a few well-known petroleum fields in the world to produce from a structure associated with a meteorite impact. Interpretation of a three-dimensional seismic data set 56 mi2 (145 km2) in area shows the crater is 5.6 mi (9.1 km) in diameter and has three unique structural zones. First, the central uplift complex has a maximum diameter of 3.8 mi (5.1 km), and consists of an uplifted central core, composed entirely of strata of the Mississippian Madison Group, and a flanking inner rim. The seismic reflectivity within the central core is poor, but well log data indicate extensive stratigraphic repetition. The central core is surrounded by an annular rim (1.1 mi [1.7 km] wide), which is structurally thickened by imbricate thrusts that dip toward the central core. This rim comprises eight distinct radial sectors, segmented by nine high-angle, reverse faults. The second part of the crater is a depressed annular trough with a maximum diameter of 0.9 mi (1.5 km); its inner limit is bounded by antithetic normal faults and its outer limit by concentrically linked normal faults that dip toward the central part of the crater. This group of faults marks the edge of the third zone, the outer rim. The outer rim is slightly uplifted, relatively undisturbed, and its strata dip at a maximum angle of 8 degrees away from the central crater. The results of this study were applied to further field development. Four horizontal wells were drilled in new Madison Group targets, resulting in three new producing wells.