Subsurface and Outcrop Examination of the Capitan Shelf Margin, Northern Delaware Basin

Shelf sandstone reservoirs are becoming a more and more common exploration target. What they are, how they may be characterized, and how they differ from shoreline and deep-water deposits in the subject of this publication. Shelf sands and sandstone reservoirs are among the more poorly understood types of sandstones. Continental, shoreline and deep water sandstones have all been studied in much more depth than have shelf sands and sandstones. However, during the last fifteen years significant progress has been made in understanding shelf sands and sandstones. Studies of modern sediments have allowed us to understand many of the depositional processes active on the shelf. This book is intended to be an up-to-date summary of shelf processes and products. The papers are intended for those new to shelf sands and sandstones as well as the shelf specialist.
Facies Mosaic of the Lower Seven Rivers Formation, Mckittrick Canyon, New Mexico Available to Purchase
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Published:January 01, 1989
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CitationNeil F. Hurley, 1989. "Facies Mosaic of the Lower Seven Rivers Formation, Mckittrick Canyon, New Mexico", Subsurface and Outcrop Examination of the Capitan Shelf Margin, Northern Delaware Basin, Paul M. Harris, George A. Grover
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Abstract
This paper summarizes a detailed investigation of the sedimentology and stratigraphic setting of the lower Seven Rivers Formation in the Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico (Hurley, 1978). Work is confined to superb exposures in North McKittrick Canyon of a lateral facies transition from bedded shelf carbonates and siliciclastic sediments to the massive facies of the lower Capitan Limestone. The major research questions addressed are:
1. What depositional processes and environments characterize the complex facies mosaic of the lower Seven Rivers Formation and the shelfward edge of the lower Capitan Limestone?
2. Did the shelf-to-basin profile in earliest Capitan time differ from later Capitan times (Yates and Tansill) where this transition has been more thoroughly studied?
3. What is the nature of the Seven Rivers to Capitan facies transition, and what does this transition imply as to growth rate of the early Capitan?