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.
Carbonate Sedimentology of the Manzanita Member of the Cherry Canyon Formation Available to Purchase
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Published:January 01, 1989
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CitationBret D. Hampton, 1989. "Carbonate Sedimentology of the Manzanita Member of the Cherry Canyon Formation", Subsurface and Outcrop Examination of the Capitan Shelf Margin, Northern Delaware Basin, Paul M. Harris, George A. Grover
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Abstract
The Manzanita, the uppermost member of the Cherry Canyon Formation, is one of three carbonate units that extend from the toe of the Goat Seep Dolomite far out across the Delaware Basin. It is one of eight named carbonate units that serve to subdivide the 1000 m-thick siliciclastics of the Delaware Mountain Group. The Manzanita Member is unique among these Delaware Basin carbonates (Table 1). Instead of thickening into the toe-of-slope reef carbonates, the Manzanita appears to pinchout at the top of slope (King, 1948; Newell et al., 1953). The Manzanita has uniform thickness (approximately 15 to 20 m) far into the basin and contains no channels or coarse shelf debris; it is dolomitized much farther into the basin than the other tongues and has numerous evaporite molds. The continuity across the basin and paucity of coarse fossil grains also distinguish the Manzanita from most other tongues.
The Manzanita crops out in three major areas. Two of these, approximately perpendicular to depositional strike, are along the Western Escarpment of the Guadalupe Mountains and the top of a cuesta extending some 25 km into the Delaware Basin (see Fig. 1). More isolated outcrops occur in the third area, which extends about parallel to depositional strike for some 12 km eastward along the base of the Capitan Reef Escarpment from the southwestern tip of the Guadalupe Mountains. A representative section (Fig. 1) in this vicinity, 3 km east of the type section at Nipple Hill, is shown graphically on Figure 2.