Discovery of Ring Faults Associated With Salt Withdrawal Basins Early Cretaceous Age

Section III

Case Histories

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409

Chapter 16

The Jurassic Louann Salt has playeda dominant role in influencing thestructural and depositional history ofthe East Texas Basin, particularly dur-ing Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.Salt tectonics is closely associatedwith sandstone distribution, deposi-tional facies, and reef growth, andconsequently, with petroleum trapsin the basin. The stratigraphic columnincludes several significant regionalpetroleum reservoirs—the JurassicCotton Valley Lime, CretaceousPettet, James, and RodessaLimestones, and the WoodbineSandstone.

Salt withdrawal basins, devel-oped during the Early Cretaceous inresponse to salt movement and dis-solution processes, are characterizedby the presence of an expanded sec-tion of Lower Cretaceous marine anddeltaic sedimentary rocks. Recog-nition of ring faults associated withthe evolution of these salt-withdrawalbasins has gone undetected untilrecent coherence cube processing ofa spec 3-D seismic survey acquired in1997 following oil industry interestin exploring for Jurassic Cotton ValleyLime reef production in Hendersonand Anderson Counties, Texas. Theinterpretation in this paper focuseson the northern part of the survey inthe vicinity of the La Rue salt dome.Coherence cube is a patented post-stack process that enhances visual-ization of faults and stratigraphicfeatures embedded in the seismicwavelet data. The resultant seismicclass can be loaded side by side withthe original migrated amplitude seis-mic data in a 3-D workstation andused for interpretation of faults, strati-graphic discontinuities, and otherseismic anomalies.

Discovery of Early Cretaceous-age ring faults brings new perspec-tives to development and explorationdrilling in this mature petroleumprovince. The structural style of thehigh-angle ring faults creates a mul-titude of possible fault traps in a pre-viously unattractive synclinalstructural setting. The giant FairwayField, which produces oil and gas

from the Early Cretaceous JamesLimestone, is at the junction of twosalt withdrawal basins that aredensely populated with ring faults.The presence of Jurassic-type oil atFairway indicates that ring faults areprobably significant elements in eval-uating petroleum migration patternsand traps in the basin. Future petro-leum discoveries are expected to fol-low detailed mapping of ring faultsin the East Texas Basin.

Geologic setting. The East TexasBasin, a mature, major hydrocarbonprovince in northeastern Texas(Figure 1) that formed during the LateTriassic-Early Jurassic, contains morethan 20 000 ft of mostly Jurassic andCretaceous rocks (Figure 2). The basinwas originally floored by a thick layerof salt, the Louann Formation, whichaccumulated in a restricted marineenvironment during the MiddleJurassic. The salt may have reached amaximum thickness of 5000 ft in thecenter of the basin. Due to postdepo-sitional halokinesis and dissolution,the present thickness of salt is highlyvariable and substantially less thanoriginally deposited. In many placesthe salt is completely absent. A vari-ety of salt pillows and diapirs popu-late the central part of the basin. Salttectonics is closely associated withsandstone distribution, depositionalfacies, and reef growth and, conse-quently, with many major petroleumtraps in the basin.

The northern part of the Fairway3-D survey includes the La Rue saltdome, expressed as a detachedteardrop-shaped salt diapir (Figure3). Top of salt at La Rue is at 4450 ftbelow the surface. The La Rue diapirhas a rim syncline of thickened LowerCretaceous rocks and lies below adeformed roof of Upper Cretaceousformations. A remnant of the LouannSalt is identified in Figure 3, definedby strong top and base of salt reflec-tors. A single, strong reflector is pre-sent where salt is mostly absent (asalt weld), as seen in the right of thesection. A strong Cotton Valley Limereflector occurs about 600 ms abovetop of salt. This reflector was a mainzone of interest throughout the oilindustry during 1997, when the 3-Dsurvey was first acquired. Althoughno Cotton Valley Lime production isknown within the Fairway surveylimits, coherence cube data did iden-tify a prospective anomaly northeastof La Rue Dome. A small coherencecube amplitude image of a faultedcarbonate reef prospect (shown in aninsert in Figure 3) was captured fromthe coherence display of the Cotton

818 THE LEADING EDGE AUGUST 2001 AUGUST 2001 THE LEADING EDGE 0000

Discovery of ring faults associated with saltwithdrawal basins, Early Cretaceous age, inthe East Texas Basin

STEVEN J. MAIONE, Scott Pickford (A Core Laboratories Company), Houston, Texas, U.S.

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Figure 1. The Fairway 3-D seismicsurvey (stippled) in East TexasBasin, Texas.

Figure 2. Abbreviated stratigraphiccolumn of principal productionzones in East Texas Basin.



410 Seismic Attributes for Prospect Identification and Reservoir Characterization

Valley Lime horizon at 2.75 s or about18 500 ft.

Figure 4 shows an east-west seis-mic section a short distance south ofthe La Rue diapir. The seismic sectionhas poor reflectivity between theCotton Valley Lime and JamesLimestone. This interval is composedof deltaic/marine sandstone andshale of the Travis Peak, Hosston, andBossier Formations. The two-waytime (TWT) interval between theCotton Valley Lime and JamesLimestone is displayed in Figure 5.The isochron thickness exceeds 1.0 sTWT in the eastern part of the surveyand rapidly decreases to less than 400ms TWT near the present site of theLa Rue salt dome. Contours less than600 ms form an oval-shaped closureoriented SSW-NNE. This contour pat-tern indicates a salt pillow of consid-erable relief once occupied the area,and its former extent is estimated onFigure 5. Uneven sediment loadingmobilized the underlying salt duringthe Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceousand salt preferentially migrated intothe salt pillow structure. Since the pil-low structure acted as a paleogeo-graphic high, only a thin veneer ofsediments eventually accumulatedacross the crest of the La Rue pillowstructure, while thick accumulationsof Travis Peak and Bossier Formationsformed off on the flanks of the pillow.Thick wedges of Travis Peak/Bossierform cores to turtle structures in thebasin, one of which is partiallyimaged and labeled in Figure 4.

Following deposition of the Travis

Peak sequence, the depositional pat-terns at La Rue dramatically shifted.An isochron map of the seismic inter-val between the James and BudaLimestones is shown in Figure 6. Thecontours exhibit a near circular pat-tern indicative of a local subbasin thatis nearly coincidental with the site ofthe earlier salt pillow. One conse-quence of growth of the salt pillowwas increasing extensional strain inthe more brittle Late Jurassic-EarlyCretaceous rocks overlying the salt.Eventually these brittle rocks failed,and extensional normal faults devel-oped at the crest of the pillow.Opening of the extensional faultstriggered the movement of salt whichprogressively entered the extensional

fault zone from below and eventu-ally reached the paleosurface as anexposed salt diapir. The diapir was avery dynamic system that allowedlarge volumes of salt to leave the sub-surface area. Salt eventually accumu-lated at or near the surface, dissolvingby contact with ground or oceanwaters. Migration of salt from the pil-low structure through the diapir tookplace by slow, symmetric structuralsubsidence of the entire section abovethe deep salt pillow. This caused thepaleosurface to sag and permittedthicker deposits of marine and deltaicsediments to accumulate, thus allow-ing a circular subbasin, or salt-with-drawal basin, to form.


Figure 3. Seismic amplitude section through La Ruesalt dome. Major reflectors are identified. Note theremnant of Louann Salt. Picks for top of salt (TS), baseof salt (BS), and top of James Limestone (J) shown ontwo well tracts drilled through the salt dome. Insertshows coherence cube amplitude anomaly that is apossible reef structure discovered at the Cotton ValleyLime horizon.

Figure 4. An east-west seismic amplitude sectionlocated immediately south of La Rue Dome showingthe central salt-withdrawal basin and the western por-tion of a turtle structure. Note the remnant of theLouann Salt.

Figure 5. Isochron contour map ofthe Cotton Valley Lime to JamesLimestone interval. Contour intervalis 0.05 s (50 ms). Estimated positionof a salt pillow present at the time ofdeposition is shown by dotted line.The present extent of La Rue saltdiapir is shown at two time depths.

Figure 6. Isochron contour map ofthe James-Buda Limestone interval.Contour interval is 0.05 s (50 ms).Circumference of the salt-withdrawal basin is shown as adotted line. The present extent of LaRue salt diapir is shown at two timedepths.



Discovery of Ring Faults Associated with Salt Withdrawal Basins 411

Ring faults. Coherence imagesrevealed that extraordinary sets offaults are present within the survey.Four sequential coherence time slices(Figure 7) at 1.232, 1.400, 1.636, and1.860 s cut through the salt with-drawal basin. Few faults are visible at1.232 s, but a set of en-echelon, arcu-ate faults appears at 1.400 s. Thesefaults are present on all deeperimages. These faults are more numer-ous in an annular belt 4-9 miles mea-sured outward from the presentcenter of the La Rue salt dome andappear most numerous due west andeast of La Rue salt dome. Note onFigure 7d that arcuate faults near theeastern edge of the survey appear todefine the presence of another saltwithdrawal area because these faultsare concave to the east. They appearassociated with the Brooks salt domeseveral miles east. All these arcuatefaults are best described as “ring”faults, defined as a series of concen-tric normal faults formed by the col-lapse of rock in response to deep saltwithdrawal. The faults do not form acontinuous ring, but displacementfrom one fault overlaps with the next,forming a circular pattern, hence theterm ring fault.

Ring faults mapped on a reflectornear the top of the James Limestoneare shown in Figure 8. The correlationbetween the ring faults and theisochron map of the James to BudaLimestone interval is readily appar-ent, suggesting a case for simultane-ous origin for both features. Thelocations of the Fairway and SandTrap Fields that produce from theJames Limestone also are shown.


Figure 7. Four sequential coherence cube amplitude time slices through theLa Rue salt-withdrawal basin structure. Note the appearance of ring faultsconcentric around the La Rue salt diapir beginning at 1.4 s between the dot-ted lines. Ring faults associated with the Brooks salt dome are outlined onthe east side of image (d).

Figure 8. Mapped ring faults nearJames Limestone superimposedonto an isochron contour map of theinterval between the James andBuda Limestones. The presentextent of La Rue salt diapir isshown at two time depths. The loca-tions of the Fairway and Sand Trapfields that produce from the JamesLimestone are shown.

Figure 9. Two pairs of seismic (left) and coherence cube (right) amplitudetime slices from west flank of the La Rue salt-withdrawal basin. Note thenumerous ring faults (arrows) that are readily apparent on the coherencecube time slices but are difficult to recognize on the seismic amplitudetime slices.

a) b)

c) d)

a) b)

c) d)




Figure 9 contains two pairs of seismicand coherence time slices (A and B, Cand D) from an area west of La Ruedome. Without coherence processing,identification and mapping of the ringfault system would be challenging.Notice that faults seen on the coher-ence images strike at an acute angleto the apparent strike of bedding onthe seismic amplitude time slice. Note

that the ring faults (Figure 10) termi-nate near 1.3 s. These ring faults canbe classified as “blind faults” becausethey do not offset shallow formations.Vertical throw on each fault is 10-25ms TWT (65-170 ft). Observations ofthese faults at greater depth indicatethat they do not cut the Cotton ValleyLime but die out in the Bossier Shaleand Travis Peak Formation.

A pair of seismic amplitude andcoherence time slices (Figure 11) wasexamined in the vicinity of FairwayField southeast of La Rue Dome.Fairway, discovered in 1960, has pro-duced more than 209 million bls of oiland 790 billion ft3 of gas from theJames Limestone reservoir. The west-ern limit of the field is well con-strained by ring faults associated withthe La Rue salt-withdrawal basin,while the eastern limit of the field isdefined by ring faults associated withthe Brooks Dome salt-withdrawalbasin. A matched pair of seismicamplitude and coherence sectionviews near the northern limit of thefield is shown in Figure 12. Faultsmapped on the coherence section areshown on the seismic amplitude sec-tion. Notice again that most faults dieout vertically near 1.3 s.

Geologic evolution of a ring faultsystem. A series of diagrams (Figure13) summarizes the geologic historyof the La Rue salt dome and ring faultdevelopment. These diagrams incor-porate the new geologic insights pro-vided by coherence processing of theFairway 3-D seismic survey.

At the time of Cotton Valley Limedeposition (Figure 13a), the LouannSalt beds responded to Late Jurassicsediment loading by forming small-amplitude salt swells. A salt swell atthe La Rue site provided a positivepaleogeographic feature on whichJurassic reef growth could flourish.The location of a reeflike seismicanomaly along the Cotton ValleyLime horizon suggests that reefsdeveloped preferentially along theperiphery of the salt swell.

By the time Travis Peak Formationwas deposited (Figure 13b), a largeamplitude salt pillow formed inresponse to uneven sediment load-ing brought about by the north-to-south prograding deltaic sandstoneand shales of the Bossier and TravisPeak sequences. Pillow structures lim-ited or prevented sedimentation atopthe crest of the pillows and allowedthicker accumulations of sedimentsbetween salt pillows. Growth of thepillow structure at La Rue createdstrain in the brittle postsalt Jurassicformations and led to extensionalfaulting at the crest of the pillow. Thisfaulting triggered vertical salt move-ment, allowing salt to flow into thebase of the fault and form a diapiricmass that exploited the extensionalfault zone to rise and reach the sur-face.

At James Limestone time (Figure


Figure 10. Seismic (left) and coherence cube (right) amplitude sections fromwest flank of the salt-withdrawal basin. The ring faults on the seismic sec-tion were first mapped using the coherence cube section (right) and thentransferred onto the seismic amplitude display. Note the upward termina-tion of the ring faults.

Figure 11. Pair of seismic (left) and coherence cube (right) amplitude timeslices, both at 1.856 s, at the intersection of ring faults (arrows) associatedwith the La Rue (west) and Brooks (east) salt-withdrawal basins. FairwayField occupies most of the triangular area between the two ring fault sets.

Figure 12. Pair of seismic (left) and coherence cube (right) amplitude sec-tions along an east-west traverse near the northern limit of Fairway Field.The ring faults on the seismic section were first mapped using the coher-ence cube section view (right) and then transferred onto the seismic dis-play. Note the upward termination of the ring faults.




13c), the juvenile La Rue salt diapirentered its main period of growth,during which the net accumulation ofsalt at the surface exceeded the rateof sedimentation, allowing the dometo grow. Movement of large volumesof salt from the pillow and into thediapir triggered the growth of the salt-withdrawal basin. During periods ofhigh carbonate production (e.g.,James Limestone), paleohighs outsidethe salt-withdrawal sags providedideal sites for more vigorous reefgrowth and accumulation of carbon-ate grainstones in higher-energy envi-ronments. The spectacularly product-ive James Limestone reservoir zone inFairway Field is a result of these geo-logic conditions.

By Paluxy Formation time (Figure13d), salt had continued to migratethrough the diapir, forming a surfacedome that reached 12 miles2 in area.Continued migration of salt from the

pillow structure and into the diapirallowed the overlying rocks to sub-side, forming a salt-withdrawal basinthat expanded outward to include anarea of about 170 miles2. It is esti-mated that 55 km3 of salt migratedfrom the pillow and mother salt areasvia the diapir system. Salt that was notpreserved in the expanding salt“deposit” at the seafloor was eventu-ally lost to dissolution from eithercontact with ocean water or ground-water. About 10 km3 of salt remainswithin the present diapir. It is esti-mated about 45 km3 of salt that tran-sited the diapiric system was lost todissolution at or near the seafloor inEarly Cretaceous.

The sets of ring faults that popu-late the withdrawal basin section arethe results of extensional tectonics.Figure 14 depicts the sequence ofevents that led to the formation ofring faults. As the salt evacuated from

the deep layer, horizontal strainincreased in the upper levels of TravisPeak Formation in response touneven subsidence rates. Strain wasrelieved by formation of ring faults,an extensional fault system. The ringfaults formed principally within azone of maximum bending. Thisexplains why ring faults are prefer-entially distributed in an annular zone4-9 miles from the present center ofthe La Rue diapir. Note the formationof a graben and the presence of someupthrown fault traps between thediapir and the graben (Figure 14c),an unexpected but prospective traptype.

Near the end of the EarlyCretaceous, growth of the salt-with-drawal basin and accompanying ringfaults slowed and gradually ceaseddevelopment. The nearly completeevacuation of deep salt, characterizedby “grounding” of the hanging wallonto the former base of salt and for-mation of salt weld, brought thedevelopment of ring faults to an end.Development of salt welds under thediapir assured the cutoff of any newsalt supply to the diapir; conse-quently, with slowing rates of saltreplenishment, the diapir decreasedin size at the surface and was even-tually overtaken and buried by earlyLate Cretaceous sediments. The 3-Ddata suggest that a palinspastic mapdepicting deposition of the BudaLimestone would exhibit very littlesurface relief associated with eitherthe salt-withdrawal basin or diapir.

Cut off from any additional saltinflux from the deep salt beds, the LaRue diapir responded isostatically tocontinual burial and possibly regionalcompression by arching the overlyingrocks in Late Cretaceous time (Figure13f). Thinning of the post-Budasequences directly over the La Ruesalt diapir indicates that the salt domeentered a postdiapir stage andbecame a persistent positive paleoto-pographic feature that redirected sed-imentation away from the surfacedome. In a well atop the diapir, thestratigraphic interval between thetops of the Buda Limestone and PecanGap Chalk is 1632 ft. The 3-D seismicand time-depth data indicate that thethickness of the same stratigraphicinterval is more than 3100 ft—a shortdistance from the diapir.

In early Tertiary time (Figure 13g),more severe vertical salt movementruptured the roof rocks of the diapir,forming a trapdoor fault, with itsprincipal displacement on the west


Figure 13. Schematic sequence ofdiagrams depicting the geologichistory of the La Rue salt diapir atthe following approximate times: (a) Cotton Valley Lime; (b) TravisPeak Formation; (c) James Lime-stone; (d) Paluxy Formation; (e) Buda Limestone; (f) Pecan GapChalk; and (g) Early Tertiary.

a)

b)

c)

d)

e)

f)

g)




flank. The trapdoor structure involvesprincipally Upper Cretaceous forma-tions younger than the GeorgetownLimestone. The roof (or “door”) ofthe structure dips 5-7° to the east. Onthe west side of the diapir, the BudaLimestone exhibits vertical displace-ments in excess of 1600 ft along thetrapdoor fault. Isostatically inducedsalt movement was unlikely to haveformed the trapdoor structure with-out the contribution of compressionalstress. The required compressionalstress likely originated from theMexia-Talco fault zone updip to thewest (Figure 1). The Mexia-Talco faultzone contains an en-echelon array ofgrabens formed in response to basin-ward gravity gliding and spreadingabove the Louann Salt. Transferdowndip of the resultant compres-sional stress likely boosted diapirismof the La Rue Salt, uplifting and fault-ing the Upper Cretaceous overbur-den until the strain in the salt wasrelieved. Effects of the diapir on sed-iments younger than the Pecan GapChalk (less than 400 ms TWT) couldnot be determined from the 3-D databecause these events are lost to theseismic mute zone.

Ring faults and the East Texas Basinpetroleum system. Three major oiltypes have been identified in the EastTexas Basin (Wescott and Hood, 1994)based on physical and geochemicalcharacteristics of the basin: Jurassic,Lower Cretaceous, and UpperCretaceous. Jurassic oils are notrestricted to a particular stratigraphicinterval but rather are found in reser-voir rocks ranging in age from theJurassic Smackover to the UpperCretaceous Woodbine formations.Most oil fields in the East Texas Basinin which Jurassic-type oils have beenidentified are fault related, with faultseither forming the trap or the trapbeing a highly faulted dome or anti-cline. Wescott and Wood (1994)observed a relationship between theamount of faulting and hydrocarbonproduction in the deep salt structures,and stated that those fields that arehighly faulted have produced thelargest amount of oil.

The ring faults that span the strati-graphic interval between the UpperJurassic and Cretaceous formationscould provide excellent vertical path-ways for hydrocarbons to migratefrom Upper Jurassic source rocks

(Bossier shale) to Lower Cretaceousreservoir rocks. Development of ringfaults during the Early Cretaceouscould provide an early structuralframework for the East Texas Basinpetroleum system to flourish and pro-vide hydrocarbon charge to the shal-lower reservoirs in faulted traps.Importantly, the blind fault characterof the ring faults probably preventedany substantial loss of migratinghydrocarbons to the surface duringpeak periods of oil generation, esti-mated to have occurred between 88million and 20 million years ago. Anexample of this fortuitous gatheringof key petroleum system elements isdemonstrated by oil from a Jurassicsource rock found in the LowerCretaceous James Limestone reser-voir in Fairway Field. Ring faults bor-der two of the three sides of the fieldand are well positioned to charge theJames Limestone reservoir withJurassic oils. Impressive rock qualityand thickness of the James Limestonereservoir began with deposition ofhigh-energy carbonate facies betweentwo developing salt-withdrawalbasins that developed a multitude ofring faults.

Discovery of ring faults associ-ated with the La Rue salt-withdrawalbasin adds to structures that con-tribute to the creation of petroleumtraps in the East Texas Basin.Recognition and mapping of ringfaults with 3-D data provide a basisfor pursuing additional hydrocarbonexploration in this mature basin. Avariety of structural traps can occurassociated with ring faults, the mostcommon being defined by two par-allel ring faults where beds caughtbetween the ring faults are accompa-nied by two- or three-way dip. Wherecomplex relative ring-fault displace-ments are present, a horst block canoccur between a pair of ring faults(Figure 14). This latter type of traphas been found productive in theSand Trap gas field (cumulative pro-duction = 37 billion ft3) immediatelywest of Fairway (Figure 8). A morespeculative trap idea is the expecta-tion that closely spaced ring faultsmay host fractured reservoir playswithin Lower Cretaceous limestoneand sandstone formations, even inareas of low porosity and permeabil-ity.

Ring-fault-style displacement atFairway is duplicated at other saltwithdrawal basin sites within the EastTexas Basin, but mapping waits foradditional coherence interpretation


Figure 14. Generalized geologic model depicting the formation of ringfaults at La Rue. (a) Lateral migration of deep salt is initiated following theformation of a diapir (left). Evacuation of deep salt initiates subsidence ofthe overlying formations. (b) Withdrawal basin (pattern) begins to form assubsidence occurs over the vacating salt. Varying rates of subsidence cre-ates extensional strain in the upper part of the descending hanging wall(horizontal arrows). (c) Extensional faults develop in the hanging wallwithin the zone of maximum strain. Note the formation of a central graben,and the presence of fault traps between the diapir and the graben.

a)

b)

c)




of other 3-D seismic surveys. Know-ledge of the existence of ring faultsassociated with salt-withdrawalbasins in east Texas is a key for effec-tive exploration for traps locatedastride or adjacent to these principalmigration pathways. Future petro-leum discoveries are expected to fol-low detailed mapping of ring faultsin the East Texas Basin.

Conclusions. Images derived from a3-D coherence cube seismic volumein the East Texas Basin aptly exhibitextraordinary sets of closely spacedring faults on the periphery of twosalt-withdrawal basins, one associ-ated with the La Rue Dome and partof a second associated with BrooksDome. The giant Fairway Field islocated at the junction of these tworing-fault sets.

The distribution and EarlyCretaceous age of the ring faultsestablish that these faults are a sig-nificant element in petroleum migra-tion patterns and traps in the basin.The ring faults span the stratigraphicinterval between the Upper Jurassicand Cretaceous formations and couldhave provided vertical pathways forhydrocarbons to migrate from UpperJurassic source rocks (Bossier Shale)and charge the shallower LowerCretaceous reservoir rocks. Impor-tantly, the blind fault character of thering faults probably prevented anysubstantial loss of migrating hydro-carbons to the surface during peakperiods of oil generation.

The structural style of high-anglering faults creates a multitude of pos-sible fault traps in a previously unat-tractive, synclinal, structural setting.Besides structural traps developedbetween ring faults, as found in SandTrap Field, a more speculative trapidea is that closely spaced ring faultscan be a fractured reservoir playwithin low porosity and permeabil-ity Lower Cretaceous limestone andsandstone formations. Description ofEarly Cretaceous ring faults in theEast Texas Basin using coherencecube processing brings new per-spectives to development and explo-ration drilling in this maturepetroleum province. Future petro-leum discoveries may follow detailedmapping of ring faults in the EastTexas Basin.

Suggested reading. Coherence cubeprocessing is described in “3-D seismicdiscontinuity for faults and strati-graphic features: The coherence cube”

by Bahorich and Farmer (TLE, 1995);“3-D seismic attributes using a sem-blance-based coherency algorithm” byMarfurt et al. (GEOPHYSICS, 1998);“Eigenstructure-based coherence com-putation as an aid to 3-D structural andstratigraphic mapping” by Gersztenkornand Marfurt (GEOPHYSICS, 1999); and“Revealing the geology of the Gulf ofMexico by 3-D seismic” by Maione (OTCpaper 11055, 1999). East Texas geologyis discussed in “Evolution of salt struc-tures, East Texas diapir province:Sedimentary record of halokinesis, Parts1 and 2,” by Seni and Jackson (AAPGBulletin, 1983); “Hydrocarbon genera-tion and migration routes in the EastTexas Basin” by Wescott and Hood(AAPG Bulletin, 1994); “Geology ofFairway Field, East Texas” by Terriere(AAPG Memoir 24, 1976); and “UpperJurassic reef play, East Texas Basin: Anupdated overview. Part 1—backgroundand outboard trend” by Montgomery etal. (AAPG Bulletin, 1999). LE

Editor’s note: Coherence cube is a registered trade-mark of Core Laboratories N.V.

Acknowledgements: Acknowledgement isgiven to Schlumberger for permission to pub-lish images from the Fairway 3-D survey, andthe assistance of Wayne C. Ackerman, for-merly of Schlumberger, is gratefully acknowl-edged. Thanks to Bruno Vendeville, Universityof Texas at Austin, and Roger Sassen, TexasA&M University, for stimulating discussionson salt tectonics and salt dissolution processes.Appreciation is expressed to the staff at ScottPickford (successor to Coherence TechnologyCompany) and its parent organization CoreLaboratories for encouragement and permis-sion to publish the results of this study. Anearlier version of this paper was published inthe Transactions of the 50th AnnualGCAGS/SEPM Convention, October 2000.

Corresponding author: [email protected]

Steven J. Maione, senior geophysicist for ScottPickford, received a bachelor’s degree in geo-logical engineering and a master’s in geologyfrom the Colorado School of Mines. He joinedUnion Oil Company of California (nowUnocal) in 1971. Between 1974 and 1992 heworked as an exploration geologist for theUnocal Geothermal Division and participatedin geothermal exploration projects in NorthAmerica, Philippines, Indonesia, and Japan. In1998, he joined the seismic interpretation ser-vices group with Coherence TechnologyCompany (CTC), and later with CoreLaboratories Company following a merger ofthe two companies. He has interpreted numer-ous 3-D surveys, including offshore Nigeria,eastern Saudi Arabia, Anadarko Basin, EastTexas Basin, Texas Gulf Coast, Colombia, andMexico.




Discovery of Ring Faults Associated With Salt Withdrawal Basins Early Cretaceous Age

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