A multidisciplinary evaluation of potential hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Nanushuk Group (Albian-Cenomanian) of northern Alaska is being undertaken by the U.S. Geological Survey. The correlation of surface outcrops of the Nanushuk with subsurface units is based, in part, on marine dinoflagellate assemblages. Nanushuk dinoflagellates have been studied from four cored wells: Umiat Test Well 11, Simpson Core Test 25, Fish Creek Test Well 1, and Grandstand Test Well 1. Samples

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from numerous surface sections measured in considerable detail from localities throughout the east-west outcrop band of the Nanushuk are also being studied.

The results thus far are preliminary. Distinctive relations among assemblages are emerging, suggesting correlations from the surface to subsurface and delineating ages of middle Albian to early Cenomanian for the units studied. This palynologic work represents a pioneering effort in North Slope biostratigraphy. One interesting aspect of the overall Nanushuk Group project is that the same samples used for paleontology are also used for sedimentologic and other analyses, making possible multidisciplinary studies on a sample-to-sample basis.

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