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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database

AAPG Bulletin

Abstract


Volume: 64 (1980)

Issue: 9. (September)

First Page: 1557

Last Page: 1557

Title: Clay Minerals as Indicators for Depositional Environment in South Halletsville Field, Lavaca County, Texas: ABSTRACT

Author(s): Robert L. Freed

Article Type: Meeting abstract

Abstract:

The South Halletsville field, Lavaca County, Texas, has gas and condensate production Previous HitfromNext Hit lower Wilcox sandstones and shales which have been interpreted as either channel turbidite deposits in outer-shelf to slope locations or deltaic and strand-plain sands and muds. Twenty-four core samples Previous HitfromNext Hit the General Crude Oil Co. 1 A. G. Henkes Gas Unit were analyzed by X-ray Previous HitdiffractionNext Hit methods to determine whether a semiquantitative estimate of clay mineral content would aid in determining the depositional environment. Discrete illite and chlorite are of particular interest because the presence of these minerals is interpreted as being due to original deposition.

Three shale samples, Previous HitfromNext Hit 10,194 to 10,206 ft (3,107 to 3,111 m) and 11 sandstone samples, 10,180 to 10,194 ft (3,103 to 3,107 m) were selected Previous HitfromTop one core section. This sequence of samples is particularly important because it contains a shale and the overlying sandstone. In addition, a deeper sandstone was sampled in the interval of 11,032 to 11,072 ft (3,363 to 3,375 m).

If a turbidity-type event had occurred, the weight percent of non-diagenetic clays should (1) decrease significantly as the boundary is crossed between the shale and the overlying sandstone, and (2) gradually increase in progressively shallow samples within the sandstones. However, the weight percent for chlorite does not vary significantly regardless of a change in lithology, shale to sandstone, or a change in depth. The illite content gradually decreases with shallower depths in both core intervals. This sequence is more compatible with a transgressive deltaic environment.

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