In place of the usual methods of recording the data obtained by mechanical sand analyses and routine paleontological data, a new method is described which has been proved accurate, flexible, and adaptable to changing sedimentary conditions.

Mechanical shaking was used to obtain the screen analyses rather than hand shaking, as it was faster and much more thorough. Early in the course of study, anomalies in distribution of cuts throughout the screen stack led to the conclusion that the screens were not correctly designed to yield accurate data. The screens used were examined and from the fifteen screens available in the set, a suite of eight screens was used which avoided the objections raised by using the original set of screens.

The data derived from the screen analyses plus paleontological information secured from examination of the samples were plotted on transparent, punched, index charts. With the use of these cards, correlations were made between two producing horizons on the flank of one of the Gulf Coast salt domes, which gave, in addition to the relationship of the two sand zones, an accurate contour map of that section of the dome.

More detailed study of the upper zone permitted the tracing of the individual members across its areal extent, which showed the detailed information of the deposition cycle within the sand body. From this information, and supplemented by further data derived from the studies of the sediments on the same dome, the geological history of the Lower Miocene was established.