The Golden Trend of south-central Oklahoma is located principally in western McClain and Garvin counties, Oklahoma, in the Southeastern embayment of the Anadarko basin, bounded on the east by the Nemaha-Pauls Valley uplifts, and on the south by the western Arbuckle Mountains.

Although broad gentle warping and truncation occurred during Hunton, Mississippian, and early Pennsylvanian time, the great orogenic movements that originated the Arbuckle-Wichita structural system occurred in post-Morrow pre-Deese (Des Moines) time with northwest en echelon faults formed as adjustments to the westward-plunging arches, which was accompanied by major east-west faulting. The descent into the Southeastern embayment of the Anadarko basin is accomplished by the successive down-dropping of fault blocks.

Approximately 15,000 feet of pre-Deese sediments were locally truncated in the highest areas to expose the basement complex. The region was eroded to approach base level but was later strongly down-warped to initiate the Anadarko basin and permitted onlap of the Deese sediments which reached a probable maximum thickness of 3,500 feet in the deeper basin areas on the west and lapped out completely on the Pauls Valley uplift. This progressive marine onlap was further modified by the preservation of scarps where faults were rejuvenated so that areas of abrupt thickening and thinning occur where the invading seas failed to reduce to base level the structural relief across fault blocks, or where movement occurred subsequent to the peneplanation and prior to deposition of the Deese sediment . Recurrent movements continued into later Hoxbar time, but, in contrast to the pre-Deese faulting, only minor warping occurred in the succeeding Pennsylvanian redbeds.

Oil is produced from rocks varying in age from the Permian to the Ordovician. Three type oil fields are described in detail. The main producing formations are various Deese (Pennsylvanian) sandstones, upper (Devonian) and lower (Silurian) Hunton limestone, Viola (Ordovician) limestones, and several formations of the Simpson group (Ordovician). Several pools produce from the Simpson group in structural traps, but most of the pools in the area produce from Deese sandstones in stratigraphic traps formed by these sandstones as they successively lap out upon the Pauls Valley uplift. Here the geologist has had an unparalleled opportunity to find stratigraphically trapped oil, and by subsurface studies he has been able to direct exploration to this end. His successes are indicated by the rem rkable discovery rate. The enormous reserves uncovered within the last 4 years have focused national attention to the province. Future prospecting offers even more encouraging results.