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AAPG Bulletin

Abstract

AAPG Bulletin, V. 84, No. 2 (February 2000), P. 183-209.

Revised Stratigraphy, Depositional Systems, and Hydrocarbon Exploration Potential for the Lower Cretaceous Muddy Sandstone, Northern Denver Basin1

John P. Graham2

©Copyright 2000. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.
1Manuscript received April 20, 1998; revised manuscript received May 3, 1999; final acceptance August 22, 1999.
2Department of Geology, Colby College, 5800 Mayflower Hill, Waterville, Maine 04901-8858. Present address: Division of Biological and Physical Sciences, Lander University, 320 Stanley Avenue, Greenwood, South Carolina 29649; e-mail: [email protected]
This paper stems from doctoral research at Colorado State University conducted under the tutelage of Frank G. Ethridge, who was an invaluable guide and mentor throughout this study. Discussions with Debra Higley and James Schmoker of the U.S. Geological Survey, Sharon Stonecipher of Marathon Oil Company, and Robert Weimer were very helpful. Don Tait and his wife, Mary Lou Tait, provided funding for much of the study, as well as lively discussions concerning the interaction of oil migration and groundwater flow throughout the Denver basin. Constructive reviews by Jim Rogers, Michael Blum, and Steve Sonnenberg improved the manuscript and were greatly appreciated. Amoco Production Company and Marathon Oil Company provided core material as did the U.S. Geological Survey. Colby College, Waterville, Maine, provided the space and financial support to complete this paper.

ABSTRACT

The reservoir sandstones of the Lower Cretaceous Muddy Sandstone, the major hydrocarbon-producing reservoir in the northern Denver basin, are restructured into six informal members (MS-1 to MS-6) based on sedimentary structures, ichnofacies, geophysical logs, bounding discontinuities, and sediment distribution patterns. Bounding discontinuities defining allostratigraphic units are used to assign these six informal members to three major depositional systems that may be used to redefine hydrocarbon reservoirs, leading to new exploration targets in this "mature" basin.

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