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AAPG Bulletin

Abstract

AAPG Bulletin, V. 91, No. 7 (July 2007), P. 981-1003.

Copyright copy2007. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.

DOI:10.1306/02060706048

Mapping sediment-dispersal patterns and associated Previous HitsystemsNext Hit Previous HittractsNext Hit in fourth- and fifth-order sequences using seismic sedimentology: Example from Corpus Christi Bay, Texas

Hongliu Zeng,1 Robert G. Loucks,2 L. Frank Brown Jr.3

1Bureau of Economic Geology, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, University Station, Box X, Austin, Texas 78713-8924; [email protected]
2Bureau of Economic Geology, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, University Station, Box X, Austin, Texas 78713-8924
3Bureau of Economic Geology, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, University Station, Box X, Austin, Texas 78713-8924

ABSTRACT

A seismic-sedimentologic study was performed to map fourth- and fifth-order Previous HitsystemsNext Hit Previous HittractsNext Hit in Oligocene (Frio) strata in Corpus Christi Bay, south Texas. Guided by third-order sequence-stratigraphic correlations from seismic and wire-line-log data, we prepared stratal slices from a three-dimensional seismic volume to reveal high-resolution (10-m [33-ft] levels) sediment dispersal patterns and associated Previous HitsystemsNext Hit Previous HittractsNext Hit in a relative geologic-time domain. On average, 1200 m (3940 ft) of sediments were deposited in the third-order lowstand expansion Previous HitcycleNext Hit, and at least 16 higher order sequences (fourth- and fifth-order sequences) were recognized. Three types of depositional Previous HitsystemsNext Hit were identified in the Frio stratigraphic section: (1) offshelf lowstand slope fans that are best characterized by submarine channel and levee Previous HitsystemsNext Hit inside and outside incised submarine channels and by fan-shaped sand body geometry; (2) lowstand prograding deltaic Previous HitsystemsNext Hit that are composed of strike-oriented and lobate deltaic sand bodies; and (3) highstand Previous HitsystemsNext Hit that are represented by onshelf barrier, lagoon, and deltaic Previous HitsystemsNext Hit. Higher order sequence development was controlled by the interaction of relative Previous HitseaNext Hit Previous HitlevelTop change, sediment supply, and gravity tectonics. The top of sediment ridges was eroded or decapitated during many of the higher order sequences. Sand dispersal patterns are primarily controlled by accommodation resulting from rollover topography associated with growth faulting. Between the boundary fault and the hinge line atop rollover structures, strike-oriented sandstone bodies dominate; within submarine channels and incised valleys and beyond the hinge line to the distal basin, dip-oriented sandstone bodies prevail. Sandstone thickness and dispersal patterns can be predicted by integrating wire-line-log measurements and seismic amplitude patterns.

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