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Abstract
Abstract: Sedimentary Environments and the Occurrence of Major Hydrocarbon Accumulations
Hunter Yarborough (1)
ABSTRACT
Modern concepts concerning the origin of oil and gas are reviewed. Emphasis is stressed on those sedimentary environments under which conditions are most favorable for not only the origin but also the accumulation and preservation of major hydrocarbon reserves.
Over 90 percent of the oil and gas discovered to date has been found in four different sedimentary environments. The deltaic complex, in particular the delta margin environment, is probably the most favorable of these four environments. Second is the rapidly subsiding carbonate shelf or lagoon where carbonate and/or evaporite sedimentation keeps pace with subsidence. Third is the reef complex associated with the carbonate shelf. Fourth is the turbidite environment which includes all gravity-induced submarine flows, both arenaceous and carbonate.
These favorable sedimentary environments are described, and the paleontologic and lithologic criteria useful in the recognition of each are reviewed. Major reserves found in basins of the free world are documented according to sedimentary environments.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND ASSOCIATED FOOTNOTES
(1) Humble Oil and Refining Company.
Houston, Texas 77001
Copyright © 1999 by The Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies