AAPG Studies in Geology No. 50,
(Section Title: The Ferron Sandstone -- Overview and Reservoir Analog) Chapter 4:
Integrated Analysis of the Upper Ferron Deltaic Complex, Southern Castle Valley, Utah, by
Richard J. Moiola, Joann E. Welton, John B. Wagner, Larry B. Fearn, Mike E. Farrell, Roy J. Enrico, and Ron J. Echols,
Pages 79 - 92
from:
AAPG Studies in Geology No. 50: Regional
to Wellbore Analog for Fluvial-Deltaic Reservoir Modeling: The Ferron Sandstone of Utah,
Edited by Thomas C. Chidsey, Jr., Roy D. Adams, and Thomas H. Morris
Copyright © 2004 by The American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the
Society of Exploration Geophysicists. All rights reserved.
The Ferron Sandstone --
Overview and Reservoir Analog
Chapter 4:
Integrated Analysis of the Upper Ferron Deltaic Complex, Southern Castle Valley, Utah
Richard J. Moiola1, Joann E. Welton2,
John B. Wagner3, Larry B. Fearn1,
Mike E. Farrell2, Roy J. Enrico1, and Ron J. Echols1
1Mobil Technology Company -- Retired, Dallas, Texas
2ExxonMobil Upstream Research, Houston, Texas
3Nexen Petroleum U.S.A., Dallas, Texas
ABSTRACT
The Upper Ferron Sandstone in southern Castle Valley, Utah, is a
river-dominated deltaic complex made up of seaward-stepping, vertically stacked, and
landward-stepping cycles. These cycles, which consist of delta plain, delta front, and
prodelta/offshore facies associations, are partitioned by flooding surfaces that detailed
biostratigraphic analysis indicates lack an open marine signature. They are thought to be
abandonment flooding surfaces associated with delta lobe switching. The abundance of
distributary channel belts associated with all cycles suggests that riverine processes
controlled the evolution of their associated delta fronts and that the entire Upper Ferron
is a river-dominated system in which marine processes (predominantly waves and storms)
played a subordinate role. Autocyclic processes, channel avulsion and lobe switching,
controlled the internal architecture and partitioning of the cycles. The stacking pattern
was controlled by allocyclic processes, primarily decreasing sediment supply combined with
increasing accommodation. No compelling evidence was found to confirm the presence of
incised valleys in the Upper Ferron.
