Preliminary Statistical Analysis and Provenance Trends in Desmoinesian Sandstones from Central and Eastern Oklahoma

T. S. Dyman

Desmoinesian sandstones from the northeast Oklahoma platform and from the Anadarko and McAlester basins record a complex interaction between mid-Pennsylvanian source-area tectonism and cyclic sedimentation patterns associated with transgressions and regressions. Framework grain summaries for 67 thin sections from sandstones of the Cherokee Group (Bartlesville, Red Fork, Skinner, and Prue) were subjected to multivariate statistical analysis to establish regional compositional trends for provenance analysis.

R-mode cluster and correspondence analyses were used to determine the contributing effect (total variance) of key framework grains. Fragments of monocrystalline and polycrystalline quartz, chert, metamorphic rock, and limestone contribute most to the variation in the grain population. Q-mode cluster and correspondence analyses were used to identify three distinct petrofacies. Petrofacies I is rich in monocrystalline quartz (86 to 98%) and contains rare mica and rock fragments. Petrofacies II is also rich in monocrystalline quartz (66 to 86%) and contains as much as 15% metamorphic and sedimentary rock fragments. Petrofacies III is compositionally heterogeneous and contains fragments of polycrystalline and monocrystalline quartz, mica, chert, and metamorphic and sedimentary rocks.

Quantitative analyses indicate that Desmoinesian sandstones were derived from complex sedimentary and metamorphic source areas. Petrofacies I sandstones are restricted to the southwestern part of the Anadarko basin and the northeast Oklahoma platform, whereas petrofacies II and III sandstones are distributed throughout the study area. The distribution of petrofacies within the region suggests a model of source-area interaction and cratonic sediment recycling.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91038©1987 AAPG Annual Convention, Los Angeles, California, June 7-10, 1987.