EIDE, M., and J. MAZZULLO, Texas A&M University, Department of Geology, College Station, TX

ABSTRACT: Depositional Environment and Stratigraphy of the Queen Formation in the North Ward-Estes Field, Permian Basin

A study was undertaken to determine the depositional environment and stratigraphy of the Queen Formation (Permian), North Ward-Estes Field, Central Basin Platform, Permian basin. The Queen is underlain and overlain by carbonates of the Grayburg and evaporites of the Seven Rivers respectively, and consists of repeated couplets of interbedded deltaic clastics and peritidal carbonates. Couplets are 4-40 feet thick and laterally continuous across the field, have abrupt contacts between carbonates and clastics and successive couplets, and show little mixing of carbonates and clastics.

The vertical stacking of couplets implies two scales of cyclicity in addition to the couplets. The first is approximately 300 feet thick and characterized by a change from thick-bedded carbonate and red-bedded clastics at the base of the Queen to thinner bedded, evaporite-rich carbonates and clastics at the top. The second consist of packages of couplets 80 to 140 feet thick and laterally continuous across the field.

The couplets are interpreted as parasequences representing 5th order changes in relative sea level with periodicity of 10,000 to 100,000 years. Similarly, the thinner packages are interpreted as parasequences representing 4th order changes in relative sea level with Periodicity of 100,000 to 1,000,000 years, while the thicker packages (i.e the entire Queen) represents 3rd order changes with a periodicity of 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 years. This allocyclic model is evidenced by the lateral continuity of cycles, the abrupt contacts within and between couplets, and the lack of mixing of the two lithologies.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90987©1993 AAPG Annual Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 25-28, 1993.