Geological controls on reservoir distribution in the Lower Cretaceous Basal Quartz, Chin Coulee-Horsefly Lake area, south-central Alberta

Arnott, R. W. C.; Zaitlin, Brian A.; Potocki, Daniel J.

doi:10.2113/48.3.212

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…2, 3), collectively known as the Basal Quartz. According to Zaitlin et al (1999Zaitlin et al ( , 2002 and Arnott et al (2000), the Basal Quartz consists of four mineralogically distinct, unconformity-bounded units, namely the A-sandstones, Horsefly, Bantry-Alderson-Taber (BAT), and Ellerslie units. The thickness of the Basal Quartz deposits within the study area reaches 76 m, and the thickness of the BAT reaches 45 m. The geometry of the various erosion surfaces within the Basal Quartz shows a progression from the relatively flat and laterally extensive surface beneath the oldest unit, the A-sandstones, which is preserved only as erosional remnants (Figs.…”

Section: Geologic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…FA2 also has an erosional base ( Fig. 7), fines Arnott et al 2000;Lukie et al 2002;Zaitlin et al 2002), but this differentiation is not discussed in the text. Absolute ages from Leckie et al (1997).…”

Section: Sedimentology and Stratigraphy Of The Bat Unitmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the paleosols within the Horsefly and BAT units indicate otherwise. The paleosols in the Horsefly unit consist mainly of red paleosols with incipient caliche, limited root traces, and only rare carbonaceous debris (Lukie 1999;Arnott et al 2000;Lukie et al 2002). Greenish gleysols are present only locally.…”

Section: Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

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Controls on the Geometry of Incised Valleys in the Basal Quartz Unit (Lower Cretaceous), Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

Ardies¹,

Dalrymple²,

Zaitlin³

2002

Journal of Sedimentary Research

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In southern Alberta, multiple episodes of fluvial erosion occurred during Lower Mannville, Basal Quartz time (Early Cretaceous), creating a series of incised-valley systems. This study examines two of these valley networks, in order to illustrate the geomorphic and genetic complexity of incised-valley systems. Both valley networks are filled by a transgressive succession of fluvial to estuarine deposits. Isopach mapping of these deposits over an area of approximately 10,000 km 2 in southern Alberta shows that both systems are dendritic to rectilinear in character, with the trunk valley flowing from south to north along the length of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. These systems were fed from the west, south, and east by a network of tributaries. Eustatic sea-level changes may have played a role in initiating river incision, but regional tectonic movements had an important influence on the history of accommodation change. The periods of erosion appear to have been relatively brief because the valleys are narrow, although confinement within cohesive, mudstone-rich paleosols of the underlying incised-valley deposits may have slowed valley widening. A relatively wet paleoclimate may also have contributed to the formation of narrow valleys by favoring the existence of single-channel rivers. The general morphology of the Alberta foreland basin, together with the distribution of unfilled relief associated with a preceding valley system and/or of less resistant, slightly older deposits, determined the location of the trunk valleys. Uplift of the Bow Island Arch (Sweetgrass Arch) to the east may have been responsible for a shift in the valley headwaters between the formation of the two valley systems. Synerosional block faulting in response to flexural loading had a significant influence on the geometry of the valley network through its control on the location and geometry of major tributary valleys. The trunk valley is also significantly narrower and more deeply incised where it crosses the most pronounced uplifted block. Enhanced erosion at tributary junctions and valley bends produced localized areas (ca. 2-3 km in diameter) where the valley fill is up to five times thicker and considerably coarser grained than the adjacent valley deposits. Such localized scour fills represent prime petroleum-exploration targets. FIG. 8.-Isopach map of the BAT1 sequence. Contours (10-m interval; legend lower left) represent valley-fill thickness, which is a surrogate for depth of incision. Dashed line indicates fault; U ϭ upthrown side; D ϭ downdropped side. Inset map provides a simplified sketch of the valley pattern showing the inferred stream orders for the various valleys.

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Section: Geologic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sedimentology and Stratigraphy Of The Bat Unitmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Controls on the Geometry of Incised Valleys in the Basal Quartz Unit (Lower Cretaceous), Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

Ardies¹,

Dalrymple²,

Zaitlin³

2002

Journal of Sedimentary Research

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“…The nature of depositional sequences in non-marine successions has remained a topic of discussion and active research (e.g. Blum, 1990;McCabe, 1991, 1993;Wright and Marriott, 1993;Blum, 1994;Gibling and Bird, 1994;Feldman et al, 1995;Flint, 1995, 1996;Currie, 1997;Ethridge et al, 1998;Legarreta and Uliana, 1998;McCarthy and Plint, 1998;Martinsen et al, 1999;Zaitlin et al, 1999;Arnott et al, 2000;Törnqvist et al, 2000;Holbrook, 2001;Batson and Gibling, 2002;Amorosi and Colalongo, 2005;Feldman et al, 2005: Holbrook et al, 2006. Miall and Arush (2001) correctly noted that sequence boundaries in fully non-marine successions can be "cryptic", and commonly difficult to distinguish from autogenic scour surfaces.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Signatures of climate vs. sea-level change within incised valley-fill successions: Quaternary examples from the Texas GULF Coast

Blum

Aslan

2006

Sedimentary Geology

147

131

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“…Homotaxial valley forms are ''composed of rock stratigraphic units found to be in similar position that are not contiguous, and due to their distribution in discrete (sub-) basins exhibit their own unique sedimentation patterns and depositional history'' (Zaitlin et al 2002). These homotaxial rock-stratigraphic units also exhibit considerable variation in reservoir quality, recovery factor, oil quality, and performance characteristics that appear to be stratigraphically controlled (e.g., Arnott et al 2000;Arnott et al 2002;Zaitlin et al 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemostratigraphic Applications to Low-Accommodation Fluvial Incised-Valley Settings: An Example from the Lower Mannville Formation of Alberta, Canada

Hildred¹,

Ratcliffe²,

Wright³

et al. 2010

Journal of Sedimentary Research

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Incised valleys are a ubiquitous feature of the Lower Cretaceous Mannville Group of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. The Basal Quartz, a member of the Lower Mannville Formation, is present in two north-south-oriented subparallel valley-form systems in southern Alberta, the western valley form termed the Taber-Cutbank Valley and the eastern valley form termed the Whitlash Valley. This paper details the application of chemostratigraphy to discriminate between the three informal lithostratigraphic units of the Basal Quartz, namely the Horsefly, the Bantry-Alderson-Taber (BAT), and the Ellerslie units in these valley forms. In the Taber-Cutbank Valley, the Horsefly, BAT, and Ellerslie units each have unique chemostratigraphic signatures that enable them to be readily differentiated using inorganic geochemical data. The changes in elemental chemistry that allow this differentiation are inferred to reflect changes in sediment provenance, paleoclimate, and surface residence time. The whole-rock geochemistry of the Horsefly unit, the basal unit of the fill, is demonstrated to remain relatively constant longitudinally in the Taber-Cutbank Valley, therefore demonstrating, when compared to the vertical changes in geochemistry, that temporal or stratigraphic changes are of a greater magnitude than longitudinal changes within in a single valley form. The whole-rock geochemistry of the Horsefly unit in the two valley forms, which in previous studies has been demonstrated to be homotaxial by conventional stratigraphic techniques, is markedly different between the two valley forms. The geochemical differences suggest that the Horsefly unit was subjected to more prolonged and/or intense weathering in the eastern Whitlash Valley than in the western Taber-Cutbank Valley, and that the provenance of the Horsefly unit is fundamentally different between the two valley systems. The application of chemostratigraphy to the Basal Quartz of the Lower Mannville Formation demonstrates that the technique can be utilized as a viable correlation tool in low-accommodation incised-valley settings; however, it is most effective when the whole-rock geochemical data are placed in a regional context by integration with a detailed stratigraphic framework. Once chemostratigraphy is used in conjunction with these other data streams, the differences in geochemistry of the Horsefly unit between the Whitlash and Taber-Cutbank Valleys can be used to infer that the Horsefly unit deposited in the two valleys are two homotaxial, not coeval subunits.

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Geological controls on reservoir distribution in the Lower Cretaceous Basal Quartz, Chin Coulee-Horsefly Lake area, south-central Alberta

Cited by 8 publications

References 12 publications

Controls on the Geometry of Incised Valleys in the Basal Quartz Unit (Lower Cretaceous), Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

Controls on the Geometry of Incised Valleys in the Basal Quartz Unit (Lower Cretaceous), Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

Signatures of climate vs. sea-level change within incised valley-fill successions: Quaternary examples from the Texas GULF Coast

Chemostratigraphic Applications to Low-Accommodation Fluvial Incised-Valley Settings: An Example from the Lower Mannville Formation of Alberta, Canada

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