Principal Oil and Gas Plays in the Appalachian Basin (Province 131) Middle Eocene Intrusive Igneous Rocks of the Central Appalachian Valley and Ridge Province Setting, Chemistry, and Implications for Crustal Structure U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1839-I, J *KSL I I i~.y j T ! "^ <®&^^&tf-':-:.&^^^^^^^ :s^^:^>^; ^^W^^r^^^^^;-V:V-^^;^:il^^^ AVAILABILITY OF BOOKS AND MAPS OF THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Instructions on ordering publications of the U.S. Geological Survey, along with prices of the last offerings, are given in the current-year issues of the monthly catalog "New Publications of the U.S. Geological Survey." Prices of available U.S. Geological Survey publications released prior to the current year are listed in the most recent annual "Price and Availability List." Publications that may be listed in various U.S. Geological Survey catalogs (see back inside cover) but not listed in the most recent annual "Price and Availability List" may be no longer available. 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GRAY, and JOHN F. SUTTER U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1839-1, J EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS-APPALACHIAN BASIN U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BRUCE BABBITT, Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Dallas L. Peck, Director Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1993 For sale by U.S. Geological Survey, Map Distribution, Box 25286, MS 306, Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data de Witt, Wallace, Jr. 1920- Principal oil and gas plays in the Appalachian Basin (Province 131) / by Wallace de Witt, Jr. Middle Eocene intrusive igneous rocks of the central Appala chian Valley and Ridge province setting, chemistry, and implications for crustal structure / by C. Scott Southworth, Karen J. Gray, and John F. S utter. p. cm. (U.S. Geological Survey bulletin ; 1839-l-J) Includes bibliographical references. Supt. of Docs, no.: I 19.3:18391-) 1. Petroleum Geology Appalachian Basin. 2. Natural gas Geology- Appalachian Basin. 3. Geology, Stratigraphic Eocene. 4. Rocks, Igneous Virginia. 5. Rocks, Igneous West Virginia. I. Southworth, C. Scott. Middle Eocene intrusive igneous rocks of the central Appala chian Valley and Ridge province setting, chemistry, and implications for crustral structure. 1992. II. Gray, Karen. III. Sutter, John F. IV. Title. V. Title: Middle Eocene intrusive igneous rocks of the central Appalachian Valley and Ridge province setting, chemistry, and implica tions for crustral structure. VI. Series. QE75.B9 no. 1839-l-J [TN870.5] 557.3 s-dc20 92-20025 [553.2'8'09755] CIP Chapter I Principal Oil and Gas Plays in the Appalachian Basin (Province 131) By WALLACE deWITT, Jr. A discussion of the six remaining principal oil and gas plays in reference to the stratigraphic and structural framework of the Appalachian basin, and a general description of oil and gas productivity of individual plays U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1839 EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS-APPALACHIAN BASIN CONTENTS Abstract II Introduction II Basin Size II Structure 13 Source Beds 13 Thermal Maturation 110 Oil and Gas Migration 110 Depositional History 112 Definition of the Principal Plays 115 Details of the Principal Plays 116 Upper Devonian Sandstone Play 116 Lower Devonian Oriskany Play 119 Lower Silurian Sandstone Play 122 Ordovician Carbonate Shelf Play 126 Upper Cambrian and Lower Ordovician Knox Carbonate Shelf Play 129 Rome Trough Play 132 Virtually Exhausted Plays 134 References Cited 135 FIGURES 1,2. Maps showing: 1. The surface extent of the Appalachian basin 12 2. Locations of some structural features and places mentioned in the text 14 3. Generalized geologic map of the Appalachian basin 16 4. Penetration chart showing age and position of source beds, reservoir rocks, and principal oil and gas plays in the Appalachian basin 17 5. Schematic cross section athwart the Appalachian basin 110 6-13. Maps showing: 6. The structure on top of the autochthonous Precambrian basement complex under the Appalachian basin 111 7. Conodont color alteration index isograds in the Appalachian basin 112 8. The Upper Devonian sandstone play 117 9. The Lower Devonian Oriskany play 120 10. The Lower Silurian sandstone play 123 11. The Ordovician carbonate shelf play 127 12. The Upper Cambrian and Lower Ordovician Knox carbonate shelf play 130 13. The Rome trough play 133 TABLE 1. The relative stratigraphic position of rock units mentioned in the text 18 Contents III EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS-APPALACHIAN BASIN Principal Oil and Gas Plays in the Appalachian Basin (Province 131) By Wallace de Witt, Jr. Abstract source rocks, degree of thermal maturation, and types of reservoir rocks, traps, and seals. Because of the great areal The Appalachian basin is an elongate, asymmetric extent and thick stratigraphic sequence of the Appala foreland basin that is about 230,000 square miles in area. It chian basin, plays tend to be less well delineated in this is more than 1,000 miles long and as much as 350 miles basin than plays in some smaller basins with thinner wide. More than 550,000 cubic miles of Paleozoic rock stratigraphic sequences. ranging in age from Early Cambrian to Early Permian fill the In descending stratigraphic order, the major oil and basin. The basin lies south and east of the cratonic gas plays in the Appalachian basin are the Upper Devonian platform and west of a series of erogenic highlands that sandstone play, the Lower Devonian Oriskany play, the were major sources for much of the basin-filling siliciclas- Lower Silurian sandstone play, the Ordovician carbonate tic sediment. Large tectonic fan-delta complexes, which shelf play, the Upper Cambrian and Lower Ordovician contain abundant coarse-grained siliciclastic reservoir Knox carbonate shelf play, and the Rome trough play. rocks of shallow neritic to fluvial depositional environ ments, are concentrated mainly on the eastern side of the basin. Carbonate rocks are more abundant in the western INTRODUCTION part of the Appalachian basin. Finer grained turbiditic siltstone and sandstone are associated as prodelta reser During much of the Paleozoic Era, the Appalachian voirs for gas and oil. Karstic carbonate reservoir rocks are basin was an elongate active foreland basin west of a series associated with unconformities in the major carbonate of orogenic source areas that were generated by continental strata. Reefs are of lesser importance as reservoirs. Exten collision between the North American continental plate and sive marine shale source rocks rich in organic detritus several other continental plates or associated island arcs. blanketed large segments of the basin during parts of the During the Cambrian and Early Ordovician, the eastern Ordovician and Devonian Periods. Coals and canneloid margin of the North American plate was passive, and Early shales in the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian terrestrial and Middle Cambrian extensional tectonics associated with rocks may have been source beds for oil and gas reser- voired in late Paleozoic rocks. Thermal maturation the opening of an ancestral Atlantic Ocean were dominant. increased in intensity eastward across the basin with Sediments from cratonic sources accumulated in nearshore increasing depth of burial of specific strata. Oil and shallow-water environments in rift and postrift sequences. associated gas occur mainly in the western part of the In the Middle Ordovician and continuing to the close of the basin. Nonassociated dry gas occurs in the central and Paleozoic Era, the continental margin was active, and most eastern parts of the basin, where maturation temperatures of the clastic detritus filling the foreland basin was derived are too high for the existence of oil. Thick sequences of from eastern orogenic source areas. shale, mudrock, or massive carbonate rock appear to be the better reservoir-sealing strata in the basin. As defined for the national assessment of undiscov Basin Size ered recoverable oil and gas resources, a play is a group of rocks and its contained hydrocarbons having the same The Appalachian basin of the petroleum industry, general stratigraphy, structure and tectonic history, Province 131 (Dolton and others, 1981; U.S. Geological Survey and Minerals Management Service, 1988), and as Manuscript approved for publication May 1, 1992. used in this report (fig. 1) includes all or parts of 10 States Principal Oil and Gas Plays in the Appalachian Basin 11 50 100 150 200 MILES 78° 74° 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 KILOMETERS 42' 40 34° Figure 1. The surface extent of the Appalachian basin. and the United States' segments of Lakes Erie and Ontario. where the Plateaus segment melds with the Black Warrior The basin includes about 230,000 mi2 of the Eastern United basin to the west and southwest. The Appalachian Plateaus States from the Canadian border south to central Alabama. segment of the basin includes much of the Appalachian In its present thrust-faulted configuration, the asymmetric Mountains as well as small parts of the Great Lakes plains Appalachian basin is 75 to 350 mi wide and more than or the Eastern Interior lowlands. It lies along the eastern 1,000 mi long. Its most extensive subdivision, the Appala flank of the Cincinnati arch and is bordered on the east by chian Plateaus segment, covers about 135,000 mi2 (fig. 2) the Allegheny Front, a conspicuous east-facing escarpment from Lakes Erie and Ontario south to central Alabama, that extends from New York to Alabama. The Valley and 12 Evolution of Sedimentary Basins Appalachian Basin