Paluxy Sandstone, East Texas Basin
General Setting
The deposition of the Cretaceous Paluxy Sand in the East Texas Basin occurred during the second phase of the basin's tripartite tectonic development. During this second phase of deposition, the basin experienced steady, slow subsidence. Significantly, it was during this tectonic phase that the growth of salt structures (salt domes, for example) was at its peak (Seni and Kreitler, 1981) and the presence and growth of these structures influenced the deposition of the Paluxy. The isopach map of the Paluxy shows the thinning of the formation over penecontemporaneous salt structures.
In the northern part of the East Texas Basin, the Paluxy consists of interbedded sandstone and shale with minor conglomerates. Toward the south, basinward, the formation grades into dark-gray shales and micritic limestones (Kreitler and others, 1983, after Nichols and others, 1968). The Paluxy Sandstone was deposited in fluvial, deltaic, and offshore environments. Progradation was from the north.
References
Anderson, L. M., 1989, Stratigraphy of the Fredericksburg Group, East Texas Basin: Baylor Geological Studies, Bulletin 47, 40 p.
Caughey, C. A., 1977, Depositional systems in the Paluxy Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Northeast Texas; oil, gas, and groundwater resources: The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, Geological Circular 77-8, 59 p.
Core Laboratories, Inc., 1972, A survey of the subsurface saline water of Texas: Texas Water Development Board, Report 157 (1), 12 p.
Holtz, M. H., 1997, Oil atlas database of major Texas reservoirs: The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, Internal Report.
Jackson, M. P. A., and Seni, S. J., 1984, Atlas of salt domes in the East Texas Basin: The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology Report of Investigations No. 140, 102 p.
Kreitler, C. W., Collins, E. W., Fogg, G. E., Jackson, M., and Seni, S. J., 1983, Hydrogeologic characterization of the saline aquifers, East Texas Basin: implications to nuclear waste storage in East Texas salt domes: The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, report prepared for U.S. Department of Energy under contract no. DE-AC97-80ET46617.
National Imagery and Mapping Agency, 2000, Digital terrain elevation data (DTED Level 0)
Neeley, R. A., 1991, Facies analysis of the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Goodland and lower Kiamichi Formations of Southeast Oklahoma: Shale Shaker, v. 41, no. 5, p. 116–145.
Nichols, P. H., Peterson, G. E., and Wercestner, C. E., 1968, Summary of subsurface geology of northeast Texas, in Beebe, B. W., and Curtis, B. F., eds., Natural gases of North America: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 9, v. 2, p. 982–1004.
Owen, M. T., 1979, The Paluxy sand in north central Texas: Baylor Geological Studies, Bulletin No. 36, 36 p.
Seni, S. J., 1981, Depositional systems of the Lower Cretaceous Paluxy Formation, East Texas Basin, in Kreitler, C. W., Collins, E. W., Davidson, E. D., Jr., Dix, O. R., Donaldson, G. A., Dutton, S. P., Fogg, G. E., Giles, A. B., Harris, D. W., Jackson, M. P. A., Lopez, C. M., McGowen, M. K., Muehlberger, W. R., Pennington, W. D., Seni, S. J., Wood, D. H., and Wuerch, H. V., Geology and geohydrology of the East Texas Basin; a report on the progress of nuclear waste isolation feasibility studies: The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, Geological Circular 81-7, p. 12–20.
Seni, S. J, and Kreitler, C. W, 1981, Evolution of the East Texas Basin, in Kreitler, C. W., Collins, E. W., Davidson, E. D., Jr., Dix, O. R., Donaldson, G. A., Dutton, S. P., Fogg, G. E., Giles, A. B., Harris, D. W., Jackson, M. P. A., Lopez, C. M., McGowen, M. K., Muehlberger, W. R., Pennington, W. D., Seni, S. J., Wood, D. H., and Wuerch, H. V., Geology and geohydrology of the East Texas Basin; a report on the progress of nuclear waste isolation feasibility studies: The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, Geological Circular 81-7, p. 48–52.
Prepared by Ramón H. Treviño.
