Stratigraphy and lithofacies of Lisburne Group carbonate rocks (Carboniferous - Permian) in the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska

SEPM Core Workshop Notes
By:  and 
Edited by: David W. Houseknecht

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Abstract

Carbonate rocks of the Lisburne Group (Carboniferous-Permian) occur widely throughout northern Alaska. In the NPRA, seismic mapping and well penetrations show that the Lisburne occurs throughout the subsurface except in northernmost NPRA where it is missing by depositional onlap. Lisburne strata encountered in 11 exploratory wells in the northern part of the NPRA are essentially undeformed, consist of limestone and lesser dolostone, sandstone, siltstone, and shale, encompass a wide array of chiefly shallow-water facies, and range in age from Early Mississippian to Permian. Basins and platforms that formed during Mississippian (and possibly Devonian) time greatly affected depositional patterns of the Lisburne. Total thickness of the Lisburne in northern NPRA wells varies from almost 4000 ft in the Ikpikpuk-Umiat Basin to 300 ft on the north edge of the Fish Creek Platform. Lisburne strata of Mississippian age are found in northeastern NPRA, comprise three subunits (lower limestone, middle dolostone, and upper limestone) and are oldest (Osagean) in the Ikpikpuk-Umiat Basin. All wells that penetrated the Lisburne in northern NPRA encountered rocks of Pennsylvanian age; these intervals are mainly limestone and characterized by decameter-scale shallowing-upward sequences. Lisburne sections of prob-able Early-middle Permian age range from thin (≤60 ft) intervals of dolostone and limestone in the Fish Creek Platform area to thick (500-1000 ft) successions of interbedded limestone and siliciclastic sediment in the Ikpikpuk-Umiat Basin and northwestern NPRA. Abundant non-carbonate detritus, primarily quartz and chert with locally notable plagioclase feldspar and metamorphic lithic clasts, occurs throughout the Lisburne Group in northern NPRA. Per-mian strata and a persistent non-carbonate detrital component are also seen in the Lisburne in subsurface beneath the Chukchi Sea (Hanna Trough) to the northwest, but are not found in Lisburne successions elsewhere in Alaska.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Stratigraphy and lithofacies of Lisburne Group carbonate rocks (Carboniferous - Permian) in the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska
Series title SEPM Core Workshop Notes
DOI 10.2110/cor.01.01.0141
Volume 21
Year Published 2001
Language English
Publisher SEPM
Contributing office(s) Alaska Science Center
Description 16 p.
Larger Work Type Book
Larger Work Subtype Conference publication
Larger Work Title NPRA core workshop: Petroleum plays and systems in the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska
First page 141
Last page 166
Conference Title NPRA Core Workshop: Petroleum Plays and Systems in the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska
Conference Location Denver, CO
Conference Date June 7-8, 2001
Country United States
State Alaska
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