Sedimentology and stratigraphy of the Granite Wash: Contact Rapids and Keg River Sandstone (Red Earth area)

Abstract

The Granite Wash is comprised of diachronous, Cambrian to Devonian sandstone deposits, which include the Devonian Contact Rapids and Keg River sandstones of which this study will focus. Prolific oil production from the Granite Wash has fueled exploration since the 1950s and as a result substantial core and wireline data is available. Mapping of the Precambrian subcrop suggests that palaeo-highs, known as inselbergs, strongly influenced sedimentation transport, volume, rate, and ultimately preservation after marine transgression. Several distinct surfaces identified from wireline data and cores indicate an overall marine transgression throughout Keg River time. The facies observed represent continental, shallow marine and sabkha environments and a climatic shift from arid to semi-arid to arid. This detailed sedimentological and stratigraphic study provided the depositional framework that allowed for palaeogeographic maps to be constructed.