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

• Author / Creator

  Balshaw, Kevin Ewart

• 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.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Granite Wash
  • Keg River
  • Stratigraphy
  • Contact Rapids
  • Sedimentology

• Graduation date

  Fall 2010

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3H12VG45

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.