Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1991 Taxonomy and Biostratigraphy of Sabinian Palynomorphs From the Wilcox Group (Paleocene-Eocene Epochs) of Southwestern Louisiana. William Andrew Gregory Jr Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Gregory, William Andrew Jr, "Taxonomy and Biostratigraphy of Sabinian Palynomorphs From the Wilcox Group (Paleocene-Eocene Epochs) of Southwestern Louisiana." (1991). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 5121. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/5121 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. 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Order Niunber 9200064 Taxonomy and biostratigraphy of Sabinian palynomorphs from the Wilcox group (Paleocene-Eocene epochs) of southwestern Louisiana Gregory, William Andrew, Jr., Ph.D. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical Col., 1991 UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Taxonomy and Biostratigraphy of Sabinian Paiynomorphs from the Wilcox Group (Paieocene - Eocene Epochs) of Southwestern Louisiana A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geology and Geophysics by William Andrew Gregory Jr. B.S. University of Rhode island at Kingston, 1983 M.S. Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge, 1987 May, 1991 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work formed a part of a Doctorate of Philosophy Degree program at Louisiana State University. Thanks are expressed to the committee members: Dr. G. Hart, Dr. J. Hazel, Dr. R. Ferrell, Dr. D. Nummedal, Dr. J. Coleman, Department of Geology and Geophysics and Dr. J. Geaghan, Department of Experimental Statistics, for their assistance in this project. Thanks also are expressed to Drs. L. Edwards, from the U.S.G.S., Reston, VA, L. E. Stover, W. 0 . Elsik and R. Harris, retired from Exxon, Houston, TX, for their assistance in taxonomic identifications. The core used in this investigation was provided by Louisiana State University and the University of Southwestern Louisiana. Funding was provided totally by the Basin Research Institute of the School of Geosciences, Louisiana State University. Exxon Co. U.S.A., Headquarters Palynology Laboratory and Amoco Production Research Laboratory kindly prepared many of the palynology slides. All statistical output was generated using procedures available on SAS (Statistical Analysis Systems) at Louisiana State University. DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of Dr. E. (Gene) J. Tynan, a great teacher and mentor who introduced me to the discipline of palynology. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii LIST OF TABLES v LISTOFTEXT-FIGURES vl ABSTRACT viii INTRODUCTION 1 Objectives 1 Wilcox Stratigraphy and Paleogeography 1 Previous Palynologie Investigations 4 Palynofacies Model 8 Lowstand Systems T ract (LST) 10 T ransgressive Systems Tract (TST) 12 Highstand Systems Tract (HST) 14 Location of Study Area and Sampled Inten/als 14 RESULTS 26 Frequency and Diversity of Count Data 26 Ragley Lumber #D1 Well 26 Nebo-Hemphill Wells 40 BIsti Oil Field 40 St. Stephens Quarry 45 Multivariate Analysis 45 Ragley Lumber #D1 45 Analysis of Mean Percent Distributions 55 The Ragley Lumber #D1 Well 55 DISCUSSION 60 Interpretation of Depositional Environment 60 The Ragley Lumber #D1 Well 60 Biostratigraphic Analysis 64 The Ragley Lumber #D1 Well 64 Nebo-Hemphill Wells 69 Interpretation of the Palynofloras within a Sequence Stratigraphie Framewori< 70 The Ragley Lumber #D1 Well 70 The Bisti Oil Field Section 73 The St. Stephens Quarry Section 74 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The Influence of Provenance 75 The Ragley Lumber #D1 Well 75 CONCLUSIONS 76 REFERENCES 80 APPENDIX A-MATERIALS AND METHODS 94 APPENDIX B - DATA 99 Well Data 100 Ragley Lumber #D1 Well 102 Nebo-Hemphill Wells 128 APPENDIX C - SYSTEMATIC PALYNOLOGY 134 PLATES 179 VITAE 234 IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Lithofacies descriptions for the Ragley Lumber #D1 well 7 Table 2. Flow chart of statistical procedures 17 Table 3. Species diversities for the palynomotph groups from the RL #D1 weil 33 Table 4. Sequence stratigraphie interpretations for the RL #D1 well 38 Table 5. Rotated factor loadings for the first 5 factors based on the total data set from the RL #D1 well 5 0 Table 6. Generalized squared distance between groups for the first 5 factors based on the total data set from the RL #D1 well 51 Table 7. Probabilities of group membership derived from the DFA on the total data set from the RL #D1 well 52 Table 8. Rotated factor loadings for the first 4 factors based on the terrigenous data set from the RL #D1 well 54 Table 9. Probabilities of group membership derived from the DFA on the terrigenous data set from the RL #D1 well 56 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LISTOFTEXT-FIGURES Text-Figure 1. Louisiana subsurface stratigraphy 2 Text-Figure 2. Lower Wilcox deltaic systems 3 Text-Figure 3. Middle Wilcox deltaic systems 5 Text-Figure 4. Upper Wilcox deltaic systems 6 Text-Figure 5. Depth and time diagrams of systems tracts 9 Text-Figure 6. Location map for the Ragley Lumber #D1 well 15 Text-Figure 7. Lithostratigraphic column for the Ragley Lumber #D1 well 16 Text-Figure 8. Dip oriented well log cross section 19 Text-Figure 9. Strike oriented well log cross section with sequence stratigraphie interpretations for the RL #D1 well 20 Text-Figure 10. Interpretation of a north-south seismic line 21 Text-Figure 11. Location map for three wells in Nebo-Hemphill Field 22 Text-Figure 12. Location map for the Bisti Oil Field section 23 Text-Figure 13. Sequence stratigraphie interpretations for the Bisti Oil Field section 24 Text-Figure 14. Location map for the St. Stephens Quarry section 25 Text-Figure 15. Sequence stratigraphie interpretations for the St. Stephens Quarry section 27 Text-Figure 16. Plot of percent terrigenous palynomorphs for the RL #D1 well 28 Text-Figure 17. Frequency plots for the terrigenous palynomorphs from the RL#D1 well 29 Text-Figure 18. Plot of marine palynomorph diversity versus depth for the RL#D1 well 31 Text-Figure 19. Plot of terrigenous diversity versus depth for the RL #D1 well 34 Text-Figure 20. Plot of the component groups of terrigenous palynomorphs versus depth for the RL #D1 well 35 Text-Figure 21. Plot of recycled palynomorph frequency versus depth for the RL#D1 well 36 Text-Figure 22. Plot of recycled palynomorph diversity versus depth for the RL#D1 well 37 Text-Figure 23. Frequency plots for the terrigenous palynomorphs from the Kendrick #1 well 41 Text-Figure 24. Frequency plots for the terrigenous palynomorphs from the Ward #1 well 42 VI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Text-Figure