Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1968 Biostratigraphy of the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary in the East Texas Embayment Based on Planktonic Foraminifera. George C. Esker III Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Esker, George C. III, "Biostratigraphy of the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary in the East Texas Embayment Based on Planktonic Foraminifera." (1968). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 1484. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/1484 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. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 69-4467 ESKER, III; George C„ 1940- BIOSTRATIGRAPHY OF THE CRETACEOUS- TERTIARY BOUNDARY IN THE EAST TEXAS EMBAYMENT BASED ON PLANKTONIC FORAMINIFERA. Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Ph.D., 1968 Geology University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan BIOSTRATIGRAPHY OF THE CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY IN THE EAST TEXAS EMBAYMENT BASED ON PLANKTONIC FORAMINIFERA 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 by George C. Esker, III B.A., Washington University, 1962 M.A., Washington University, 1964 August, 1968 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author wishes to express his gratitude to Professor W. A. van,den Bold for all of his time and help given during the course of this study. Thanks are also due to Dr. C. H. Moore, Dr. B. F. Perkins and Dr. H. V. Andersen for all of their aid to the author and to Dr. R. E. Ferrell for his review of the manuscript. The author wishes to express his thanks to Shell Oil Company for supplying all of the well samples and especially to Mr. J. L. Hainer of Shell Oil Company for all of his time and consideration given repeatedly during the course of the study. The author is also indebted to Mr. D. Nugent for' taking the photographs of the species of planktonic foraminifera used in the present work. O’ TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................... ii LIST OF TABLES............................................ v LIST OF F I G U R E S .......................................... vii LIST OF PLATES............................................ viii ABSTRACT.................................. ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ................................. .... 1 II STRATIGRAPHY................................ 2 Introduction ...................................... 2 Taylor group ...................................... 6 Navarro group .................................... 6 Midway group ............................ 11 III REGIONAL STRUCTURAL F E A T U R E S ......................... 14 Introduction ...................................... 14 Sabine Uplift, Rodessa Fault and Mt. Enterprise fault z o n e ............... 14 Grimes-Angelina topographic high ................... 15 Mexia-Talco ....................... 16 Balcones and Luling fault zones ................... 23 IV BIOSTRATIGRAPHY . ........ ' ........................ 25 V CONCLUSIONS .......................................... 28 REFERENCES CITED .......................................... 29 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) PAGE APPENDIX................................ 35 I Systematic paleontology ............................. 36 II Faunal distribution_tables ..................... 69 III P l a t e s ............................... 88 VITA ..................................................... 100 LIST OF TABLES PAGE Table 1 Faunal distribution, Harrison County; Atlantic- Richfield, #1 Isom and Ark-La Gas, #1 J. Davis w e l l s ............................................ 70 Table 2 Faunal distribution, Wood and Van Zandt counties; Bridewell, #1 Coker and Humble, #1 Surratt wells. 71 Table 3 Faunal distribution, Shelby County; Pan American, #1-A Parker and Mallard and Locke, #1 Roller Heirs w e l l s ...................................... 72 Table 4 Faunal distribution, Nacogdoches County; Texas, #1 Strahan and Fain £t al_, #1 Yates w e l l s ........... 73 Table 5 Faunal distribution, Henderson and Anderson counties; Texaco, #1 Brown and Am. Liberty, #1 Gage w e l l s ............................................ 74 Table 6 Faunal distribution, Angelina and Trinity counties; Am. Liberty, #1-B Cameron Heirs and Lucerne, #1 So. Pine Lumber Co. w e l l s ......................... 75 Table 7 Faunal distribution, Newton and Tyler counties; Justice Mears, #1 Lutcher and Moore and Pan American #1 Longbell w e l l s ................................ 76 Table 8 Faunal distribution, Houston and Polk counties; Shell, #1 Darsey and Shell, #1 Alexander wells ........... 77 v vi LIST OF TABLES (continued) PAGE Table 9 Faunal distribution, San Jacinto and Montgomery counties; Humble, #1 Ogletree and Phillips, #A-1 Coal and Coke w e l l s ............................... 78 Table 10 Faunal distribution, Waller and Austin counties; Shell, #1 Chapman and Mitchell, #1 Peschel w e l l s ......... 79 Table 11 Faunal distribution, Bee and De Witt counties; Shell #1 Roessler and Texas Eastern, #1 Garbe wells .... 80 Table 12 Faunal distribution, Lavaca and Milam counties; Mob.i.l.,. .. #1 Spanihel and Placid, #1 Smith wells ............. 81 Table 13 Faunal distribution, Milan and Limestone counties; Walker Creek locality near Cameron and Zephyr, #1 M. Norris w e l l ...................................... 82 Table 14 Faunal distribution, Limestone County, Mobil, #1 Brown we l l ........................................ 83 Table 15 Faunal distribution, Leon County, Daniels, #1 Cox Est. and Christie £t ajL, #1 Gorden w e l l s........... 84 Table 16 Faunal distribution, Leon County, Smith, #1 Busby w e l l .............................................. 85 Table 17 Faunal distribution, Freestone County, Union of Calif., #1 Knight and Brown, #1 Goolsby w e l l s ............. 86 Table 18 Faunal distribution, Freestone County, Conoco, #1 Williams and Humble, #1 Ball w ells................. 87 LIST OF FIGURES PAGE Figure 1 East Texas Embayment at the end of the Cretaceous regional structural features and location map . 3 Figure 2 Stratigraphic relationship of Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in the East Texas Embayment............. 8 Figure 3 Faunal range chart .............................. 10 Figure 4 Electric logs of the Brown, #1 Goolsby and the Union of Calif., #1 Knight wells . 18 Figure 5 Electric logs of the Mobil, #1 Brown and the Zephyr, #1 M Norris w e l l s ................... 19 Figure 6 Electric logs of the Conoco, #1 Williams and the Humble, #1 Ball w e l l s r . 20 vii LIST OF PLATES PLATE 1 Heterohelix glabrans, H. punctulata, H. ultimatumida, Pseudoguembelina costulata, P. palpebra, P. cf- p^lpo-bra, Pseudotextularia deformis , P. elegans, P. intermedia, Racemiguembelina fructicosa, Planoglobulina acervulinoides, •< "“ ______ cars~eyae7 Rugoglobigerina rotundata and R. rugosa. 2 Globotruncana elevata, G. fornicata, gansseri, G. linneiana, (3. orientalis and G. stuarti ................. 3 Guembelitria cretacea, Pseudoguem.belina excolata, Loeblichella coarctata, Globigerinelloides multispina, Archaeoglobigerina blowi, A. cretacea, Rugoglobigerina hexacamerata, R. reicheli, Globotruncana aegyptiaca, G. bulloides, Rugotruncana subpennyi, Globotruncanella havanensis, (3. petaloidea, Globorotalia compressa, G. pseudobulloides, (3. tr inidadensis and Subbotina triloculinoides ........................... ......... 4 Heterohelix globulosa, H. navarroensis, H. planata, striata, Pseudoguembelina kempensis, Planoglobulina multicamerata, Globigerinelloides volutus, Loeblichella hessi, Rugoglobigerina scotti, Globotruncana area, G. contusa, G. nothi, G. sharawnaensis, G. cf. trinidadensis, £• ventricosa, Rugotruncana subcircumnodifer ........... ABSTRACT The biostratigraphic study of the topmost Cretaceous strata in the East Texas Embayment based on planktonic foraminifera, has yielded the following results. The presence of a saddle shaped arch, referred to as the Grimes-Angelina topographic high, which was undergoing erosion during Maastrichtian and Danian times. The topmost preserved Cretaceous along the trend of the topographic high ranges in age from Campanian to mid­ dle Maastrichtian. The existence of active faults at the end of the Cretaceous for portions of the Mexia-Talco fault system, is suggested by the pres­ ence of thick intervals of Midway strata containing reworked Cretaceous fossils located in two separate areas in the vicinity of Freestone and Limestone counties. In addition, at least some minor fault movement in the Mount Enterprise fault system is indicated by the presence of late early Maastrichtian age strata at the top of the Cretaceous in a well in Leon County located just south of a fault. The remainder of the East Texas Embayment appears to have had no major tectonic movements at the end of the Cretaceous. For most of the East Texas Embayment, the age of the topmost Cretaceous strata appears to be late middle Maastrichtian. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The present study of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in the East Texas