424 OIL AND GAS FIELDS IN THE CRETACEOUS BEDS OF ALABAMA Possible Oil and Gas Fields in the Cretaceous Beds of Alabama BY DORSEY HAGER, * TULf\A, OKI,A. (New York Meeting, February, 1918) Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/59/01/424/2176944/spe-918424-g.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 THE possibility of oil and gas production in Alabama has been little considered as yet. Gas and some oil have been found in northwestern Alabama, near Birmingham, in the Pennsylvanian beds, but the oil and gas possibilities in the Cretaceous beds are not generally appreciated. The recent activity of oil companies in that State has attracted much attention, and in this paper the main structural and the general strati­ graphic features are described. :Four favorable areas are outlined. These contain folds of major interest. 'there are other favorable areas which have not been mapped,l Commercial pools discovered in this area would have the advantage of being near tidewater. Mobile, Ala., on the Gulf of Mexico, would be the logical site for refineries and shipping facilities. A pipe line could readily be laid to that city from the Hatchitigbee and the Jackson areas. The logical outlet for the Geneva and the Gordon areas would be Panama City, ma., on the Gulf of Mexico. TOPOGRAPHY The whole of the area under consideration lies in the Gulf coastal· plain and slopes gently to the southwest and west. The elevations vary from 200 to 400 ft. (60 to 121 m.) above sea level. The streams have . sunk their channels into this gently sloping plain, the main drainage flowing south or southwest into tho Gulf of Mexico. Between the * Petroleum Geologist and Engineer, 1 The writer owes acknowledgments to: Eugene Smith, of the Geological Survey of Alabama, who described the Hatchetig. bee anticline in Water Resources of Alabama, whose general r~sum6 on the stratigmphy of Alabama has been used extensively. Lloyd William Stephenson, whose Professional Paper 81, U. S. Geological Survey, "Cretaceous Deposits of the Eastern Gulf Region," has been freely used for his descriptions and correlations. Lee Hager, of Houston, Tex., who first called the writer's attention to the Hatchi· tigbee anticline, and mapped the fold 10 years ago. Wm. C. Spooner and J. R. Jillson, geologists in the employ of the firm of which the writer is a member, who made the reconnaissance surveys of the Jackson, Geneva, and Gordon folds. Field work was commenced in June, 1916, and eompleted in July, 1917. DORSEY HAGER 425 streams are found remnants of.this plain, constituting the hills of the area. The relief varies from a few feet up to 150 ft. in certain parts. The country is generally covered by timber. STRATIGRAPHY The thickness in the generalized sections presented must be considered largely as estimates, especially the thicknesses of the underlying Cre­ taceous beds, as no wells have been drilled deep enough to give good type sections. The Cretaceous sections mentioned were secured at the outcrop Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/59/01/424/2176944/spe-918424-g.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 nnd in water wells at shallow depths. }Lway from the old shoreline of the Cretaceous, it is very likely that the beds thicken southward. The comparative relations in Table 3 show the general correlation of the Louisiana and the Alabama formations. TABLE L-Generalized Geologic Section of We8tern Alabama ThiCk-I' Geologic Age··1 Group I Format'ion Name I ness, Character I Ft. Pliocene­ I I Lafayette 25 Gravel, sands, clays Pleistocene 1-----1 - ------ , Lower Miocene I I Grand Gulf 50 I Soft sandstones and ,clays ~,:wer Oligocene -----1 St. Stephens lime- -300 II Unusually soft limestone, . stone. easily cut with saw --------------- --------- --- - Claiborne /Gosport greensand 30 I Glauconitic sandS, . Lisbon ·U5 Calcareous clays and sandy clay . I Tallahatta buhr- 400 I Aluminous sandstones and stone siliceous clays ------------1- I Hatchetigbee 175 Sandy clays and cross- bedded sands Chickasaw Bashi 80 Sands and clays. Fossil- Eocene I (Wilcox) iferous green sand Tuscahoma 140 Gray and yellow cross- I. bedded sands _ _~~~~~~lia ___ 200 Siliceous clays _____ Naheola 150 Gray sandy clays. Glau- 1 conitic clays Midway Sucarnochee clay 100 I Dark-brown clay -------- ----- Clayton --I50 I Impure limestone I Ripley 300 Calcareous and siliceous sands Splma chalk 1 Upper 950 Argillaceous limestones Eutaw sands 500 Glauconitic sands, cross­ Cretaceous bedded Tuscaloosa 1 1,000 I Irregular bedded sands, I clays, and gravels . 426 OIL AND. GAS FIELDS IN THE CRETACEOUS BEDS OF ALABAMA TABLE 2.-Generalized Geologic Section oj Eastern Alabama ThiOk-1 ___GeOIO_gi_O A_g_e_-7-- _____--'I,----F_o_r_m,"t!on Name I' nF~~' Character Pliocene­ i Lafay-~t:--- I }50 II River terrace sands and Pleistocene ____1 _______1' ___ gravels ____~_ Lower Miocene 'iGrand Gulf 50 Argillaceous Aluminous fine white sands, clays -----------------1 Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/59/01/424/2176944/spe-918424-g.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 Lower Oligocene St. Stephens II 90 \Siliccous limestone and gray- 1 ,1---' blue sands _ --------i-C-la-I·-b-o-rn-e--I , LisbonGosport greensand 1 } 150 Gl aUCOlll't' IC san d s TaUahatta buhr-I 200, Calcareous sandstones, f08- stone 'sil.iferous Eocene i i Hatchetigbee I ~ Limestones and clays Chickasaw i Bashi I 80 Sands and clays 1 (Wilcox) Tuscahoma 175 Gray and yellow sandstones I Nanafalia ~,~,JSandY clays, fossiliferous IMidway Clayton i 200 i Limestones, fossiliferous ---------1------ Ripley kooo I-BlUe_gray calcareous sands and yellow calcareous hard 1 l sandstones Eutaw I 150 Yellow green sands, clays, Upper I I cap of phosphatic calcare­ Cretaceous ous sand and rotten lime­ I stone Tuscaloosa: 150 Purple, gray, red laminated clay, ¥ariegated colored sands, chert pebbles II I TABLE a.-Comparative Geologic Section Geologic Age I Alabama Louisiana· ----------------------- Calibome groUp ......... " .. \ Claiborne group Eocene Wilcox group ................ 1 Wilcox formation Midway group .............. Midway formation . { Arkadelphia clay Ripley formatIOn... .. Nacotoch sand (gas sand) ----------------- --,-_._------------ Marlbrook marl Upper Cretaceous Selma chalk............... "1 Ann,ona chalk IBrownstown marl Eutaw formation .....•....•. Eagle Ford clay Tuscaloosa formation ....... , Woodbine forma.tion (Caddo oil horizon) DORSEY HAGER 427 A study of the Tertiary formations from Louisiana to Alabama shows that these formations preserve their main characteristics, though pre­ senting many variations in thickness. The Cretaceous, on the pther hand, sho:ws numerous changes in the character of the formation. J Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/59/01/424/2176944/spe-918424-g.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 GEOtOGIO S~ETGH MAP of ALABAMA Showing pro&pecl"ive area~ favorable for. oil aod gas accumutatlon. Legend. ~ v ~t~ Stewns L.ime~!g~ !l QIJ Jj Glaibor" { GO Gh<k,,,. IWil~\ &Midr'Y' lTI RIII;Y ~ SeM8;! I Serna 0 elk E [EJ <:>{ Eutaw Sand s ~ Tuscaloosa Formation 'CIJ Osrhonifenftls i 1~,o·1 I Pre..(;arbQt1if'e~o~s ! HafGhed area' showing prosp~tivt pools; \ f- H8tchitigbe~ ! florida I Nebil. '2.·Jackson 3-6eneva A.- 6ordon ,<I- Oil ar gas shows~ Hager Bates Il;Kemp. ~GUlf OF MEXIGO Tulsa Okla. FIG. 1. The larger portion of the area is unconformably overlain by the Grand Gulf formation, and all of the area by the Lafayette formation, of post-Tertiary age. These formations consist of thin-bedded and massive clays of varying colors, interstratified with sands, the latter in many places indurated or hardened to form sandstones. The St. Stephens limestone constitutes the uppermost member of the Eocene in 428 OIL AND GAS FIELDS IN THE CRETACEOUS BEDS OF ALABAMA this area, and is the equivalent, in part, of the Vicksburg and, in part, of the Jackson limestone in Mississippi. In Alabama, it is difficult to differentiate these two formations. The limestones show many varia­ tions, being in some cases hard, almost crystalline, and of a variety of colors. Commonly the rock is soft, easily cut with an ax or saw, and is popularly known as "chimney rock." This formation has a thickness of between 200 and 300 ft. (60 and 91 m.), and is fossiliferous at certain horizons. Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/59/01/424/2176944/spe-918424-g.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 The Gosport greensand is a highly glauconitic sand, about 30 ft. (9 m.) in thickness, and is characteristic in this area. This sand abounds in characteristic fossils and is a reliable horizon marker all the way across the State. The Lisbon formation comes below the Gosport sand and has a thickness of about 115 ft. (35 m.), consisting of calcareous clayey sands and sandy clays, generally fossiliferous. In the western part of the. State, the most prominent rocks of the Tallahatta buhrstone forma­ tion are argillaceous sandstones and siliceous claystones, always poor in fossils. To the east, the clays decrease and the rocks become calcareous and richer in fossils. This formation varies from 400 ft. thick in the western part of the State to 200 ft. in the eastern part. All these forma­ tions belong to the Claiborne group of the Eocene. The Wilcox group is made up of Hatchetigbee, Bashi, Tuscahoma, and Nanafalia formations. The Hatchetigbee is the uppermost formation of the group and consists of about 175 ft. (53 m.) of brown, purple, and gray laminated sandy clay and cross-bedded sands, abounding in fossils. This formation extends to the east and maintains its characteristics. The Bashi formation, about 80 ft. (24 m.) thick, is composed of sands and clays. It is distinguished by a bed of highly fossiliferous greensand, with associated beds of lignite immediately below it.