Abstract
In contrast to the beautiful array of colorful layers and spectacular cliffs of the Triassic and Jurassic (251 to 148 million years ago [Ma]) sections in the San Rafael Swell of east-central Utah, most of the Upper Cretaceous (96 to 86 Ma) Mancos Shale produces a drab, barren landscape. However, lying within the Mancos, the Ferron Sandstone, is the most studied unit in the San Rafael Swell. The Ferron has world-class outcrops of rock layers deposited near the shorelines of a sinking, fluvial- (stream) dominated delta system. Along the west flank of the San Rafael Swell, the 80-mile-long (130 km) Ferron outcrop belt of cliffs and side canyons (e.g., the Coal Cliffs, Molen Reef, and Limestone Cliffs [not actually limestone, just misnamed]) provides a three-dimensional view of vertical and lateral changes in the Ferron’s rock layers (facies and sequence stratigraphy), and, as such, is an excellent model for fluvial-deltaic oil and gas reservoirs worldwide (e.g., Chidsey and others, 2004).
Highlights
In contrast to the beautiful array of colorful layers and spectacular cliffs of the Triassic and Jurassic (251 to 148 million years ago [Ma]) sections in the San Rafael Swell of east-central Utah, most of the Upper Cretaceous (96 to 86 Ma) Mancos Shale produces a drab, barren landscape
Ferron field produces natural gas from the Ferron Sandstone in one of these subsidiary structures northeast of the Ivie Creek area; farther north coalbed methane is produced from Ferron coal seams in a series of major fields (Wood and Chidsey, 2015)
The Mancos Shale is divided into four members along the west flank of the San Rafael Swell, which in ascending order are: Tununk, Ferron Sandstone, lower Blue Gate, and Emery Sandstone
Summary
In contrast to the beautiful array of colorful layers and spectacular cliffs of the Triassic and Jurassic (251 to 148 million years ago [Ma]) sections in the San Rafael Swell of east-central Utah, most of the Upper Cretaceous (96 to 86 Ma) Mancos Shale produces a drab, barren landscape. Along the west flank of the San Rafael Swell (figure 1), the 80-mile-long (130 km) Ferron outcrop belt of cliffs and side canyons (e.g., the Coal Cliffs, Molen Reef, and Limestone Cliffs [not limestone, just misnamed]) provides a three-dimensional view of vertical and lateral changes in the Ferron’s rock layers (facies and sequence stratigraphy), and, as such, is an excellent model for fluvial-deltaic oil and gas reservoirs worldwide (e.g., Chidsey and others, 2004). The Ivie Creek area along the north side of Interstate 70 (I-70) (figure 2), displays spectacular and abrupt changes in two of these regional-scale depositional cycles (“parasequence sets” referred to as Kf-1 and Kf-2 [figure 3]) These cyclic deposits represent the those typically found in a deltaic oil and gas reservoir.
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