Abstract
Laminated lime mudstones of the lower member of the Jurassic Smackover Formation are significant source rocks for crude oil across Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The source facies was deposited in an anoxic and perhaps hypersaline environment that preserved algal-derived kerogen. The distribution of kerogen along laminations of depositional origin and along stylolites of diagenetic origin resulted in efficient expulsion of crude oil. With increasing thermal maturity, crude oil initially emplaced in reservoirs was cracked to yield gas condensate and then methane rich in nonhydrocarbon gases such as hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen. Early destruction of methane was driven by thermochemical sulfate reduction. The thermal maturity framework of the Smackover rend explains the distribution of hydrocarbon discoveries and suggests areas previously overlooked by exploration.
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