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Kansas Geological Survey, Current Research in Earth Sciences, Bulletin 250, part 1
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A New Look at an Old Petroleum Province

Lee C. Gerhard, Kansas Geological Survey, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66047, USA

Summary and citation information available for this article. The complete article is available as an Acrobat PDF file (1.5 MB) as is the associated Preliminary lineament map of Kansas (PDF file, 9.9 MB). You will need the Acrobat PDF Reader, available free from Adobe, to read those two reports.

Abstract

New petroleum paradigms in mature basins can be derived from re-examining geological parameters without bias of preceding theory. Kansas has a long history of oil and gas production with over 300,000 wells drilled. Precambrian basement faults in Kansas control the development of later structures, and probably, reservoirs. This study and re-interpretation of geologic history has identified a possible new play along reverse and thrust faults of the Humboldt Fault Zone along the eastern margin of the Nemaha uplift. This paper also suggests that the lack of significant petroleum production in the Salina basin is the result of migration barriers created by faults at the junction of two major fracture trends, rather than by limited local generation and migration.


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