Kansas Geological Survey, Bulletin 165, pt. 4, originally published in 1963

Kansas Basement Rocks Committee Report for 1962 and Additional Precambrian Wells

by Virgil B. Cole, Daniel F. Merriam, and William W. Hambleton

Originally published in 1963 as Kansas Geological Survey Bulletin 165, pt. 4. This is, in general, the original text as published. The information has not been updated. An Acrobat PDF version (1.3 MB) is also available.

Abstract

The Kansas Basement Rocks Committee of the Kansas Geological Society, in cooperation with the State Geological Survey of Kansas, is continuing an active research program on Precambrian basement rocks. A list of 112 wells, in addition to those previously published, that penetrate the buried Precambrian basement in Kansas is presented. The number of wells known to encounter the basement as of December 31, 1962, is about 2,300.

Introduction

Increased interest in the Precambrian basement in recent years has resulted in numerous studies of these rocks which form a rigid, complex "floor" beneath the overlying sedimentary sequence. Since its formation in 1958, the Kansas Basement Rocks Committee of the Kansas Geological Society, in cooperation with the State Geological Survey of Kansas, has been collecting information pertaining to the basement. To date, data on more than 2,300 wells reaching the buried basement have been tabulated and published so that they are readily available. This report is one of the series of such publications.

In addition to tabulating information on wells penetrating the Precambrian basement in Kansas, the Committee is actively collecting well cuttings and cores for analysis and preservation for future study. Selected samples will be studied for information on rock type, magnetic susceptibility, density, and radioactive age dates. These data can then be analyzed to gain understanding of the relations between the surface magnetic and gravity values and the configuration and distribution of basement rocks, to resolve the age of the basement complex, and perhaps to allow grouping of the rocks into meaningful units to help interpretation of their complex history. A knowledge of the basement will also be useful in understanding waves transmitted through the earth and recorded at seismograph stations.

It is possible that undetected mineral deposits of potential commercial value occur in the buried Precambrian rocks of Kansas. Only the closest scrutiny could reveal iron ore such as the Pea Ridge deposit found in Missouri's Precambrian several years ago. For many years, oil has been known to occur in fractures in Precambrian rocks, and it is produced in several fields in the central part of the state on the Central Kansas Uplift. Approximately 0.5 percent of Kansas' cumulative oil production has come from reservoirs in Precambrian rock. Exploration, and especially exploitation, of the Precambrian basement will be difficult, but the potential rewards warrant such investigations.

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the continuing support of the Kansas Geological Society and of the many individuals and companies that have graciously supplied information and samples. A list of Precambrian wells maintained by the Oil and Gas Division of the Kansas Survey, of information reported by Data, Incorporated, was especially useful for checking the list prepared for this report. Miss Sally S. Liggett of the Kansas Geological Survey helped assemble and check the information on the wells.

Projects of the Committee

Several preliminary and progress reports have been issued by members of the committee:

• Wells Drilled Into Precambrian Rock in Kansas, by V. B. Cole, D. F. Merriam, P. C. Franks, W. W. Hambleton, and P. L. Hilpman: Kansas Geol. Survey, Bull. 150, p. 1-169, 1961. [available online]
• Distribution of Precambrian Basement Rock Types in Kansas, by D. F. Merriam, V. B. Cole, and W. W. Hambleton: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists, Bull., v. 45, no. 12, p. 2018-2024, 1961.
• Configuration of Precambrian Basement Rocks in Kansas, by V. B. Cole: Kansas Geol. Survey, Oil and Gas Inv. 26, map, 1962. [available online]
• Progress Report of the Kansas Basement Rocks Committee and Additional Precambrian Wells, by V. B. Cole and D. F. Merriam: Kansas Geol. Survey, Bull. 157, pt. 2, p. 1-11, 1962. [available online]
• History of Precambrian Studies in Kansas, by D. F. Merriam: Kansas Acad. Sci., Trans., v . 65, no. 4, p. 433-447, 1962.

These reports indicate the general nature of the Precambrian rocks, but many aspects of the Kansas basement need to be studied.

Currently, members of the Kansas Basement Rocks Committee are engaged in directing several projects. Petrography and petrology of the. basement rocks are being investigated in some detail. Stratigraphy of beds overlying the Precambrian is being studied. Potassium-argon age dates have been determined for several samples and soon will be reported in print by J. L. Kulp. A bibliography of publications dealing with the Precambrian in Kansas is being compiled. Wells producing from the Precambrian and their production history are being listed.

For ease in handling and updating data, all Precambrian well information is being transcribed to punch cards for processing by high-speed, electronic digital computers. Several projects utilizing electronic data processing are under consideration; preliminary investigations have been generously supported by The University of Kansas Computation Center, R. G. Hetherington, Director.

The task of collecting information is never ending, and donations of cores or cuttings are always gratefully accepted. The information is kept on file in the offices of the Kansas Survey at The University of Kansas, Lawrence, and the data made available to all interested students of Precambrian geology.

List of Precambrian Wells

The following list (Table 1) contains information for each well as to county, company and farm name, location, surface elevation, depth to Precambrian, Precambrian datum, rock type, rock unit on basement, and total depth. The wells are arranged by township and range, west ranges listed first. Information is presented in the same format as that in the earlier publications.

These data have been collected from a variety of sources including electric and radioactivity logs, top cards, drillers logs, sample logs, and logs of the Kansas Sample Log Service. For verification, information was checked from two sources wherever possible. The list includes not only boreholes completed in 1962, but some older wells omitted from the previous lists. Any additions, corrections, or omissions noted should be addressed to the Kansas Survey.

All information has been forwarded to the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Basement Rocks Project Committee, P. T. Flawn, Chairman, and to the basement rocks project of the Advanced Research Projects Agency, W. R. Muehlberger, Director.

Table 1—Additional boreholes drilled to Precambrian rocks in Kansas.

Kansas Geological Survey
Placed on web Dec. 4, 2018; originally published in December 1963.
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