Depositional systems and structural controls of Hackberry sandstone reservoirs in southeast Texas

Deep-water sandstones of the Oligocene-age Hackberry unit of the Frio Formation contain significant quantities of oil and gas remain potentially one of the most productive exploration targets in southeast Texas. The Hackberry is a wedge of sandstone and shale containing bathyal fauna that separates upper Frio barrier-bar-strandplain sandstones from lower Frio neritic shale and sand. Major Hackberry sandstones lie atop a channeled unconformity that forms the base of the unit. Sandstones in a typical sand-rich channel at Port Arthur field grade upward from a basal, confined channel-fill sandstone to more widespread, broad, fan-channel deposits. Topmost are proximal to medial fan deposits and overbank turbidite deposits. The sequence suggests that Hackberry sandstones were laid down by an onlapping submarine canyon-fan complex deposited in canyons that eroded headward into the contemporaneous Frio barrier system. Regional maps and seismic interpretations outline a network of sand-filled channels extending from the barrier toward the southeast.

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