148-7 Palynostratigraphy of the Upper Strawn Group in the Eastern Shelf of the Permian Basin, Texas

Session: Insights from Microfossils and Their Modern Analogs: From Traditional to Emerging Approaches (Posters)

Poster Booth No.: 194

Presenting Author:

Osayamen Imarhiagbe

Authors:

Imarhiagbe, Osayamen Julius¹, Zobaa, Mohamed K.², Flaig, Peter P.³, Hattori, Kelly E.⁴, Carr, David L.⁵, Johnson, Isabel⁶, Dejarnett, Beverly⁷

(1) Geosciences, University of Texas Permian Basin, Odessa, Texas, USA, (2) Geosciences, UT-Permian Basin - Geosciences, Odessa, TX, USA, (3) Jackson School of Geosciences, Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas - Austin, Austin, TX, USA, (4) Jackson School of Geosciences, Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas - Austin, Austin, TX, USA, (5) Jackson School of Geosciences, Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin,, Austin, TX, USA, (6) Jackson School of Geosciences, Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas - Austin, Austin, Texas, USA, (7) Jackson School of Geosciences, Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas - Austin, Austin, Texas, USA,

Abstract:

Detailed palynostratigraphic analysis was carried out for the Taubert and Steed Burnett SB Y22-A core recovered from the Pennsylvanian Upper Strawn Group, Eastern Shelf of the Permian Basin, Texas to constraint its age. Although the Strawn is a prolific oil and gas reservoir, few published biostratigraphic studies exist that employ palynomorph assemblages. The Taubert and Steed core is 328 feet long and preserves the uppermost sequence of the Upper Strawn in the Anne Tandy Field of King County. The Strawn in this core is comprised of mixed siliciclastic and carbonate deposits. Sandstones with herringbone cross-stratification and heterolithic, thinly bedded siltstones and mudstones indicate significant tidal influence whereas the carbonates consist of low energy shelf marls as well as occasional thin, sharp based beds of crinoid, coral and bryozoan fragments that are interpreted as storm event beds on the carbonate shelf.

This study focuses on key miospore species identified from 18 samples to refine the age of the Upper Strawn in this area of King County. Identifiable species include Deltoidospora spp., Lycospora pellucida, Microreticulatisporites nobilis, Punctatisporites spp., Raistrickia saetosa, Verrucosisporites nitidus, Densosporites variabilis​, Laevigatosporites medius, Peppersites ellipticus, Phillipsites tenuis, Pilosisporites dimorphus, Pityosporites sp., Potonieisporites elegans, Quasillinites diversiformis, Reticulatisporites reticulatus, Reticulitriletes clatriformis, Savitrisporites majus​, Schulzospora rara, Wilsonites vesicatus, Calamospora parva, and Thysanites densus which in range in age from Late Devonian to Permian. Lycospora pellucida is a widely recognized index fossil for the Late Mississippian to Early–Middle Pennsylvanian in the United States. Lycospora pellucida defines the Lycospora pellucida Zone that spans from the Chesterian (∼326 Ma) to the Morrowan (∼318 Ma) stages and extends to the top of the Desmoinesian (∼306 Ma) and has been used to mark the Mississippian–Pennsylvanian boundary in North American chronostratigraphic frameworks. Quasillinites diversiformis, Thysanites densus, and Peppersites ellipticus mostly have an Atokan upper age limit in North America with minor records that extend to the early Desmoinesian. The presence of these species combined with the occurrence of Lycospora pellucida along with Punctatisporites spp. and Laevigatosporites strongly suggests an Atokan (Bashkirian)–Desmoinesian (Moscovian) age for the Upper Strawn Group in the Taubert and Steed Burnett SB Y22-A core.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-9538

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