Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

426

Date

2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Earth Sciences

Concentration

Geology

Committee Chair

Randel T. Cox

Committee Member

David N Lumsden

Committee Member

George H. Swihart

Abstract

Initial rifting that opened the Gulf of Mexico is poorly understood. No Triassic or Jurassic rocks crop out in the northern Gulf coastal plain so the geologic history of the area is sparsely documented. In this study we examine the subsurface of Drew County, Arkansas. Drew County is north of the Luann Salt and at the edge of the North American craton. Drew County lies over a Triassic rift system that represents the opening of the Gulf. We produced interpreted seismic profiles, structural contour and isopachous maps, and cross-sections of the subsurface. Data show a NW-SE striking, 24 to 40 kilometers wide graben. The structure was created during the Triassic before rifting moved south. Cretaceous uplift by igneous activity created an angular unconformity. There is evidence for graben reactivation into the Eocene. The structure under Drew County is a good example of the early stages of continental rifting.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

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