Date of Award
8-2005
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Program
Geology
Department
Geology and Geophysics
Major Professor
Totten, Matthew
Second Advisor
Serpa, Laura
Third Advisor
Hanan, Mark
Abstract
Clays and clay mineral distribution studies are important for understanding the geological history of the Gulf of Mexico Basin, but few studies document any subsurface clay mineral distribution in the Gulf of Mexico. Shale samples from nine wells (30 samples) in the South Timbalier protraction were selected near known paleontological markers identifying the Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene boundaries. Bulk mineralogy of each sample, determined by XRD, is primarily mixed-layer smectite and illite with a minor amount of kaolinite. The mixed-layer mineralogies are end-member smectite, mixed-layer smectite, mixed-layer illite, and end-member illite. These clay mineral fractions do not correlate with age. The illite mixed layer percentage correlates with depth, but the correlation decreases when depth is converted to temperature. However, the illite mixed layer fraction does not exhibit a strong correlation in this multiwell study when compared to a single well study in Ship Shoal using identical methods (Totten et al., 2002).
Recommended Citation
Dixon, Mark, "Smectite/Illite Distribution and Diagenesis in the South Timbalier Area, Northern Gulf of Mexico" (2005). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 290.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/290
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.