REFINING THE SYN-TECTONIC DIAGENETIC AND STRUCTURAL HISTORY OF THE ARBUCKLE MOUNTAINS

The Arbuckle Mountains (OK) consist of an inverted aulacogen uplifted during the Arbuckle Orogeny. They expose reservoir rocks from the Anadarko Basin, one of the most prolific oil and gas reserves in North America. This belt is affected by a long lasting and complicated tectonic history, and related fluid-flow. Based on stable and radiogenic isotope techniques, previous studies have attempted to explain the diagenetic history of the Arbuckle Mountains. The results from these previous studies suggest that the diagenetic history was structurally controlled by fault systems, though we believe the tectonic evolution of this massif is not fully resolved yet.

In order to document the different tectonic phases affecting the Arbuckle Mountains and their absolute timing, we conducted a detailed field-based structural analysis coupled with in-situ U-Pb analyses on fault related carbonate veins by LA-ICP-MS. In addition, we performed O and C isotope analyses on carbonate veins and their host rock to document the diagenetic alteration related to each recorded tectonic event.

Our results demonstrate that the Arbuckle Mountains anticline is affected by at least 3 distinct tectonic events: the main shortening event (D1) related to the Arbuckle Orogeny, an extensional event (D2), and strike-slip event (D3). U-Pb dating work is still in progress, but the preliminary data suggest that the D1 event lasted until the Permian. Finally, based on the integration of the whole dataset, a tectonic-related diagenetic model will be discussed.