USING ADVANCED ROCK TYPING TO CREATE DIAGENETIC MODELS IN CARBONATE FACIES, OWL MOUNTAIN PROVINCE, CENTRAL TEXAS

The Owl Mountain Province is a plateaued karst landscape located within the Lampasas Cut Plain, the northern extension of the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas. The province is located in the northeastern portion of the Fort Hood Military Installation, and is characterized by carbonate units from the Lower Cretaceous Fredericksburg Group, primarily the Edwards and Comanche Peak formations. The Edwards is exposed across the tops of the plateaus, with interbedded Edwards and Comanche Peak limestone and marl exposed along the steep scarps of incised valleys. In the study area, the units are comprised primarily of carbonate grainstone, packstone, wackestone, and mudstone facies associated with rudist bioherms and complex mound structures. These facies were deposited in shallow, restricted waters on the Comanche Shelf to the north and west of the main Stuart City Shelf Margin trend on the western flank of the Belton High.

The purpose of this study was to characterize thin section samples from the Owl Mountain region using traditional optical microscopy tools and Advanced Rock Typing using AI software. Fifteen thin sections were described with an optical microscope including mineralogy, fossil assemblages, and diagenetic features. These same thin sections were then examined using Advanced Rock Typing and Rapid Software provided by CoreLab. The thin sections were then submitted into an artificial intelligence (AI) model where the machine used learning technology to analyze and characterize the optical mineralogy properties and identify fossils from its database. The results from both data sets were used to create a microfacies analysis and diagenetic model of the depositional environment of the Owl Mountain Province carbonates.