New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting — Abstracts

Core obtained from the Sulimar Queen Unit #1-16 consists of cyclically interbedded halite, anhydrite, sandstone and siltstone deposited on the northwestern shelf of the Permian Basin during Guadalupian (permian) time. The cored interval contains both the productive Shattuck Member of the Queen Formation and overlying and underlying evaporites. Authigenic minerals found in these rocks include halite, anhydrite, gypsum, quartz, potassium feldspar, and dolomite. Early diagenesis was primarily pore-reducing, and included the precipitation of intergranular and displacive evaporites, as well as formation of euhedral potassium overgrowths and quartz cement. Later events produced secondary porosity through fracturing, dissolution of detrital feldspars and lithic fragments, and dissolution of anhydrite and gypsum cements. Paragenetic relationships indicate that hydrocarbon emplacement may have occurred prior to the formation of some secondary pore space.