Complete Bouguer and Isostatic Residual Gravity Maps of the Anadarko Basin, Wichita Mountains, and Surrounding Areas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and Colorado

Book excerpt: Complete Bouguer and isostatic residual gravity maps of the Anadarko basin, Wichita Mountains, and surrounding areas in parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and Colorado were compiled using gravity data from 11,023 stations. The most prominent features on these maps are gravity highs over the Amarillo-Wichita and Arbuckle uplifts and the Muenster arch. These highs are assumed to be caused by Late Proterozoic-Cambrian high-density gabbroic and volcanic rocks that are believed to be part of an aulacogen. Other features on the maps include (1) a north-northeast-trending high that may be associated with a southern extension of the Midcontinent gravity high, about one degree of longitude west of the Nemaha uplift, (2) an arcuate gravity high in the southeastern corner of the study area that probably represents the southern margin of the North American continent during the Late Proterozoic, (3) a very large gravity low associated with the Arkoma basin and Ouachita Mountains thrust belt, (4) gravity lows associated with most of the Paleozoic basins in the region, (5) no apparent gravity expression of the Nemaha ridge, and (6) broad gravity highs that are probably caused by dense mafic igneous rocks in the basement. These broad gravity highs and the fact that the gravity low over the Anadarko basin is higher over the deepest part of the basin than in other parts of the basin indicate that many, if not most, of the anomalies are caused by differences in basement rock types and densities.