Lithostratigraphy and conodont biostratigraphy of the Upper Boone Group and Mayes Group in the southwestern Ozarks of Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas

Upper Boone Group (Meramecian) and Mayes Group (latest Meramecian-Chesterian) strata exposed across the southwestern Ozarks of northeastern Oklahoma, southwestern Missouri, southeastern Kansas, and northwestern Arkansas serve as important analogs for age-equivalent rocks present in the hydrocarbon-producing subsurface of Oklahoma and Kansas to the west and southwest, and they represent important components in the geologic mosaic of the southern Mid-Continent. Through integration of standard lithostratigraphy, conodont biostratigraphy, and modern sequence stratigraphic concepts, an attempt is made to establish an outcrop-based foundation for continuing geologic research concerning this succession, as well as for its correlation into the subsurface and with other strata across the southern Mid-Continent. In terms of results, important changes in lithostratigraphic nomenclature and organization are proposed, including: (1) replacement of the term "Moorefield" by the Pryor Creek Formation (new name) in the Mayes Group of northeastern Oklahoma, (2) removal of the Tahlequah Limestone from the Mayes Group and its inclusion in the Boone Group, (3) elevation of the Moccasin Bend to formation rank, and (4) inclusion of both the Moccasin Bend Formation and Quapaw Limestone in the Boone Group of Mazzullo et al. (2013). Although most of these revisions are based on basic lithostratigraphic methods, conodont biostratigraphic data was valuable in establishing the genetic relationships between strata and correlation of time-equivalent strata across the study area. Conodont biostratigraphic data also provided the basis for establishing preliminary provincial biozones for the study interval and allowed them to be evaluated within the broader context of southern Mid-Continent geology through time-constrained inter-regional correlations. Evidence in the upper Boone Group suggests these strata record continuation of the depositional style characterizing the Osagean Boone Group and that the syndepositional tectonism was a significant factor during their deposition. In the Mayes Group, detailed stratigraphic evaluation highlights the presence of multiple orders of depositional cyclicity. The implications of both syndepositional tectonism during upper Boone Group deposition and depositional cyclicity within the Mayes Group is that reservoir architecture in the subsurface is much more complex, a result of the influence of depositional controls associated with the onset of Late Paleozoic Glaciation and early phases of Ouachita tectonism