Elkton Anticline (New)

Location

T2S, R4W, Washington County (I-4)

References

None

Description

The Elkton Anticline is a north-trending structural high containing two separate areas of closure, as mapped on the Beech Creek ("Barlow") Limestone (ISGS open files). It is named for the nearby village and the oil fields developed on the structure. The anticline plunges at both ends and is about 6.5 miles (10.5 km) long and 1.5 miles (2.5 km) wide. Maximum closure on the Beech Creek is about 65 feet (20 m) on the northern high, near the center of Section 17, and 55 feet (17 m) on the southern high in Section 32. Stevenson et al. (1981) showed closure on their map (contour interval 100 feet, 30.5 m) with a single contour line around both highs on the base of the New Albany Group (Devonian-Mississippian). The Elkton and Elkton North Oil Fields are producing from Devonian strata on the structure.

The Elkton Anticline is on the southern Sparta Shelf, where the regional dip is eastward at approximately 40 feet per mile (less than 1/2°). Many neighboring domes are products of draping and differential compaction across Silurian reefs, but no evidence of reef development has been found in Silurian rocks on the Elkton Anticline (S.T. Whitaker, ISGS, personal communication 1987).