The Ogallala aquifer, which underlies the Southern High Plains, consists of the saturated sediments of the Neogene Ogallala Formation. The aquifer is the main source of water for the High Plains of Texas and New Mexico and is being severely depleted by extensive pumpage for irrigation.

More than 350 well logs and core and production data were used to geologically characterize oil reservoirs of the Driver waterflood unit of the Spraberry Trend in the Midland Basin, West Texas, and to assess the relationship between reservoir stratigraphy and oil recovery.

Cretaceous rocks in the Southern High Plains, traditionally considered to be part of the High Plains aquifer and recharged by the overlying Ogallala aquifer, actually contain three aquifers with different recharge sources. Two separate subcrop areas of Cretaceous rocks underlie the Ogallala Formation.

Pervasively dolomitized, anhydritic carbonates of the upper San Andres Formation in the Emma field of West Texas constitute an upward-shallowing sequence of lithofacies representing four major depositional environments. Open Platform fusulinid packstone/wackestone and burrowed wackestone form the base of the sequence.

The manner in which sedimentary overburden accumulates significantly influences the growth of syndepositional salt structures.