The Smackover and lower part of the Buckner Formations (Oxfordian) comprise a thick regressive sedimentary sequence deposited on a Jurassic carbonate ramp. Four major depositional systems are recognized: (1) basinal, (2) low-energy open shelf, (3) high-energy shoal, and (4) sabkha.

Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary sediments in the East Texas Basin have been structurally modified by movement of Middle Jurassic Louann Salt.

Geological investigations in the Texas Panhandle and eastern New Mexico indicate that regional subsurface dissolution of Permian evaporites has occurred and is an ongoing process.

Analysis of seven frames of Landsat imagery covering the Texas Panhandle and adjacent areas revealed linear physiographic features including stream channels, stream valleys, scarps, and aligned playa-lake depressions.

Oakwood Salt Dome in Leon and Freestone Counties, East Texas, is under consideration as a nuclear waste repository.

The third year of research was highlighted by the integration of regional basinal studies with growth histories for specific domes, studies of cap-rock diagenesis and salt deformation, preliminary studies of ground-water flow and geochemistry around Oakwood Dome, and preliminary studies of micros

The Salado-Tansill and Alibates Formations are the youngest evaporite and carbonate facies within a thick Permian sequence of evaporites, carbonates, and red beds in the Texas Panhandle.

Samples collected from 20 geographically widespread wells in the sparsely drilled Palo Duro Basin were analyzed for total organic carbon content (TOC). Highest values of TOC, up to 6.9 percent, occur in Upper Permian San Andres dolomite in the southern part of the basin.

The Neogene Ogallala Formation is an alluvial apron that occurs east of the Rocky Mountains from South Dakota to the Southern High Plains of Texas. The Ogallala was deposited by coalescent, low-gradient, wet alluvial fans that headed in mountains to the west.

The climate of the Texas Panhandle is primarily semiarid continental, exhibiting a pronounced peak in precipitation during the months of May through July.