The Gulf of Mexico Basin

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THE GULF OF MEXICO BASIN

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Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/books/book/chapter-pdf/3733456/9780813754598_frontmatter.pdf by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/books/book/chapter-pdf/3733456/9780813754598_frontmatter.pdf by guest on 29 September 2021 The Geology of North America Volume J

The Gulf of Mexico Basin

Edited by

Amos Salvador Department of Geological Sciences The University of Texas at Austin P.O. Box 7909 Austin, Texas 78713-7909

1991

Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/books/book/chapter-pdf/3733456/9780813754598_frontmatter.pdf by guest on 29 September 2021 Acknowledgment

Publication of this volume, one of the synthesis volumes of The Decade of North American Geology Project series, has been made possible by members and friends of the Geological Society of America, corporations, and government agencies through contributions to the Decade of North American Geology fund of the Geological Society of America Foundation. Following is a list of individuals, corporations, and government agencies giving and/or pledging more than $50,000 in support of the DN AG Project:

Amoco Production Company Pennzoil Exploration and ARCO Exploration Company Production Company Chevron Corporation Phillips Petroleum Company Cities Service Oil and Gas Company Shell Oil Company Diamond Shamrock Exploration Caswell Silver Corporation Standard Oil Production Company Exxon Production Research Company Oryx Energy Company (formerly Getty Oil Company Sun Exploration and Production Gulf Oil Exploration and Production Company) Company Superior Oil Company Paul V. Hoovler Tenneco Oil Company Kennecott Minerals Company Texaco, Inc. Kerr McGee Corporation Union Oil Company of California Marathon Oil Company Union Pacific Corporation and Maxus Energy Corporation its operating companies: McMoRan Oil and Gas Company Union Pacific Resources Company Mobil Oil Corporation Union Pacific Railroad Company Occidental Petroleum Corporation Upland Industries Corporation U.S. Department of Energy

© 1991 by The Geological Society of America, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data All rights reserved. The Gulf of Mexico Basin / edited by Amos Salvador, p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. All materials subject to this copyright and included ISBN 0-8137-5216-7 in this volume may be photocopied for the noncommercial 1. Geology—Mexico, Gulf of. 2. Marine mineral resources—Mexico, purpose of scientific or educational advancement. Gulf of. I. Salvador, Amos. QE71.G48 1986 vol. J Copyright is not claimed on any material prepared [QE350.22.M48] by government employees within the scope of their 557 s—dc20 employment. [551.46W09364] 91-36132 CIP Published by The Geological Society of America, Inc. 3300 Penrose Place, P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, Colorado 80301

Printed in U.S.A.

Front Cover: Part of a relief map of North America showing the Gulf of Mexico region, produced by Johann Baptist Homann (1664-1724), who ranked next in greatness to Mercator among German cartographers. The map is from an atlas published in the early 1700s in Nuremberg, Germany. Reproduced courtesy of the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas at Austin.

10 987654321

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Preface v

Foreword vii

/. Introduction 1 A. Salvador

2. Physiography and bathymetry 13 W. R. Bryant, J. Lugo, C. Cordova, and A. Salvador

3. Structural framework 31 T. E. Ewing

4. The crust under the Gulf of Mexico basin 53 D. S. Sawyer, R. T. Buffler, and R. H. Pilger, Jr.

5. Salt tectonics and listric-normalfaulting 73 T. H. Nelson

6. Igneous activity 91 G. R. Byerly

7. Pre-Triassic 109 R. D. Woods, A. Salvador, and A. E. Miles

8. Triassic-Jurassic 131 A. Salvador

9. Lower Cretaceous 181 E. McFarlan, Jr., and L. S. Menes

10. Upper Cretaceous 205 N. F. Sohl, E. Martinez R., P. Salmeron-Urena, and F. Soto-Jaramillo

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11. Cenozoic 245 W. E. Galloway, D. G. Bebout, W. L. Fisher, J. B. Dunlap, Jr., R. Cabrera-Castro, J. E. Lugo-Rivera, and T. M. Scott

12. Late Quaternary sedimentation 325 J. M. Coleman, H. H. Roberts, and W. R. Bryant

13. Seismic stratigraphy of the deep Gulf of Mexico basin and adjacent margins 353 R. T. Buffler

14. Origin and development of the Gulf of Mexico basin 389 A. Salvador

15. Oil and gas resources 445 R. Nehring

16. Mineral resources and geopressured-geothermal energy 495 S. R. Riggs, S. P. Ellison, Jr., W. L. Fisher, W. E. Galloway, M.L.W. Jackson, and R. A. Morton

17. Groundwater 529 J. M. Sharp, Jr., C. W. Kreitler, and J. Lesser

18. Summary; Current knowledge and unanswered questions 545 A. Salvador

Index 551

Plates (in accompanying slipcase)

Plate 1. Bathymétrie chart, Gulf of Mexico region W. R. Bryant and J. R. Bryant

Plate 2. Principal structural features, Gulf of Mexico basin T. E. Ewing and R. F. Lopez

Plate 3. Structure at the base, and subcrop below, Mesozoic marine section, Gulf of Mexico basin A. Salvador

Plate 4. Natural resources, Gulf of Mexico basin A. Salvador and R. Nehring

Plate 5. Stratigraphie correlation chart, Gulf of Mexico basin A. Salvador and J. M. Quezada Muneton

Plate 6. Cross sections of the Gulf of Mexico basin A. Salvador

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The Geology of North America series has been prepared to mark the Centennial of The Geological Society of America. It represents the cooperative efforts of more than 1,000 individuals from academia, state and federal agencies of many countries, and industry to prepare syntheses that are as current and authoritative as possible about the geology of the North American continent and adjacent oceanic regions. This series is part of the Decade of North American Geology (DNAG) Project, which also includes seven wall maps at a scale of 1:5,000,000 that summarize the geology, tectonics, magnetic and gravity anomaly patterns, regional stress fields, thermal aspects, and seismicity of North America and its surroundings. Together, the synthesis volumes and maps are the first coordinated effort to integrate all available knowledge about the geology and geophysics of a crustal plate on a regional scale. The products of the DNAG Project present the state of knowledge of the geology and geophysics of North America through the 1980s, and they point the way toward work to be done in the decades ahead.

A. R. Palmer General Editor for the volumes published by The Geological Society of America

J. O. Wheeler General Editor for the volumes published by the Geological Survey of Canada

The goal of The Geology of North America series of volumes has been to provide a com• prehensive summary or synthesis of the current geological and geophysical knowledge of the regions or subjects covered by each of the volumes. The volumes are intended not so much for those most familiar with the region or subject, but for a broader audience of earth scientists— geologists and geophysicists from anywhere in the world who want to inform themselves about the geological and geophysical configuration of the North American Plate and its surrounding regions. This volume, covering the Gulf of Mexico basin, was planned with these goals in mind. Assuming that a good number of the readers may not be familiar with the geography of the region, much less with the multitude of structural and stratigraphic terms in common use, efforts were made, with varying degrees of success, to keep geographic and geologic terminol• ogy as simple as possible. Keeping in mind, for instance, that earth scientists unacquainted with the stratigraphy of the Gulf of Mexico basin may be confused when faced with the countless number of group, formation, and member terms used in the area, the stratigraphy of the basin was described whenever possible in terms of internationally recognized chronostratigraphic terms. As further assistance to the unfamiliar reader in this respect, those chapters of this volume that describe the stratigraphy of the basin contain simplified stratigraphic cor• relation charts that show the relation of the local lithostratigraphic units discussed in the volume to the global chronostratigraphic scale. A more detailed stratigraphic correlation chart, Plate 5, is also included in the volume. For the same reasons, an effort was also made to show in the figures and plates of the volume all geographic and structural terms used in the text. Another important goal of this volume, of course, was for it to be useful to the hundreds of geologists and geophysicists working in the Gulf of Mexico basin, in both the United States and Mexico. Even though the space limitations have not permitted discussion of all aspects of the geology of the basin in as much detail as the local geoscientists may have wanted, I am hopeful that by having available in one place a much-needed summary of a wide range of geological and geophysical information on the basin, as well as a review of current thinking about its interpretation, they may find this volume a valuable reference. For this purpose, emphasis was placed during the preparation of the volume on including an extensive list of references on the subject of each chapter, particularly recent, significant, and up-to-date references. This will allow readers interested in particular subjects to enlarge their knowledge and satisfy their need for additional information. The lists of references, in fact, may be one of the most valuable contributions of the volume.

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I also see this volume as more than just a valuable reference and a useful summary or synthesis of what is now known about the geology of the Gulf of Mexico basin. I want to think that it will become the foundation, the point of departure for future geological and geophysical studies on the basin. Some such studies have been suggested in the last chapter of the volume, but many others need to be undertaken in the years to come. The field is certainly wide open for more studies, and I am hopeful that the publication of this volume will provide the encouragement for undertaking them. Future studies no longer need to be based on old, obsolete information or on only partial or limited kinds of information. New and better interpretations and concepts about the geologic history of the basin can now be based on the broader and essentially complete, up-to-date geological and geophysical information that has either been compiled in the chapters of this volume or is contained in the numerous references listed in each of them. This volume should make it possible to readily find the sources for the bulk of the geological and geophysical information on the Gulf of Mexico basin. For this volume to serve as a foundation for future geological and geophysical studies, a concerted effort was made to separate, during its preparation, facts from interpretations. Most chapters are primarily descriptive of the physiography, stratigraphy, and present structure of the basin and of its natural resources. Interpretation of this information is mainly addressed in the chapter that discusses the origin and development of the basin. To attain uniformity and consistency was another of my aims in editing this volume. Nearly all maps, those of the large plates as well as those in the text figures, are on a common projection—Transverse Mercator Projection, with 100° west as the central meridian—the projection to be used in all DNAG (Decade of North American Geology) maps. Good uniformity was also achieved in the terminology of structural features and stratigraphic units. This volume could be considered to have made an important contribution if this terminology will become the accepted standard terminology for the Gulf of Mexico basin where it is not uncommon for structural features and stratigraphic units to have a confusing number of different names. More limited success was achieved concerning uniformity in the dating of some stratigraphic units, particularly those for which the evidence of age is poor or contro• versial. The preferences of the authors were respected in these cases. No major conflicts were experienced in coordinating the information and ideas con• tained in the various chapters of the volume, a remarkable and surprising achievement considering the well-known independence of thought of earth scientists. The volume deals with a single basin, a large basin to be sure, but a simple one in both stratigraphy and present structure; and while theories about its origin varied considerably at one time, there has been in the last few years a trend toward closer agreement on the subject. As more and better information has become available, most of the early differences of opinion seem to have been settled. I am not sure, however, if this is good or bad. The preparation of this volume was not expected to answer all questions or solve all problems concerning the geology of the Gulf of Mexico basin. It did not. I am hopeful, however, that it may serve, as expected, to clarify some problems and answer some questions; support some assumptions, hypotheses, and concepts; and contradict or weaken others. Many unsolved questions remain. Questions concerning the orogenic belts rimming the Gulf of Mexico basin—the Sierra Madre Oriental in Mexico, the Ouachita orogenic belt, the Ouachita Mountains and the Central Mississippi deformed belt in the United States—as well as those about the pre-Mesozoic geologic history of the region that would become the Gulf of Mexico basin, for instance, are far from answered. The orogenic belts, fortunately, are dis• cussed in other volumes of The Geology of North America series; the pre-Mesozoic history is treated briefly in two chapters of this volume, but the limited amount of information about Precambrian and Paleozoic rocks in the Gulf of Mexico basin region allowed only broad generalizations and poorly supported speculations. Debate is very much alive on these sub• jects. As discussed in the last chapter of the volume, many others require considerable further study. The completion of a volume like this would not have been possible without the contribu-

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tions of many individuals and organizations. All, unfortunately, cannot be properly ac• knowledged here. Special recognition is due to the authors of the chapters who devoted so much of their valuable time to make this volume a success. With my thanks to them also go my apologies to those who submitted their contributions promptly, as the delay in completing the volume may make their chapters somewhat outdated. All chapters were read by at least two knowledgeable reviewers. I am most grateful to them for their prompt, valuable, and constructive comments and suggestions; they contributed substantially to the improvement of the volume. Outstanding support was received from academic institutions, government agencies, and industrial organizations. To all of them I express my deep gratitude. The Bureau of Economic Geology of the University of Texas deserves special mention—it contributed authors and information to the preparation of several chapters and provided the drafting of Plates 2 to 6, a major undertaking carried out by Margaret Koenig and John Ames under the able direction of Richard Dillon. Petroleos Mexicanos and the Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo kindly furnished valuable information for the compilation of Plates 2 to 5 and made available a number of their earth scientists for the preparation of several chapters. Arco Oil and Gas Company, Chevron U.S.A., Conoco Inc., Exxon Company U.S.A., Standard Oil Production Company, and Texaco U.S.A. helped defray the cost of the drafting for several chapters of the volume. Richard Piatt, Patrice Porter, and Maria Saenz did the drafting. Several individuals also deserve exceptional recognition: William A. Thomas, one of the editors of neighboring Volume F-2 (The Appalachian-Ouachita Orogen in the United States), made available copies of manuscripts and maps of his volume in advance of their publication and helped in the preparation of this volume in many other ways; Thomas M. Scott, of the Florida Geological Survey, provided much-needed information and advice about the geology of a part of the Gulf of Mexico basin with which I was very poorly acquainted. The patience and good humor of "Pete" Palmer will always be remembered gratefully; without his enthusi• astic encouragement and support, the task of completing this volume would have been much more difficult. It was a real pleasure working with him. Last, but far from least, I want to thank Betty Kurtz, who typed and retyped innumerable manuscripts and letters, shared with me the ups and downs of the preparation of the volume, and cheerfully saw me through the long ordeal.

Amos Salvador Volume editor August 1991