Controls on Early Cretaceous carbonate platform margin development: northeastern Gulf of Mexico

Conference · Fri May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1987 · AAPG (Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol.) Bull.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6210898

Corso, W; Buffler, R T; Austin, Jr, J A

A seismic stratigraphic analysis of approximately 3000 km of multifold reflection data correlated to available geologic information documents the development of an Early Cretaceous carbonate platform margin in the De Soto Canyon area of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. During the Jurassic(.), inferred oceanic and thin transitional crust underlying the Gulf subsided and formed a flexure zone on which the Early Cretaceous margin developed. By the late Aptian to late Albian, two types of margin morphologies evolved in response to different paleogeographic settings. Northwest of De Soto Canyon, a gently dipping accretionary slope morphology formed as a result of its proximity to a terrigenous clastic province. Seawater turbidity and chemistry probably inhibited buildup formation on this leeward margin, thus allowing both carbonate and siliciclastic sediments to be transported from the platform interior to the adjacent slope. Southeast of De Soto Canyon, the carbonate province was cleaner and a steeply dipping bypass slope morphology formed due to the development of robust buildups that probably limited downslope deposition of platform-derived sediments, thereby gradually starving the adjacent basin. Total tectonic subsidence profiles across both types of margin morphologies show steeper gradients associated with the bypass slope morphology, suggesting that differential subsidence rates contributed to the development of the margin's morphology and may reflect the margin's proximity to the oceanic-continental crust boundary. In the late Albian, the platform interior drowned in response to a pronounced fluctuation in short-term eustatic sea level superimposed on a long-term rise. Buildups continued to form at the margin, however, until they drowned in the middle Cenomanian due to another big change in short-term eustatic sea level combined with down-to-basin faulting and the continuing long-term rise.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Texas Institute for Geophysics, Austin
• OSTI ID: 6210898
• Report Number(s): CONF-870606-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: AAPG (Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol.) Bull.; (United States) Journal Volume: 71:5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
ATLANTIC OCEAN
CARBONATE ROCKS
CARIBBEAN SEA
CRETACEOUS PERIOD
DEPOSITION
EXPLORATION
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GULF OF MEXICO
MESOZOIC ERA
MINERAL RESOURCES
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SEAS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SURFACE WATERS
TECTONICS