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Geologic development and characteristics of the continental margins, Gulf of Mexico. Research report, 1983-1986

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6929211
; ;
The continental slope of the Gulf Basin covers more than 500,000 sq km and consists of smooth and gently sloping surfaces, prominent escarpments, knolls, intraslope basins, and submarine canyons and channels. It is an area of extremely diverse topographic and sedimentologic conditions. The slope extends from the shelf break, roughly at the 200 m isobath, to the upper limit of the continental rise, at a depth of 2800 m. The most-complex province in the basin, and the one of most interest to the petroleum industry, is the Texas-Louisiana slope, occupying 120,000 sq km and in which bottom slopes range from < 1 deg to > 20 deg around the knolls and basins. The near-surface geology and topography of the slope are functions of the interplay between episodes of rapid shelf-edge and slope progradation and contemporaneous modification of the depositional sequence by diapirism. Development of discrete depo-centers throughout the Neogene results in rapid shelf-edge progradation, often in excess of 15-20 km/my. This rapid progradation of the shelf edge leads to development of thick wedges of sediment accumulation on the continental slope. Oversteeping, high pore pressures in rapidly deposited soft sediments and changes in eustatic sea level cause subaqueous slope instabilities such as landsliding and debris flows. Large scale features such as shelf edge separation scars and landslide related canyons often results from such processes.
Research Organization:
Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge (USA). Coastal Studies Inst.
OSTI ID:
6929211
Report Number(s):
AD-A-173620/6/XAB; TR-447
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200 -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
&amp; Exploration
03 NATURAL GAS
030200* -- Natural Gas-- Reserves
Geology
&amp; Exploration
ATLANTIC OCEAN
CARIBBEAN SEA
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
CONTINENTAL SLOPE
FEDERAL REGION VI
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GULF OF MEXICO
LOUISIANA
MINERAL RESOURCES
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
NORTH AMERICA
PETROGENESIS
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
PORE PRESSURE
RESOURCES
SALTS
SEAS
SEDIMENTS
SUBMARINE CANYONS
SURFACE WATERS
TEXAS
USA