Geologic development and characteristics of continental margins, Gulf of Mexico

Conference · Mon Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1986 · Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6987955

Coleman, J M; Prior, D B; Roberts, H H

The continental slope of the Gulf basin covers more than 500,000 km/sup 2/ 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 km/sup 2/ and in which bottom slopes range from less than 1/sup 0/ to greater than 20/sup 0/ around the knolls and basins. The near-surface geology and topography of the slope is a function of the interplay between episodes of rapid shelf-edge and slope progradation and contemporaneous modification of the depositional sequence by diapirism. Development of discrete depocenters throughout the Neogene results in rapid shelf-edge progradation, often exceeding 15-20 km/m.y. This rapid progradation of the shelf edge leads to development of thick wedges of sediment accumulation on the continental slope. Slope oversteepening, high pore pressures in rapidly deposited soft sediments, and changes in eustatic sea level cause subaqueous slope instabilities such as landslides and debris flows. Large-scale features such as shelf-edge separation scars and landslide-related canyons often result from such processes.

• Research Organization: Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge
• OSTI ID: 6987955
• Report Number(s): CONF-8610199-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) Journal Volume: 70:9
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
ATLANTIC OCEAN
CARIBBEAN SEA
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOLOGY
GULF OF MEXICO
PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
SEAS
SURFACE WATERS