Detailed stratigraphic correlations of the Texas and Louisiana outer continental shelf (OCS) of the Gulf of Mexico have been conducted for the past several years as part of the geological and geophysical effort included in the resource evaluation program.

Part 1 of this study includes the area from Galveston, offshore Texas, to Vermilion, offshore Louisiana. Part 2 will extend down the Texas coast to Port Isabel. Part 3 will extend eastward beyond the Main Pass area. Other parts in the series are contemplated for the eastern gulf and the deep-water areas.

The study area for part 1, Galveston through Vermilion, was selected because it is centrally located and includes portions of most of the productive trends on the federal OCS, and it includes a stratigraphically complex region characterized by the transition from the deltaic sedimentary sequences of the central Gulf of Mexico OCS to the offshore bar facies of the western Gulf of Mexico.

The primary objective of this investigation is to establish a regional stratigraphic correlation grid including all major productive intervals based on electric-log, seismic, and paleontological data. Twenty-five stratigraphic horizons have been identified and regionally correlated.

The correlations of regional markers are presented on both electric-log (geologic) cross sections and on seismic sections that closely parallel the geologic cross sections. The regional markers correlated on the E-logs were projected onto nearby seismic sections and correlated from well to well to verify the accuracy of the electric-log correlations. Time-depth values were calculated from borehole velocity surveys and integrated sonic logs. Approximately 30 electric log and 40 seismic sections have been constructed. Work on part 1 included the detailed analyses of more than 1,500 wells, three-quarters of which had paleontological data, and the interpretation of 12,000 line-mi of seismic data.

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