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Abstract

DOI: 10.1306/09011609112

Structural setting and evolution of the Mensa and Thunder Horse intraslope basins, northern deep-water Gulf of Mexico: A case study

Paul Weimer,1 Renaud Bouroullec,2 Aaron A. van den Berg,3 Todd G. Lapinski,4 John G. Roesink,5 and James Adson6

1Energy and Applied Minerals Research Center, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309; [email protected]
2Energy and Applied Minerals Research Center, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309; present address: Petroleum Geosciences, TNO, Princetonlaan 6, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands; [email protected]
3Energy and Applied Minerals Research Center, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309; present address: Anadarko Petroleum, 1201 Lake Robbins Drive, The Woodlands, Texas 77380; [email protected]
4Energy and Applied Minerals Research Center, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309; present address: BP Exploration, 501 West Lake Parkway, Houston, Texas 77079; [email protected]
5Energy and Applied Minerals Research Center, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309; present address: Jagged Peak Energy, 1125 17th Street, Suite 2400, Denver, Colorado 80202; [email protected]
6Energy and Applied Minerals Research Center, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309; present address: Level Three Communications, 1025 Eldorado Boulevard, Broomfield, Colorado 80021; [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The Mensa and Thunder Horse intraslope minibasins in south-central Mississippi Canyon, northern deep-water Gulf of Mexico, had a linked structural evolution from the Early Cretaceous through the late Miocene. Analysis of the two minibasins illustrates the complexities of deep-water sedimentation and salt tectonics in intraslope minibasins. This study is based on the integration of a 378-mi2 (979-km2) three-dimensional seismic data set, wire-line logs, and biostratigraphic data.

These two minibasins comprise several structural features that affected their geologic evolution: basement faults, autochthonous salt, three allochthonous salt systems (top Barremian, top Cretaceous, and Neogene), a growth fault and raft system, three major turtle structures with associated extensive crestal faults, and strike-slip faults. Remnant allochthonous salt pillows are present above the 125 Ma horizon (approximate top Barremian system) and on the 66 Ma horizon (top Cretaceous system) throughout the Mensa minibasin, whereas the top Cretaceous allochthonous salt system is identified regionally by a salt weld in the Thunder Horse area. These allochthonous salt systems formed weld surfaces beneath the Mensa and Thunder Horse turtle structures.

Structural features and associated minibasins evolved during several discrete intervals. From the Early Cretaceous through the latest Oligocene (125 to 24 Ma), an extensive allochthonous salt canopy was present within the Mensa and Thunder Horse minibasins. During this interval, sediments loaded the salt, forming thin wedge- and sheet-form deposits in the Mensa area and a thick, northwest-trending trough in the Thunder Horse area. A secondary allochthonous salt system extruded at the Top Cretaceous level, as seen by remnant salt bodies. Salt withdrawal from these allochthonous salt systems provided accommodation for bowl- and trough-shaped external stratigraphic forms to develop during the Miocene. High sedimentation rates produced salt evacuation from these allochthonous salt systems and initiated diapirism that formed the Neogene allochthonous salt level. The prominent turtle structures in the two minibasins, critical to the formation of traps to the two major fields, developed at slightly different times: Thunder Horse at 14.35 and Mensa at 11.4 Ma.

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