ABSTRACT

The area described embraces the coastal plain and continental shelf between Texas and peninsular Florida, and includes the Mississippi Embayment. The stratigraphic section includes sediments of all ages from Triassic to Holocene; its maximum composite thickness probably exceeds 80,000 feet, but only about 50,000 feet of Mesozoic-Cenozoic sediments are present at any locality, in the deepest part of the Gulf Coast Geosycline. Oil and gas are currently produced in numerous fields in this area from both silicate clastics and carbonate rocks of Jurassic, Cretaceous, Tertiary, and Quaternary ages. The sedimentation history clearly indicates that the potential for future discoveries is great.

The structure and stratigraphy of this richly petroliferous basin are described and the possibility of discovering more oil and gas than has been found is pointed out. Thickness, lithology, and depositional environments of each major division of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic are shown on maps and sections.