Abstract: The Structural Evolution of the Golden Lane Area, Mexico

By

H. Hugh Wilson

The discovery well for the Old Golden Lane was drilled in 1908. Follow-up wells quickly defined a buried Cretaceous carbonate ridge.

This narrow buried ridge was interpreted as a structural feature with some crossing faults. As drilling proceeded, an alternate interpretation emerged in 1923 describing the carbonate ridge as a huge buried Cretaceous reef. The reef concept quickly gained favor and was reinforced by subsequent drilling results which defined the Tamabra fore-reef apron on the west and lagoonal back-reef evaporites on the east.

Continued drilling revealed the New Golden Lane and then the Marine Golden Lane offshore which joined the Old and New Golden Lanes to form the Middle Cretaceous Golden Lane Atoll. However, geological investigation suggests that this popular concept of the nature of the Golden Lane is erroneous and its application as an analog for exploration may be very misleading.

Interpretations of the Golden Lane "Atoll" generally are supported by illustrations of present day geometry and attempts to unravel its structural history have been discouraged by the lack of reliable time stratigraphic control of the varying Cretaceous and Tertiary facies. Furthermore, seismic data quality is adversely affected by fracturing and injection of numerous Neogene dikes and plugs.

Paleostructural reconstructions on an Oligocene datum show that the present day Golden Lane is an inverted Oligocene syncline which plunged westward Strong positive features present to the east in Oligocene time collapsed in the Neogene as the Gulf basin developed. The east side of the "Atoll" is a Neogene fault contact.

In late Cretaceous time strong positives were present north and south of the Golden Lane and at least one east-west horst block was uplifted north of Poza Rica.

Paleontological data show that much of the El Abra and Tamabra carbonates are of late Cretaceous age. The presence of bentonite intervals in the El Abra of the Golden Lane and the Tamabra also suggest a late Cretaceous age by reference to both local and regional volcanogenic history.

Age relationships in the Cretaceous are confused by fossil reworking. The presence of Jurassic detritus in the Tamabra casts doubt on its Golden Lane provenance.

Tectofacies, volcanicity, unconformities and structural growth indicate an active structural environment during the late Cretaceous which lends more support to a structural than passive carbonate build-up interpretation for the Golden Lane.

Late Cretaceous and Tertiary structural history in the Tampico embayment also point to an active, probable extensional tectonic evolution of the southwestern Gulf of Mexico during that period rather than the post-Jurassic quiescence interpreted from seismic-stratigraphic studies.

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