(Begin page 1743)
AAPG Bulletin, V.
Cenozoic depositional history of the 
Gulf
of Mexico basin
Gulf of Mexico basinWilliam E. Galloway,1 Patricia E.
Ganey-Curry,2 Xiang Li,3
Richard T. Buffler4
1Department of Geological Sciences C1100, University of Texas
at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712; email: [email protected]
2Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin, 4412 Spicewood
Springs Rd., Bldg. 600, Austin, Texas 787598500
3Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin, 4412 Spicewood
Springs Rd., Bldg. 600, Austin, Texas 787598500. Current address: MapInfo Canada,
Inc., 305 Milner Ave., Scarborough, Ontario, M1B 3V4, Canada
4Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin, 4412 Spicewood
Springs Rd., Bldg. 600, Austin, Texas 787598500
AUTHORS
William Galloway holds a B.S. degree from Texas A&M
University and a Ph.D. in geological sciences from the University of Texas at Austin. He
is currently the Morgan Davis Centennial Professor of Petroleum Geology, Department of
Geological Sciences, and a senior research scientist, Institute for Geophysics, at the
University of Texas at Austin. He has researched the Cenozoic depositional systems of the
Gulf basin for the past 30 years.
Patricia E. Ganey-Curry received a B.S. degree in marine biology
from Texas A&M University and is the project coordinator/data manager for the
Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin. She joined the Institute for
Geophysics in 1978, where she has been industry liaison for numerous oil industry funded
programs. She has served as project manager for the Gulf Basin Depositional Synthesis
Project for the past five years.
Xiang Li received his Ph.D. from the China University of Geosciences, Beijing. His geological specialties include sedimentology and stratigraphy, and he is a geographic information system/ArcInfo specialist. He served as a research fellow at the Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin, and is now employed by Corel Corporation in Ottawa, Canada.
Richard T. Buffler received his Ph.D. in geology from the
University of California-Berkeley in 1967. He worked for Shell Oil Company and the
University of Alaska before joining the University of Texas at Austin in 1975, where he is
now a senior research scientist with the Institute for Geophysics and professor with the
Department of Geological Sciences. His primary research focus for the past 25 years has
been the geologic history of the Gulf of Mexico basin.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank the corporate sponsors of the Gulf Basin Depositional Synthesis
project: AGIP Petroleum Co., Inc.; Amoco Production; Anadarko Petroleum Corporation; BHP
Petroleum Inc.; Burlington Resources; Conoco Inc.; Elf Exploration, Inc.; Exxon
Exploration Company; Marathon Oil Company; Mobil Exploration and Producing US, Inc.;
Norsk-Hydro ASA; Oryx Energy; Pemex Exploracion y Produccion; Phillips Petroleum Company;
Texaco USA; TOTAL Exploration Production USA, Inc.; Union Oil Company of California; and
Vastar Resources. Arthur Waterman of Paleo-Data, Inc. was extremely helpful in providing
paleontologic data used in correlation and dating of sequences. Michael Smith (MMS) helped
in OCS log acquisition. Maps were prepared by David Dunbar. Gwenith Watson and Jeffry
Horowitz drafted the figures. Research assistant Peter Able aided map compilation and
prepared the bibliography. Reviewer Bill Devlin provided thoughtful suggestions that
greatly improved the manuscript. Reviewers Steve Cossey and Brad Prather provided further
useful comments. This article is UTIG contribution no. 1492.
ABSTRACT
A Geographic Information System (GIS) database incorporating
information from 241 publications, theses, and dissertations; well logs and paleontologic
reports; and interpreted University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG) deep-basin
seismic lines was used to map and interpret 18 basinwide genetic stratigraphic sequences
that form the Gulf of Mexico basin Cenozoic fill. Eight principal extrabasinal fluvial
axes provided the bulk of the sediment infill in the basin. First-order temporal and
spatial use of these axes reflects four continent-scale phases of crustal uplift. Abundant
sediment supply has prograded the northern and northwestern basin margin 150 to 180 mi
(240 to 290 km) from its inherited Cretaceous position. Margin outbuilding has been
locally and briefly interrupted by hypersubsidence due to salt withdrawal and mass
wasting. Three depositional systems tracts characterize Cenozoic genetic sequences: (1)
fluvial --> delta --> delta-fed apron, (2) coastal plain --> shore zone -->
shelf --> shelf-fed apron, and (3) delta flank --> submarine fan. One or more
examples of the fluvial --> delta --> delta-fed apron systems tract occur in each of
the major genetic sequences. Immense volumes of sand have bypassed the shelf margin to be
deposited in slope and base-of-slope systems, primarily within fluvial --> delta -->
delta-fed apron system tracts, during all major Paleogene and Neogene depositional
episodes. Deposition and preservation of volumetrically significant coastal plain -->
shore zone --> shelf --> shelf-fed apron tracts is typical of Paleogene through
Miocene depositional episodes only. Fan system origin was commonly associated with major
continental margin failures, but large submarine canyons occur mainly in Pleistocene
sequences. Thick, potential reservoir sand bodies occur in offlapping delta-fed slope and
subjacent basin floor aprons, in autochthonous slope aprons and related infills of slide
scars and canyon cuts, and in submarine fans.
