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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database

AAPG Bulletin

Abstract

DOI: 10.1306/08182221123

Difference in Previous HitoverpressureNext Hit environments for the western and central deep-water Previous HitGulfNext Hit of Mexico

Sharon Cornelius1 and Peter A. Emmet2

1Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Houston, Houston, Texas; slcornelius@uh.edu
2Brazos Valley GeoServices, Inc., Cypress, Texas; pete.emmet.53@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Previous results from the central Previous HitGulfNext Hit of Mexico (CGOM) protraction areas of Garden Banks, Green Canyon, Keathley Canyon, and Walker Ridge included calculation of both geopressure and geothermal gradients from 150 wells and produced a new understanding of the geopressure Previous HitdistributionNext Hit within the deep-water CGOM. Disequilibrium compaction is a major component of the overall GOM Previous HitoverpressureNext Hit but is more easily discernible in the interval from the seafloor down to where formation temperatures are >65°C, at which point temperature-based chemical reactions commenced sequentially with rising temperature. These reactions, which usually produce greater quantitative Previous HitoverpressureNext Hit than disequilibrium compaction, include Previous HithydrocarbonNext Hit generation, smectite-to-illite transformation, and sandstone diagenesis. This study has incorporated the western Previous HitGulfNext Hit of Mexico (WGOM) protraction areas of East Breaks, Alaminos Canyon, Corpus Christi, and Port Isabel, where 249 wells were analyzed to verify the CGOM results. The result is that the WGOM is geothermally warmer and considerably underpressured compared to the CGOM. Measured and calculated temperature–pressure pair data points at varying depths within the boreholes were plotted separately for both regions. The Previous HitdistributionNext Hit of the data on each plot is regionally unique. In the CGOM, most Previous HitoverpressureNext Hit was likely created in situ or proximal to its source. In the WGOM, the formations fractured at some point and geopressure escaped. Compressional velocities versus density crossplots were created for four wells, each well representative of a different protraction area, to indicate the source of local Previous HitoverpressureNext Hit.

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