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Ambrose, W. A., K. Fouad, S. Sakurai, D. C. Jennette, L. F. Brown Jr., E. H. Guevara, D. B. Dunlap, T. F. Wawrzyniec, S. C. Talukdar, M. A. Garcia, U. H. Romano, H. R. Ruiz, R. C. Hernandez, J. A. Vega, and E. M. Zamora, 2009, Neogene tectonic, stratigraphic, and play framework of the southern Laguna Madre–Tuxpan continental shelf, Gulf of Mexico, in C. Bartolini, and J. R. Roman Ramos, eds., Petroleum systems in the southern Gulf of Mexico: AAPG Memoir 90, p. 477–502.

DOI:10.1306/13191099M903340

Copyright copy2009 by The American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

Reprinted from AAPG Bulletin, v. 89, no. 6, (June 2005), pp. 725-751.

Neogene Tectonic, Stratigraphic, and Play Framework of the Southern Laguna Madre–Tuxpan Continental Shelf, Gulf of Mexico

William A. Ambrose,1 Khaled Fouad,2 Shinichi Sakurai,3 David C. Jennette,4 L. F. Brown Jr.,5 Edgar H. Guevara,6 Dallas B. Dunlap,7 Tim F. Wawrzyniec,8 Suhas C. Talukdar,9 Mario Aranda Garcia,10 Ulises Hernandez Romano,11 Hector Ruiz Ruiz,12 Ramon Cardenas Hernandez,13 Juan Alvarado Vega,14 Eduardo Macias Zamora15

1Bureau of Economic Geology, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
2Bureau of Economic Geology, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
3Bureau of Economic Geology, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
4Bureau of Economic Geology, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
5Bureau of Economic Geology, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
6Bureau of Economic Geology, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
7Bureau of Economic Geology, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
8Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
9Consultant The Woodlands, Texas
10Petroleos Mexicanos Exploracion y Produccion, Edificio de Exploracion Int. Campo Pemex (Anexo al Activo de Prod. Poza Rica) Poza Rica, Veracruz, Mexico
11Petroleos Mexicanos Exploracion y Produccion, Edificio de Exploracion Int. Campo Pemex (Anexo al Activo de Prod. Poza Rica) Poza Rica, Veracruz, Mexico
12Petroleos Mexicanos Exploracion y Produccion, Edificio de Exploracion Int. Campo Pemex (Anexo al Activo de Prod. Poza Rica) Poza Rica, Veracruz, Mexico
13Petroleos Mexicanos Exploracion y Produccion, Edificio de Exploracion Int. Campo Pemex (Anexo al Activo de Prod. Poza Rica) Poza Rica, Veracruz, Mexico
14Petroleos Mexicanos Exploracion y Produccion, Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico
15Petroleos Mexicanos Exploracion y Produccion, Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Bureau of Economic Geology, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, acknowledges support of this research by Landmark Graphics Corporation via the Landmark University Grant Program. Partial support for this publication was received from the John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences and the Geology of Foundation of the University of Texas at Austin.

This report was funded by Petroleos Mexicanos Exploracion y Produccion under Contract No. PEP-RN-RDIE-072/02-P. The Bureau of Economic Geology appreciates the opportunity to contribute to Petroleos Mexicanos' assessment of the hydrocarbon resources of the southern Laguna Madre–Tuxpan continental shelf and the continuous help and project participation by management and geoscientists of the Coordinacion de Exploracion at Poza Rica and the Asset Office at Tampico. Significant coordination between Petroleos Mexicanos and the Bureau of Economic Geology was facilitated by Luis Sanchez-Barreda.

The manuscript benefited greatly from the reviews of Robert M. Mitchum, William E. Galloway, Paul Post, and Eric Potter. Manuscript editing was by Lana Dieterich. Pat Alfano prepared the illustrations under the direction of Joel Lardon, manager, Media Information Technology. Publication was authorized by the director of the Bureau of Economic Geology.

ABSTRACT

Neogene shelf, slope, canyon, and slope-to-basin-floor transition plays in the southern Laguna Madre–Tuxpan (LM-T) continental shelf reflect a variety of structural and stratigraphic controls, including gravity sliding and extension, compression, salt evacuation, and lowstand canyon and fan systems. The Neogene in the LM-T area was deposited along narrow shelves associated with a tectonically active coast affected by significant uplift and erosion of carbonate and volcanic terrains. This study characterizes 4 structurally defined trends and 32 Neogene plays in a more than 50,000-km2 (19,300-mi2) area linking the Veracruz and Burgos basins.

The Canonero trend in the southern part of the LM-T area contains deep-seated basement faults caused by Laramide compression. Many of these faults are directly linked to the interpreted Mesozoic source rocks, providing potential pathways for vertically migrating hydrocarbons. In contrast, the Lankahuasa trend, north of the Canonero trend, contains listric faults, which detach into a shallow horizon. This trend is associated with thick Pliocene shelf depocenters. The dominant plays in the Faja de Oro–Nayade trend in the central part of the LM-T area contain thick lower and middle Miocene successions of steeply dipping slope deposits, reflecting significant uplift and erosion of the carbonate Tuxpan platform. These slope plays consist of narrow channel-fill and levee sandstones encased in siltstones and mudstones. Plays in the north end of the LM-T area, in the southern part of the Burgos basin, contain intensely deformed strata linked to salt and shale diapirism. Outer-shelf, slope, and proximal basin-floor plays in the Lamprea trend are internally complex and contain muddy debris-flow and slump deposits.

Risk factors and the relative importance of play elements vary greatly among LM-T plays. Reservoir quality is a critical limiting play element in many plays, especially those in the Canonero trend directly downdip from the trans-Mexican volcanic belt, as well as carbonate-rich slope plays adjacent to the Tuxpan platform. In contrast, trap and source are low-risk play elements in the LM-T area because of the abundance of large three-way and four-way closures and the widespread distribution of organic-rich Upper Jurassic Tithonian-age source rock. The potential for hydrocarbon migration in LM-T plays is a function of the distribution of deep-seated faults inferred to intersect the primary Mesozoic source. Their distribution is problematic for the Lankahuasa trend, where listric faults sole out into the Paleocene. Seal is poorly documented for LM-T plays, although the presence of overpressured zones and thick bathyal shales is favorable for seal development in middle and lower Miocene basin and slope plays.

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