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Houston Geological SocietyAcademic Liaison Committee
1
HGS Academic LiaisonPresentation Archives
Extreme Paleocene - Eocene Sea Level Fluctuation(s) in the Gulf of Mexico:A Hypothesis
Part IIIc: Effects of Re-connection
Josh Rosenfeld and Jim PindellCerro Azul #4 blow-out, Veracruz, Mexico February 1916
Houston Geological SocietyAcademic Liaison Committee
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Sierra de Chiapas – El Bosque Fm.
Houston Geological SocietyAcademic Liaison Committee
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“Eocene” Unconformity - Veracruz Foldbelt
Houston Geological SocietyAcademic Liaison Committee
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Sierra de Chiapas – El Bosque Fm.
Houston Geological SocietyAcademic Liaison Committee
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Sierra de Chiapas – El Bosque Fm.
Houston Geological SocietyAcademic Liaison Committee
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Sierra de Chiapas – El Bosque Fm.
Houston Geological SocietyAcademic Liaison Committee
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What about Eocene salt (?)
• Evaporation > 90% required to precipitate salt.(carbonates/gypsum volumetrically minor)
• NaCl in sea water ~ 35,000 ppm by weight.
• Total evaporation of a 3000 meter seawater column yields ± 48 meters of halite. Thick saltdeposits require renewed seawater influx.
• It is unlikely that salt accumulated, except perhaps in the central Gulf.
• Any thin salt deposits would have been subjectto dissolution upon refilling of Gulf.
Houston Geological SocietyAcademic Liaison Committee
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Lower Tertiary Source Rocks
Houston Geological SocietyAcademic Liaison Committee
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Lower Tertiary Source Rocks; in Point Coupe and St Landry Parishes, LA
Data From Sassen and Chinn, 1990
Fm. Age Depth Range TOC% HI____
Sparta M. Eocene 11,163 – 11,526 1.3 – 8.1 198-843(4 wells)
Wilcox L. Eocene 13,137 – 14,276 1.5 – 5.2 134-364(3 wells)
Houston Geological SocietyAcademic Liaison Committee
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Lower Tertiary Source Rocks in the Amoco MC-84 Well
From Wagner, Sofer and Claxton, 1994
Hyper-saline or Condensed Section??
Depth TOC% HI Amorph. Ker.%
14,645’ 3.05 541 60
14,650’ 2.69 468 60
14,810’ 3.30 536 90
Houston Geological SocietyAcademic Liaison Committee
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Some Conclusions
• There was at least one major G.O.M. drawdown in the Early Eocene.
• There is a large paleocanyon under the Rio Grande in the Vicksburg Embayment.
• Wilcox sands should be widespread in the deep Gulf…(Deltaic? Neritic?)
• Everyone is invited to play!!!