--> ABSTRACT: Pliocene Trend in the Deep-Water, Garden Banks Area of the Gulf of Mexico, by Barbara J. Bascle, Nancy Shepard, Phil Smith; #91020 (1995).

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Pliocene Trend in the Deep-Water, Garden Banks Area of the Gulf of Mexico

Barbara J. Bascle, Nancy Shepard, Phil Smith

Garden Banks Block 568, OCS G-12662, Well Number 1 is the southernmost well in the Garden Banks area to penetrate Pliocene sediments. The well encountered 3,790 feet of Pliocene sediments before reaching salt at 15,090 feet. This Pliocene section has a total 550 feet net of water-wet, fair-to-good, reservoir-quality sands. Individual sands range from a few feet to a hundred feet thick. Log character indicates sand deposition in a slope fan complex, with sands typically appearing as sharp-based and fining-upward.

The Garden Banks Block 568 area is in the Flexure Production trend, which is characterized by intense salt diapirism. Salt structures include shallow, geographically extensive ridges and shallow, isolated piercement diapirs. Interdomal basins contain thick accumulations of Pliocene and younger sediments. The analyses of wells and seismic data from the Garden Banks area yield a structural-features map illustrating prospective areas for Pliocene sand deposition. These depocenters are ranked from low to high for Pliocene sand accumulation and hydrocarbon potential based on well control, thickness of stratigraphic section, reasonable drilling depth, and structural control.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91020©1995 AAPG Annual Convention, Houston, Texas, May 5-8, 1995