--> Abstract: Growth Strata Analysis of the Cretaceous to Paleogene Potrerillos Formation Adjacent to El Gordo Salt Diapir, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, by D. W. Mercer; #90925 (1999)

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MERCER, DAVID W., New Mexico State University, Dept. of Geological Sciences, Las Cruces, NM

Abstract: Growth Strata Analysis of the Cretaceous to Paleogene Potrerillos Formation Adjacent to El Gordo Salt Diapir, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

The purpose of the project is to study the role of salt diapirism on the stratigraphic architecture and sediment dispersal patterns in the Cretaceous-Paleogene Potrerillos Formation adjacent to El Gordo diapir in La Popa basin, Nuevo Leon Mexico. La Popa basin contains Mesozoic through lower Tertiary, dominantly marine siliciclastic strata penetrated by salt diapirs. Preliminary observations of strata adjacent to the diapirs suggest syndepositional growth of the diapirs in that siliciclastic strata thin toward the diapir, contain progressive unconformities, and locally grade into lenticular carbonates adjacent to the diapir.

Both carbonate and siliciclastic strata of the Potrerillos Formation will be studied with an emphasis on four reefal carbonate horizons. The project will include facies and sequence stratigraphic analysis in conjunction with provenance and paleocurrent interpretation of the siliciclastic strata. Detailed lithofacies and biofacies analysis of the carbonate reef along a diapir proximal to distal depositional profile will be used to determine paleorelief. Correlation of carbonate horizons around the diapir will serve as a datum to study the geometry of growth strata intervals.

El Gordo diapir and the associated strata of the Potrerillos Formation offer an outcrop analog to salt structures commonly visible only in seismic data sets and thus serves as a laboratory to study salt tectonics and the effects on sediment deposition adjacent to a salt diapir. The comparison will lead to better understanding of local controls on stratigraphy by diapirs versus regional influences such as tectonics and eustasy. 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90925©1999 AAPG Foundation Grants-in-Aid