Abstract: Lateral Variations of Subsalt Overpressure Buildup in the Gulf of Mexico

Sarah Malloy, Kenneth Petersen, Ian Lerche, Allen Lowrie

The confining pressure exerted by the prograding Tertiary clastic wedge has caused extensive salt deformation in the Gulf of Mexico. The high rates of lateral salt motion from the Louisiana shelf break to the Sigsbee Escarpment are expected to have significant impact on the dynamic evolution of the surrounding sedimentary formations. The evolution of fluid pressure in supra and subsalt sediments has been modeled in a series of pseudo-wells along a profile intersecting numerous salt sheets and structures offshore Louisiana. Based upon the estimated rates of salt movement, the timing can be determined for insertion/depletion of salt in the sediments as the salt has moved through, and by, sediments on its way basinward. An execution of a series of 1-D fluid/flow compaction m dels has

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90950©1996 AAPG GCAGS 46th Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas