Abstract: Depocenter Formation and Distribution on the Texas and Louisiana Shelves, Gulf of Mexico

Joel S. Watkins, Jiebo Xi, Rong Li, Sik Huh, Jie Zhang, Fangjian Xue

Miocene depocenters offshore Texas consist of a number of small bead-like lows located on the downthrown sides of principal growth faults. Individual depocenters form elongate jelly-bean shaped areas when grouped in order of age. The "jelly beans" vary systematically along dip (SE) and along strike (NE), but within each jelly bean there is little evidence of systematic lateral variation of individual depocenters.

Depocenters tend to be located immediately seaward of major growth faults in the Plio-Pleistocene of the Texas and Louisiana shelves as well as most of the Miocene of the Louisiana shelf.

Individual depocenters are similar in size to those of the offshore Texas Miocene. However, faults in the Plio-Pleistocene and Louisiana Miocene tend to be short and irregular in shape. Consequently, depocenter patterns are less distinct and well organized than those in the offshore Texas Miocene. Small scale patterns can be seen offshore Louisiana, and some appear to be related to offset along SE trending transfer faults. Other patterns are enigmatic. Another puzzling depositional feature is the Plio-Pleistocene "hole" along the present-day shelfedge on either side of the Texas-Louisiana boundary. More work is required to understand origins and significance of these patterns.

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