Eastern Section

The northern deep-water Gulf of Mexico is one of the most active deep-water petroleum provinces in the world. This paper introduces the regional geologic setting for the northern deep-water Gulf of Mexico and briefly discusses the importance of technology in developing the area’s resources.

The 86 fields and discoveries in the central Mississippi Canyon, Atwater Valley, western DeSoto Canyon, and Lloyd Ridge protraction areas are summarized with production characteristics and representative seismic profiles and wire-line logs. Three trap styles are recognized: four-way closure, three-way closure, and stratigraphic.

The structural history of the Mississippi Canyon, Atwater Valley, western DeSoto, and western Lloyd Ridge protraction areas in the northeastern deep-water Gulf of Mexico is of a basin influenced by complex salt tectonics that controlled the formation of intraslope minibasins and sediment distribution.

The structural framework and evolution from the Middle Jurassic to the present of the Mississippi Canyon, Atwater Valley, western DeSoto Canyon, and western Lloyd Ridge protraction areas consist of a complex history influenced by basement fabric, multiple stages of salt movement, and gravitational gliding.