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Gulf Intraslope Basins (GIB) Project

GULF INTRASLOPE BASINS PROJECT (GIB)

Sea-Level Control of Late Quaternary Depositional Facies and Processes in Northern Gulf of Mexico Intraslope Basins

Project Prospectus (.pdf flyer)

Sponsor: Industry Consortium

Principal Investigators:

Hilary C. Olson (University of Texas at Austin, Institute for Geophysics); John E. Damuth (University of Texas at Arlington, Earth Resource and Environment Center); Hans Nelson (University of Granada, Spain)

Project Summary

The northern Gulf of Mexico is one of the best studied hydrocarbon provinces in the world. Despite voluminous studies of the Cenozoic sedimentation and tectonic history and the enormous industrial interest, relatively few studies have focused on the latest Quaternary depositional processes and faunas of the intraslope basins even though these "modern" analogs can potentially provide excellent models for predicting sediment facies and sand-body geometries of more deeply buried productive deposits. A wide variety of very high-resolution data sets (seismics, side-scan sonar, bathymetric swath maps, shallow cores) now exist for intraslope basins and can be utilized to effectively examine the details of Late Quaternary intraslope basin deposits. Integrated analyses of these data sets reveal the details of the depositional features present (e.g. submarine fans; mass-transport deposits; contourite deposits), their architecture (e.g. channels, overbank deposits, lobes, slumps, debris flows, sediment drifts), their depositional processes (turbidity currents, bottom currents, plastic flows, etc.) and, ultimately, their sediment facies distributions (sand vs. shale). In addition, biostratigraphic zonation and biofacies analysis of these deposits permit correlation of sedimentation processes and facies with high-order (4th-6th order cycles) climatic and sea-level cycles. Such correlations have been used to compare depositional features, processes and facies, as well as faunal patterns, with existing sequence-stratigraphic and sea-level models to "ground-truth" existing models and to calibrate them so that they can be more effectively utilized to predict the depositional settings and facies of more deeply buried, prospective intraslope basin deposits. Since 1998 we have conducted a detailed, comprehensive and integrated synthesis of the late Quaternary depositional processes and facies in intraslope basins and documented the influence of sea-level changes on controlling these facies and processes. The research integrates seismic interpretation, sedimentology and biostratigraphy from previously collected seismic data and piston cores. 

For more information on the Gulf Intraslope Basins Project (GIB) at the Institute for Geophysics please contact Hilary Olson or Patty Ganey-Curry.

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