Paleocene-Eocene Drawdown and Refill of the Gulf of Mexico*

Transcription

1 Paleocene-Eocene Drawdown and Refill of the Gulf of Mexico* Joshua Rosenfeld 1 Search and Discovery Article #30455 (2016)** Posted May 16, 2016 *Adapted from oral presentation given at AAPG Geosciences Technology Workshop, Seventh Annual Deepwater and Shelf Reservoir, Houston, Texas, January 26-27, 2016 **Datapages 2016 Serial rights given by author. For all other rights contact author directly. 1 Independent Geologist (jhrosenfeld@gmail.com) Abstract Rosenfeld and Pindell (2002, 2003) hypothesized that Late Paleocene-Early Eocene docking of the northward migrating Caribbean Plate blocked the 200 km strait between the Florida/Bahamas Block and Yucatan, thereby isolating the Gulf of Mexico basin from the world ocean. Within several thousand years, net evaporation in the Gulf lowered its level by about 2,000 meters forming a land bridge across the eastern Gulf that encompassed Yucatan, Florida, Cuba, and the Bahamas. The land bridge was enhanced by isostatic uplift of the basin s margins as sea level dropped. After 1 Ma of isolation, reconnection with the world ocean and energetic refill of the basin cut a deep thalweg between Florida and Cuba. This relatively short duration drawdown explains many phenomena unique to this period of Gulf history, including: the excavation of deep canyons across contemporary continental shelves and slopes: (e.g., Yoakum, St. Landry, Chicontepec, Bejuco-La Laja), many canyons of subaerial aspect cutting the lower continental slopes west of Florida and north of Yucatan, and sinkholes in present day water depth exceeding 1,000 m. the sudden deposition, and equally sudden cessation of a thick and widespread high net sand blanket in the deep Gulf Basin hundreds of kms beyond the contemporaneous shelf edge; salt deposited in the Tertiary Veracruz Basin; and

2 a regional unconformity in the carbonate-dominated eastern Gulf Basin. The drawdown is coeval with, and may have triggered, the worldwide Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) through the release of voluminous methane from destabilized hydrates and breached conventional reservoirs as the water level dropped. The drawdown profoundly affected the petroleum geology of the Gulf of Mexico by deposition of the Wilcox Whopper Sand reservoirs in U.S. and Mexican waters, and porosity enhancement by fresh water infiltration and leaching of Golden Lane Atoll and deep-water carbonates of the Poza Rica and Campeche Sound Trends. Although general acceptance of the Paleocene-Eocene Gulf drawdown has met resistance, recently available bathymetry along the deep western Florida and northeastern Yucatan continental slopes provides convincing evidence in the form of sinkholes and steep-walled canyons. Moreover, detailed study of the Chicontepec Canyon leads to the conclusion that bathyal turbidite deposition was interrupted by subaerial erosion and oil seepage. Selected References Berman, A., and J. Rosenfeld, 2007, A New Depositional Model for the Deepwater Wilcox-Equivalent Whopper Sand: Changing the Paradigm: World Oil, v. 228/6. Bird, D.E., K. Burke, S.A. Hall, and J.F. Casey, 2005, Gulf of Mexico Tectonic History: Hotspot Tracks, Crustal Boundaries, and Early Salt Distribution: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 89, p Blickwede, J.F., M.W. Damm, M.J. DiMarco, E. Dore, B.L. Gouger, J.G. Hawkins, J.W. Hidore, and S. Walden, 2004, The Trident Discovery: Play Opener of the Perdido Foldbelt, Deepwater Northwestern Gulf of Mexico (abstract): American Association of Petroleum Geologists International Conference, Cancun, Mexico, p. A8. Britt, P., 2006, Texas s Grand Canyon of the Eocene: Houston Geological Society Bulletin, v. 48/8, p. 9 and 11. Busch, D.A., and A.S. Govela, 1978, Stratigraphy and Structure of the Chicontepec Turbides, Southeastern Tampico-Misantla Basin, Mexico: AAPG Bulletin, v. 62, p

3 Coogan, A.H., D.G. Bebout, C.M. Maggio, 1972, Depositional Environments and Geologic History of Golden Lane and Poza Rica Trend, An Alternative View: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 56/8, p Cossey, S.P.J., D.V. Nieuwenhuise, J. Davis, J.H. Rosenfeld, and J. Pindell, 2016, Compelling Evidence from Eastern Mexico for a Late Paleocene/Early Eocene Isolation, Drawdown, and Refill of the Gulf of Mexico: Interpretation, v. 4/1, p Galloway, W.E., W.F. Dingus, and R.E. Paige, 1991, Seismic and Depositional Facies of Paleocene-Eocene Wilcox Group Submarine Canyon Fills, Northwest Gulf Coast, U.S.A., in P. Weimer and M.H. Link (eds.), Seismic Facies and Sedimentary Processes of Submarine Fans and Turbidite Systems: Springer Verlag, New York, p Horbury, A.D., S. Hall, F.P. González, D.F. Rodríguez, A.F. Reyes, P.G. Ortiz, M.M. Martínez, and G.R. Quintanilla, 2003, Tectonic Sequence Stratigraphy of the Western Margin of the Gulf of Mexico in the Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic: Less Passive than Previously Imagined, in C. Bartolini, R.T. Buffler, and J.F. Blickwede (eds.), The Circum-Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean: Hydrocarbon Habitats, Basin Formation, and Plate Tectonics: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 79, p Hoyt, W.V., 1959, Erosional Channel in the Middle Wilcox near Yoakum, Lavaca County, Texas: Gulf Coast Association Geological Societies Transactions, v. 9, p Hutson, F., P. Mann, and P. Renne, 1998, 40 Ar/ 39 Ar Dating of Single Muscovite Grains in Jurassic Siliciclastic Rocks (San Cayetano Formation): Constraints on the Paleoposition of Western Cuba: Geology, v. 26, p Marton, G., and R.T. Buffler, 1994, Jurassic Reconstruction of the Gulf of Mexico Basin: International Geology Review, v. 36, p Posamentier, H.W. G.P. Allen, D.P. James and M. Tesson, 1992, Forced Regressions in a Sequence Stratigraphic Framework: Concepts, Examples, and Exploration Significance: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 76, p Rains, D.B., L. Zarra, and D. Meyer, 2007, The Lower Tertiary Wilcox Trend in the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico Wilcox Regional Cross Section: AAPG 2007 Annual Convention, Long Beach, California, Search and Discovery Article #110040

4 (2007). Website accessed May Rosenfeld, J.H., 2014, Paleocene-Eocene Drawdown and Refill of the Gulf of Mexico Concept History and Status (Abstract): GCSSEPM Perkins Conference Proceedings, Houston, TX, p. 24. Rosenfeld, J.H., A.E. Berman, J.F. Blickwede, and L.R. Chaboudy, 2008, Early Paleogene Isolation of the Gulf of Mexico from the World Oceans; Drawdown and Refill (Abstract): Houston Geological Society Bulletin, v. 51/2, p. 13. Rosenfeld, J.H., and J. Pindell, 2003, Early Paleogene Isolation of the Gulf of Mexico from the World s Oceans? Implications for Hydrocarbon Exploration and Eustasy, in C. Bartolini, R.T. Buffler, and J.F. Blickwede (eds.), The Circum-Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean: Hydrocarbon Habitats, Basin Formation, and Plate Tectonics: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 79, p Rosenfeld, J.H. and J. Pindell, 2002, U.S. Gulf s Early Isolation from Ocean Hypothesis for Steep Base Level Fall: Offshore Magazine, International Edition, v. 62/1, p. 26, 28, and 76.

5 Paleocene Eocene Drawdown and Refill of the Gulf of Mexico by Joshua Rosenfeld

6 The Concept: The Gulf was isolated from the world ocean at about the Paleocene-Eocene boundary as the Cuban Arc docked against the Florida/Bahamas Block Subsequently, evaporation lowered the level of the Gulf by some 2,000 meters within several thousand years. Isolation lasted about 1 million years. The Gulf refilled rapidly upon reconnection with the world ocean.

7 Concept History Print References Rosenfeld and Pindell: Offshore Magazine, January 2002 Rosenfeld and Pindell: AAPG Memoir 79, 2003 Berman and Rosenfeld: World Oil Magazine, July, 2007 Berman and Rosenfeld: GCSSEPM Perkins Conf. Proceedings, 2007 Rosenfeld: HGS Bulletin, October, 2008 Rosenfeld: GCSSEPM Perkins Conf. Proceedings, 2014 Cossey et al., in press

8 Beware of the Semmelweis Reflex: The reflex-like rejection of new knowledge because it contradicts entrenched norms, beliefs, or paradigms.

9 Paleocene - Eocene GOM Anomalies Lobo Slide blocks Chattahoochee River unconformity Suwanee Channel / DeSoto Canyon Unconformity & karst In deep water Chicontepec, et.al. paleocanyons Campeche Veracruz Basin calcarenites salt and canyons El Bosque redbeds

10 Actual Bathymetry of the eastern GOM 700 mt 1800 mt 400 mt

11 Isolation Mechanism Suwannee Straits Atlan Ocean Gulf of Mexico Site of Constriction

12 Cuba - Florida Collision LATE CRETACOUS PALEOCENE PALEOCENE / EOCENE Slab separation Adapted from Hutson, Mann and Renne, 1998

13 Climax Drawdown Shoreline LAND

14 Isolation Effects Rapid evaporative drawdown of the Gulf by ~2,000 m. Isostatic + tectonic uplift and land bridge across Florida, Cuba, the Bahamas and Yucatan Extensive slumping of clastic shelf edges and slopes Canyon incision across shelves and slopes Bypass and recycling of sediments into the central Gulf Karsting and fresh water diagenesis of shallow and deep basin carbonates Salt deposition in barred basins (i.e. Veracruz Basin) Massive hydocarbon release from hydrates and breached reservoirs possibly triggering the P/E Thermal Maximum

15 Wilcox section Union Oil Trident well (2001) feet Green zones = oil sands ~400 mts. >70% sand Blickwede et al., 2004

16 Whopper Sand in the Great White well Contemporaneous shelf break 400 mts. Note the sharp base and top = sudden, not gradational changes Berman and Rosenfeld, 2008

17 Wilcox Regional Cross Section AC 857 Great White #1 AC 859 Tobago AC 903 #1 Trident 1 AC 818 Tiger AC 951 Toledo 1 AC 557 BAHA 2 GR 13 mi. 5 mi. 7 mi. 10 mi. 27 mi. 0 KC 681 Sardinia 1 KC 919 Hadrian 1 WR 759 Jack 1 WR 678 St Malo 2 WR 724 Das Bump WR 469 Chinook WR 206 Cascade 0.1 Feet TVD MD mi. 57 mi. 39 mi. 7 mi. 22 mi. 33 mi. 16 mi. 32 mi. 58 mi. AT 63 Champlain #4 AT 336 Showboat 38 mi. 34 mi. 1 A Rains, Zarra & Meyer, B C 1 AT 182 Sturgis DRES 150 Top Wilcox 51.8 DLS (Wilcox 1a) 55.5 SB (Wilcox 1b) AT 574 Neptune #1 3 E 4 F G 57.5 Ma SB (Wilcox 2) 2 Announced Discovery H 58.5 Ma SB (Wilcox 3) Davy Jones Dry hole (non-commercial hydrocarbons encountered Well Log Cross Section 3 I 59.2 Ma SB (Wilcox 4) 0.8 my >1500 m/my Midway 60.0 SB Cretaceous 65.5 SB Whopper Sandstone Sturgis Showboat North Platte Tiber 4 Kaskida BAHA Tucker Sardinia Tobago Diamond Back 600 kms. end-to-end Champlain Great White Trident Tiger Toledo Hadrian St. Malo Jack Tonga Neptune Atlan tis Cascade Chinook Stones Das Bump

18 Deep Water Wilcox Sandstone Trend = Proven sandstone area Yoakum Hardin St. Landry Late Paleocene Shelf Margin Rio Grande Davy Jones Mexican Perdido Bejuco - La Laja Chicontepec Puskón Coatzacoalcos Grijalva - Usumacinta KMZ

19 "Forced Regression" Sequence 15 cm. Successive cannibalization of earlier fans by continual lowering of base level Posamentier et al, 1992

20 Paleocanyons Yoakum Paleocanyon Late Paleocene Shelf Margin Gulf of Mexico From Galloway, Dingus and Paige, 1991

21 Yoakum Paleocanyon ~ 100 kms long 1200 meters deep Cuts across shelf SHELF SHELF From Galloway, Dingus and Paige, 1991

22 Seismic Section Yoakum Paleocanyon P. Britt, HGS Bulletin April, 2006

23 Yoakum Paleocanyon Upper Wilcox Upper Wilcox Massive Sands Shelf Sands 3 Km m. Decompacted Shale fill Shale ~800 mt., Lower Wilcox Shelf Sands V.E. = ~3X From Hoyt, 1959

24 Central Mexico Paleocanyons Bejuco-La Laja Paleocanyon Chicontepec Paleocanyon Tuxpan Platform Youngest subcrop is Paleocene Oldest fill is Eocene Nautla Paleocanyon Adapted from Pemex, 1999

25 Chicontepec Paleocanyon eroded into lithified carbonates Poza Rica Field Cretaceous subcrop Jurassic subcrop Adapted from Busch and Govela, 1978

26 Poza Rica 3D Seismic (Time slice) Sinkholes in Cretaceous deep water carbonates Horbury, 2004

27 Campo Poza Rica Faja de Oro SO NE 1500 mt. From Coogan, Bebout and Maggio, 1972 Adapted from Coogan, Bebout and Maggio, 1972

28 Cerro Azul # 4: February, ,858 bopd 24 degree API TD = 2,000 feet

29 Veracruz Basin is built on Oceanic Crust Salt. ". "0..., VCB From Bird et. al, 2005

30 N Veracruz Basin separated from main GOM by a basaltic transform ridge (Anegada High) Mataespino 101-B well Veracruz Basin Bird et. al, 2005

31 Copied with permission of Pemex Pemex Mataespino-101B 0.0 GAMMA SONIC NEUTRON 's of meters of gray EOCENE shale 30 m. of red-brown saltbearing section (dip corrected) Core is in Veracruz

32 The Southeastern Gulf (Florida and Yucatan margins)

33

34 Erosional Aspect of the Florida and Yucatán Carbonate Escarpments Abyssal Plain >3,000 mts. below sea level Detailed Bathymetry FLORIDA CARBONATE PLATFORM Florida Canyon YUCATAN SLOPE NOTE: No Paleocene/Eocene tectonic activity, topographic relief, nor major rivers.

35 1803 Florida Canyon (depths in meters)

36 Typical minor canyon kms. 1 : 1 2,000 mt. 3,000 mt

37 A: Sinkholes on Florida Slope > 3300

38 Seismic Line Location SF-6B CUBA YUCATAN

39 Seismic Line SF-6B To Cuba 3,000 mt. water depth UK/T Water depth > 3,000 m. Basal Eocene Erosion Surface MCSB From Marton and Buffler, 1999

40 A B Chicxulub Crater

41 Area A Starved margin (no barrier reef) No nearby topographic relief No major surface drainage Lithified K and Paleocene carbonate outcrops Minor post-paleocene pelagic sedimentation Headwall of Chicxulub slide

42 3700 m 1100 m 900 m 20 km 135 m 730 m

43 Area A - detail = sink holes

44 Normal slope canyons: Abundant tributaries at shelf-slope break. Anomalous slope canyons: Abundant tributaries on lower slope

45 Subaerial Relief Analog Area B - NW corner Yucatan slope Death Valley 1,000 m. N

46

47 Comalcalco Basin - a drawdown paleocanyon? Salt present

48 Reconnection with the World Ocean and Refill

49 Breakthrough and Refill Gulf of Mexico Yucatan Slope

50 DSDP Leg 77, 1981 Straits of Florida Site 535 Thalweg cut >800 meters into lithified mid-cretaceous carbonates

51 DSDP Leg 77, Site 535 (site is on the flank of the thalweg)

52 Sinkholes and Erosion in Deep Florida Strait Florida Slope Approx. area of Cuban 3D Bathymetry in meters Shown at Barcelona AAPG, 2005

53 Sinkholes and Erosion in Florida Strait - Cuban 3D S N Water depth~ 2,000 mt. Sinkholes Cretaceous Basinal Carbonates

54 Anomalies that the drawdown explains (Occams s Razor) Sudden start and sudden end of regional sheet sand deposition at least 450 kms outboard of the shelf break. Rapid excavation and backfill of deep canyons across tens of kms of shelf with no tectonic uplift nor global drop in sea level. Erosion (karst and canyons) and fresh water diagenesis of lithified carbonates in the deep basin. Deep thalweg squarely in the Cuba - Florida/Bahamas suture zone. The Suwanee Channel crossing northern Florida (additional refill).