The Circum-Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean: Hydrocarbon Habitats, Basin Formation and Plate Tectonics

The Circum-Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean has long been one of the world's most important petroleum provinces, as well as one of the world's most geologically complex regions. These two characteristics have resulted in an extensive amount of ongoing research by both industry and academia. AAPG Memoir 79, The Circum-Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, is the first volume in more than a decade to document such a wide range of research on the geology of this vast area. Of the total 44 papers, roughly two-thirds pertain to the Gulf of Mexico, with an emphasis on the Mexican portion of the basin, and to the petroliferous areas of the southern Caribbean, including Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, and Trinidad and Tobago. The remaining papers relate to the Antilles and Central America, as well as a series of papers that address region-wide topics such as plate tectonic evolution. A significant number of papers were contributed by authors from national oil companies and universities from within the region.
Paleokarst in the Marginal Cretaceous Rocks, Gulf of Mexico
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Published:January 01, 2003
Abstract
Some El Abra Formation carbonate reservoirs produce from fractured and brecciated rocks resulting from paleokarstic events.
The western margin of the Gulf of Mexico front of the Sierra Madre Oriental exposes Albian-Cenomanian rocks of the El Abra Formation. In the Actopan Platform, these outcrops allow the study of the paleokarst development in peritidal rocks. Included in the karst are dissolutional, depositional, fracturing, brecciation, and collapse features. Toucasia wackestone beds of restricted-marine lagoonal to intertidal environment overlay the paleokarst.
Similar events also occur in subsurface Albian-Cenomanian carbonate rocks around the Gulf of Mexico: Jordan Knoll (eastern Gulf of Mexico) and San Marcos and Cordoba Platforms (northwestern and western Gulf of Mexico).
Some of the paleokarsted rock intervals have been studied only by space-core samples or by geophysical methods (Jordan Knoll). The Actopan Platform rocks allow an Albian-Cenomanian model to be developed and to be compared to similar rocks around the Gulf of Mexico.