Metamorphic rocks from northwestern Caribbean sea

Pyle, Thomas E.; Meyerhoff, A. A.; Fahlquist, Davis A.; Antoine, John W.; McCrevey, John A.; Jones, Phyllis C.

doi:10.1016/0012-821x(73)90074-5

Cited by 16 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…1963: Kupfer and Godoy, 1967: Anderson. 1968Bonis, 1968;Donnelly st al., 1968: McBirney andBass, 1969;Meyerhoff. 1973).…”

Section: Fault Zonesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Petroleum Geology of Northern Central America

Bishop

1980

Journal of Petroleum Geology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Major reserves of oil exist in the Reforma area of Tabasco and Chiapas states and the Campeche Shelf of SE Mexico in high‐energy, bank‐edge, reef‐derived or reef‐associated carbonate rocks, ranging in age from Late Jurassic to earliest Late Cretaceous. It is the conclusion of this study that the Reforma reservoir facies does not extend into W Guatemala. However, there the potential for major reserves in bank and lagoonal carbonates of similar age is considered excellent. A variety of structures, mostly resulting from salt tectonics, is present. Known reservoir rocks include fractured carbonates with secondary porosity resulting from solution and dolomitization, and limestones with primary intergranular porosity. An indigenous source is likely for the large quantitis of oil which have been tested at Rubelsanto. Seals, in the form of thick intervals of Cretaceous anhydrite and, in places, of Tertiary fine‐grained clastics, are abundant. The area E of Rubelsanto may have considerable merit, particularly if detailed structural analysis indicates that similar salt‐tectonic features are present. The less deeply buried areas of Cretaceous carbonates are not highly regarded because: (1) salt is absent: (2) temperatures sufficient for maturation of hydrocarbons may be lacking: and (3) a considerable number of dry holes with no significant shows has been drilled. N Guatemala is somewhat attractive, because the proper combination of unmetamorphosed Paleozoic organic shale on basement highs, well‐developed Todos Santos sandstone reservoirs, and the overlying thick evaporite seal could trap sizable hydrocarbon accumulations. However, as degree of metamorphism decreases, presumably basinward, distance from source terrain for detritus increases and reservoirs may be inadequate.

show abstract

“…1963: Kupfer and Godoy, 1967: Anderson. 1968Bonis, 1968;Donnelly st al., 1968: McBirney andBass, 1969;Meyerhoff. 1973).…”

Section: Fault Zonesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Petroleum Geology of Northern Central America

Bishop

1980

Journal of Petroleum Geology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Inferred ocean crust beneath the deep western part of the basin appears younger, however, Late Paleocene to Middle Eocene on the basis of heat flow [Epp et al, 1970;Erickson et al, 1972] and depth to basement measurements [Rosencrantz et al, 1989]. In contrast, samples dredged and drilled along the western flank of the basin include metasediments lithologically similar to Paleozoic rocks found at depth across the Yucatan platform [Dillon et al, 1972;Dillon and Vedder, 1973;Deal, 1983; R. P. Rao, personal communication, 1988], with metamorphic textures similar to those identified as Late Cretaceous in age in central and western Cuba [Baie, 1970;Pyle et al, 1973;Vedder et al, 1973;Hatten et al, 1988]. Seismic reflection surveys of the western flank and adjacent deep basin by Dillon and Vedder [1973] and Uchupi [1973] lead both to interpret this margin as representing an old passive rift margin.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structure and tectonics of the Yucatan Basin, caribbean Sea, as determined from seismic reflection studies

Rosencrantz¹

1990

Tectonics

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Yucatan Basin preserves a record of the Late Cretaceous to Paleogene Caribbean‐North American convergent history that is largely unaffected by Neogene strike‐slip tectonics of the current plate boundary. An examination of seismic basement within the Yucatan Basin, based upon available seismic reflection data including extensive multichannel data, shows that the basement comprises nine domains distinguished on the basis of internal reflection character and surface topography. These domains encompass three distinct crustal types or blocks. The first underlies the western flank of the basin and represents the offshore continuation of the adjacent Yucatan platform. The second includes the topographically heterogeneous domains of the eastern two‐thirds of the basin, and is dominated by a subsided volcanic rise or arc (Cayman rise) resting upon probable oceanic crust of pre‐Tertiary age. The eastern edge of the rise and adjacent basins dips northeast beneath the Cuban margin along a sediment filled trench. The third type of crust occupies a rectangular deep within the western third of the basin. Available evidence indicates that this crust is oceanic in character, and represents a large, mature pull‐apart basin set within a wide paleo‐transform zone between the western platform and eastern oceanic basin. This zone defines the northwestern portion of the Caribbean‐North American convergent plate boundary. Paleocene to Middle Eocene transform motion was left‐lateral along north‐south to NNE‐SSW trends, with a displacement of about 350 km. A long Middle Eocene transcurrent fault of about 50 km left‐lateral displacement cuts the basin diagonally from SW to NE and continues onland in Cuba as La Trocha fault. This reconstruction is consistent with known Eocene regional tectonics, but the timing of regional events raises questions about present interpretations of plate geometry in the northwestern Caribbean.

show abstract

“…The Yucatan platform itself is tilted toward the west. with depths to basement along the eatern margin of the Yucatan platform as shallow as 600-700m (Pyle et al, 1973). The depth5 to basement increase to more than 3,0(KIm (Yucatan Nos 4 and 5a wells) and, beneath the Campeche shelf.…”

Section: Tectonicsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Great Carbonate Bank of Yucatán, Southern Mexico

Viniegra-O

1981

Journal of Petroleum Geology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Since 1972, numerous large and giant fields have been discovered in the Reforma area of Chiapas and Tabasco States, southern Mexico, and on the offshore Campeche shelf west of Campeche State. The huge carbonate bank with which these discoveries are associated is called the Great Carbonate Bank of Yucatán. Most of the Reforma fields produce from bank‐edge talus, now largely dolomitized, of Late‐Jurassic and Early‐ to Middle‐Cretaceous ages, and drilling depths to the tops of the reservoirs generally range from 3,800‐4,500m. The offshore discoveries include fields which are productive mainly in bank‐edge talus of Paleocene and Late‐Jurassic ages, and depths to the top of production generally are shallower than onshore‐1,260‐3,500m. The petroleum source materials for the Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Paleocene fields are believed to be mainly in Late‐Jurassic strate, but some Early‐Cretaceous sources cannot be eliminated. Middle‐Cretaceous rocks have not yet been identified beneath the offshore shelf from Tampico (Arenque) to Samaria (A. J. Bermúdez) and Conduacán. Although most of the discovered fields contain mainly oil, some of the fields contain gas and condensate. Some porosity and permeability is primary, and most is secondary‐the result of solution, dolomitization, and intense microfracturing. The original trap for the Late Jurassic‐Middle Creataceous fields appears to have been stratigraphic, but the present traps are mainly fractured and faulted domal salt pillows created during the Laramide orogeny. The basis for the discovery of the fields was the widespread presence on the Yucatán Peninsula, and in the States of Campeche, Chiapas, and Tabasco, of Cretaceous through Tertiary backreef or lagoonal facies‐carbonates, anhydrite, and some halite, The drilling of the Pichucalco well in 1971 for the first time showed that reef and/or bank‐edge facies were present. In addition, more than 200 oil seeps were known in a linear zone along the foot of the Sierra de Chiapas, south of and adjacent to the coastal plain. If one assumes a facies distribution similar to that of the Golden Lane, it can be concluded that an extensive bank‐edge talus deposit should lie gulfward from the lagoonal facies. With this geologic concept in mind, seismic work was commenced, and drilling during 1971–1972 led to the dual discoveries of the Sition Grande and Cactus oil fields in 1972. The first offshore discovery, Chac, was made in 1976. The Great Carbonate Bank of Yucatán is believed to include not just the Yucatán Peninsula, but also a part of coastal Veracruz State, where several discoveries have been made in carbonate rocks of Early‐ to Middle‐Cretaceous ages in thrust sheets along the western margin of the Veracruz basin, which are now buried beneath the coastal plain. It is probable that large, subthrust, anticlinal structures underlie the thrust sheets along the western margin of the Veracruz basin. These, when drilled, may contain important hydrocarbon accumulations.

show abstract

Metamorphic rocks from northwestern Caribbean sea

Cited by 16 publications

References 12 publications

Petroleum Geology of Northern Central America

Petroleum Geology of Northern Central America

Structure and tectonics of the Yucatan Basin, caribbean Sea, as determined from seismic reflection studies

Great Carbonate Bank of Yucatán, Southern Mexico

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About