Part 4 - Berg - Hughes Center

Comparative Basin Analysis
The origins of the North Louisiana and Mississippi Interior Salt Basins are
comparable in that the geohistory of these basins is directly linked to the evolution of the
Gulf of Mexico. These basins, which are major negative structural features, are classified
as the interior fracture portion of a margin sag basin of Kingston et al. (1983). The timing
of tectonic events and the nature of the structural styles control the type and size of
petroleum traps formed and the volume of hydrocarbons contained within these traps.
Halokinesis of Jurassic Louann Salt has produced a complex of structural features. The
dominant structural styles are salt-supported anticlines, normal faults, and combination
structural and stratigraphic features. Salt-supported anticlinal and domal structures
include low-relief salt pillows, turtle structures, and deep and shallow piercement domes.
Normal faulting is associated with the northern basin margin and listric down-to-the-
basin faults (state-line fault complex) and faulted salt features. Combination structural
and stratigraphic features include large regional domal structures, such as the Sabine and
Monroe Uplifts.
The main difference in the geohistories of the North Louisiana and the Mississippi
Interior Salt Basins is the elevated heat flow the strata in the North Louisiana Salt Basin
experienced in the Cretaceous due primarily to the reactivation of upward movement,
igneous activity, and erosion associated with the Monroe and Sabine Uplifts. The Jackson
Dome in the Mississippi Interior Salt Basin is a similar phenomenon, but the effects of
this igneous intrusion are on a much lower level geographically.
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