A Deterministic Evaluation of eismic Fidelity using Velocity Modeling ...
A Deterministic Evaluation of eismic Fidelity using Velocity Modeling ...
A Deterministic Evaluation of eismic Fidelity using Velocity Modeling ...
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The Gulf <strong>of</strong> Mexico Basin contains Upper Triassic to Holocene sediments. Modifying<br />
the Upper Triassic to Holocene sediments are second-order structural elements such as<br />
arches and uplifts. Upper Triassic to Holocene sediments forms an unconformity with<br />
the pre-Triassic basement. The understanding <strong>of</strong> this contact is poor because <strong>of</strong> a lack <strong>of</strong><br />
outcrops around the basin and little drilling information from within the basin.<br />
Geophysical data indicates that sediments overlying an oceanic-type crust reach depths <strong>of</strong><br />
12-16km. The basement is also composed <strong>of</strong> transitional crust, rifted and stretched<br />
continental crust, and continental crust composed <strong>of</strong> a variety <strong>of</strong> igneous, metamorphic<br />
and sedimentary rocks. Documentation <strong>of</strong> basin formation from the late Paleozoic<br />
through the beginning <strong>of</strong> the Mesozoic is thorough (Winker and Buffler, 1988) (Salvador,<br />
1987) (Galloway, 1989).<br />
Characterizing the Cenozoic history in the northwest Gulf <strong>of</strong> Mexico Basin is rapid<br />
ongoing sediment input and thick prograding depositional sequences with extensive<br />
gravity deformation (Galloway, 1989). Structural development, clastic sediment<br />
deposition, and salt tectonics in the Cenozoic were interrelated. Prograding sediments<br />
were deposited over the underlying autochthonous Jurassic salt and produced a variety <strong>of</strong><br />
structural styles controlled by the distribution <strong>of</strong> salt structures, varying depositional<br />
environments, and the amount <strong>of</strong> salt withdrawal from displaced allochthonous salt sheets<br />
(Diegel et al., 1995).<br />
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