Kendall, Jerome,
Richard R. Gottschalk, Ilsa Schiefelbein,
Arlene Anderson, ExxonMobil Exploration Co,
The magnitude
of the up-dip extension and
more poorly defined down-dip contraction helped constrain the entire system.
The three main pulses of deformation occurred in the Albian,
Latest Cretaceous to Paleocene, and Late Oligocene to Early Pliocene. A
systematic tracking of the strain illustrates a rough balance between the
extension and contraction for each deformational pulse.
For the Late
Oligocene to Early Pliocene phase
of deformation, integration of isochore maps and the regional cross sections demonstrate
the spatial and temporal distribution of deformation. The gradient of strain
increases in proportion to the depositional load. Lateral variations in the
system are related to sediment load, base salt topography, tectonic tilt, and
relative thickness of salt and sediments. The resulting Neogene
sediment load is inboard of the older sediment loads. This retrograding
depositional load is different from the normal passive margin prograding loads. The