Paleontologic Constraints on Depositional Modeling: Examples of Integration of Biostratigraphy and Seismic Stratigraphy, Pliocene-Pleistocene, Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

Integration of biostratigraphic data with seismic-stratigraphically defined depositional framework permits correlation of biofacies and seismic facies within successive depositional cycles. Each step in the interpretational process requires critical evaluation and cross-correlation of the data. Two examples of this procedure are presented, both from the Pliocene-Pleistocene Galveston-High Island-West Cameron-East Breaks area of the continental shelf, offshore eastern Texas. The first example is characterized by multiple cycles of sediment progradation across a shelf-slope system of growth-fault and salt-withdrawal basins. The second example consists of multiple progradations within a single third-order eustatic cycle and is relatively uncomplicated by structural movement.