Date of Award
12-2006
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Program
Geology
Department
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Major Professor
Kulp, Mark
Abstract
Biostratigraphic techniques are commonly used in shallow environments of the Gulf of Mexico basin for depositional history modeling in petroleum exploration applications. Extending these interpretations to deep-water settings, where the structural and depositional history is more complex, is problematic. A localized study area was used for a case-analysis of a typically complex deep-water study area. A dataset of seismic, well-log, and biostratigraphic information was used to: (a) assess accuracy of the biostratigraphic interpretations produced by Fillon (2005), (b) determine specific pitfalls of micropaleontology as a tool in this environment, and (c) provide guidelines for the application of biostratigraphic data in the deep-water. Results indicate that the previous depo-history modeling did not account for local complexity, thus lessening utility at the petroleum exploration scale. Future studies in this environment should account for sections transported down-dip, isolation of depocenters, autocyclic variability, and reduce reliance on the condensed section as a chronostratigraphic tool.
Recommended Citation
Tipton, Andrew, "Analysis of Two Neighboring Miocene Paleo-Turbidite Systems in a Complex Deep-Water Environment: Implications for Biostratigraphic Techniques Used in Gulf of Mexico Petroleum Exploration Studies" (2006). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 507.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/507
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.