Knowledge Bank

The northern continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico has a unique bumpy topography as result from salt dome formations in the subsurface of the basin. The Upper Jurassic Louann Salt laying underneath the younger sediments deposited from the North American continent flow due to differential loading and gravity caused sediments deformation to occur in response to the movement affect its texture and topography seen on the seafloor. In this study, 3D seismic profiles and high-resolution deep-water bathymetry data of two adjacent salt domes in the gulf area was analyzed to study the geological processes that occurred in the subsurface and its effect on the domes' external texture. It was found that brittle deformation caused rough texture, as the sediments were moved away from the intruding salt, whereas ductile deformation made caused the dome to have smooth external surface since that the sediments bend and fold following the shape of the intrusion instead of breaking apart.