ABSTRACT
The lower continental slope in the northern Gulf of Mexico represents a unique geomorphic and geologic province. It is generally subdivided into two areas, the Sigsbee Bulge area and the Central Slope/Mississippi Fan Area. The Sigsbee Escarpment represents the leading edge of a mobil layer of salt which has been emplaced at least 10 to 15 km seaward as a result of sediment loading up dip by the Mississippi River. The chapter aims to develop a regional geologic depositional model by studying the interrelationship between salt migration and clastic sedimentation in the area. It presents a seismic-stratigraphic analysis, a structural and stratigraphic description of fault patterns and diapiric trends, speculation on the ages of depositional sequences and the timing of major events and a complete seismic facies analysis. The maximum sediment influx during the Late Paleocene occurred in east Texas, probably associated with the Laramide uplift in the southern Rock Mountains.
