Sayyid Suhail Ahmad1, Alejandro Escalona1, Lisa Bingham1, and Ian Norton2

1University of Stavanger, Norway 2The University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, USA

Late Cretaceous to Pliocene Paleogeographic Maps of the Gulf of Mexico-Caribbean using PaleoGIS Plate Reconstructions as Basemaps

Purpose of talk• Present a data-driven methodology with case study of the Gulf of Mexico

and Caribbean region for creating GIS-based paleogeographic maps

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YesNo

Methodological Framework

Plate model

Well data• Environment• Facies

Radiometric data• Age• Representation

Seismic facies

Cross sections

StructurePublished paleogeo-

graphy

Check that it makes sense

Revisit data and model to identify problem.

Create Paleo-

geogra-phy

No

Yes

New data

Check that it makes sense

Wait for new

data

Methodology Implementation• Based in ESRI ArcMap• Uses PaleoGIS for creating plate reconstructions• Plate reconstructions based on PLATES database• Data for paleogeography based on CBTH database

A Closer Look at the Data: Wells• Compiled from

publications• Georeference maps

and digitize well locations

• Use a look-up table with detailed information for each well

A Closer Look at the Data: Wells• Wells have

individual ID acting as table key

• General information• Source• Figure – link

function• Data shown

A Closer Look at the Data: Wells• Wells have

individual ID acting as table key

• General information• Source• Figure – link

function• Data shown

A Closer Look at the Data: Wells• Wells have

individual ID acting as table key

• For period or epoch• Define if present• Depth at bottom• Depth at top• Paleoenvironment• Facies• Description

A Closer Look at the Data: Radiometric• Compiled from

publications• Georeference maps

and digitize sample locations

• Use a look-up table with detailed information

A Closer Look at the Data: Radiometric• Information in the attribute table

A Closer Look at the Data: Radiometric• Age information• From publication• Formatted for

PaleoGIS

A Closer Look at the Data: Maps• Paleogeographic

maps from publications

• Structural surfaces from seismic interpretation

• Georeference in present-day

A Closer Look at the Data: Seismic Facies• Seismic lines are

digitized from georeferenced maps

• SEGY Seismic lines are interpreted

A Closer Look at the Data: Seismic Facies• Seismic facies are

classified • Using the seismic

locations, facies are mapped by age

Create Reconstructions with the Data

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Create Reconstructions with the Data

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Create Reconstructions with the Data

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Create Reconstructions with the Data

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Draft Paleogeography• Be sure to take topology

into account• Consider creating

polylines first and converting to polygons to avoid gaps and overlaps

• After drafting and checking, the lines can be smoothed for more artistic rendering of the area

• Lines are converted to polygons

• A consistent naming and symbology system is applied

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Final Paleogeographic Map

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