Abstract
New multi-channel seismic reflection data illuminate details of the structure, stratigraphy and geologic history beneath the abyssal plain of the Gulf of Mexico. These data show a thick sedimentary section lying on an irregular acoustic basement thought to be oceanic crust formed in early Mesozoic time. Six seismic units within the sedimentary section are defined on the basis of reflection characteristics and basin-wide continuity. One unit containing the salt (Jurassic?) that feeds the Campeche-Sigsbee Salt Dome Province can be traced northward toward the Sigsbee Escarpment but pinches out against the base of the Campeche Escarpment. The salt layer places limitations on the location or age of a plate boundary between North America and Africa-South America which has been suggested to have been active in the Gulf in Jurassic time. The four units lying above the salt reflect an extended period of pelagic sedimentation followed by mid-Tertiary-Pleistocene turbidite sedimentation.
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