Texas Energy Exploration, LLC on Summary and Reference Cited of Salt Domes

Summary

Information on 624 salt domes in the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain of the south central United States and the adjacent Continental Shelf was compiled from eight published sources, 1973-84. The salt domes included are both those confirmed by drilling and those interpreted from seismic surveys. The information tabulated includes a map code; salt-dome name; location by State, area of salt-dome occurrence, county (or parish), latitude and longitude; aquifer, permeable zone, or confining unit in which the salt dome terminates; land-surface or sea-bottom altitude at the location of the salt dome; depth to the top of salt and caprock; diameter and volume of the salt dome; and the published reference from which the data were obtained.

The depth to top of salt is unknown for about 44 percent of the salt domes. Most of the domes for which the depth to salt is unknown are located in the offshore part of the Gulf Coast salt basin, predominantly offshore Louisiana. Only 12 percent of the domes are known to terminate below the gulf coast aquifer systems. The remaining 44 percent penetrate the gulf coast aquifer systems.

Salt-dome locations and outlines are shown on a map at a scale of 1:1,500,000. The locations of salt domes that penetrate each of 10 aquifers of the gulf coast aquifer systems are shown on smaller scale maps. More Details

Reference Cited

Anderson, R.E., Eargle, D.H., and Davis, B.O., 1973, Geologic and hydrologic summary of salt domes in Gulf Coast region of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 4339-2, 294 p.

Grubb, H.F., 1984, Planning report for the Gulf Coast Regional Aquifer-System Analysis in the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain, United States: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 84-4219, 30 p.

1987, Overview of the Gulf Coast Regional Aquifer-System Analysis, South-Central United States, in Vecchioli, John, and Johnson, A.I., eds., Regional aquifer systems of the United States, aquifers of the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, American Water Resources Association Monograph no. 9, p. 108-118.

Halbouty, M.T., 1979, Salt domes, Gulf Region: United States and Mexico (2nd ed.): Houston, London, Paris, and Tokyo, Gulf Publishing Company, 561 p.

Hosman, R.L., and Weiss, J.S., 1988, Geohydrologic units of the Mississippi embayment and Texas coastal uplands aquifer systems, south-central United States: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 88-316, 21 p.

Jackson, M.P.A., and Seni, S.J., 1984, Atlas of salt domes in east Texas: University of Texas, Bureau of Economic Geology Report of Investigations no. 140, 102 p.

Louisiana Geological Survey, compiler, 1981a, Offshore Louisiana oil and gas map prepared for Department of Natural Resources, scale 1:380,160, 1 sheet.

1981b, Oil and gas map of Louisiana prepared for Department of Natural Resources, scale 1:380,160, 1 sheet.

Martin, R.G., 1980, Distribution of salt structures in the Gulf of Mexico: Map and descriptive text: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map 1213, scale 1:2,500,000, 2 sheets, 8 p.

New Orleans and Lafayette Geological Societies, 1973, Louisiana oil and gas fields, 123 p. Stipe, J.C., ed., 1960, Salt domes of south Louisiana, v. 1: New Orleans Geological Society, 145 p.

1962, Salt domes of south Louisiana, v. 2: New Orleans Geological Society, 107 p. 1980, Salt domes of south Louisiana, v. 3: New Orleans Geological Society, 142 p. U.S. Department of the Interior, 1983, Geologic and geomorphic features: Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Regional Office, map, Visual No. 2, scale 1:1,200,000, and Visual No. 5, scale 1:800,000, 2 sheets.

Weiss, J.S., and Williamson, A.K., 1985, Subdivisions of thick sedimentary units into layers for simulation of ground-water flow. Ground Water, v. 23, no. 6, p. 767-774. Weiss, J.S., 1990, Geohydrologic units of the coastal lowlands aquifer system, south central United States: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 90-173, 30 p. Williams, T.A., and Williamson, A.K., 1989, Estimating water-table altitudes for regional ground-water flow modeling, U.S. Gulf Coast Ground Water, v. 27, no. 3, p. 333-340.

Williamson, A.K., Grubb, H.F., and Weiss, J.S., 1990, Ground-water flow in the gulf coast aquifer systems, south-central United States--A preliminary analysis: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 89-4071, 124 p.