Texas Energy Exploration LLC: Salt-Dome Locations

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Information on salt domes in the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain, south-central United States and the adjacent Continental Shelf were compiled from major published sources, 1973-84. The location of 624 salt domes is shown on a map at a scale of 1:1,500,000. A color coding system was used to show that the occurrence, size, shape, and location of these domes varies among sources. Two tables of additional data accompany the map and include other available information such as: identifying sources, depth to salt and caprock, diameter, volume, name, and uppermost zone of surrounding sediment that is penetrated, as well as the number of matches between sources. * The locations of salt domes that penetrate specific permeable zones within the gulf coast regional aquifer systems are shown on maps.

The Gulf Coast Regional Aquifer-System Analysis (RASA) covers an area of 230,000 square miles onshore and 60,000 square miles of the adjacent Continental Shelf (fig. 1) (Grubb, 1987). The aquifer system consists of Cenozoic sediments that were divided into aquifers, permeable zones, and confining units (Grubb, 1987, p. 104). This division was accomplished by: 1) Identifying a really extensive units of low permeability; 2) identifying large hydraulic conductivity contrasts between adjacent permeable zones not separated by a regional confining unit; and 3) identifying variations in hydraulic head with depth (Weiss and Williamson, 1985; Weiss, 1990; and Hosman and Weiss, 1988).

This study was initiated under the Gulf Coast Regional Aquifer-System Analysis to compile published data on salt domes to the edge of the Continental Shelf. The composite data were compiled to study the possibility of salt domes as a source of salt in brine waters in Cenozoic sediments of the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain in the south-central United States and adjacent Continental Shelf (Williamson and others, 1990, p. 107). The shallowest permeable zone penetrated by each dome has been identified in order to assess the possibility of salt dissolution and movement through the permeable zones. In this report, the compiled data are displayed on a map and in a table. Salt-dome locations and geometry were compiled from eight sources, each of which investigated all or part of the study area. Salt-dome name, location, depth to salt and caprock, diameter, volume, and identifying sources used for this compilation are provided in a table.

Identification of salt dome locations from each of the references used to construct plate 1 are compared in table 1. The discrepancies in dome identification between references are due to several factors. First, the more recent references reflect advances made in seismi

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