Abstract

We discuss the sedimentary and structural evolution, and oil possibilities, of a Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous major salt detached extensional–contractional province in the Yucatán sub-basin at the southern Gulf of Mexico using 2D seismic reflection profiles and well data from the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP). The main basement trends are a central depression that accommodates the pre-salt sequences, and a long ridge where the continental–oceanic crust transition is found. Along this ridge, the geometry of the outer trough was defined by mapping the base salt. The base salt changes from steeply dipping on the Campeche Escarpment to irregular-horizontal on the limit with the recognized outer trough. The extensional–contractional system was divided into three subdomains with: (1) tilted blocks; (2) growth faults and rollover anticlines; and (3) diapirs and fold and thrust. We regionally identify the highest sedimentation stages through the Tertiary, the possible main directions of sediment supply to the basin and their relationship to Neogene diapirism. The two structural traps formation times interpreted in the area are: (a) Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous traps associated with seaward salt translation; and (b) middle Miocene–early Pliocene traps related to diapiric growth in the outer trough, triggered by sediment load derived from the north of the Gulf of Mexico and from SE Mexico, where the Chiapanecan Orogeny was developed. The integration of the results of this study with the evidence of some elements and processes of the petroleum system allow us to propose that the area may represent an important oil province.