The Gulf of Mexico Basin
Amos Salvador
The Geological Society of America
The goal of The Geology of North America series of volumes has been to provide a comprehensive summary or synthesis of the current geological and geophysical knowledge of the regions or subjects covered by each of the volumes. The volumes are intended not so much for those most familiar with the region or subject, but for a broader audience of earth scientists— geologists and geophysicists from anywhere in the world who want to inform themselves about the geological and geophysical configuration of the North American Plate and its surrounding regions. This volume, covering the Gulf of Mexico basin, was planned with these goals in mind.
Assuming that a good number of the readers may not be familiar with the geography of the region, much less with the multitude of structural and stratigraphic terms in common use, efforts were made, with varying degrees of success, to keep geographic and geologic terminology as simple as possible. Keeping in mind, for instance, that earth scientists unacquainted with the stratigraphy of the Gulf of Mexico basin may be confused when faced with the countless number of group, formation, and member terms used in the area, the stratigraphy of the basin was described whenever possible in terms of internationally recognized chronostratigraphic
terms.