Jurassic of the Gulf Rim

The Third Annual Research Conference was held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on November 28 to December 1, 1982. This volume is not a collection of reprints of previously published papers nor a synthesis of Jurassic studies of the past. Most of the papers present new data and interpretations while using as supporting data the many excellent papers published on the Jurassic sediments during the past 30 years. All of the papers are applicable to the exploration and production of hydrocarbons from the Jurassic sediments, and many of the authors have emphasized this relationship. The pattern of Jurassic carbonate and sandstone deposition around the Gulf of Mexico is complex. Jurassic deposystems not only were controlled by bathmetry but also by local topography of the sea floor related to early salt movement. The nature of the rapid horizontal facies changes characteristic of the Jurassic is demonstrated by the several important papers which are based on detailed study of the well-exposed out-cropping Jurassic of northern Mexico. Regional and detailed field studies along the northern Gulf of Mexico extend these depositional patterns into the subsurface. Finally, complex diagenetic patterns controlled by both depositional facies and subsequent burial history alter the original depositional porosity. The papers on diagenesis and geochemistry attest to the difficulty in predicting the location of significant porosity in the Jurassic rocks. It is felt that the papers included in this volume will contribute to the understanding of the nature and distribution of Jurassic rocks in the Gulf Coast.