Our group conducts sequential, balanced structural restorations along the Gulf of Mexico passive margin salt basin to investigate the tectono-morphic evolution of the early Gulf of Mexico.

Read our recent paper here.

We are undertaking the first 3D structural restoration in the northeast Gulf of Mexico, which will reveal 3D salt migration and detailed subsidence patterns, as well as test hypotheses regarding salt loss through time, dynamic topography, thermal effects of salt, and crustal scale tectonics. (Image from Mattson et al., 2020)

Ongoing collaborative work with Frank Peel and Mike Hudec of the Applied Geodynamic Laboratory investigates the crustal configuration of the deepwater GoM and its influence on the tectonomorphic setting of the Mesozoic Gulf of Mexico.

The Gulf of Mexico is rimmed by several basement highs and embayments. Are these purely inherited structures or have they been reactivated in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic?