FCGS Newsletter - November 2016

Newsletter Summary

Dr. Stephen Cossey will present the "Gulf of Mexico drawdown hypothesis" based on his research on Mexico’s Chicontepec Fm. He postulates an early Eocene isolation of the Gulf of Mexico, due to the Cuban arc colliding with the Bahamas, closing the Florida Straits and resulting in a rapid ≥200 m drawdown of water level after 55.8 Ma. Lower water levels resulted in canyon cutting and exposed bathyal beds for up to 850 kyr before refill. Bitumen bearing outcrops, rooting features, and Paleocene–Eocene salt/gypsum support this hypothesis. The resulting methane release is possibly linked to PETM.