Presented by Gary Thompson - Senior Geophysicist, Integrated Geophysics Corporation
Gary Thompson is a Senior Geophysicist with over 26 years of diverse Geophysical and Geological experience in exploration for oil, gas, and minerals and with all aspects of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). His expertise includes integrated interpretation of gravity and magnetic data, regional structural geology, and tectonics. Mr. Thompson’s varied international exploration experience covers numerous basins in Africa, Asia, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia. Domestically, he has worked Alaska, Utah, California, Nevada, Colorado and the Gulf Mexico. Former corporate affiliations include Unocal, where he was supervisor of the International Potential Fields Group, Superior Oil, Anaconda, and St. Joe Minerals. Mr. Thompson earned a Bachelors degree in geology from SUNY Potsdam, a Masters degree in Geology from the University of Rhode Island, and a GIS Certificate from University of Denver.
The relatively unexplored Gulf of Mexico, offshore Florida, remains one of the last U.S. petroleum frontiers. Discoveries off the Florida Panhandle and in adjacent areas of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico are reason to believe in the potential for commercial reserves on the Florida shelf and adjacent deepwater areas.
This talk will examine the integrated interpretation of potential field data in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the western Florida shelf. This study was undertaken to develop the structural framework of the area and to further understanding of the tectonic history and basin development as related to hydrocarbon potential. Depth estimation and interpretation of over 56,000 line- miles of aeromagnetic data were used to construct a detailed structure map of magnetic basement. Additional data used for the study include 47,950 line-miles of marine gravity, satellite-derived gravity, seismic refraction data, geologic data and well data. Data enhancement maps and interpretation maps delineate the regional geologic structure and tectonic elements of the area. The importance and role of the structural evolution of a basin and the resulting basement architecture for hydrocarbon generation, migration, and accumulation are demonstrated by a series of slides.