Rapid Cenozoic Subsidence in the Gulf of Mexico Resulting From Hess Rise Conjugate Subduction

Abstract

Enigmatic surface deflections occurred in North America starting from the Cretaceous, including the continental-scale drainage reorganization and the long-wavelength subsidence in the Western Interior Seaway. These surface undulations cannot be simply explained by sea level change or flexure loading. Coinciding with the large-scale surface deflection, the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) has an immense Paleocene sediment deposition probably caused by tectonic subsidence. Increasing evidence indicates a distinct seismic anomaly localized in the mantle below the GOM. With geodynamic models, we show that the Hess Rise conjugate coincides with the position of the seismic anomaly. The basalt-eclogite transition in the Hess conjugate can lead to a localized dynamic subsidence in the GOM, which is superimposed on the broad surface deflection caused by the Farallon slab. The Hess conjugate, transformed to eclogite, could tilt the surface southward in the U.S. and help frame the GOM as a main depocenter in the Cenozoic.

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