Lauri A. Burke, Scott A. Kinney, Russell F. Dubiel, and Janet K. Pitman U.S. Geological Survey, MS 939, Box 25046, DFC, Denver, CO 80225-0046

 Regional Maps of Subsurface Geopressure Gradients of the Onshore and Offshore Gulf of Mexico Basin Regional Maps of Subsurface Geopressure Gradients of the Onshore and Offshore Gulf of Mexico Basin

Burke, L.A., Kinney, S.A., and Kola-Kehinde, T.B., 2011, Digital archive of drilling mud weight 

pressures and wellbore temperatures from 49 regional cross sections of 967 well logs in 

Louisiana and Texas, onshore Gulf of Mexico basin: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File 

Report 2011-1266, 14 p., available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1266.

Cox, B., Romo, L., Champion, B., Maung, O., Card, K., and Barton, S., 2007, Extreme drilling 

environment forces evolution of rotary steerable systems and bits: World Oil, p. 41–51.

Dodge, M.M., and Posey, J.S., 1981, Structural cross sections, Tertiary formations, Texas Gulf 

Coast: Austin, The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology Cross Section 

Series No. 2, 33 plates, 6 p.

Dubiel, R.F., Warwick, P.D., Swanson, S.M., Burke, L.A., Biewick, L.R.H., Charpentier, R.R., 

• Identification and quantification of the occurrence, magnitude, location, and depth of 

overpressured, underpressured, and normally pressured regions

• Petroleum exploration

- Comprehensive characterization of subsurface pressure system 

- Regional pressure compartmentalization identification and quantification

- Exploration of deep oil and gas resources based on their distinct pressure signatures

- Evaluation of reservoir-seal integrity based on its retention or leakage

- Evaluation of potential undiscovered hydrocarbon accumulations

- Regional modeling of overpressure development

• Geologic interpretations (fig. 10)

- Anomalous pressure areas from disequilibrium compaction due to clastic sediment 

- Rapid burial of sediments leading to onset of overpressure development

• Fracture gradients

- Inducing fractures due to exceeding the lithostatic fracture gradient of the rock

- Impact on well stimulation planning, enhanced recovery options, and hydraulic 

fracturing operations

- Impact on safety, well planning, economic decisions related to completing the well

- Science-based findings to support national policymakers’ decisions about hydraulic 

fracturing and injection/sequestration of fluids

• Well planning

- Quantitative estimations of subsurface geopressure for well control 

- Estimation of drilling mud weights by successive depths

- Pore-pressure prediction for well site safety

- Identification of hard overpressure areas for deviated and horizontal drilling of 

wellbores 

• Locations of overpressured zones

- Mitigation of geopressure-related hazards

- Shallow geopressure hazard avoidance

- Identification and quantification of deep pockets of hard overpressure

• Locations of underpressured zones

- Potential targets for carbon dioxide injection and long-term containment 

- Petroleum production may need formation pressure maintenance, such as fluid 

injection as hydrocarbons are extracted

- Economic impact of field development, well planning, and water flood infrastructure 

requirements

• Locations of normally pressured zones

- Implications for economics related to field development

- Evaluate dominant hydrocarbon production drive mechanisms and the necessity 

for alternative drive mechanisms and enhanced recovery methods

• Geopressured-geothermal resource identification

• Land usage

- Estimate subsurface geopressure by state, county, region

- Allocation of subsurface geopressure by onshore State lands, State waters, Federal 

lands, private lands, tribal lands, Bureau of Land Management lands and wilderness, 

National Park Service lands and wilderness, U.S. Forest Service lands, U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife lands, Department of Defense lands, etc.

• Free and unlimited dissemination of results

- Free and unlimited access to these research findings

- Made widely available to the general public, academia, media, other State and Federal 

governmental agencies, petroleum service and production industry, environmental 

industry, natural resources industry, domestic and foreign agencies

• National policy, and national and international relevance

- Science-based findings support national policymakers’ decisions

- This study develops the foundation and methods that can be adapted to any location 

- Hydrocarbon-bearing or otherwise

- Domestic and worldwide application

5. RELEVANCE

PressureGradient MapTotal Number of

Mud Weight

 Data Points

Number of NonInterpolated

 Data Points

Number of

Interpolated

 Data Points

0.60 psi/ft 22,225 4,351 17,874

0.70 psi/ft 10,654 1,739 8,915

0.80 psi/ft 10,523 1,718 8,805

0.90 psi/ft 9,976 2,003 7,973

1.00 psi/ft 1,890 1,872 18

Total 55,268 11,683 43,585

PressureGradient MapLower Bound

Pressure

Gradient

(psi/ft)

Upper Bound

Pressure

Gradient

(psi/ft)

0.60 psi/ft 0.46 0.69

0.70 psi/ft 0.61 0.79

0.80 psi/ft 0.71 0.89

0.90 psi/ft 0.81 0.99

1.00 psi/ft 0.91 Maximum good

data value

Table 1. Data metrics for each pressure-gradient map. Table 2. Lower and upper bounds for the pressure-gradient range

restrictions used in the linear interpolation algorithm.

F

F

F

F

F

F F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F F

F

F

F

F

F F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F F

F F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

+ +

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+ + +

+

+ + + + + + + + + + +

+

+ +

+

+ + + + +

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+ +

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

Adams County High

B

e

n

d

Arc

h

Angelina - Caldwell Flexure

San Marcos Arch

Pensacola Arch

Conecuh Arch

Chatahoochee Arch

L

a

S

alle

Arc

h

Sa

n

Sa

ba

Arch

Muenster Arch

Covington Embayment

Concho Arch

Manila Embayment

Lampasas Arch

Preston Anticline

Pearsall Arch

Rio Grande

Embayment

Edwards Plateau

South Louisiana

Salt Basin

Appalachian Orogen

Houston Embayment

Salt Basin

Burgos Basin

Mississippi Salt Basin

East Texas Basin

Sabine

Uplift

Llano Uplift

Monroe Uplift

Southern

Platform

North Louisiana

Salt Basin

Wiggins Uplift

Tampa

Embayment

La Salle

Arch

Jackson Dome

TEXAS

ALABAMA

LOUISIANA

MISSISSIPPI

ARKANSAS

OKLAHOMA GEORGIA

FLORIDA

100° 95° 90° 85°

34°

33°

32°

31°

30°

29°

28°

27°

26°

0 50 100 MILES

EXPLANATION

Cretaceous shelf edge

Offshore federal protraction areas

Frontal edge of the orogenic belt

+ + Thrust fault 

+ + Thrust fault inferred

Anticlines

F Anticline

Fault zones

Basins and Uplifts

Basin

Pre-Mesozoic features

Uplift

Salt limit

Salt diapirs and other allochthonous features

Figure 10. Physiographic map of the Gulf Coast region showing subsurface distribution of salt and major structural features such as uplifts, salt

basins, and fault zones. Data from U.S. Geological Survey (2012).

0 50 100 KILOMETERS

This regional mapping project presents a modern characterization of subsurface pressure 

gradients in the Gulf of Mexico basin, which is one of the most important petroleum-producing 

provinces in the United States. These isopressure-gradient maps enable the identification 

and quantification of the general occurrence, magnitude, location, and depth of anomalously 

overpressured and underpressured regions, as well as zones of normal pressure. These maps 

provide insight into potential issues related to oil and gas production as well as potential 

overpressured geohazards in shallow and deeper subsurface regions, which is critical for the 

safety and mitigation of pressure-related geohazards associated with new and ongoing 

exploration and development of the Nation’s petroleum energy resources. In addition, these 

isopressure-gradient maps also enable the identification and quantification of anomalously 

overpressured regions, which are necessary for the exploration of deep oil and gas resources 

based on their distinctive pressure signatures. Regional subsurface pressure-gradient 

characterization is essential for the evaluation of reservoir-seal integrity and for the evaluation

of potential undiscovered hydrocarbon accumulations. Identification of overpressured or 

underpressured regions is also a critical parameter for evaluating the feasibility of geologic 

sequestration and long-term containment of fluids, such as supercritical carbon dioxide for 

alternative disposal methods of greenhouse gases.

6. SUMMARY 9. REFERENCES CITED (continued)

9. REFERENCES CITED

Reviews by U.S. Geological Survey research geologists O. Pearson and J. Eoff resulted in 

improvements to the manuscript. The authors would like to thank C. Skinner and T. Mercier 

for sharing their GIS expertise.

7. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not 

imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

8. NON-ENDORSEMENTS

U.S. Department of Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Open-File Report 2013–1058

Sheet 3 of 3

- Anomalous geopressure areas from disequilibrium compaction due to clastic sediment 

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http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1266.

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Suggested citation:

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of subsurface geopressure gradients of the onshore and offshore Gulf of Mexico

basin: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2013–1058, 3 sheets,

http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2013/1058.