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Gulf Coast Geology
The Gulf of Mexico formed approximately
200 million years ago when North America broke away
from South America and Africa. Then for a long period
of time the Gulf accumulated thousands of feet of
sediment. Mixed with this sediment was organic matter,
that under the heat and pressure of burial, turned
into petroleum and natural gas. About two million
years ago, great ice sheets spread out from Canada
and covered much of the Midwestern and Eastern United
States. The repeated advance and retreat of these
glaciers had a major impact upon the geology and ecology
of what we now see on the Gulf Coast. As the last
glacier retreated, man crossed from Asia to North
America and populated the New World. Mother Nature
still alters the geology of the Gulf Coast with her
floods, ocean currents, and hurricanes, but now man
is also changing the region.
The Ice Age (Pleistocene Epoch)
Geology Links
- Geological Time
Machine
- Generalized Geological Map of Louisiana
- Generalized Geological Map of Mississippi
- Gulf of Mexico
GLORIA Interpretation
- Contaminates in the
Mississippi River
- Color Landform Atlas
of the United States
