The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School The College of Earth and Mineral Sciences DEEP PORE PRESSURES AND SEAFLOOR VENTING IN THE AUGER BASIN, GULF OF MEXICO. A Thesis in Geoscience by

This thesis is composed of three Chapters. Chapter 1 is a preface that outlines the degree program and components of my thesis. Chapter 2 is the main body of the thesis; it is an investigation into pore pressures in the Auger basin and how they are related to fluid venting at the seafloor. I map the distribution of subsurface pressures in thick interconnected sand bodies that are present across the Auger Basin, Gulf of Mexico. I show that overpressures are nearly constant across as many as 12 miles (19km) in the basin. Using 3D seismic and pressure data I show that the extrapolation of pressures along the hydrostat results in accurate prediction of reservoir pressures over basin-scale distances. Furthermore, at the sand crest, pressures are high enough to hydraulically fracture the overlying shales and therefore dynamically constrain the sand pressures by way of a leak point overlain by mud volcanoes. The expelled material from multiple mud volcanoes in the Auger Basin covers an area over 25km² and may be a useful analogy for present day natural disasters. Chapter 3 is an insert in the back pocket of this thesis. Chapter 3 is a characterization of the N and O sands of the Auger basin, Gulf of Mexico. It is the result of the collaboration of the four members of the Petroleum Geosystems Initiative.