Pre-Salt Sedimentary Tectonics and Opening of the Gulf of Mexico*

The stratigraphy of northeastern Mexico was studied since the first half of the 20th. year hundred and the first tectonic models for the early Mesozoic were linked to the opening of the Gulf of Mexico basin. Later most of the region was affected by shortening during the Late Cretaceous-Paleogene. During the last decade development of new analytical techniques allowed to determine maximal depositional ages of siliciclastic successions and their provenances. in addition, geochemical, petrographic and heavy mineral studies offered new possibilities for the stratigraphic correlation, tectonic arrangement and paleogeographic reconstruction. The interpretation of pre-salt stratigraphy and tectonic evolution around the Gulf of Mexico is from a special importance because the great possibilities of new exploration targets and to understand the conditions during early Mesozoic time that lead to opening of the Gulf of Mexico.