Peak Oil
In reply to the discussion: Enough oil no longer the problem [View all]BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)ANWR and the North Slope were not in tropical latitudes for any significant length of time compared to other continents that are lacking the same degree of oil.
The fact that there are weaknesses at the plate boundaries (you did get that much right) SUPPORTS Gold's theory, far from refuting it. The fact that you would make such an argument tells me it is you who need to learn a bit more on the subject. Moreover, because the Gulf emerges from a plate boundary, it mostly "new" material (in geological time spans), missing most of the opportunity to accumulate organic deposits even though it was at a "good latitude", so to speak, most of its life.
These are exactly the questions that geologists refuse to address because doing so throws their fundamental assumptions into disarray. And everybody profits from the current set of assumptions. Much easier for them to say "Oh that's just preposterous. I won't dignify that with a response." Because they have no reasonable explanation.