A chronostratigraphic chart (Wheeler chart) was constructed of the Cenozoic strata of the northwest margin of the Gulf of Mexico basin (Texas coastal area). This sequence stratigraphic framework divides outcrop and subsurface lithostratigraphic units (members, formations, and groups) into 50 chronostratigraphic (sequence) and lithogenetic (depositional systems) packages. The framework links the outcrop with the more extensive subsurface stratigraphy. The diagrammatic paleoslope systems-tract profiles provide the subsurface geologist with an inferred but integrated view of the depositional elements that define each principal siliciclastic impulse of sediment delivered into the basin. Although absolute ages on the chronostratigraphic chart are equivocal, they do place the sedimentary record into a logical outcrop-to-deep-basin relative perspective. The chronostratigraphic chart was constructed for the benefit of not only subsurface petroleum geoscientists, but also academic and other researchers working on outcrop stratigraphy, sedimentology, paleontology, and petrography. This nonproprietary chronographic chart ought to encourage Gulf Coast geoscientists either to modify the chart with their own proprietary data or release their own proprietary chronostratigraphic documents. Through further enhancement of the Wheeler chart, a deeper understanding of the architecture and depositional history of the Gulf of Mexico can be achieved, thus leading to a more complete understanding of the petroleum systems of the Gulf of Mexico.