Paleogeography, paleotopography, and paleobathymetry of a closed erosion-depositional system can be reconstructed by restoring sedimentary masses to elevated surfaces in a drainage basin based on the inverse of present erosion equations and adjusting for isostasy, sea level changes, sediment compaction, and thermal subsidence. The erosion-deposition history of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico margin and its western-central North American source area during the Cenozoic is used to explore the sensitivity of mass balance reconstructions, and changes in assumptions concerning erosion rate parameters and sea level. Analysis of the distributions of sedimentary material and mass-balanced paleogeographic reconstructions of the study area indicate the following specific results: