Gulf of Mexico (GoM) Bottom Sediments and Depositional Processes: A Baseline for Future Oil Spills

Author(s):  
Gregg R. Brooks ◽  
Rebekka A. Larson ◽  
Patrick T. Schwing ◽  
Arne R. Diercks ◽  
Maickel Armenteros ◽  
...  
1996 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 741-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Mayer ◽  
W.A. Morris ◽  
K.J. Versteeg

Abstract The desire to develop rapid tools for monitoring particle-associated contaminants transport in Hamilton Harbour has led the search for fast and inexpensive tests that could be used as screening procedures prior to labour- and time-intensive conventional analytical techniques. Magnetic property measurements promised to be a viable technique if it can be shown that there is a relation between this property and contaminant concentrations in suspended and bottom sediments. Correlation between magnetic susceptibility and heavy metal concentrations in suspended and bottom sediments from Hamilton Harbour is investigated. Analyses of results from six stations and two core samples indicate that magnetic measurements provide a meaningful proxy for heavy metal analyses, and that post-depositional processes produce only very limited changes in either the magnetic and/or chemical data. Comparison of the magnetic signature and chemistry of the suspended sediments suggests that susceptibility can be used to rapidly map plume patterns in the water column.


2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arturo Mendoza ◽  
Fernando P. Miranda ◽  
Karen Bannerman ◽  
Enrico Pedroso ◽  
Oscar López ◽  
...  

1997 ◽  
Vol 1997 (1) ◽  
pp. 916-919
Author(s):  
Debra A. Simecek-Beatty ◽  
William J. Lehr ◽  
Walter R. Johnson ◽  
James M. Price

ABSTRACT As part of a joint program to use satellite-tracked drifters at accidental oil spills, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration deployed three drifters supplied by the Minerals Management Service during the barge Buffalo 292 spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The deployments complemented visual observations of the oil spill and provided data for calibrating the on-scene spill model. The data-rich environment of this particular spill response made it possible to calculate the vector correlation between the drifters and a hindcast of the oil movement and to estimate the wind-drift factors for the oil-tracking drifters.


2021 ◽  
pp. 283-342
Author(s):  
Jason S. Link ◽  
Anthony R. Marshak

This chapter describes the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) region and the major issues facing this marine fisheries ecosystem, and presents some summary statistics related to the 90 indicators of ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) criteria. The region contains high numbers of marine species comprising commercially and recreationally important invertebrate (e.g., penaeid shrimp, blue crab, eastern oyster) and finfish (e.g., red snapper, grouper, red drum, pelagic sportfishes) fisheries, which contribute heavily to national landings and seafood supply. The northern GOM contains one of the nation’s largest marine economies (among the eight U.S. regional marine ecosystems), which is dependent on offshore mineral extractions, tourism, marine transportation, living marine resources (LMRs), and other ocean uses. The GOM provides critical social and economic benefits to the region and the nation, is a region with high numbers of managed species, yet exploitation of these resources and an increasing human population makes the GOM an area subject to significant natural and human stressors, including the highest number of hurricanes in the U.S. Atlantic region, large expanses of hypoxic bottom water, overfishing, and major oil spills like the 2010 DWH event.


1997 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Omowumi O. Iledare ◽  
Allan G. Pulsipher ◽  
David E. Dismukes ◽  
Dmitry Mesyanzhinov

2005 ◽  
Vol 2005 (1) ◽  
pp. 725-730
Author(s):  
Zhen-Gang Ji ◽  
Walter R. Johnson ◽  
Charles F. Marshall ◽  
James M. Price

ABSTRACT As a Federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), the Minerals Management Service (MMS) maintains a leasing program for commercial oil and gas development on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Oil and gas activities in deep water (areas deeper than 340 meters) have proceeded at an unprecedented rate, and have led to concerns regarding the accidental release of oil near the seafloor. As production increases, the potential for an oil/gas spill increases. In addition to the environmental impacts of the oil spilled, major concerns from a deepwater oil/gas spill include fire, toxic hazard to the people working on the surface installations, and loss of buoyancy by ships and any floating installations. Oil and natural gas releases in deep water behave much differently than in shallow water, primarily due to density stratification, high pressures, and low temperatures. It is important to know whether oil will surface and if so, where, when, and how thick the oil slick will be. To meet these new challenges, spill response plans need to be upgraded. An important component of such a plan would be a model to simulate the behavior of oil and gasses accidentally released in deep water. This has significant implications for environmental impact assessment, oil-spill cleanup, contingency planning, and source tracing. The MMS uses the Clarkson Deepwater Oil and Gas Blowout (CDOG) plume model to simulate the behavior of oil and gas accidentally released in deepwater areas. The CDOG model is a near field model. In addition, MMS uses an adaptation of the Princeton Ocean Model called the Princeton Regional Ocean Forecast and Hindcast System for the Gulf of Mexico (PROFS-GOM). This model is a far field model and is employed to provide three dimensional current, temperature, and salinity data to the CDOG model. The PROFS-GOM model and the CDOG model are used to simulate deepwater oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico. Modeling results indicate that the two models can provide important information on the behavior of oil spills in deepwater and assist MMS in estimating the associated environmental risks. Ultimately, this information will be used in the pertinent environmental impact assessments MMS performs and in the development of deepwater oil-spill response plans.


AAPG Bulletin ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 99 (09) ◽  
pp. 1635-1648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann M.E. Marchand ◽  
Gillian Apps ◽  
Weiguo Li ◽  
Jonathan R. Rotzien

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