Assessment of offshore oil/gas platform status in the northern Gulf of Mexico using multi-source satellite time-series images

AbstractThe Gulf of Mexico Coastal Hypoxia Glider Experiment was designed to assess the feasibility of using ocean glider technology in the coastal hypoxic zone of the northern Gulf of Mexico in Summer/Fall 2014. The objectives were (1) to coordinate and operate multiple autonomous buoyancy ocean gliders in depths less than 50 m and (2) to determine how close to the bottom gliders can reliably reach without making contact. Strong vertical and horizontal stratification gradients, strong coastal currents, and the low-oxygen conditions that occur within the lower water column characterize the coastal area of the northern Gulf of Mexico. These environmental conditions combine with the presence of more than 5,000 surface piercing oil/gas structures to make piloting and navigation in the region challenging. We quantify glider performance to assess the usefulness of buoyancy gliders to address the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Action Plan goal to monitor the spatial extent, duration, and severity of the Gulf hypoxic zone. We find that the gliders, despite the operational challenges, were consistently able to travel from the surface to the oxygen-depleted depths of subpycnocline waters, that is, within 2 m of the ocean bottom. Our assessment is that gliders are able to provide real-time observations suitable to monitor coastal hypoxia.

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Scales of seafloor sediment resuspension in the northern Gulf of Mexico

Elem Sci Anth ◽

10.1525/elementa.285 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Arne-R. Diercks ◽

Clayton Dike ◽

Vernon L. Asper ◽

Steven F. DiMarco ◽

Jeffrey P. Chanton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Time Series ◽

Particle Size ◽

Gulf Of Mexico ◽

Sediment Resuspension ◽

Small Scale ◽

Nepheloid Layer ◽

Northern Gulf Of Mexico ◽

Flux Data ◽

Seafloor Sediment ◽

Benthic Nepheloid Layer

Seafloor sediment resuspension events of different scales and magnitudes and the resulting deep (>1,000 m) benthic nepheloid layers were investigated in the northern Gulf of Mexico during Fall 2012 to Summer 2013. Time-series data of size-specific in-situ settling speeds of marine snow in the benthic nepheloid layer (moored flux cameras), particle size distributions (profiling camera), currents (various current meters) and stacked time-series flux data (sediment traps) were combined to recognize resuspension events ranging from small-scale local, to small-scale far-field to hurricane-scale. One small-scale local resuspension event caused by inertial currents was identified based on local high current speeds (>10 cm s–1) and trap data. Low POC content combined with high lithogenic silica flux at 30 m above bottom (mab) compared to the flux at 120 mab, suggested local resuspension reaching 30 mab, but not 120 mab. Another similar event was detected by the changes in particle size distribution and settling speeds of particles in the benthic nepheloid layer. Flux data indicated two other small-scale events, which occurred at some distance, rather than locally. Inertia-driven resuspension of material in shallower areas surrounding the traps presumably transported this material downslope leaving a resuspension signal at 120 mab, but not at 30 mab. The passage of hurricane Isaac left a larger scale resuspension event that lasted a few days and was recorded in both traps. Although hurricanes cause large-scale events readily observable in sediment trap samples, resuspension events small in temporal and spatial scale are not easily recognizable in trapped material as they tend to provide less material and become part of the background signal in the long-term averaged trap samples. We suggest that these small-scale resuspension events, mostly unnoticed in conventional time-series sampling, play an important role in the redistribution and ultimate fate of sediment distribution on the seafloor.

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