Assessing the impact of oil-related activities on benthic macroinfauna assemblages of the Campeche shelf, southern Gulf of Mexico

At the end of the Cretaceous Period (66 Ma), the impact of a meteorite on the Yucatán platform in the southern Gulf of Mexico caused the extinction of 75% of species on Earth, including 90% of planktic microorganisms like foraminifera and calcareous nannoplankton. As the ocean ecosystem struggled to get back on its feet after this calamity, the recovery of marine primary productivity was geographically heterogeneous. Some authors had speculated that this heterogeneity was driven by the uneven distribution of toxic metals in the ocean, and was directly related to distance from the Chicxulub crater. However, results from recent International Ocean Discovery Program/International Continental Drilling Program (IODP/ICDP) joint Expedition 364, which drilled the Chicxulub crater itself, found evidence of the rapid establishment of a healthy, high-productivity ecosystem in the crater within 30 kyr of the impact. This result suggests that the recovery of marine productivity is likely driven by ecological factors like incumbency and competitive exclusion. However, it also raises several additional questions: How long does high productivity last in the crater? Is this high productivity driven by the impact-generated hydrothermal system or is it a Gulf-wide phenomenon? If so, what’s driving it?Here, we examine planktic and benthic foraminifera, calcareous nannoplankton, major, minor, and trace elements, and stable isotopes from the Paleocene interval of IODP Site M0077 in the Chicxulub Crater, and compare it to publically available planktic foraminifer and nannoplankton counts from three oil wells in the northern Gulf of Mexico to determine the long term trends in productivity in the Chicxulub Crater and whether or not they are limited to the crater or extend across the Gulf. We show that the first ~million years of the Paleocene are characterized by a eutrophic surface waters that slowly transition to mesotrophic and then oligotrophic by the middle Paleocene. Foraminiferal data from the northern Gulf of Mexico demonstrates that this trend is regional.

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Gulf of Mexico Integrated Science - Tampa Bay Study: Examining the Impact of Urbanization on Seafloor Habitats

Open-File Report ◽

10.3133/ofr20051017 ◽

2005 ◽

Author(s):

Kimberly Yates

Keyword(s):

Gulf Of Mexico ◽

Tampa Bay ◽

Integrated Science ◽

Impact Of Urbanization ◽

The Impact

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Critical In-Water Habitats for Post-Nesting Sea Turtles from the Southern Gulf of Mexico

Journal of Marine Science and Engineering ◽

10.3390/jmse9080793 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 793

Author(s):

Abigail Uribe-Martínez ◽

María de los Angeles Liceaga-Correa ◽

Eduardo Cuevas

Keyword(s):

Gulf Of Mexico ◽

Marine Ecosystem ◽

Satellite Telemetry ◽

Marine Turtle ◽

Home Ranges ◽

The Bahamas ◽

Turtle Species ◽

Southern Gulf Of Mexico ◽

Large Marine Ecosystem ◽

Physical Features

Marine turtles are globally endangered species that spend more than 95% of their life cycle in in-water habitats. Nevertheless, most of the conservation, recovery and research efforts have targeted the on-land habitats, due to their easier access, where adult females lay their eggs. Targeting the large knowledge gaps on the in-water critical habitats of turtles, particularly in the Large Marine Ecosystem Gulf of Mexico, is crucial for their conservation and recovery in the long term. We used satellite telemetry to track 85 nesting females from their beaches after they nested to identify their feeding and residency habitats, their migratory corridors and to describe the context for those areas. We delimited major migratory corridors in the southern Gulf of Mexico and West Caribbean and described physical features of internesting and feeding home ranges located mainly around the Yucatan Peninsula and Veracruz, Mexico. We also contributed by describing general aggregation and movement patterns for the four marine turtle species in the Atlantic, expanding the knowledge of the studied species. Several tracked individuals emigrated from the Gulf of Mexico to as far as Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Bahamas. This information is critical for identifying gaps in marine protection and for deciphering the spatial connectivity in large ocean basins, and it provides an opportunity to assess potential impacts on marine turtle populations and their habitats.

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Drivers of coral bleaching in a Marine Protected Area of the Southern Gulf of Mexico during the 2015 event

Marine Pollution Bulletin ◽

10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112256 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 166 ◽

pp. 112256

Author(s):

Aarón Israel Muñiz-Castillo ◽

Jesús Ernesto Arias-González

Keyword(s):

Gulf Of Mexico ◽

Coral Bleaching ◽

Protected Area ◽

Marine Protected Area ◽

Southern Gulf Of Mexico

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Ecological strategies and recruitment of Syacium gunteri (pisces: bothidae) in the southern gulf of Mexico shelf

Netherlands Journal of Sea Research ◽

10.1016/0077-7579(94)90019-1 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 32 (3-4) ◽

pp. 433-439 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

P. Sánchez-Gil ◽

F. Arreguín-Sánchez ◽

M.C. García-Abad

Keyword(s):

Gulf Of Mexico ◽

Ecological Strategies ◽

Southern Gulf Of Mexico

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Investigating the impact of land use and the potential for harmful algal blooms in a tropical lagoon of the Gulf of Mexico

Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science ◽

10.1016/j.ecss.2015.11.005 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 167 ◽

pp. 549-559 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Audrey Limoges ◽

Anne de Vernal ◽

Ana-Carolina Ruiz-Fernández

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Gulf Of Mexico ◽

Harmful Algal Blooms ◽

Algal Blooms ◽

Tropical Lagoon ◽

The Impact

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Morphological variations of Phrosina semilunata Risso, 1822 juveniles (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Hyperiidea), new evidence from the Gulf of Mexico

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4995.3.13 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4995 (3) ◽

pp. 594-600

Author(s):

MARCO VIOLANTE-HUERTA ◽

LAURA SANVICENTE-AÑORVE ◽

MARGARITA HERMOSO-SALAZAR ◽

AURORA MARRÓN-BECERRA

Keyword(s):

Gulf Of Mexico ◽

Monotypic Genus ◽

Stages Of Development ◽

Morphological Variations ◽

Stages Of Growth ◽

Early Stages ◽

Southern Gulf Of Mexico ◽

New Evidence ◽

Lack Of Knowledge

Lack of knowledge of morphological variations during growth of amphipod crustaceans can result in misidentification of species. In this study, we advance the knowledge of morphological variations of juveniles of the monotypic genus Phrosina Risso, 1822 collected in the oceanic province of the southern Gulf of Mexico. The juveniles differed from the adults mainly in the morphology of pereopods 3 & 4 in that the carpal process is parallel to the propodus, also the rami of the pleopoda consist of only four segments, uropoda 3 are more lanceolate, and the uropoda bear a large prominent spine terminally. These morphological variations have not been described for the species previously. Therefore, the current observations enrich the description of P. semilunata in the early stages of growth and support the need for further taxonomical studiest that could help identify species at different stages of development.

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