[3] The Sigsbee Abyssal Plain is the deepest and flattest sector of the deep basin.[1]. The shipwreck, whose real identity remains a mystery, lay forgotten at the bottom of the sea until it was discovered in 2002 by an oilfield inspection crew working for the Okeanos Gas Gathering Company (OGGC). [44], The Gulf contains a hypoxic dead zone that runs east–west along the Texas-Louisiana coastline. The US states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida border the Gulf on the north, which are often referred to as the "Third Coast", in comparison with the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific coasts. [18], In 2014 Erik Cordes of Temple University and others discovered a brine pool 3,300 feet (1,005.8 m) below the gulf's surface, with a circumference of 100 feet (30.5 m) and 12 feet (3.7 m) feet deep, which is four to five times saltier than the rest of the water. One officer, nine crewmen and 15 passengers were lost. The average depth of the Gulf of Mexico is 5,299 feet (1,615 meters) and the maximum depth is estimated to be 14,383 feet (4,384 meters). Other important industries along the coast include shipping, petrochemical processing and storage, military use, paper manufacture, and tourism. At Mow Answers, we do maps and stories for a living. The average depth of the Gulf of Mexico is 5,299 feet (1,615 meters) and the maximum depth is estimated to be 14,383 feet (4,384 meters). The continental shelf is quite wide at most points along the coast, most notably at the Florida and Yucatán Peninsulas. PC-566 began dropping depth charges on a sonar contact, sinking U-166. [55], According to the National Response Center, the oil industry has thousands of minor accidents in the Gulf of Mexico every year. Since 1979, the specimens have been deposited in the national collections of the National Museum of Natural History.[42]. [46] Poor agricultural practices in the northern portion of the Gulf of Mexico have led to a tremendous increase of nitrogen and phosphorus in neighboring marine ecosystems, which has resulted in algae blooms and a lack of available oxygen. The Sigsbee Abyssal Plain is the deepest and flattest sector of the deep basin. The passengers aboard Robert E. Lee were primarily survivors of previous torpedo attacks by German U-boats. She was sailing southeast of the entrance to the Mississippi River when the explosion destroyed the #3 hold, vented through the B and C decks and damaged the engines, the radio compartment and the steering gear. To date BP's cost for the clean-up, environmental and economic damages and penalties has reached $54bn. [53] Coast Guard Rear Adm. Sally Brice O'Hare stated that the US government will be "employing booms, skimmers, chemical dispersants and controlled burns" to combat the oil spill. Occurrences of masculinization and estrogen suppression were observed as a result. What are the Largest Countries in the World by Area? This was ranked as the largest oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico until the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. The site cannot sustain any kind of life other than bacteria, mussels with a symbiotic relationship, tube worms and certain kinds of shrimp. On March 13, 2009, the CLCS accepted Mexico's arguments for extending its continental shelf up to 350 nautical miles (650 km; 400 mi) into the Western Polygon. It has been called the "Jacuzzi of Despair". The German submarine U-166 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. What was the Hungarian Revolution of 1956? The first exploration of the site was unmanned, using Hercules and in 2015 a team of three used the deep submergence vehicle Alvin. Now that’s deep! Geologists and other Earth scientists agree in general that the present Gulf of Mexico basin originated in Late Triassic time as the result of rifting within Pangea. This attracts fish, shrimp, and squid. South Florida Continental Shelf and Slope, Learn how and when to remove this template message, U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, List of invasive marine fish in the Gulf of Mexico, United States Environmental Protection Agency, "Gulf of Mexico – a sea in Atlantic Ocean", "Late Jurassic aptychi from the La Caja Formation of northeastern Mexico", "The Gulf of Mexico is a Jurassic back-arc Basin", "Deep-Sea Brine Lake Dubbed 'Jacuzzi of Despair, "Mystery Mardi Gras Shipwreck Documentary", "Historic Shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico", "The Discovery of U – 166 : Rewriting History with New Technology", "National Water Program Guidance: FY 2005", "Warm Waters Provide Fuel for Potential Storms", "6.0 Magnitude Earthquake in Gulf of Mexico Shakes Southeast", United States Geological Survey, September 11, 2006, "Mexico's Attempt to Extend its Continental Shelf Beyond 200 Nautical Miles Serves as a Model for the International Community, Mexican Law Review, Volume V, Number 2, Jan.– June 2013", STATUS REVIEW OF BRYDE’S WHALES (BALAENOPTERA EDENI) IN THE GULF OF MEXICO UNDER THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT, "Smithsonian Holdings to Aid Researchers in the Gulf", "Testimony to the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife; Committee on Natural Resources; U.S. House of Representatives", "The Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone and Red Tides", "A 'Dead Zone' in The Gulf of Mexico: Scientists Say Area That Cannot Support Some Marine Life Is Near Record Size", "New Jersey-Size 'Dead Zone' Is Largest Ever in Gulf of Mexico", "Extensive Reproductive Disruption, Ovarian Masculinization and Aromatase Suppression in Atlantic Croaker in the Northern Gulf of Mexico Hypoxic Zone", "Burning oil rig sinks, setting stage for spill; 11 still missing", "Size of Spill in Gulf of Mexico Is Larger Than Thought", "Race to plug leaking oil well off La. [3][8][13][17] This hypothesis is not to be confused with the Chicxulub Crater, a large impact crater on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico on the Yucatán Peninsula. Dunbar. It is hypothesized that the salt precipitated out of hypersaline seawater when Africa and South America pulled away from North America during the Triassic and Jurassic, some 200 million years ago. [37] The earthquake was described by the USGS as an intraplate earthquake, the largest and most widely felt recorded in the past three decades in the region. This flooded the opening basin to create the Gulf of Mexico as an enclosed marginal sea. [51] On April 29, the U.S. government revealed that approximately 5,000 barrels (790 m3) per day, five times the original estimate, were pouring into the Gulf from the wellhead. Global Land One-kilometer Base Elevation (GLOBE) v.1. On its southeast quadrant the Gulf is bordered by Cuba. The basin is located in the southwestern quadrant of the Gulf, with its closest point to the U.S. coast at 200 miles (320 km) southeast of Brownsville, Texas. In 1517, Francisco Hernández de Córdoba discovered the Yucatán Peninsula. New York: Liveright Publishing Corp. p. 416. Earthquakes may be caused by interactions between sediment loading on the sea floor and adjustment by the crust.[34]. Gulf of Mexico, Spanish Golfo de México, partially landlocked body of water on the southeastern periphery of the North American continent. The Gulf of Mexico is a ‘sea’ and is part of the Atlantic Ocean. While the Gulf of Mexico was a restricted basin, the subsiding transitional crust was blanketed by the widespread deposition of Louann Salt and associated anhydrite evaporites. The basin contains a volume of roughly 2,500 quadrillion liters (550 quadrillion Imperial gallons, 660 quadrillion US gallons, 2.5 million km3 or 600,000 cu mi). [31] The Gulf's southwestern and southern shores lie along the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, and the northernmost tip of Quintana Roo. [50] It was in the process of being sealed with cement for temporary abandonment, to avoid environmental problems. In 1510, he accompanied Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, an aide of the governor of Hispaniola, in his expedition to conquer Cuba. The Gulf: the Making of an American Sea. It Holds as Much Power as Beauty In May 2007, an expedition, led by Texas A&M University and funded by OGGC under an agreement with the Minerals Management Service (now BOEM), was launched to undertake the deepest scientific archaeological excavation ever attempted at that time to study the site on the seafloor and recover artifacts for eventual public display in the Louisiana State Museum. [5], The International Hydrographic Organization defines the southeast limit of the Gulf of Mexico as:[6]. [33], The Gulf is considered aseismic; however, mild tremors have been recorded throughout history (usually 5.0 or less on the Richter magnitude scale). In 1518 Velázquez put him in command of an expedition to explore and secure the interior of Mexico for colonization. An archaeological survey of the seafloor before construction of a natural gas pipeline led to the discoveries by C & C Marine archaeologists Robert A. The cited reference discusses differences in United States and IHO committee views and variations between names recommended by the Advisory Committee on Undersea Features (ACUF) of the U. S. BGN and the GEBCO committee. [4], The Smithsonian Institution Gulf of Mexico holdings are expected to provide an important baseline of understanding for future scientific studies on the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Bay of Campeche in Mexico constitutes a major arm of the Gulf of Mexico. Because subsidence occurred faster than sediment could fill it, the Gulf of Mexico expanded and deepened. A ship now called the Mardi Gras sank around the early 19th century about 35 mi (56 km) off the coast of Louisiana in 4,000 feet (1,200 m) of water. [11] The rifting was associated with zones of weakness within Pangea, including sutures where the Laurentia, South American, and African plates collided to create it. When word of the disaster reached Mexico City, the viceroy requested a rescue fleet and immediately sent Villafañe marching overland to find the treasure-laden vessels. 7. The average depth of the Gulf is roughly 5,200 feet, but other parts of the Gulf of Mexico are surprisingly deep. These have generally not been checked for potential environmental problems.[49]. As interpreted by Roy Van Arsdale and Randel T. Cox, this mountain range was breached in Late Cretaceous times by the formation of the Mississippi Embayment.[9][10]. Sigsbee Deep is a variant name for the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) approved name of Mexico Basin for cartographic materials produced by Federal agencies. On January 25, 1699, Iberville reached Santa Rosa Island in front of Pensacola founded by the Spanish; he sailed from there to Mobile Bay and explored Massacre Island, later renamed Dauphin Island. On July 30, 1942, the Robert E. Lee, captained by William C. Heath, was torpedoed by the German submarine U-166. The use of "Sigsbee" for the feature originates from Commander Charles Dwight Sigsbee's Gulf of Mexico surveys that defined the general features of the body while commanding officer of the USC&GS George S. Blake. [35][36] Items were knocked from shelves and seiches were observed in swimming pools in parts of Florida. NOAA Technical Memorandum NESDIS NGDC-24. Amante, C. and B.W. Eakins, 2009. The GOM was initially an enclosed, restricted basin into which seawater infiltrated and then evaporated in an arid climate, causing the hypersalinity (similar to what happened in the Great Salt Lake in Utah and the Dead Sea between Isra…
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