Lines of underwater microphones pulled along the surface behind the ship record how long it takes the reflected waves to reach them, data that can then be translated into topography. Watch These Elk Ramming Cars at Yellowstone,, Rare Footage Shows How Killer Whale Packs, Watch a Lioness Save Her Zookeeper When the Male Lion Attacks Him Point-Blank, Watch These Elk Ramming Cars at Yellowstone, and Showing Their True Size, A Clash of Two Lion Prides Ends When This Monster Shows Up, Watch a Gargantuan Komodo Dragon Effortlessly Swallow a Wild Boar in One Gulp, The Largest Great White Sharks Ever Found Off Florida Waters, See Dominator The Largest Crocodile In The World, And As Big As A Rhino, Watch This Huge Komodo Dragon Flex Its Power and Swallow a Shark Whole, Real Life Jaws Spotted 30ft Great White Shark By Boat, The Gulf of Mexico was a trade route dating back to the. The floor of the Gulf of Mexico is one of the most geologically interesting stretches of the Earth's surface. Floridas coral reefs attract visitors from around the world and generate more than $17 billion in tourism annually. Deep below the surface, salt domes protrude from the seafloor and some of the . Some of the important fishes include Albacore tuna, Red snapper, greater amberjack, tarpon, grouper, Atlantic spadefish, king mackerel, Gulf flounder, bluefish, etc. So is the Gulf of Mexico an ocean? More than 400 species of shellfish are found in the Gulf region. However, around 300 million years ago, in the late Triassic period, plate tectonics caused rifting within Pangea, and a rich oceanic basin created what is now the worlds largest gulf. Oil and gas interests generate about $124 billion, nearly half the sum generated by all industries combined. Only about 800,000 barrels had been captured. 11 Facts You Should Know. Some portions of the loop current often break away, forming gyres or eddies which further affects the regional current patterns. The black coral that lives in the Gulf has been found recently to be in the running for one of the oldest living things on earth. Maybe youre aware that its located along the Gulf coast but dont know the exact boundaries, or maybe youre trying to figure out if its part of the Atlantic Ocean or not. Its over 600,000 square miles and from east to west it covers 932 miles. They took all the best survey data from more than 200 individual maps made by exploration companies of parts of the Gulf and combined them into a map of the whole region with resolution of around 1,600 square feet per pixel about the size of the average American family home. The Gulf is about 1,000 miles wide, as much as 14,000 feet deep, and receives runoff from vast areas of the continent. It is enclosed largely by North America. Not only does it border five U.S. states Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida but the Gulf of Mexico also borders Cuba and part of Mexico. Most of the basin consists of shallow intertidal areas, but its deepest point is called Sigsbee Deep and has an estimated depth of about 14,383 feet (4,384 m). Natural gas is also extracted. Forensic analysis of the BOP completed the following year determined that a set of massive blades known as blind shear ramsdesigned to slice through the pipe carrying oilhad malfunctioned because the pipe had bent under the pressure of the rising gas and oil. Drilling Deep in the Gulf of Mexico - The New York Times Not according to biology or history. Its shallow, saltier, and serene waters surrounded by velvety quartz sand may seem like another world when compared to the Atlantic's cool and thrilling waves and golden-brown sand. When the guns fire, they create sound waves that travel down and are reflected back up by the sea floor. The Jacuzzi of Despair as its called, is a combination of methane gas and hydrogen sulfide that kills all creatures who enter it. In addition to being home to so many incredible beaches, it is also a very unique region of the world. Click on a 1 degree by 1 degree square for access to low and high resolution images. How deep are the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico? She holds a Certificate of Advanced Study in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) from California State University. Researchers recently announced that this year the excess fertilizer from farm fields carried to the Gulf of Mexico helped in the development of a low-oxygen, "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico that covered an area of 6,952 square miles - the 8th largest ever measured! These banks provide critical habitats for many marine animals including commercially valuable fishes, sharks, rays, and sea turtles. Geography of the Gulf of Mexico Border States - ThoughtCo South of Cocodrie at 28.09 degrees North and 90.71 degrees West, Diaphus Bank covers about 20 square miles. Gulf of Mexico | gulf, North America | Britannica The Mississippi is the largest river that drains into the Gulf of Mexico and carries with it an extraordinary amount of these contaminants into the Gulf. Northern Gulf of Mexico deepwater bathymetry grid created from 3D seismic surveys. "Flaming Oil Rig Sinks in Gulf of Mexico. Data gathered by oil exploration companies was combined to create the highest resolution map ever made of the area. It has been estimated by researchers that the Gulf of Mexico was formed as a result of seafloor subsidence, due to the movement of the Tectonic Plates over 300 million years ago. The western end of the island of Cuba forms a partial barrier to the eastern Gulf of Mexico, where it joins the Caribbean Sea. The marine flora in the Gulf of Mexico includes seagrasses, mangroves, marine algae, and marsh grasses. Zoom and drag the map to find the location of marker 2. The Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world at a width of 810 nautical miles (1,500 km). The economics of the area as well as the environment thus are sensitive to pollution. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. How many miles long is the Gulf of Mexico? - TeachersCollegesj Nearly half of the basin is compromised of shallow continental-shelf waters and due to the separation from the Atlantic Ocean, there are minimal tidal ranges. These are not coastal dead zones, like the one that sprawls across the Gulf of Mexico, but great swaths of deep water that can reach thousands of miles offshore. below the gulf's surface, with a circumference of 100 feet (30 m) and 12 feet (3.7 m) feet deep, which is four to five times saltier than the rest of the water. The basin is located in the southwestern quadrant of the Gulf, with its closest point to the U.S. coast at 200 miles (320km) southeast of Brownsville, Texas. The Gulf Stream, a warm Atlantic current, originates in the Gulf of Mexico and influences the climate of both the east coast of the United States and the west coast of Europe. 7 Things You Didn't Know About the Gulf of Mexico - 30A Should You Take That Shortcut Over the Gulf? - AVweb West views and deep water! Although it has its own name and boundaries, the Gulf of Mexico can be considered part of the Atlantic Ocean as oceans have no hard boundaries. The 30A Company | 30A, Beach Happy and Life Shines are Registered Trademarks, By: Shannon Serpette | Posted Dec 17, 2021, The Five Beachiest Birds to Look for in the Sand and Skies, As a beach lover its likely you know that birds, much like other beach features, are never the same at every beach. The Gulf of Mexico is the largest Gulf in the world and the tenth biggest body of water in the world. The wetlands here comprise nearly 30% of all wetlands in the United States. The area then filled with seawater, forming the Gulf of Mexico. All rights reserved. At that point, the Gulf was probably a separate basin that was filled with seawater that later evaporated, leaving a blanket of salt behind. As you can clearly see in the image below, this data is much higher resolution than the best available map, which was made in the 1990s. We had been planning a trip to run deep into the Gulf, but . 2022 Gulf of Mexico Deep Sea Cruise Season, By the Numbers But the Gulf is also a habitat for other sea animals including dolphins, whales, sea turtles, and manatees. Through the process of upwelling, which occurs near the Florida coast of the Gulf, the cooler nutrient-rich water from the deeper parts of the Gulf is brought to the surface. It is largely surrounded by the continent of North America. 11 Geographic Facts About the Gulf of Mexico - ThoughtCo There is a thriving range of wildlife living in the Gulf of Mexico and along its coastlines. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill began on April 20, 2010, when an explosion damaged the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. A Deadly Toll - Biological Diversity Tourism accounts for $100 billion annually and in 2008 the fishing harvest from five Gulf states totaled $661 million. Consequently it has access to all the survey data that private companies collect. TSHA | Gulf of Mexico Fishing is also an important industry and the economies of many states that lie along the Gulf of Mexico are driven by the fishing industry. The Gulf is a very accessible body of water. Louisiana is an especially important stop along their journey between Latin America and the breeding grounds in North America with nearly 2.5 million landing each day to rest. Because it is a warm current, sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico are normally also warm, which feeds Atlantic hurricanes and helps in giving them strength. To complete your Gulf of Mexico knowledge, we also go over all the key information you should know about its physical geography and history. Why is Gulf of Mexico so deep? - Studybuff What is wind chill, and how does it affect your body? For its immense natural resources and historical significance, not many are aware of this Gulf and its role in trade and commerce. Description [ edit] 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. Along the south and southwest, the Gulf of Mexico is bordered by the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche,and Yucatn. Although BP attempted to activate the rigs blowout preventer (BOP), a fail-safe mechanism designed to close the channel through which oil was drawn, the device malfunctioned. By fintasticinc March 22, 2016 Capt's. Corner. Some 1,680 miles of the US coastline and 1,743 miles of the Mexican coastline borders the Gulf of Mexico. nutrient-enriched waters from the deep by a process known as upwelling, which stimulates plankton growth in the euphotic zone. The climate of the Gulf of Mexico region varies from tropical to subtropical type. Go the Distance. It is surrounded by the Mexican states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Sinaloa and Nayarit. From April through October 2022, NOAA and a diverse set of collaborators embarked on a set of eight scientific cruises in some of the Gulf of Mexico . Installation begins for FGCU's new artificial reef in Gulf of Mexico Eleven of the 126 workers on the rig were killed and, over the following 87 days, an estimated 3.19 million barrels (~134 million gallons) of oil spilled into the Gulf . These floating feeding grounds can grow to be so large theyre detectable from space! environmental disaster, Gulf of Mexico [2010]. The explosion While most of the Gulf of Mexico is fairly shallow, its deepest point is Sigsbee Deep, which has an estimated maximum depth of 14,383 feet! The strength and wind speed of a hurricane vary from a Category 1, which is 74-95 mph, to Category 5, which has wind speeds over 157 mph. The rig's sinking on April 22 began the discharge of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Now that youre familiar with the Gulf of Mexico, its time to start planning a beach trip to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach! The coastal population of the five US states on the Gulf of Mexico is projected to increase from 44.2 million in 1995 to about 61.4 million in 2025. The Gulf of Mexico is a sea and is part of the Atlantic Ocean. Still, there are, 30A's Ultimate Guide to The Florida Panhandle Shipwreck. Your personal data will be governed by Mapsofworld, When Did Alaska Become Part of the United States. Heres the technology that helped scientists find itand what it may have been used for. They connect a sea/ocean to a landmass and often have narrower openings than bays (although this isnt a hard rule). On April 20, 2010, BP's mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon exploded, burned, and subsequently sank in the Gulf of Mexico 52 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana. Its four times as salty as the nearby seawater and is warmer as well. In geographic terms, the Gulf of Mexico is also an ocean basin. The strange geology of the floor of the Gulf is mostly caused by thick underlying layers of salt. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. A mans world? Thirty-one nominal species of the benthic harpacticoid family Zosimeidae Seifried, 2003 are known from several coastal systems less than 200 m depth and the deep sea. ", Robertson, Campbell and Leslie Kaufman. It is so dense with salt that it does not mix with the surrounding water, just sits there as its own pool of despair in the middle of Gulf waters. Although Native Americans living in the region used the Gulf of Mexico for centuries as a source of food and building materials, the first European to explore the Gulf was Italian Amerigo Vespucci in 1497. One of Earth's loneliest volcanoes holds an extraordinary secret. They die when they enter and are preserved by the high salt content, pickled in their tracks! WATCH: Sharks biting alligators, the most epic lion battles, and MUCH more. Additional explorers, such as Francisco Hernndez de Crdoba Pnfilo de Narvez later explored the area, often capturing and enslaving local people as they did so. Later, as the basin became a gulf, the salt was covered with sediment deposited by rivers. At its deepest point the bottom is 2.7 miles underwater, but most of the Gulf is much shallower. 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). Gulf Of Mexico (TX, FL) nautical chart and water depth map The wetlands along the Gulf of Mexico cover around 5 million acres (2.02 million hectares). These animals can sniff it out. America's Sea: The Gulf of Mexico - Texas Aquatic Science But its not just another waterway. [2] As described below there is some confusion of names that apply to the basin or a particular point in the basin with both being found in technical and popular literature applying to both basin and the coordinates. In addition to this, the Gulf of Mexico provides critical habitats, feeding, and nursery grounds for the five species of endangered sea turtles that reside in its waters. Here are 11 facts about the Gulf. Gulfs are large bodies of saltwater that can be navigated and are nearly surrounded by land. Once released, the natural gas traveled up a riser to the platform of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that was over the well, where it ignited, killing 11 workers and injuring 17. Oil Platforms In The Gulf Of Mexico - Maritime Page Some of the devastating hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico region include Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Ike (2008), Hurricane Harvey (2016), Hurricane Michael (2018), Hurricane Rita, Galveston Hurricane, etc. The 'extreme cruelty' around the global trade in frog legs, What does cancer smell like? One escarpment has a towering drop of 1,220 meters and extends for 560 kilometers, or 348 miles. (2021, September 8). Unfortunately, oil spills have caused irreparable damage while overfishing, pollution, and more threaten this critical resource. This is the text I received from Captain Steve Papen after yet another cancelled trip due to unfavorable conditions. Supported by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA) Ocean Exploration and Research, the research team recently completed an expedition into the Green Banana Blue Hole . The Sigsbee Deep, 200 miles southeast of Brownsville, Texas, is estimated to be between 12,300 to 14,383 feet. "Dude, you have some terrible luck. Interested in early American history? The Gulf of Mexico is a semi-enclosed basin connected, to the south, to the Caribbean Sea, and to the North Atlantic Ocean to the east. Do You Know the Different Regions of the US? You can try your hand at the pirates life with an adventure on a pirate ship cruise in Orange Beach. Hurricane Harvey is tied with Hurricane Katrina as the costliest in U.S. history. Some of these beaches are Malaquite Beach (Texas), Crystal Sands Beach (Florida), Biloxi Beach (Mississippi), Grand Isle State Park (Louisiana), East Beach (Texas), Dauphin Island Beach (Alabama), and Orange Beach (Alabama). See the Gulf of Mexico's Seafloor Like Never Before With This 1.4
Relentless Mark Greaney Summary,
How Much Does A Doorman At The Savoy Earn,
Difference In Pain Between Appendicitis And Ovarian Cyst,
Sloane Offer Weber Dern Email,
Articles H