Publications

Microorganisms associated with corals are hypothesized to contribute to the function of the host animal by cycling nutrients, breaking down carbon sources, fixing nitrogen, and producing antibiotics. This is the first study to culture and characterize bacteria from Lophelia pertusa, a cold-water coral found in the deep sea, in an effort to understand the roles that the microorganisms...

When the Macondo well was shut in on July 15, 2010, the shut-in pressure recovered to a level that indicated the possibility of oil leakage out of the well casing into the surrounding formation. Such a leak could initiate a hydraulic fracture that might eventually breach the seafloor, resulting in renewed and uncontrolled oil flow into the Gulf of Mexico. To help evaluate whether or not...

This project combines underwater video with maps and descriptions to illustrate diverse seafloor habitats from Tampa Bay, Florida, to Mobile Bay, Alabama. A swath of seafloor was surveyed with underwater video to 100 meters (m) water depth in 1999 and 2000 as part of the Gulfstream Natural Gas System Survey. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in St. Petersburg, Florida, in cooperation...

An analytical multiphase plume model, combined with time-varying flow and hydrographic fields generated by the 3-D South Atlantic Bight and Gulf of Mexico model (SABGOM) hydrodynamic model, were used as input to a Lagrangian transport model (LTRANS), to simulate transport of oil droplets dispersed at depth from the recent Deepwater Horizon MC 252 oil spill. The plume model predicts a

From April 20 through July 15, 2010, an estimated 4.4 million barrels (1 barrel = 42 gallons [~700,000 cu m]) of crude oil spilled into the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM) from the ruptured British Petroleum (BP) Macondo-1 (M-1) well after the explosion of the drilling platform Deepwater Horizon. In addition, ~1.84 million gallons (~7,000 cu m) of hydrocarbon-based Corexit dispersants...

In June and July of 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted geophysical surveys to investigate the geologic controls on island framework from Cat Island, Mississippi, to Dauphin Island, Alabama, as part of a broader USGS study on Coastal Change and Transport (CCT). The surveys were funded through the Northern Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Change and Hazard Susceptibility Project as...

Using Delft3D, a Chandeleur Island model was constructed to examine the sediment-transport patterns and morphodynamic change caused by Hurricane Katrina and similar storm events. The model setup included a coarse Gulf of Mexico domain and a nested finer-resolution Chandeleur Island domain. The finer-resolution domain resolved morphodynamic processes driven by storms and tides. A...

No abstract available.

The objective of this study was to provide a moderate resolution 30-m fractional water map of the Chenier Plain for 2003, 2006 and 2009 by using information contained in high-resolution satellite imagery of a subset of the study area. Indices and transforms pertaining to vegetation and water were created using the high-resolution imagery, and a threshold was applied to obtain a...

Pore water from coastal beach and marsh sediments from the northern Gulf of Mexico, pre- and post-landfall of the Deepwater Horizon oil release, were collected and evaluated for toxicity with the sea urchin fertilization and embryological development assays. There were 17 pre-landfall samples and 49 post-landfall samples tested using both assays. Toxicity was determined in four pre...

On April 22, 2010, the explosion on and subsequent sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform resulted in the release of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. At least 4.4 million barrels had been released into the Gulf of Mexico through July 15, 2010, 10 to 29 percent of which was chemically dispersed, primarily using two dispersant formulations. Initially, the dispersant...

In March of 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted geophysical surveys offshore of Petit Bois Island, Mississippi, and Dauphin Island, Alabama (fig. 1). These efforts were part of the USGS Gulf of Mexico Science Coordination partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to assist the Mississippi Coastal Improvements Program (MsCIP) and the Northern Gulf of Mexico...