Gulf Of Mexico Deepwater Current Structure Observations

Date/Time:

14 Mar 2012
10:00-10:30

Location:

South Galleries

Seminar Details
Two Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP's) enable the collection of full water column, current profile data in approximately 1300 meters of water at Green Canyon Block 645 in the Gulf of Mexico. The seabed mounted 75kHz ADCP has recorded and displayed profiles in near real-time at 20 minutes intervals continuously (100% data return) from June 2005 to the present day. The data provides evidence on how deep water currents are affected by natural events such as hurricanes (Gustav, Ike, Katrina, Rita and Wilma) and various Loop Current eddies. These data also indicate the existence of a complex structure in the near-seabed region, and show energetic current pulses exceeding 25 cm/s with periodicities of approximately 20-day intervals. The possible mechanisms for these phenomena are discussed in this presentation.