|
BOEMRE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES PROGRAM: ONGOING STUDIES |
||
|
BOEMRE OCS Region: |
||
|
Planning Area: |
Gulfwide |
|
|
Title: |
Ultra-Deepwater Circulation Processes in the Gulf of Mexico (GM-07-05) |
|
|
Total Cost: $749,860 |
Period of Performance: FY 2008-2011 |
|
|
Conducting Organization: |
Princeton University |
|
|
BOEMRE Contact: |
||
|
Description: Background: Seawater circulation processes in the Gulf of Mexico take place within what has been described as a two layer system. Little dynamic interaction is thought to occur between upper layer processes associated with the top 1,000 meters of the water column, and lower layer processes that occur from about 1,000 meters to the seafloor. Upper layer processes in the Gulf of Mexico include the Loop Current, Loop Current rings, filaments, and smaller, peripheral frontal eddies associated with the Loop Current and Loop Current rings. Topographic Rossby waves are thought to predominate in the deep and ultra deep (>1524 m) waters of the lower layer, but here circulation processes are less well understood. The available results support the presence of deep water eddies and vertical exchange, and a mean cyclonic (counter clockwise) deep water circulation regime. New current data are becoming available from ongoing studies conducted by the BOEMRE GOMR, and these data provide new opportunities to investigate circulation processes in the ultra-deep Gulf of Mexico. The Exploratory Study of Deepwater Currents in the Gulf of Mexico, the Survey of Deepwater Currents in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico, the Survey of Deepwater Currents in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, and other ongoing deepwater data collection will provide a large database of lower layer currents and temperatures. Data analyses associated with these studies will provide information about physical oceanographic conditions and processes that occur in the lower layer in deep and ultra-deep water regions of the Gulf of Mexico. Process modeling studies will complement and extend process information obtained from these data analyses. Future hindcast studies could provide a comprehensive current field in ultra-deep regions, and prior high quality process modeling can result in improved hindcast simulations. The BOEMRE GOMR has recently conducted and completed a suite of process modeling studies that have greatly enhanced our understanding of physical oceanographic processes on the slope and rise in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Similarly, the benefit of new ultra-deep data to the BOEMRE can be substantially enhanced and complemented by ultra-deepwater process modeling studies which can provide coverage in sufficient detail. Modeling studies will allow the detailed examination of processes by means of numerical experiments that are not possible in data studies. |
||
|
Objectives: To advance our understanding of the physical conditions and processes from 1,000 meters depth to the seafloor in the ultra-deep Gulf of Mexico, using numerical modeling techniques in conjunction with the large quantities of physical oceanographic data recently collected by BOEMRE. In particular,
|
||
|
Methods: The model will be a proven numerical ocean circulation model based on assumed physics, of sufficiently high horizontal and vertical resolution to resolve eddies as small as 20 km in diameter. Model input forcing shall include at a minimum surface wind derived from available wind data, river runoff, surface heat flux, and the Loop Current. The computational domain should include the Gulf of Mexico from the sea surface to the seafloor. Deep currents measured in current BOEMRE studies must be used heavily in this modeling effort. Other data are available and should be used as well. Throughout the study, the process modeling shall be guided by available data. The modeling team may also choose to employ data for boundary conditions, initial conditions, and other uses consistent with the objective of providing a realistic simulation of ocean circulation processes within the computational domain. |
||
|
Products: Digital deliverables to be provided to BOEMRE will include model output in the format specified, peer reviewed publications, an ITM presentation, and a final report of findings. This final report must include an extensive discussion and interpretation of study results, including lower layer circulation processes and energetics in the ultra-deep Gulf of Mexico, vertical and horizontal transport and processes, and interaction of lower layer circulation with circulation in the upper layer and with bottom topography. The discussion and interpretation of these modeling results shall provide new information and insights obtained from analysis of model output in order to realize each of the above objectives and to fulfill the needs of BOEMRE. |
||
|
Importance to BOEMRE: The BOEMRE is responsible for assuring that the exploration and production of oil and gas reserves in the OCS are conducted in a manner that reduces risks to the marine environment and to the welfare of humans and organisms that depend on it. As exploration and production continue to move into deeper waters, currents in the ultra-deep Gulf of Mexico are of continuing interest to the BOEMRE. Model results and analysis from this study will provide better understanding of circulation processes in deep and ultra-deep water that will be useful for the preparation of future NEPA documents. The understanding of ultra-deep circulation processes that this study will provide to BOEMRE may also contribute to the data interpretation and usefulness of biological or chemical deepwater studies. |
||
|
Current Status: A time extension was signed and the draft final report should be delivered on March 2011. |
||
|
Final Report Due: |
June 2011 |
|
|
Publications: |
none |
|
|
Affiliated WWW Sites: |
||
|
Revised date: |
February 2011 |
|
|
ESPIS |
ESPIS
- All completed ESP Studies: |
|