Diagenesis and its impact on the reservoir quality of Miocene sandstones (Surma Group) from the Bengal Basin,Bangladesh

Rapid supply and deposition of 1000's of meters of Miocene and Pliocene sediment tend to lead to a different set of controls on reservoir quality than older, more slowly buried sandstones. Here we have studied Miocene fluvial-deltaic Bhuban Formation sandstones, from the Surma Group, Bengal Basin, buried to >3,000 m and >110 °C, using a combination of petrographic, geochemical and petrophysical methods in order to understand the controls on Miocene sandstone reservoir quality to facilitate improved prediction of porosity and permeability. The main conclusions of the study are that mechanical compaction processes are the dominant control on porosity-loss although early calcite growth has led to locally-negligible porosity in some sandstones. Mechanical compaction occurred by grain rearrangement, ductile grain compaction and brittle grain fracturing. Calcite cement, occupying up to 41% intergranular volume, was derived from a combination of dissolved and recrystallized bioclasts, an influx of organic-derived carbon dioxide and plagioclase alteration. Clay minerals present include smectite-illite, kaolinite and chlorite. The smectitic clay was probably restricted to low energy depositional environments and it locally diminishes permeability disproportionate to the degree of porosity-loss. Kaolinite is probably the result of feldspar alteration resulting from the influx of organic-derived carbon dioxide. Quartz cement is present in small amounts, despite the relatively high temperature, due to a combination of limited time available in these young sandstones, grain-coating chlorite and low water saturations in these gas-bearing reservoir sandstones. Reservoir quality can now be predicted by considering primary sediment supply and primary depositional environment, the magnitude of the detrital bioclast fraction and the influx of organic-derived carbon dioxide.     

Local and regional species diversity of benthic Isopoda (Crustacea) in the deep Gulf of Mexico

Recent studies of deep-sea faunas considered the influence of mid-domain models in the distribution of species diversity and richness with depth. In this paper, I show that separating local diversity from regional species richness in benthic isopods clarifies mid-domain effects in the distribution of isopods in the Gulf of Mexico. Deviations from the randomised implied species ranges can be informative to understanding general patterns within the Gulf of Mexico. The isopods from the GoMB study contained 135 species, with a total of 156 species including those from an earlier study. More than 60 species may be new to science. Most families of deep-sea isopods (suborder Asellota) were present, although some were extremely rare. The isopod family Desmosomatidae dominated the samples, and one species of Macrostylis (Macrostylidae) was found in many samples. Species richness for samples pooled within sites ranged from 1 to 52 species. Because species in pooled samples were highly correlated with individuals, species diversity was compared across sites using the expected species estimator (n=15 individuals, ES₁₅). Six depth transects had idiosyncratic patterns of ES₁₅, and transects with the greatest short-range variation in topography, such as basins and canyons, had the greatest short-range disparity. Basins on the deep slope did not have a consistent influence (i.e., relatively higher or lower than surrounding areas) on the comparative species diversity. ES₁₅ of all transects together showed a weak mid-domain effect, peaking around 1200–1500 m, with low values at the shallowest and deepest samples (Sigsbee Abyssal Plain); no longitudinal (east–west) pattern was found. The regional species pool was analyzed by summing the implied ranges of all species. The species ranges in aggregate did not have significant patterns across longitudes, and many species had broad depth ranges, suggesting that the isopod fauna of the Gulf of Mexico is well dispersed. The summed ranges, as expected, had strong mid-domain patterns, contrasting with the local species richness estimates. The longitudinal ranges closely matched a randomized pattern (species ranges placed randomly, 1000 iterations), with significant deviations in the east attributable to lower sampling effort. The depth pattern, however, deviated from the mid-domain model, with a bimodal peak displaced nearly 500 m shallower than the mode of the randomized distribution. The deviations from random expectation were significantly positive above 1600 m and negative below 2000 m, with the result that regional species richness peaked between 800 and 1200 m, and decreased rapidly at deeper depths. The highest species richness intervals corresponded to the number of individuals collected. Residuals from a regression of the deviations on individual numbers, however, still deviated from the randomized pattern. In this declining depth-diversity pattern, the Gulf of Mexico resembles other partially enclosed basins, such as the Norwegian Sea, known to have suffered geologically recent extinction events. This displaced diversity pattern and broad depth ranges implicate ongoing re-colonization of the deeper parts of the Gulf of Mexico. The Sigsbee Abyssal Plain sites could be depauperate for historical reasons (e.g., one or more extinction events) rather than ongoing ecological reasons (e.g., low food supply).     

Influence of detrital composition on the diagenetic history of tight sandstones with implications for reservoir quality: Examples from the Permian Xiashihezi Formation and Carboniferous Taiyuan Formation,Daniudi gas field,Ordos Basin,China

Tight-gas reservoirs, characterized by low porosity and low permeability, are widely considered to be the product of post-depositional, diagenetic processes associated with progressive burial. This study utilizes a combination of thin section petrography, scanning electron microscopy, microprobe and back scatter electron analysis, stable isotope geochemistry and fluid inclusion analysis to compare the diagenetic history, including porosity formation, within sandstones of the second member of Carboniferous Taiyuan Formation (C₃t₂) and the first member of Permian Xiashihezi Formation (P₁x₁) in the Ordos Basin in central China.In the P₁x₁ member, relatively high abundances of metamorphic rock fragments coupled with a braided river and lacustrine delta environment of deposition, produced more smectite for transformation to illite (50–120 °C). This reaction was driven by dissolution of unstable minerals (K-feldspar and rock fragments) during the early to middle stages of mesodiagenesis and consumed all K-feldspar. Abundant intragranular porosity (average values of 2.8%) and microporosity in kaolinite (average values of 1.5%) formed at these burial depths with chlorite and calcite developed as by-products.In the C₃t₂ member, relatively low abundances of metamorphic rock fragments coupled with an incised valley-coastal plain environment of deposition resulted in less smectite for transformation to illite. High K⁺/H⁺ ratios in the early pore waters related to a marine sedimentary environment of deposition promoted this reaction. Under these conditions, K-feldspar was partially preserved. During the middle to late stages of mesodiagenesis, K-feldspar breakdown produced secondary intragranular (average values of 1.4%) and intergranular pores (average values of 1.2%). Release of K⁺ ions promoted illitization of kaolinite with quartz overgrowths and ferrous carbonates developed as by-products.This study has demonstrated that whereas both members are typical tight-gas sandstones, they are characterized by quite different diagenetic histories controlled by the primary detrital composition, especially during mesodiagenesis. Types of secondary porosity vary between the two members and developed at different stages of progressive burial. The content of unstable detrital components, notably feldspar, was the key factor that determined the abundance of secondary porosity.     

Impact of diagenesis on reservoir quality and heterogeneity of the Upper Triassic Chang 8 tight oil sandstones in the Zhenjing area,Ordos Basin,China

Reservoir quality and heterogeneity are critical risk factors in tight oil exploration. The integrated, analysis of the petrographic characteristics and the types and distribution of diagenetic alterations in the Chang 8 sandstones from the Zhenjing area using core, log, thin-section, SEM, petrophysical and stable isotopic data provides insight into the factors responsible for variations in porosity and permeability in tight sandstones. The results indicate that the Chang 8 sandstones mainly from subaqueous distributary channel facies are mostly moderately well to well sorted fine-grained feldspathic litharenites and lithic arkose. The sandstones have ultra-low permeabilities that are commonly less than 1 mD, a wide range of porosities from 0.3 to 18.1%, and two distinct porosity-permeability trends with a boundary of approximately 10% porosity. These petrophysical features are closely related to the types and distribution of the diagenetic alterations. Compaction is a regional porosity-reducing process that was responsible for a loss of more than half of the original porosity in nearly all of the samples. The wide range of porosity is attributed to variations in calcite cementation and chlorite coatings. The relatively high-porosity reservoirs formed due to preservation of the primary intergranular pores by chlorite coatings rather than burial dissolution; however, the chlorites also obstruct pore throats, which lead to the development of reservoirs with high porosity but low permeability. In contrast, calcite cementation is the dominant factor in the formation of low-porosity, ultra-low-permeability reservoirs by filling both the primary pores and the pore throats in the sandstones. The eogenetic calcites are commonly concentrated in tightly cemented concretions or layers adjacent to sandstone-mudstone contacts, while the mesogenetic calcites were deposited in all of the intervals and led to further heterogeneity. This study can be used as an analogue to understand the variations in the pathways of diagenetic evolution and their impacts on the reservoir quality and heterogeneity of sandstones and is useful for predicting the distribution of potential high-quality reservoirs in similar geological settings.     

Metazoan meiofauna abundance in relation to environmental variables in the northern Gulf of Mexico deep sea

In order to more fully understand the distribution of meiofauna and how they respond to topographic, geochemical and physical forcing in the northern Gulf of Mexico, meiofauna abundance and environmental variables were analyzed in a hypothesis-based univariate and multivariate design. Meiofauna abundance was significantly related to water depth, but also exhibited significant longitudinal differences resulting from proximity to Mississippi River outflow. Canyon features in proximity of Mississippi River outflow were found to greatly enhance meiofauna abundance. The Florida Escarpment interacts with Mississippi River outflow and the Loop Current to enhance meiofauna abundance at stations lying directly above and below the escarpment. Multivariate comparisons of meiofauna abundance with environmental variables revealed a strong Mississippi River influence. River outflow alters local sediment characteristics, and interacts with loop current eddies and dynamic slope topography to increase particulate organic matter flux in the northeastern region, thus creating areas of higher than normal meiofauna abundance.     

Metazoan meiofauna biomass, grazing, and weight-dependent respiration in the Northern Gulf of Mexico deep sea

Metazoan meiofauna are ubiquitous in marine soft sediments and play a pivotal role in diagenesis of particulate organic matter. However, the relative importance of meiofauna to the function of deep-sea benthic boundary layer communities has not been resolved. Here, meiofauna biomass, respiration, and grazing on aerobic heterotrophic bacteria were estimated and compared to standing stocks and fluxes of other benthic components (e.g., bacteria and macrofauna). Biomass and respiration declined with depth. Highest biomass and respiration occurred in the proximity of the Mississippi River on the upper continental slope of the central Gulf of Mexico. Meiofauna required 7% of their biomass per day to meet their metabolic energy budget, compared to approximately 24% day⁻¹ in shallow water. Respiration accounted for 8–22% of whole sediment community respiration (SCOC), reflecting the importance of meiofauna in diagenesis, deep-sea carbon budgets, and global biogeochemical cycles.     

Influence of climate change on interannual variation in contaminant body burden in Gulf of Mexico oysters

As part of NOAA's National Status and Trends Mussel Watch Program, oysters were sampled along the Gulf of Mexico coast each winter from 1986 to 1992 and analyzed for trace metal, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), and pesticide body burden. We identified contaminant variables for which large-scale climate processes played an important role in establishing the interannual variation in body burden by examining cases where body burdens rose or fell more or less in unison over broad geographic regions and distinguished these concordant changes from cases where bays varied independently. Of the 11 metals analyzed, nine had scales of concordancy 100 km. Ni and Se, however, had among the largest scales of concordancy in the study, 1200 km. That is, oyster body burdens in bays as far apart as 1200 km tended to rise and fall in unison from one year to the next. Interannual variations in body burden of organic contaminants had a much stronger regional component. All but two of the 11 organic contaminants had scales of concordancy of 200 km or greater and six exceeded 400 km. Concordancy was strongest either in the southern, northwestern, or north-central Gulf, depending upon the contaminant. For all contaminants, bays tended to vary independently in the northeastern Gulf. For three contaminants, total chlordanes, dieldrin and Cd, regional concordancy may originate from a widespread decrease in use and, therefore, input. These contaminants declined nearly monotonically over the 7 years. For others, including Zn and many of the PAHs and pesticides, the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle may be important in establishing the interannual variability in contaminant body burden: (1) ENSO has the geographic scale required; (2) a subtropical influence is required to explain the similarity in interannual variation between south Texas and southern Florida; (3) ENSO-related climate responses in the Gulf follow the southwestern/northeastern trend that would establish the northwestern Gulf focus in concordancy so prominent in many of the contaminants; and (4) deviations in yearly mean body burden from the Gulf-wide mean track the Southern Oscillation Index in some cases.     

Phytoplankton variation and its relation to nutrients and allochthonous organic matter in a coastal lagoon on the Gulf of Mexico

In tropical and subtropical zones, coastal lagoons are surrounded by mangrove communities which are a source of high quantity organic matter that enters the aquatic system through litter fall. This organic matter decomposes, becoming a source of nutrients and other substances such as tannins, fulvic acids and humic acids that may affect the composition and productivity of phytoplankton communities. Sontecomapan is a coastal lagoon located in the southern Gulf of Mexico, which receives abundant litter fall from mangrove. To study the phytoplankton composition and its variation in this lagoon from October 2002 to October 2003, we evaluated the concentrations of dissolved folin phenol active substances (FPAS) as a measure of plant organic matter, salinity, temperature, pH, O₂, N-NH₄⁺, N-NO₃⁻, P-PO₄³⁻, Si-SiO₂, and phytoplanktonic cell density in different mangrove influence zones including the three main rivers that feed the lagoon. Nutrients concentrations depended on freshwater from rivers, however these varied seasonally. Concentrations of P-PO₄³⁻, N-NH₄⁺ and FPAS were the highest in the dry season, when maximum mangrove litter fall is reported. Variation of these nutrients seemed to depend on the internal biogeochemical processes of the lagoon. Blooms of diatoms (Skeletonema spp., Cyclotella spp. and Chaetoceros holsaticus) and dinoflagellates (Peridinium aff. quinquecorne, Prorocentrum cordatum) occurred seasonally and in the different mangrove influence zones. The high cell densities in these zones and the occurrence of certain species and its ordination along gradient of FPAS in a canonical correspondence analysis, suggest that plant organic matter (i.e. mangrove influence) may contribute to phytoplankton dynamics in Sontecomapan lagoon.     

Quantitative impact of diagenesis on reservoir quality of the Triassic Chang 6 tight oil sandstones,Zhenjing area,Ordos Basin,China

The Upper Triassic Chang 6 sandstone, an important exploration target in the Ordos Basin, is a typical tight oil reservoir. Reservoir quality is a critical factor for tight oil exploration. Based on thin sections, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), stable isotopes, and fluid inclusions, the diagenetic processes and their impact on the reservoir quality of the Chang 6 sandstones in the Zhenjing area were quantitatively analysed. The initial porosity of the Chang 6 sandstones is 39.2%, as calculated from point counting and grain size analysis. Mechanical and chemical compaction are the dominant processes for the destruction of pore spaces, leading to a porosity reduction of 14.2%–20.2% during progressive burial. The porosity continually decreased from 4.3% to 12.4% due to carbonate cementation, quartz overgrowth and clay mineral precipitation. Diagenetic processes were influenced by grain size, sorting and mineral compositions. Evaluation of petrographic observations indicates that different extents of compaction and calcite cementation are responsible for the formation of high-porosity and low-porosity reservoirs. Secondary porosity formed due to the burial dissolution of feldspar, rock fragments and laumontite in the Chang 6 sandstones. However, in a relatively closed geochemical system, products of dissolution cannot be transported away over a long distance. As a result, they precipitated in nearby pores and pore throats. In addition, quantitative calculations showed that the dissolution and associated precipitation of products of dissolution were nearly balanced. Consequently, the total porosity of the Chang 6 sandstones increased slightly due to burial dissolution, but the permeability decreased significantly because of the occlusion of pore throats by the dissolution-associated precipitation of authigenic minerals. Therefore, the limited increase in net-porosity from dissolution, combined with intense compaction and cementation, account for the low permeability and strong heterogeneity in the Chang 6 sandstones in the Zhenjing area.     

Impact of oil and gas vents and slicks on petroleum exploration in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico

Active petroleum vents and slicks have been identified in the deep water of the northern Gulf of Mexico using numerous techniques. The occurrence and distribution of these petroleum vents are strongly influenced by the local geological framework—especially the presence of vertical migration pathways into shallow sediments. Oil and gas vents may be more useful for establishing the existence of petroleum generation on a regional scale and for evaluating the gross properties of oil migrating in the subsurface than for appraising the exploration value of individual prospects. Knowledge about petroleum venting in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico has proven to be an important element of the successful exploration activities there.     

Diagenetic evolution and reservoir quality of the Oligocene sandstones in the Baiyun Sag,Pearl River Mouth Basin,South China Sea

The Oligocene Zhuhai sandstones are significant reservoirs for hydrocarbons in the Baiyun Sag, South China Sea.For effective appraisal, exploration and exploitation of such a deep-water hydrocarbon sandstone, samples of five wells from depths of 850 m to 3 000 m were studied. A series of comprehensive petrographic and geochemical analyses were performed to unravel the diagenetic features and their impact on the reservoir quality.Petrographically, the sandstones are dominated by feldspathic litha...     

Factors influencing benthic bacterial abundance, biomass, and activity on the northern continental margin and deep basin of the Gulf of Mexico

As part of a larger project on the deep benthos of the Gulf of Mexico, an extensive data set on benthic bacterial abundance (n>750), supplemented with cell-size and rate measurements, was acquired from 51 sites across a depth range of 212–3732 m on the northern continental slope and deep basin during the years 2000, 2001, and 2002. Bacterial abundance, determined by epifluorescence microscopy, was examined region-wide as a function of spatial and temporal variables, while subsets of the data were examined for sediment-based chemical or mineralogical correlates according to the availability of collaborative data sets. In the latter case, depth of oxygen penetration helped to explain bacterial depth profiles into the sediment, but only porewater DOC correlated significantly (inversely) with bacterial abundance (p<0.05, n=24). Other (positive) correlations were detected with TOC, C/N ratios, and % sand when the analysis was restricted to data from the easternmost stations (p<0.05, n=9–12). Region-wide, neither surface bacterial abundance (3.30–16.8×10⁸ bacteria cm⁻³ in 0–1 cm and 4–5 cm strata) nor depth-integrated abundance (4.84–17.5×10¹³ bacteria m⁻², 0–15 cm) could be explained by water depth, station location, sampling year, or vertical POC flux. In contrast, depth-integrated bacterial biomass, derived from measured cell sizes of 0.027–0.072 μm³, declined significantly with station depth (p<0.001, n=56). Steeper declines in biomass were observed for the cross-slope transects (when unusual topographic sites and abyssal stations were excluded). The importance of resource changes with depth was supported by the positive relationship observed between bacterial biomass and vertical POC flux, derived from measures of overlying productivity, a relationship that remained significant when depth was held constant (partial correlation analysis, p<0.05, df=50). Whole-sediment incubation experiments under simulated in situ conditions, using ³H-thymidine or ¹⁴C-amino acids, yielded low production rates (5–75 μg C m⁻² d⁻¹) and higher respiration rates (76–242 μg C m⁻² d⁻¹), with kinetics suggestive of resource limitation at abyssal depths. Compared to similarly examined deep regions of the open ocean, the semi-enclosed Gulf of Mexico (like the Arabian Sea) harbors in its abyssal sediments a greater biomass of bacteria per unit of vertically delivered POC, likely reflecting the greater input of laterally advected, often unreactive, material from its margins.     

Speculations on the geological causes of backscatter variation on GLORIA sonographs from the Mississippi and De Soto fans,Gulf of Mexico

Published analyses of 61 piston cores, bottom photographs, and dredge samples provide ground truth for 6.5 kHz GLORIA side-scan sonar records of the Mississippi and De Soto fans. GLORIA sound appears to have penetrated through up to 4 m of foraminiferal ooze and terrigenous mud to reach sandy sediments. Possible primary geological causes of high backscatter include slump structures at various scales (1->1,000 cm), possible debris flow fabrics (roughness 1–100 cm) in sandy (5–21%) sediments, and thin ironstone crusts with a roughness of tens of centimeters.     

Controls on reservoir quality of Lower Cretaceous tight sandstones in the Laiyang Sag,Jiaolai Basin,Eastern China: Integrated sedimentologic,diagenetic and microfracturing data

The Jiaolai Basin (Fig. 1) is an under-explored rift basin that has produced minor oil from Lower Cretaceous lacustrine deltaic sandstones. The reservoir quality is highly heterogeneous and is an important exploratory unknown in the basin. This study investigates how reservoir porosity and permeability vary with diagenetic minerals and burial history, particularly the effects of fracturing on the diagenesis and reservoir deliverability. The Laiyang sandstones are tight reservoirs with low porosity and permeability (Φ < 10% and K < 1 mD). Spatial variations in detrital supply and burial history significantly affected the diagenetic alterations during burial. In the western Laiyang Sag, the rocks are primarily feldspathic litharenites that underwent progressive burial, and thus, the primary porosity was partially to completely eliminated as a result of significant mechanical compaction of ductile grains. In contrast, in the eastern Laiyang Sag, the rocks are lithic arkoses that were uplifted to the surface and extensively eroded, which resulted in less porosity reduction by compaction. The tectonic uplift could promote leaching by meteoric water and the dissolution of remaining feldspars and calcite cement. Relatively high-quality reservoirs are preferentially developed in distributary channel and mouth-bar sandstones with chlorite rims on detrital quartz grains, which are also the locations of aqueous fluid flow that produced secondary porosity. The fold-related fractures are primarily developed in the silt–sandstones of Longwangzhuang and Shuinan members in the eastern Laiyang Sag. Quartz is the most prevalent fracture filling mineral in the Laiyang sandstones, and most of the small-aperture fractures are completely sealed, whereas the large-aperture fractures in a given set may be only partially sealed. The greatest fracture density is in the silt–sandstones containing more brittle minerals such as calcite and quartz cement. The wide apertures are crucial to preservation of the fracture porosity, and the great variation in the distribution of fracture-filling cements presents an opportunity for targeting fractures that contribute to fluid flow.     

Application of a vanishing, quasi-sigma, vertical coordinate for simulation of high-speed, deep currents over the Sigsbee Escarpment in the Gulf of Mexico

Recent observations over the Sigsbee Escarpment in the Gulf of Mexico have revealed extremely energetic deep currents (near 1 m s⁻¹), which are trapped along the escarpment. Both scientific interest and engineering needs demand dynamical understanding of these extreme events, and can benefit from a numerical model designed to complement observational and theoretical investigations in this region of complicated topography. The primary objective of this study is to develop a modeling methodology capable of simulating these physical processes and apply the model to the Sigsbee Escarpment region. The very steep slope of the Sigsbee Escarpment (0.05–0.1) limits the application of ocean models with traditional terrain-following (sigma) vertical coordinates, which may represent the very complicated topography in the region adequately, can result in large truncation errors during calculation of the horizontal pressure gradient. A new vertical coordinate system, termed a vanishing quasi-sigma coordinate, is implemented in the Navy Coastal Ocean Model for application to the Sigsbee Escarpment region. Vertical coordinate surfaces for this grid have noticeably gentler slopes than a traditional sigma grid, while still following the terrain near the ocean bottom. The new vertical grid is tested with a suite of numerical experiments and compared to a classical sigma-layer model. The numerical error is substantially reduced in the model with the new vertical grid. A one-year, realistic, numerical simulation is performed to simulate strong, deep currents over the Escarpment using a very-high-resolution nested modeling approach. The model results are analyzed to demonstrate that the deep-ocean currents in the simulation replicate the prominent dynamical features of the observed intense currents in the region.     

Paleo-bathymetric controls on the stratigraphic architecture and reservoir development of confined fans in the Auger Basin: central Gulf of Mexico slope

With abundant well penetrations in proximal and distal settings and 3D seismic coverage, the Auger Basin is an ideal location to study the influence of basin setting and accommodation on the stratigraphic architecture of ancient turbidite systems. Pliocene-age turbidites at Macaroni Field were deposited in ponded accommodation in the distal portion of a salt-bounded intraslope basin, immediately inboard of a sediment spill point to the linked outboard basin. Deposits at Auger Field are contained within point-sourced submarine fans deposited in healed slope accommodation in the more proximal portion of the basin on the flank of a paleo-bathymetric ridge, immediately down depositional dip of a sediment spill point from an inboard basin. Both areas of the basin are distinct in terms of sediment dispersal patterns, rate of sediment fill, and preservation potential of reservoir/seal pairs, and while both fields contain sand-rich deposits and record vertical evolution from older sheet dominated- to younger channel dominated deposits over the Late Pliocene section, there are key differences in the nature in which the fill occurs. The ponded stratigraphic section at Macaroni Field records (1) an early mud-rich phase in which incoming flows are completely captured by confining topography, (2) a brief phase of diminished relief when high frequency fill/spill cycles occur, and ultimately (3) a phase of incision of the former basin sill and large-scale bypass to the outboard basin. Over the same period, the healed-slope section at Auger Field records a fill pattern consisting of alternating episodes of initial sand-rich sheet/lobe deposition followed by intervals of channelization. We acknowledge extra-basinal controls (eustacy, climate) on the timing, rate, and nature of sediment supply to the basin, but there is considerable evidence for paleo-bathymetric control on cyclical fill patterns observed at fourth and higher-order scales.     

Growth rates,densities, and distribution of Lophelia pertusa on artificial structures in the Gulf of Mexico

Using industry inspection video and ROV imaging, we examined Lophelia pertusa (Linnaeus 1758) on 10 artificial structures of known ages (9 to 100 years) in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Five different types deep-water energy installations with depths ranging from 320 to 995 m, and three shipwrecks with depths ranging from approximately 530 to 615 m, were examined. Density, depth ranges, and growth rates of L. pertusa colonies were calculated from video and image analysis. L. pertusa colonies were present on all structures examined. Minimum calculated growth rates for the largest colonies ranged from 0.32 to 3.23 cm/yr on the different structures. The shallowest depth at which L. pertusa was observed was 201 m and the deepest was 801 m, considerably expanding the known depth range of this species in the northern GoM. Colony density varied with structure type, age, and depth, with the highest density between 503 and 518 m on the single structure that spanned the entire depth range of occurrence of L. pertusa observed in this study. L. pertusa colonies growing on thinner and deeper installations appear to have higher colonization rates, i.e. to develop higher densities over a shorter time period, compared to those on shallower and more massive types of installations. However, on average, colonies have slower growth rates on these installations than colonies on more massive, shallower installations (compliant and solid installations). In general, the calculated minimum growth rates were higher on the installations than on the shipwrecks, which were substantially older. A continuum of colony sizes was documented on all installations, suggesting multiple settlement events. L. pertusa thickets were observed on the oldest anthropogenic structures, with most of the components of these structures covered by colonies of L. pertusa. Brown, orange, and mottled color-variants were documented for the first time in the GoM. All installations examined for this study were colonized by L. pertusa and it is likely that most artificial surfaces in appropriate depths in the GoM will be as well.