Gulf of Mexico ~ Seas and Oceans. How It All Happened: Gulf of Mexico Where is the Gulf of Mexico

Did you know that the Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water on the planet, supporting the world's largest fisheries? The Gulf of Mexico is an impressive area with an amazing variety of species and one of the most dangerous seas in the world. Here are 47 of the most interesting facts about the Gulf of Mexico that will give you information about this unique place.

The Gulf of Mexico is an ocean basin that only exists because the Gulf is surrounded by North America and Cuba.
It is the ninth largest body of water in the world (about 600,000 square miles) - bordered by five US states (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) to the north, five Mexican states to the west, and Cuba to the southeast.
The total coastline of the bay is approximately 3,540 miles (5,697 km) from the tip of Florida to the tip of the Yucatan, and another 236 miles (380 km) along Cuba.
The bay was created by colliding at the end of the Triassic period, about 300 million years ago, and then the seabed subsided.
Nearly half of the Gulf of Mexico basin is shallow water above the continental shelves, although it has a trough with a depth of 14,383 feet (4,384 meters).
The water of the Atchafalaya River, saturated with sediments (sediments), flows into the Gulf of Mexico in the northern part.
Along the American side of the Gulf of Mexico, 33 large river systems and 207 estuaries flow into the sea.
, one of the strongest ocean currents in the world, originates in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
The first European exploration of the Gulf of Mexico was conducted by Amerigo Vespucci in 1497.
The coasts of the bay are home to a wide range of habitats, including flooded vegetation, highlands, marine areas and over 5 million acres of wetlands.
The Gulf of Mexico has 31 large estuary catchments.
The bay's coastal wetlands account for 28% of the total U.S. wetlands, and the open water area accounts for 41% of the U.S. total.
An important area for the millions of migratory birds that fly throughout the Gulf of Mexico, including nearly all migratory landbirds.
Radar technology has shown that hundreds of millions of birds cross the Gulf of Mexico on their migrations, with up to 2.5 million landing resting in Louisiana.
There are 29 species of marine mammals in the Gulf of Mexico, including bottlenose dolphins, humpback whales, small whales and sperm whales.
The bay is home to five species of rare sea turtles - Kemp's sea turtles, Hawksbill sea turtles, green sea turtles, Loggerhet sea turtles and Leatherback.
The Gulf of Mexico is home to several species of hammerhead fish and there are even whale sharks.
Holbox Island was discovered just a few years ago and has become a first-class whale shark spot. The area has now become an ecotourism zone with the protection of these gentle giants.
Is a widespread genus of seaweed that provides floating oases for marine species, from sea turtles and seahorses to tuna and perch. Their clusters become so large and dense that they can be seen from space.
- iconic figures of the Florida coasts. They can reach up to 12 feet (4 meters) in length and weigh over 1,500 pounds (680 kg), but only 5,000 live in the wild - these are populations of coastal habitats.
Brown pelicans were nearly wiped out. However, about 60% of brown pelicans breed on the Gulf Coast and face many threats, including fishing line and oil pollution.
Sperm whales are family groups, with a total of 500 to 1,500 individuals living in the bay.
Florida is the only state in the continental United States that has extensive coral reef formations near its shores (more than 60% of the coral reefs found in the United States are located around the extended chain of Hawaii).
The naval reef tract stretches 358 miles from Tortuga National Park from Florida Keys to St. Lucie Bay in Martin County, and about 2/3 FRT is in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS).
Coral reefs only grow in specific ecosystems with the right water depth and temperature and the right combination of nutrients and wave action. Reef growth is relatively slow - individual colonies grow from 0.5 to 17 centimeters per year.
The black coral found in the Gulf of Mexico is one of the slowest developing deep sea corals, up to 2000 years old.
Most of Florida's fish species spend their lives around coral reefs.
The coral reefs in Florida's ecosystems are extremely diverse: over 6,000 species - including 520 fish species; 128 varieties of starfish, sea urchins, sand dollars and sea cucumbers; 55 types of soft corals and 63 types of stony corals.
Once the most common and important coral species of the Caribbean on the Elkhorn coral reefs (Acropora palmata) and (A. cervicornis) are now critically endangered, having declined by more than 90% since 1980.
Reef tourism generates approximately $ 17.5 billion annually.
Coral reefs need platforms to grow, and creating artificial reefs is a popular tactic to help start new coral reefs to attract not only fish but also tourists.
Sunken ships and oil platforms can be used to create artificial reefs.
At the end of 1998, 1,715 platforms were retired and donated as reef rigs to improve fishing.
There have also been many historic shipwrecks in the bay - over 750 sunken ships are known: many from the last world wars, but some from the 16th and 17th centuries.
Agricultural runoff, mainly from over-fertilization of agricultural fields, is causing record annual dead zones - areas where plankton bloom and oxygen levels die off, to the point where nothing can live in these areas.
Colossal runoff - 41% from the Mississippi River, flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, pollutes its waters - it is runoff from agricultural land.
Scientists say this summer's dead zone may be the largest since the 1985 records, ranging from 8,500 to 9,421 square miles.
Fishing in the Gulf of Mexico includes red fish, amber, shellfish, swordfish, perch, shrimp, crabs and oysters.
The Gulf of Mexico has eight of the top twenty fishing ports in the country.
The Gulf of Mexico has four main industries - fishing, shipping, tourism and oil.
Interest in oil and gas is US $ 124 billion, which is more than half of the total received by the four main industries. However, tourism comes in second place \u003d approximately US $ 100 billion per year.
Prospecting for oil and drilling pose problems for marine animals, whales, fish and squid, causing noise pollution.
The nearly 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells below the bay are generally not screened for potential environmental issues.
The BP Deepwater oil spill lasted for three months starting April 20, 2010, releasing 4.9 million barrels of oil into the bay, making it the largest offshore oil spill in the history of the oil industry.
Areas that were under threat for years after the spill include 8 US national parks. More than 400 species found on islands and marshes are at risk.
As of November 2, 2010, 6,814 dead animals have been collected, including 6,104 birds, 609 sea turtles, 100 dolphins and other mammals, and 1 reptile. It is not possible to accurately count the animals killed by the spill, as BP employees collected and destroyed the animals before they were counted. Since January 1, 2011, 67 dolphins have been found dead in the oil spill-affected area, of which 35 were newborn calves.
The bay is considered seismic; however, tremors are moderate - recorded in history usually 5.0 or less on the Richter magnitude scale

The Gulf of Mexico is inland sea of \u200b\u200bthe western Atlantic Ocean. It is bounded from the northwest, north and east by the US coast (states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas), in the south and southwest by the coast of Mexico (states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan), as well as the island of Cuba.

Geography of the Gulf of Mexico

The Florida Strait connects the Gulf of Mexico with the Atlantic Ocean, and the Yucatan Strait with the Caribbean Sea. Due to the relatively small width of these straits, tidal phenomena are weakly expressed. Many rivers flow into the Gulf of Mexico, including the river. Mississippi, b. Alabama, b. Pearl (pearl), r. Nueses, b. San Antonio.

The coastline is extremely meandering, subject to constant changes, especially after the hurricane season. The shores are mostly flat, in places very swampy (Everglades swamps). Sand spits, shoals, banks, small and large islands (Galveston Island, Dolphin Island, etc.) stretch along the coast. At the same time, there is a gradual shallowing of the northern part of the bay due to the alluvial activity of the rivers flowing from the northern side (primarily the Mississippi River). Despite the shallowing, the area of \u200b\u200bthe mirror tends to increase, mainly due to the erosion of beaches and small islands (the almost extinct Chandelier Islands) near Louisiana / Louisiana. In the northern part of the bay, there are many smaller bays, bays and harbors (Mobile Bay, etc.), as well as lagoons and estuaries (Ponchantren, Born, Morepa in Louisiana).

Population of the Gulf of Mexico

The largest cities on the coast of Mexico: Campeche, Veracruz, Tampico; Cuba: Capital Havana, USA: Tampa, St. Petersburg, Pensacola in Florida, Mobile in Alabama, New Orleans in Louisiana, Biloxi, Gulfport and Pascagula in Mississippi, Houston, Galveston and Corpus Christi in Texas. In the second half of the 20th century, there is an intensive growth of cities and population density in the Bay area. The most dynamically developing resorts and oil and gas centers (Houston).

Significant reserves of oil products and natural gas are concentrated on the shelf of the Gulf of Mexico; the extraction of these minerals is carried out mainly with the help of oil production towers / oil platforms. There is intensive fishing - industrial (tuna), as well as amateur - (shark). Shrimps are grown in shallow bays. It is important for shipping, there are many ports in the United States, Mexico and Cuba.

Ecology of the Gulf of Mexico

The northern part of the gulf, which belongs to the United States, has an extremely unfavorable environmental situation. The main cause of pollution is the abuse of powerful chemical fertilizers by US agricultural enterprises to increase crop yields on the fields and plantations north of the bay. The chemicals are washed out by rains and rivers into the bay, where, in turn, they stimulate the growth of small brown algae, which, during their mass reproduction, absorb all the oxygen in the surrounding water, which leads to the death of fish and other organisms. Another problem is the massive construction of large residential complexes (condominiums) directly at the water's edge.

The gently sloping, swampy shores of the bay are not suitable for multi-storey buildings. Frequent hurricanes, which are a natural method of renewing coastal regions, force construction companies to carry out massive repair and construction work of high-rise buildings every 2-3 years, which leads to the destruction of the ecological balance in the dunes, construction waste dumps, deterioration of sand quality, erosion of beaches, the disappearance of coastal floods and mangrove forests, increased salinity in the northern part of the bay. Moreover, sewage from condominiums attracts sharks closer and closer to the coast, and an increase in salinity leads to the mass reproduction of poisonous jellyfish, posing a danger to vacationers.

Fauna of the Gulf of Mexico

The continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico is perhaps more diverse than any other area of \u200b\u200bits size within the coastal waters of North America. The composition of shelf waters and their circulation are complex due to the fact that they mix with the waters of rivers flowing from the offshore regions of the United States of America. The nature of the bottom is extremely varied. Fauna and flora combine elements of the temperate Atlantic and Caribbean in proportions depending on location and season.

Plankton abundantly reproduce on the shelf, providing food for a variety of marine life.

Plankton feeds on the main commercial fish of the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent basins - menhaden (30-50 cm).

Bluefish (30 cm-1m) hunt herring - the only representative of the bluefish family, a predatory schooling fish that lives in the subtropical waters of all seas and oceans. There are also swordfish (4-4.5 m, 400 kg) and blue marlins (5 m, 700 kg), belonging to two related families swordfish and sailfish, hunting herring, tuna and corifen. At the bottom of the bay, yellow-tailed flounders and black-backed flounders are found. Flounders easily change their color and pattern, disguising themselves at the bottom.

Gray humps (90 cm, 9 kg) from the humpback family, related to Black Sea humps, also live near the bottom, feeding on benthic invertebrates and small fish.

In the same place, at the mouth of the Mississippi, there are large fish - Atlantic tarpon (2-2.4 m from 45 to 150 kg) from the order of tarpon-like, the tarpon family. Several species of sharks live in the Gulf of Mexico: white, tiger, lemon, bull, mako, hammerhead shark, etc.

The Mexican stingray (Springeria folirostris) lives only in the Gulf of Mexico. There is also the Mobul stingray, whose wingspan reaches 3.5 m. These stingrays are considered an endangered species. Their number is rapidly decreasing due to industrial capture.

The bay is also home to a large number of golden rays, which resemble giant leaves floating in the sea.

There are three types of hydrolagus (Hydrolagus) of the Chimera family in the bay.

In addition to fish, the Gulf of Mexico also fishes for oysters and shrimp. The most abundant shrimp in the bay are brown, followed by white and the rarest pink shrimp (Penaeus duorarum).

In the Gulf of Mexico, the spiny lobster, which is large in size (50-75 cm), lives.

The coastal waters are home to "sea cows" (manatees).

Turtles are found in large numbers in the shallow waters of the bay.

On the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, you can find such exotic birds as the pelican, flamingo, green kingfisher. Alligators and several types of poisonous snakes are also found here.

Gulf of Mexico oil and gas basin

The Gulf of Mexico oil and gas basin is located within one of the largest depressions in the earth's crust, the most bent part of which is occupied by the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The depression has an almost isometric shape with a diameter of about 1800 km and is filled with Cenozoic and Mesozoic deposits up to 15 km thick. The onshore part of the basin occupies the Mexican Lowland and is located in the southern states of the United States (Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, partially Alabama, Georgia and Florida) and Mexico (states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco). In the south-east it is bounded by a fault that separates it from the Antilles geosynclinal system.

The surface part is complicated by a number of large depressions and uplifts. The subaquatic part of the basin includes the shelf, continental slope and abyssal plain with a bottom depth of up to 4 km. The entire basin as a whole is characterized by the manifestation of salt tectonics with salt of the Early Jurassic or Permian age.

More than 2000 oil and gas fields have been discovered here, including more than 200 in the subaqueous part. Oil and gas content is associated with the Miocene, Paleogene and Cretaceous, to a lesser extent Pliocene and Jurassic deposits. The collectors are predominantly sandstone for the Cenozoic and limestone for the Cretaceous. On the northwest. Sandstones and limestones of the Carboniferous and Ordovician are also oil and gas bearing. Most of the deposits of black gold and gas are associated with local platform-type uplifts, salt-dome structures and zones of pinching out of sand deposits. In the Mexican part, oil fields are also known that are confined to anticlines of linear folding and extended reef zones. Several giant deposits are known in the Gulf of Mexico oil and gas basin (black gold - East Texas, gas - Monroe, Carthage, etc.).

Oil production in the basin in Mexico has been going on since the early 20th century. (Tampico region), in the United States - from the 20s. 20th century Its rapid growth was facilitated by the ability to use sea transport to transport black gold. Natural gas has been produced intensively since World War II. In the 60s and 70s. 20th century in the basin, underwater drilling is being carried out to obtain black gold and gas on the coastal shallows of the US states - Texas and Louisiana; the reserves of oil and oil products in the shelf are estimated at 374 million tons (1969). Oil production from the seabed is also developing in Mexico (in the southeast). Gas reserves in the United States are scattered over small fields, which complicates their exploitation. The basin provides 30% of the black gold mined in the United States (over 140 million tons in 1971; in the 60s and 70s, production in Louisiana greatly increased) and 100% of black gold (21.9 million tons in 1971) and gas (18.2 million m3) in Mexico.

On the territory of the basin, a large oil refining industry arose, using oil from local deposits and from other oil-bearing provinces. It houses about 1/3 of the capacity of US oil refineries (at the factories of the basin in 1971 about 200 million tons were processed) and about 3/4 of the capacity in Mexico (22 million tons in 1971); major centers for oil refining in the United States: Houston, Beaumont, Port Arthur, in Mexico - Tampico, Ciudad Madero, Minatitlan. The petrochemical industry has reached a great development in the oil and gas basin in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil, natural gas and petroleum products are transferred from the basin to other regions of the USA and Mexico.

Chronology of events

On April 20, 2010 at 22:00 local time (CTZ), an explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon platform, causing a massive fire. Shortly before this, the well was checked for tightness, during which 3 times more drilling fluid was consumed than expected. As a result of the explosion, seven people were injured, four of them are in critical condition, 11 people are missing. At the time of the emergency, 126 people were working on the drilling platform, which is larger than two football fields, and about 2.6 million liters of diesel fuel were stored. The platform capacity was 8 thousand barrels per day.

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig sank on April 22 after a 36-hour fire that followed a massive explosion. After the explosion and flooding, the oil rig was damaged and oil from it began to flow into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

The 965-kilometer oil slick approached about 34 kilometers off the Louisiana coast, threatening beaches and fishing areas that are critical to the economies of the coastal states. On April 26, four BP submarine robots tried unsuccessfully to repair the leak. The flotilla of 49 tugs, barges, rescue boats and other vessels was hampered by strong winds and rough seas. US emergency services have begun a process of controlled burning of an oil slick off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico. The first flame on the oil slick was lit on Wednesday, April 28, at about 4.45 pm local time (01.45 Thursday Moscow time).

In the Gulf of Mexico, it is estimated that up to 5,000 barrels (about 700 tons or 795,000 liters) of black gold are poured into the water per day. However, experts do not exclude that in the near future this figure may reach 50 thousand barrels per day due to the appearance of additional leaks in the well pipe. An internal BP report released on June 20 states that the volume of the leak can be up to 100 thousand barrels (about 14,000 tons or 16 million liters) daily, excluding the volume of black gold that can be collected using a protective dome (which is about 15 thousand barrels in a day). For comparison: the volume of the black gold spill resulting from the Exxon Valdez tanker accident, which was previously considered the most devastating environmental disaster that has ever occurred at sea, amounted to about 260 thousand barrels of black gold (about 36 000 tons or 40 900 000 liters).

As of May 17, a slick of black gold on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico spread to the north (the US coast) insignificantly in comparison with the data of April 28, which is undoubtedly connected with measures to prevent the spread of black gold and its collection by forces and means of BP, the US emergency services ... Particular contributions are made by US citizens volunteering to assist rescuers. Nevertheless, the spread of the spot to the south (into the open sea) is quite pronounced.

On June 4, the US National Center for Atmospheric Research, based on available climate data, modeled six options for the distribution of black gold. According to all six options, in early August this year, the water-oil emulsion will reach the northern coast of Cuba, including the beaches of Varadero. In the second half of August, oil may end up on the northern coast of the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula. The model of American scientists shows that the oil slick will in any case leave the water area of \u200b\u200bthe Gulf of Mexico and begin to move into the North Atlantic towards Europe.

On April 30, oil reached the mouth of the Mississippi River, and on May 6, the Louisiana coast. On June 5, oil reached the coast of Florida, on June 28 - the coast of Mississippi, and on July 6, oil reached the coast of Texas. Thus, all US states with access to the Gulf of Mexico have already suffered from the black gold spill.

Well sealing

As of July 16, 2010, the main well is sealed and BP reported that the release of black gold into the open ocean has been stopped. However, the reliability of the design is in question, and BP representatives confirm that it is a temporary solution. As a result of the installation of the protective dome, additional leaks may occur if the underground part of the well is also damaged. A few kilometers from the well, on the 18th, a new leak was discovered. Despite the pressurization, over 85 days of the leak, the world's oceans were polluted with more than 4 million barrels of oil products (approximately 0.54 million tons), and the consequences of the disaster are still difficult to assess. The US government spokesman in charge of remediation of the black gold leak in the Gulf of Mexico said on Sunday September 19 that the damaged subsea well was closed for good - five months after the explosion on the oil rig, which led to the largest black gold leak in US history.

Investigation of the causes of the accident

On August 4, 2010, BP announced that the black gold leak was stopped due to the hydrostatic pressure of the injected drilling fluid (operation "Static kill" - complete stop of the leak). A special heavy drilling fluid was first pumped into the well, followed by cement.

On September 8, 2010, BP published the Accident Investigation Report (193 pages). The report was prepared by a team of more than 50 specialists, led by BP's head of operations safety, Mark Bly. The document listed the main errors that caused the accident:

The cement barriers at the bottom of the Macondo emergency well could not trap hydrocarbons in the reservoir as they should, so gas and condensate flowed through them.

BP and Transocean erroneously accepted negative results from the main safety test (well test) even though the well was leaking.

The Transocean crew did not notice that there was a flow of hydrocarbons from the well. After that, the flow reached the well and had to be brought to the surface. When the gas reached the engine room through the ventilation system, it was flammable and the system did not prevent a fire. Even after the explosion and fire, no automatic robots were launched to plug a hole in a leaky well.

The leakage of black gold amounted to 4.9 million barrels, or over half a cubic kilometer. It is the largest accidental black gold spill in the United States, exceeding the impact of the 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker crash off the coast of Alaska. Then about 260 thousand barrels of black gold poured out of the wrecked ship.

Environmental impact

In early May 2010, US President Barack Obama called what is happening in the Gulf of Mexico "a potentially unprecedented environmental disaster." In the water column of the Gulf of Mexico, spots of black gold were found (one spot 16 km long, 90 meters thick at a depth of up to 1300 meters). Oil may be flowing out of the well until August.

Scientists from the US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) made computer simulations of 6 possible options for the spread of an oil slick. All 6 variants ended with the slick leaving the Gulf of Mexico and falling into the so-called Loop Current. Then the Gulf Stream carried him to the shores of Europe. The differences were only in the time the slick left the bay, the maximum was 130 days. However, scientists point out that these simulations are not accurate predictions and simply serve as a warning of danger, since weather conditions and human response can greatly affect the movement of oil pollution. At the time of the simulation, up to 800,000 barrels of black gold were in the water.

To combat oil spills on the water surface, dispersants of the Corexit family are widely used: Corexit 9500 and Corexit 9527.

Scientists have suggested that the black gold spill in the Gulf of Mexico affected the speed of the Gulf Stream.

Elimination of accident consequences

Before that, attempts were made to block three breakouts, but only one of them, the smallest, was blocked. The other two cannot be overlapped due to their size.

The main operations are carried out by the on-site drilling vessel Discoverer Enterprise and the Q4000 multipurpose semi-submersible platform. On May 7, installation of a protective dome began on the site of the emergency oil production platform.

By May 16, it was possible with the help of a one-mile-long pipe to organize the pumping of black gold from the well. But this was a temporary measure, and no definitive remedies had yet been developed. On May 28, an attempt was made to cement the well, but already on May 30, reports came that this could not be done.

On June 3, remote-controlled robots managed to cut the deformed part of the drill pipe and install a protective dome. However, this did not help completely stop the black gold leak.

On June 9, the administration of President Barack Obama issued an ultimatum to BP, which was given 72 hours to present the final plan to eliminate the consequences of the explosion and stop the release of black gold.

On the night of July 12, BP installed a new protective device (plug) weighing 70 tons. The previous plug, which could not cope with the retention of black gold, was removed on July 10, while about 120 thousand barrels of black gold could have spilled into the bay.

Financial costs of BP to eliminate the accident

BP's expenditures on liquidation of the consequences of the accident are growing every day - figures of 450 million, 600 million, 930 million, 990 million and 1.250 billion US dollars were announced. As of June 14, 2010, losses amounted to USD 1.6 billion. BP reported on July 12, 2010, its disaster relief costs have already amounted to US $ 3.5 billion, including US $ 165 million of this amount spent on individual claims. By September 17, costs reached $ 9.5 billion.

Economic and political consequences of the disaster

The oil spill contaminated more than 171 miles of coastline in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida. More than 57,000 sq. miles of the bay area (about 24% of the area under US jurisdiction) is closed to fishing activities. Fishing and tourism activities in the region have been severely damaged.

2.1. Media about the disaster

The New York Times May 3, 2010

"Gulf Oil Spill Is Bad, but How Bad?"

John Broder and Tom Zeller (New York Times) write that many experts were quick to make extremely negative predictions, painting the darkest picture in which 1000 miles of wetlands and beaches that cannot be restored are at risk of destruction, fisheries are destroyed for years , rare and fragile species of fauna die, and the entire region with its economy is paralyzed for a long period.

“However, the Deepwater Horizon disaster is not unprecedented, and is not yet one of the worst oil disasters in history.

The valve did not work, which was not. Of course, they took the money for it and installed something like that, but go check it at a depth of 1.5 km. There should be three such valves and at different depths, and the dome should already be there, and an inclined reserve well should be ready before the main well is launched. But this all increases the cost of the mining process, it is cheaper to shrug your hands from time to time. Oil corporations are committing a crime against the planet by producing oil in the ocean and saving money on deep sea disaster response. This is what the media is getting away from.

The whole world is silent, no one wants to point out the world's chief ecologists and humanitarians about their monstrous methods of oil extraction in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf of Mexico disaster affects everyone. All countries are simply obliged to check the licenses of "miners", find violations and revoke licenses3.

BP is obliged to cease to exist as a warning to all other corporations that are profiteering nefariously from the destruction of life on the planet. ”

The Russian press writes about the disaster in a more restrained manner, as "Russian newspaper" considers this problem in the context of the problems of the US economy and politics, without extending it to a global scale: “Regardless of whether British Petroleum engineers are able to fulfill the task, it is already obvious: the damage to the US economy has been enormous. In addition to the state of Louisiana, oil got into the current that goes around the Florida peninsula. This means the inevitable pollution of not only the western, but also the southern coast of the state. The man-made disaster has already led to a drop in the ratings of the Democratic Party: a preliminary investigation showed that the American authorities did not sufficiently control the work of BP, and also committed a number of violations when issuing licenses to oil workers to work in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Los Angeles Times, May 3, 2010

“The company accepts responsibility for oil cleanup.”

BP, led by Tony Hayward, declares that it has taken responsibility for itself and allocated all necessary funds to eliminate the consequences of the disaster.

“We are responsible, not for the accident itself, we are responsible for the oil and for the cleanup,” Hayward said.

The top manager did his best to convince the accident was the fault of the drilling contractor Transocean Ltd., which operated the rig.

“We will wait for all the facts before drawing conclusions, and we will not speculate,” said a spokesman for Transocean Ltd.

According to Interfax, the US government commission released the findings of the accident investigation.

The commission concluded that BP did not skimp on security to increase profits.

The commission "agrees 90% with the internal investigation by BP", which showed the guilt of the company's engineers, as well as the guilt of partners - Transocean and Halliburton.

BP's investigations suggest that the Deepwater Horizon accident was a combination of factors, not a single mistake. According to the company's report, the incident was caused by "a complex of mechanical failures, human factors, engineering errors, work execution and lack of team coordination."

The Gulf of Mexico is located in the western Atlantic Ocean and is an inland sea. From the north, north-west and east, it is limited by the US coast, on which the states are located: Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. From the southwest and south, the territories of the Mexican states of Tabasco, Veracruz, Tamaulipa, Yucatan and Campeche, as well as about. Cuba.

The area of \u200b\u200bthe Gulf of Mexico is 1,543,000 square meters. km, water volume - 2,332,000 cubic meters. km. The Gulf of Mexico has an average depth of 1.5 km, with a maximum depth of about 4 km. The bay is shaped like an oval, and powerful tropical hurricanes and storms form here, which annually destroy coastal cities and villages (for example, Hurricane Katrin). Nevertheless, the waters of the bay play an important role in the economies of coastal countries. This is one of the warmest seas on the planet. The waters of the bay are quite salty, about 38%. How the Gulf of Mexico was formed is still unclear, one of the versions suggests that the bowl of the Gulf originated from the collision of the Earth with a large meteorite, but this is only a version.

In the Gulf of Mexico, tidal phenomena are weakly expressed, since the Florida Straits, which connects the Gulf with the Atlantic, and the Yucatan Straits, with the Caribbean Sea, are narrow. The largest rivers Mississippi, Alabama, Nueses, Pearl and San Antonio carry their waters to the Gulf of Mexico. River sediments shallow the northern part of the bay, and yet there is the greatest number of lagoons, small bays, estuaries and backwaters. The shores of the Gulf of Mexico are gentle and swampy, and the coastline can change dramatically after past hurricanes. There are many small and large islands and shoals along the coast.
The warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico are home to several shark species: white, bull, lemon, hammerhead shark, as well as dolphins and rays. In the coastal mangroves, island shrimps are found, some part of their life is spent by the yellow shark and nurse shark, trout, lobster, and crocodiles have a small homeland here.
About a century ago, these places became a kind of oasis for American retirees, later - recreation areas during the holidays, the entire west and east coast is actively built up (then rebuilt after hurricanes) with hotels and villas. The northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico is completely unsuitable for life, but here, too, an analogue of the Soviet "cheeks" arose - unauthorized development of the coast by marginal strata of society. The east coast also does not indulge its inhabitants - the waters of the bay are teeming with sharks, poisonous jellyfish, alligators and saltwater crocodiles.
The coastal territories of Mexico are built up with large cities and famous resorts (Cancun and the island of Cozumel). The Mexican coast is famous for its coral reefs, clear waters and beaches, as well as a developed infrastructure for tourism and recreation.
The shelf of the Gulf of Mexico has huge reserves of natural gas and oil, which are produced using oil rigs and platforms. Fish and shrimp are caught on an industrial scale. The Gulf of Mexico is a zone of active shipping and there are large seaports of coastal countries: New Orleans (USA), Havana (Cuba) and Veracruz (Mexico).
From 1912 to 1935, the 248 km maritime railroad connected the southernmost point of the United States - Key West Island and the Florida Peninsula. Now the island and the mainland are connected by a 7-mile bridge.
In April 2010, one of the largest man-made disasters occurred - an explosion and a half-day fire destroyed the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, resulting in the death of 13 people. From a well located at a depth of 1500 m, oil was poured out for 5 months. As a result of the disaster, the inhabitants of the sea died, hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs.
The waters of the Gulf of Mexico, flowing into the Atlantic through the Florida Strait, give rise to the warm Gulf Stream.

According to the latest data, the oil spill from the BP well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico continues, with 25,000 - 30,000 barrels of oil flowing out of it daily. New data suggests that the same amount of oil is poured into the Gulf of Mexico every 8-10 days as during the environmental disaster that occurred in the 1989 Alaska Exxon Valdez oil tanker crash. Despite the company's best efforts to block journalists' access to areas affected by the environmental disaster, new photos, videos and stories of the dire consequences of the leak appear on the network and in the media every day. Collected here are the latest photographs of wildlife, people and coasts affected by the nearly two-month oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

(41 photos total)

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1. Oil spill-affected pelicans found off the Louisiana coast wait for cleanup at Fort Jackson, an environmental disaster recovery center in Burasa, Louisiana, June 9. (SAUL LOEB / AFP / Getty Images)

2. Great Egret takes off from oiled marshes along 7 June. (AP Photo / Charlie Riedel)

3. Sheila Clark, widow of Donald Clark, who died as a result of April 20, listens to Senator Charles Schumer's speech at a press conference at the Capitol on June 10 in Washington. Family members of the 11 victims of the blast demanded that the Senate guarantee them that the oil companies take responsibility for the incident. (Alex Wong / Getty Images)

5. Rebecca Thomasson's oiled feet on Gulf Shores, Alabama, where he has already reached. (AP Photo / Montgomery Advertiser, David Bundy)

6. A helicopter with sandbags attached flies over cows in Buras on June 8. Attempts to stop the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are still ongoing. (AP Photo / Eric Gay)

7. A worker walks past a fountain of sand being pumped into the island of East Grand Terre to create a barrier to oil. (AP Photo / Charlie Riedel)

8. Oil gathers off the Louisiana coast along Barataria Bay on June 8. (AP Photo / Charlie Riedel)

9. Photographer Rich Matthews dives into muddy water to take detailed pictures of oil in waters south of Venice, Louisiana June 7. (AP Photo / Eric Gay)

10. Oil in water south of Venice, Louisina, June 7. Photo taken underwater by photographer Rich Matthews. (AP Photo / Rich Matthews)

12. Oil spills approach the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama, June 5. The oil spill after the Deepwater Horizon disaster began to reach the beaches of Alabama and Florida. (AP Photo / Dave Martin)

13. Oil splashes with waves in Gulf Shores, Alabama, June 4. (AP Photo / Montgomery Advertiser, David Bundy)

14. Oil slick stretches under the Perdido Pass Bridge off the coast of Alabama. Photo taken from Coast Guard aircraft HC-144A on June 10 in Perdido, Alabama. (AP Photo / Mobile Press-Register, John David Mercer)

15. An emaciated pelican tries to climb an oil fence off Quinn Bess Island, where pelican colonies gather, 4 kilometers northeast of Grand Isle, June 5. Environmentalists and activists are trying to rescue birds affected by the oil spill and transport them to a rehabilitation center in Fort Jackson. (REUTERS / Sean Gardner)

16. A member of a bird rescue team caught on Cat Island in Barataria Bay on 6 June. (Win McNamee / Getty Images)

17. Tim Kimmel of the Fisheries and Wildlife Service carries an oil-stained pelican into a boat in the waters of Brataria Bay June 5. The pelican was successfully transported to a rehabilitation center on Grand Isle and then to Fort Jackson in Venice, Louisiana for oil cleanup. (REUTERS / Petty Officer 2nd Class John D. Miller / US Coast Guard)

18. Pelicans affected by an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico sit together in a cage at the International Bird Research and Rescue Center in Buras June 6. (REUTERS / Lee Celano)

19. Workers clean up oil from a pelican at a bird aid center set up in Burasa, Louisiana June 5. (AP Photo / Bill Haber)

20. Journalists photograph volunteers helping to flush oil from pelicans caught along the Louisiana coast at a bird rehabilitation center in Fort Jackson June 9. (SAUL LOEB / AFP / Getty Images)

21. A volunteer brushes a white pelican found off the coast of Louisiana with a toothbrush. (SAUL LOEB / AFP / Getty Images)

Volunteer Kassen Pulaski cleans oil from a pelican at a bird rescue center in Fort Jackson June 7. 292 birds have entered the center in the last 6 weeks. 86 of them were brought only on Sunday. These birds are rescued and transported to the Fort Jackson Rehabilitation Center by specialists, veterinarians, biologists and ecologists. (REUTERS / Sean Gardner)

23. Pelicans, recently cleared of oil, sit in the aviary of the International Center for Research and Rescue of Birds in Buras June 8. (AP Photo / Eric Gay)

A worker sucks oil using a hose in Grand Isle, Louisiana June 6. (AP Photo / Eric Gay)

26. Ed and Lucy Waltz walk along the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama, June 7. The inscription on the plate: “Swimming in these waters is not recommended due to the presence of oily substances in the water”. (AP Photo / Dave Martin)

27. Marine ecologist Scott Porter tries to remove oil from his hands after working in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, south of Venice. (AP Photo / Eric Gay)

28. This image, cut from high definition video provided by BP PLC on Wednesday morning, shows oil spilling into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. (AP Photo / BP PLC)

29. A huge plume of smoke rises from a controlled burning site in the Gulf of Mexico June 9. (U.S. Coast Guard Photo by Petty Officer First Class John Masson)

30. NASA's Aqua satellite flew over the Gulf of Mexico on June 10 and its MODIS captured this image of the densest portion of the leak. In this photo, the Gulf of Mexico oil slick is in the sun. In a sun-drenched region - where the specular reflection of the sun turns into a bright silver-gray streak - the difference in the texture of the water's surface may appear more noticeable. In the tightest part of the leak, oil smoothes the water, turning it into a real mirror. Areas where a thick layer of oil blocks the water are almost white in this image. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

Gas aboard the Discovery Enterprise, a drill ship, gathering oil at a leak in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana, June 9. (AP Photo / Charlie Riedel) 34. An oil-soaked pelican attempts to take off from a contaminated area of \u200b\u200bBarataria Bay on June 6. (Win McNamee / Getty Images)

35. Oil barriers lie on Queen Bess Island during a cleanup operation after an oil spill, off the coast of Louisiana, June 8. (AP Photo / Charlie Riedel)

36. A dead heron chick injured by an oil spill was photographed by an environmental rescue team near Bird Island in Barataria Bay on June 7. (REUTERS / Jose Luis Magana / Greenpeace)

37. A dead turtle swims in an oil puddle in Barataria Bay June 7. (AP Photo / Charlie Riedel)

38. BP freelance workers clean up oily substances on Santa Rosa Island June 9. (AP Photo / The News Journal / Tony Giberson)

39. Hermit crabs attempt to cross an oil-polluted site near the East Grand Terre June 6. (AP Photo / Charlie Riedel)

40. A white ibis with spots of oil on its plumage sits on an island in Barataria Bay, off the coast of Louisiana, June 8. (AP Photo / Charlie Riedel)

41. Strips of oil slick stretch north of the site of the oil leak following the explosion at the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Alabama. Photo taken from the coast guard aircraft "HC-144A" June 10. (AP Photo / Mobile Press-Register, John David Mercer)

The Gulf of Mexico is the inland sea of \u200b\u200bthe Atlantic Ocean

Gulf of Mexico: coastline, ecology, flora and fauna, disasters

The Gulf of Mexico is, definition

The Gulf of Mexico is space in the Atlantic Ocean, between the Florida and Yucatan Peninsulas. According to the hydrological regime - a semi-enclosed sea, depth up to 3822 m. Mississippi, connected to the Caribbean Sea by the Yucatan Strait. Water runoff from M. z. through the Florida Strait gives rise to the Gulf Stream. On the shelf -.

This is part of the Atlantic Ocean off the southeast. shores of the North. America, between the peninsulas of Florida, Yucatan and the island of Cuba. In the east it is connected by the Florida Strait with the Atlantic Ocean, in the south by the Yucatan Strait with the Caribbean Sea. The area is 1555 thousand km². Average depth is 1500 m, maximum 3822 m. Water temperature in summer is 29 ° С, in winter from 18 ° С in the north to 25 ° С in the south. Salinity 36.0-36.9 ‰. Surface currents are clockwise. The Yucatan Current enters from the Caribbean, and the outgoing Florida Current gives rise to the Gulf Stream. The tides are mainly daily, up to 0.6 m. The low-lying shores of the bay are flooded during storm surges, the height of which reaches 5 m. Fishing for fish (including tuna and sharks), oysters, shrimps, lobsters and turtles. North-West the shelf is rich in oil. Major ports: New Orleans (USA), Veracruz (), Havana (Cuba).

The Gulf of Mexico is

- this is semi-enclosed sea of \u200b\u200bthe Atlantic Ocean, off the southeastern coast of North America, between the Florida and Yucatan peninsulas and the island of Cuba. In the east it is connected by the Florida Strait with the Atlantic Ocean, in the south by the Yucatan Strait with the Caribbean Sea. Pl. 1555 thousand km², depth. up to 3822 m. Water temperature in summer is 29 ° C, in winter from 18 ° C in the north to 25 ° C in the south. Salinity is 36.0-36.9 ‰. Surface currents are clockwise. The Yucatan Current entering from the Caribbean Sea has a speed of 0.5-2 m / s, and the outgoing Florida Current, which gives rise to the Gulf Stream, up to 3 m / s. The tides are mostly daily, up to 0.3-0.6 m. Low-lying shores are prone to flooding during storm surges, heights. which reaches 5 m. To the center. part at the bottom of the bay is an abyssal plateau with a group of underwater hills, vys. OK. 300 m. In the north, south and east, the bay is framed by a wide, up to 250 km, shelf, on which intensive fishing for fish, oysters, shrimps, lobsters, and turtles is conducted. Tuna and shark fishery throughout the bay. Northwest the shelf is rich in oil. Main ports: New Orleans, Houston ( USA), Veracruz ( Mexico), Havana (Cuba).

The Gulf of Mexico is inland sea of \u200b\u200bthe western Atlantic Ocean. Bounded from the northwest, north and east by the coast USA (states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas), in the south and southwest - by the coast Mexico (states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan), as well as the island of Cuba.

Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico

The explosion of an oil rig is an accident that occurred on April 20, 2010, 80 kilometers off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico, and over time grew into a man-made disaster, first of a local, then a regional scale, with negative consequences for the ecosystem of the region for many decades to come.

On April 20, 2010 at 22:00 local time (CTZ), an explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon platform, causing a massive fire. As a result of the explosion, seven people were injured, four of them are in critical condition, 11 people are missing. At the time of the emergency, 126 people were working on the drilling platform, which is larger than two football fields, and about 2.6 million liters of diesel fuel were stored. The platform's productivity was 8,000 barrels per day.

Oil rig The Deepwater Horizon sank on April 22nd after a 36-hour fire that followed a massive explosion. After the explosion and flooding oil rig was damaged and from it began to flow into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

The 965-kilometer oil slick approached about 34 kilometers off the Louisiana coast, threatening the beaches and fishing areas that play a critical role in the economy of the coastal states. On April 26, four BP submarine robots tried unsuccessfully to repair the leak. The flotilla, consisting of 49 tugs, barges, rescue boats and other vessels, was hampered by strong winds and rough seas. US emergency services have begun a controlled oil slick burning off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico.

It is estimated that in the Gulf of Mexico up to 5 thousand barrels (about 700 tons or 795,000 liters) black gold per day.

On June 4, the United States National Center for Atmospheric Research, based on available climate data, modeled six propagation options black gold... According to all six options, in early August this year, the water-oil emulsion will reach the northern coast of Cuba, including the beaches of Varadero. In the second half of August, it may also be on the northern coast of the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula. The model of American scientists shows that the oil slick will in any case leave the water area of \u200b\u200bthe Gulf of Mexico and begin to move into the North Atlantic towards Europe.

On April 30, oil reached the mouth of the Mississippi River, and on May 6, the coast of Louisiana. On June 5, oil reached the coast of Florida, on June 28 - the coast of Mississippi, and on July 6, oil reached the coast of Texas. Thus, all US states with access to the Gulf of Mexico have already suffered from the black gold spill.

As of July 16, 2010, the main well is sealed and BP reported that the release of black gold into the open ocean has been stopped. However, the reliability of the design is in question, and BP representatives confirm that it is a temporary solution. As a result of the installation of the protective dome, additional leaks may occur if the underground part of the well is also damaged. On the 18th, a new leak was discovered a few kilometers from the well. Despite being sealed, over 85 days of the leak, the world's oceans were contaminated with more than 4 million barrels oil products (approximately 0.54 million tons), and the consequences of the disaster are still difficult to assess.

August 4, 2010 organization BP announced that the black gold leak was stopped due to the hydrostatic pressure of the injected drilling fluid (operation "Static kill" - complete stop of the leak). A special heavy drilling fluid was first pumped into the well, followed by cement.

September 8, 2010 organization BP published Accident Investigation Report (193 pages). The report was prepared by a team of more than 50 specialists, led by BP's head of operations safety, Mark Bly. The document listed the main errors that caused the accident:

The cement barriers at the bottom of the Macondo emergency well could not trap hydrocarbons in the reservoir as they should, so gas and condensate flowed through them.

BP and Transocean erroneously accepted negative results from the main safety test (well test) even though the well was leaking.

In early May 2010, US Barack Obama called what is happening in the Gulf of Mexico "a potentially unprecedented environmental disaster." In the water column of the Gulf of Mexico, spots of black gold were found (one spot 16 km long, 90 meters thick at a depth of up to 1300 meters). Oil may be flowing out of the well until August.

To combat oil spills on the water surface, dispersants of the Corexit family are widely used: Corexit 9500 and Corexit 9527.

Scientists have suggested that the black gold spill in the Gulf of Mexico affected the speed of the Gulf Stream.

Before that, attempts were made to block three breakouts, but only one of them, the smallest, was blocked. The other two cannot be overlapped due to their size.

On June 3, remote-controlled robots managed to cut the deformed part of the drill pipe and install a protective dome. However, this did not help completely stop the black gold leak.

June 9 by the administration the president Barack Obama issued an ultimatum to BP, which was given 72 hours to present the final plan to eliminate the consequences of the explosion and stop the release of black gold.

BP is growing every day to eliminate the consequences of the accident - figures of 450 million, 600 million, 930 million, 990 million and 1.250 billion US dollars were announced. As of June 14, 2010, losses amounted to 1.6 billion american dollars... BP reported on July 12, 2010, its costs for the elimination of the consequences of the accident amounted to 3.5 billion united States dollars, including 165 million US dollars of this amount went to cover payments for individual claims. By September 17 expense reached 9.5 billion.

The Gulf of Mexico is

Origin and history of the Gulf of Mexico

Geological researchers put forward the following, quite often cited version of the origin of the bay. In the early formation of the Earth, the planet experienced a collision with a large meteorite. As scientists assume, upon collision with a meteorite, a huge cloud of dust was formed, covering the sun, causing a global cooling, and leading to the death of dinosaurs. In the place of the collision, a well-preserved basin of almost regular rounded shape with a depth of up to 5203 m was formed, which was gradually filled by the waters of the Mississippi and Atlantic... Gradually, the rotation of the Earth gave the bay its modern shape. This version is also confirmed by the Chikshulub crater. However, no geological evidence of this version has been found so far, so today it can be considered speculative.

Before the beginning of the era of the great geographical discoveries of Europeans, the shores of the Gulf were inhabited by the most diverse American Indian tribes, which were at different stages of development. In the south, in Mexico, on the Yucatan Peninsula, economically quite advanced slave civilizations and the Aztecs with large cities and developed infrastructure flourished. The tribes of the Caribs and Arawaks lived in Cuba. On the northern, cool coast of the bay lived the tribes of hunters and gatherers (Choctaw), who were at the stage of the tribal / communal system. The arrival of Europeans and especially the struggle between the European powers over the waters and shores of the Gulf led to the gradual destruction of the traditional ways of life of the Indian communities in the region. And if the Spanish (Spanish, Spanish Florida) and French (French Louisiana, New) colonial models largely allowed natives, African slaves and Europeans to coexist within the framework of a single colonial empire, partly making concessions in the form of plazage and cross-breeding, then the more aggressive Anglo- the American model emphasized the absolute superiority of the Anglo-Saxon element as the only possible one. After the purchase of Louisiana, the occupation of Florida and the capture of Texas in the first half of the 19th century, the north coast of the Gulf came under US jurisdiction and underwent a strong landscape change associated with urban development and rapid population growth. Today, the population of the bay is extremely mixed - white settlers of the most diverse origins, Cajuns, African Americans, mulattoes and mestizos (mainly Mexicans and Cubans).

Non-cultural Mayan The Mesoamerican coast of the Gulf of Mexico is usually clearly subdivided into three distinct regions: the northern, or Huastec territory, approximately from the river. Soto la Marina in the north to the river. Kasones in the south; central area - from the river. Kasones to r. Papaloapan and the southern area, extending to the river. Tonala.

Northern Region

In the early postclassical period (900-1200) there was an expansion into the region of the Toltecs from Central Mexico, established by pottery found in settlements such as Castillo de Teayo. There is a stepped pyramid 11 m high with a staircase on the northwest side and the ruins of a temple at the top.

It is likely that many of the characteristics of the early postclassical period manifested themselves in the late post-classical period (1200-1500), but very noticeable new features appeared in ceramics. The most typical are the so-called portrait vessels made of white clay, painted with red-brown and black subjects, often with curved noses. The drawings of the faces were done in such a way as to emphasize the characteristic features. The plots of drawings, combinations of rectangles, circles and triangles have often been compared with similar painting of pottery items of the Anasazi culture in the southwestern United States, but the shapes of the vessels there are different.

Central area

The early postclassic (900-1200) was the heyday of Tahina, a Totonac city, the largest known pre-Hispanic city on the Gulf Coast (its ruins are in the state of Veracruz, Mexico) and one of the largest in Mesoamerica. Its architectural style is characterized by reverse bevels, cornices, niches, panels with patterns in the form of a "Greek" meander, large open windows and flat roofs up to 85 cm thick, which did not require any intermediate supports; it occupied an area of \u200b\u200bmore than 10 square meters. km on hills covered with dense rain forest. The two largest cities of the classical era - Tahin and Cholula are also interesting because they were not abandoned by 900 BC.

The name "Sempoala" means "abundance of water", as evidenced by the city's complex water supply system. Aqueducts supplied water to stone-lined underground canals that branched out across the city. The system used to supply water to houses consisted of a slightly sloping canal leading to a house reservoir, from which another canal ran to the next house, and so on. From the last house, an outlet canal supplied water to an irrigation canal.

By the end of this period, a strong Central Mexican influence had already emerged in both ceramics and architecture. Painted pottery, alabaster vessels, and cruciform tombs belonging to the Cholula Pueblo-Mistek Cultural Complex are found in many places south of Sempoala to the area called Mistequilla. A four-level Aztec-style pyramid has been found in Cuaotochko.

Geography of the Gulf of Mexico

The coastline is extremely meandering, subject to constant changes, especially after the hurricane season. The shores are mostly gentle, in places very swampy (Everglades swamps). Sand spits, shoals, banks, small and large islands (Galveston Island, Dolphin Island, etc.) stretch along the coast. At the same time, there is also a gradual shallowing of the northern part of the bay due to the alluvial activity of the rivers flowing from the northern side (primarily the Mississippi River). Despite the shallowing, the area of \u200b\u200bthe mirror tends to increase, mainly due to the erosion of beaches and small islands (the almost extinct Chandelier Islands) near Louisiana / Louisiana. In the northern part of the bay, there are many smaller bays, bays and harbors (Mobile Bay, etc.), as well as lagoons and estuaries (Ponchantren, Born, Morepa in Louisiana).

Population of the Gulf of Mexico

Significant reserves of petroleum products and natural gas are concentrated on the shelf of the Gulf of Mexico; the extraction of these minerals is carried out mainly with the help of oil rigs / oil platforms. There is intensive fishing - industrial (tuna), as well as amateur - (shark). Shrimp are grown in shallow bays. It is important for shipping, and there are many ports in the USA, Mexico and Cuba.

Recreational potential of the Gulf of Mexico

As the largest body of water in the southern United States, the bay has traditionally been of major transport importance. In the 20th century, a recreational role was added to it, when the governments of the coastal states began to invest money to develop local tourism infrastructure to spur urban growth to attract retiring residents of the American North. Since the 1930s, masses of people from all over the country have flocked to the coast of the Gulf. The coastline is currently a favorite spring, fall and summer vacation destination for residents throughout the country, especially students. Especially popular are Panama City, Pensacola, Destin, Miami in Florida, and Orange Beach in Alabama. The entire coastline of the bay is dotted with a variety of hotels, private villas and condominiums. The largest resort in Mexico is Cancun.

Not all coast of the bay is suitable for a good rest. Due to severe swamps, constant hurricanes and storms, hot and humid air, poor sand quality and muddy water, the northern part of the bay, especially the area of \u200b\u200bthe Mississippi River estuary, is simply unsuitable for recreation. Nevertheless, families with a low social status and benefits come here as "savages", which is why the coast of the bay got the playful name of the "Rednechia Riviera". In the more attractive regions (Destin, etc.) in the east, other dangers lie in wait for tourists (dangerous ebb currents, massive invasions of poisonous jellyfish and stingrays, electric eels, many species of sharks, alligators and saltwater crocodiles). Because of the sharks, most Americans vacationing by the bay either do not enter the water at all (swimming in hotel pools), or they just wet their feet and sunbathe.

Ecology of the Gulf of Mexico

The northern part of the gulf, which belongs to the United States, has an extremely unfavorable environmental situation. The main reason for the pollution is the abuse of powerful chemical fertilizers by US agricultural enterprises to increase crop yields in the fields and plantations north of the bay. The chemicals are washed out by rains and rivers into the bay, where, in turn, they stimulate the growth of small brown algae, which in process their mass reproduction absorb all the oxygen in the surrounding water, which leads to the death of fish and other organisms. Another problem is the massive construction of large residential complexes (condominiums) directly at the water's edge.

The gently sloping, swampy shores of the bay are not suitable for multi-storey buildings. Frequent hurricanes, which are a natural method of renewing coastal regions, are forcing construction companies to carry out massive repair and construction work high-rise buildings every 2-3 years, which leads to the destruction of the ecological balance in the dunes, construction waste dumps, deterioration of quality sand, erosion of beaches, disappearance of coastal marshes and mangrove forests, increased salinity in the northern part of the bay. Moreover, sewage from condominiums attracts sharks closer and closer to the coast, and an increase in salinity leads to the mass reproduction of poisonous jellyfish, posing a danger to vacationers.

Fauna of the Gulf of Mexico

The continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico is perhaps more diverse than any other area of \u200b\u200bsimilar scale within coastal waters North America... The composition of shelf waters and their circulation are complex due to the fact that they mix with the waters of rivers flowing from the offshore areas of the United States. The nature of the bottom is extremely varied. Fauna and flora combine temperate elements Atlantic and the Caribbean in proportions depending on location and time of year.

Plankton abundantly reproduce on the shelf, providing food for a variety of marine life.

Plankton feeds on the main commercial fish of the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent basins - menhaden (30-50 cm). Menhaden keeps in large schools near the surface, not far from the coast.

Bluefish (30 cm-1m) hunt herring - the only representative of the bluefish family, a predatory schooling fish that lives in the subtropical waters of all seas and oceans. Swordfish (4-4.5 m, 400 kg) and blue marlins (5 m, 700 kg) are also found here. Marlins and swordfish are objects of amateur and sport fishing. Lufari and tuna are the commercial fish of the bay. At the bottom of the bay, yellow-tailed flounders and black-backed flounders are found.

Gray humpbacks (90 cm, 9 kg) from the humpback family, related to the Black Sea humpbacks, also live near the bottom, feeding on benthic invertebrates and small fish.

In the same place, at the mouth of the Mississippi, there are large fish - Atlantic tarpon (2-2.4 m. From 45 to 150 kg) from the order of tarpon-like, tarpon family. These fish are very prolific and numerous, but are not of interest as an object of commercial fishing, because they are tasteless. However, they are caught with a bait by fans of sport fishing, competing with fish in strength and agility.

Several species of sharks live in the Gulf of Mexico: white, tiger, lemon, bull, mako, hammerhead shark, etc.

The Mexican stingray (Springeria folirostris) lives only in the Gulf of Mexico. In this species, the snout is widened and flattened before filiform elongation, forming a peculiar leaf-like structure. These are rare and poorly studied fish living at depths exceeding 300 m. Their way of life is completely unknown.

There is also the Mobula stingray, whose wingspan reaches 3.5 m. These stingrays are considered an endangered species. Their number is rapidly decreasing due to industrial capture.

The bay is also inhabited by golden rays, which resemble giant leaves floating in the sea.

There are three types of hydrolagus (Hydrolagus) of the Chimera family in the bay. Fat extracted from the liver of these fish is prized and used as a medicine and lubricant.

In addition to fish, the Gulf of Mexico also fishes for oysters and shrimp. The most abundant shrimp in the bay are brown, followed by white and the rarest pink shrimp (Penaeus duorarum). It is a matter of chance that pink shrimps live in the northwest part of the bay, as they usually live hundreds of miles away, mainly along the southwest coast of Florida. Pink shrimps spawn on the shelf.

The largest numbers of spawning individuals are concentrated around Dry Tortugas, an area of \u200b\u200breefs and coral islets near Key West. Commercial fishing took place here for decades, but only in the late 1950s. it became known that there is a spawning ground in the Tortugas area.

In the Gulf of Mexico, the spiny lobster, which is large in size (50-75 cm), lives. Lobsters are large crustaceans from the order of decapod crayfish.

The coastal waters are home to "sea cows" (manatees). They feed on marine and freshwater plants, as well as terrestrial ones hanging above the water. In the United States, manatee is protected by law.

Turtles are found in large numbers in the shallow waters of the bay.

On the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, you can find such exotic birds as the pelican, flamingo, green kingfisher. Alligators and several types of poisonous snakes are also found here.

The Gulf of Mexico is

Flora of the Gulf of Mexico

The vegetation of the region is predominantly tropical, but differences in topographic, soil and climatic conditions increase the species diversity. The islands' porous limestone terraces are generally poor in nutrients. The region is estimated to be home to 13,000 plant species, of which 6,500 are endemic, such as the guaiac tree and Rosa Bayahibe. In coastal areas, the coconut tree is common, lagoons and river estuaries are overgrown with dense mangroves (red and black mangroves)

Gulf of Mexico oil and gas basin

The Gulf of Mexico oil and gas basin is located within one of the largest depressions in the earth's crust, the most curved part of which is occupied by the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The depression has an almost isometric shape with a diameter of about 1800 km and is filled with Cenozoic and Mesozoic deposits up to 15 km thick. The onshore part of the basin occupies the Mexican Lowland and is located in the southern states of the United States (Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, partially Alabama, Georgia and Florida) and Mexico (states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco). In the south-east it is bounded by a fault that separates it from the Antilles geosynclinal system.

More than 2000 oil and gas fields have been discovered here, including more than 200 in the subaqueous part. Oil and gas content is associated with the Miocene, Paleogene and Cretaceous, to a lesser extent Pliocene and Jurassic deposits. The reservoirs are predominantly sandstones for the Cenozoic and limestones for the Cretaceous. On the northwest. Sandstones and limestones of the Carboniferous and Ordovician are also oil and gas bearing. Most of the black gold and gas deposits are associated with local platform-type uplifts, salt-dome structures and zones of pinch-out of sand deposits. In the Mexican part, oil fields are also known that are confined to anticlines of linear folding and extended reef zones. Several giant deposits are known in the Gulf of Mexico oil and gas basin (black gold - East Texas, gas - Monroe, Carthage, etc.).

The Gulf of Mexico is

Oil production in the basin in Mexico has been going on since the beginning of the 20th century. (Tampico region), in the United States - from the 20s. 20th century Its rapid growth was favored by the ability to use sea transport to transport black gold. Natural gas mined intensively since the 2nd World War. In the 60s and 70s. 20th century the basin is underwater to obtain black gold and gas on the coastal shallows of the US states - Texas and Louisiana; reserves of oil and oil products in the shelf are estimated at 374 million tons (1969). Is developing oil production from the bottom of the sea also in Mexico (in the southeast). Gas reserves in the United States are scattered over small fields, which complicates their exploitation. The basin provides 30% of the black gold mined in the USA (over 140 million tons in 1971; in the 60s and 70s, production in Louisiana greatly increased) and 100% of black gold (21.9 million tons in 1971) and gas (18.2 million m3) in Mexico.

A large oil refinery arose on the territory of the basin, using oil from local deposits and from other oil-bearing provinces. It houses about 1/3 of the capacity of the US oil refineries (about 200 million tons were processed at the factories of the basin in 1971) and about 3/4 of the capacity in Mexico (22 million tons in 1971); major centers for oil refining in the United States: Houston, Beaumont, Port Arthur, in Mexico - Tampico, Ciudad Madero, Minatitlan. The petrochemical industry has reached a great development in the oil and gas basin in the Gulf of Mexico. From the pool through pipelines oil Natural gas and petroleum products are transferred to other regions of the United States and Mexico.

Gulf of Mexico in numbers and facts

Location: southeastern section North America, between the Florida and Yucatan peninsulas, and the island of Cuba.

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Ethnic composition: white, mestizo, African American.

Languages: English, Spanish.

Religions: Protestantism, Catholicism.

Currency: United States, Mexican Peso (MXP).

The largest rivers flowing into the bay: Mississippi, Rio Grande, Colorado, Brazos, Alabama.

The most important ports: Havana (Cuba) - 2 135 498 people. (2010), Veracruz (Veracruz, Mexico) —552,156 people. (2010), New Orleans (Louisiana, USA) - 360,740 people. (2011).

Largest cities: Mexico (Tampico, Tamaulipas, - 305 554 people, 2010, San Francisco de Campeche, Campeche, - 220 389 people, 2010), USA (Houston, Texas, - 2099451 people, 2010, Tampa, Florida - 335 709 people, 2010, Mobile, Alabama - 195 111 people, 2010, Biloxi, Mississippi - 45 670 people, 2008)

Largest islands: Cuba, Galveston (Texas, USA).

Area: 1.6 million km2.

The length of the coastline: from Cape Sable (southern Florida, USA) to the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico) - 5505 km (USA - 2700 km, Mexico - 2805 km), the northwestern coast of Cuba - 380 km. The length from east to west is 1600 km. The length from north to south is 900 km.

Average depth: 1615 m.

Maximum depth: Sigsby depression (4384 m).

Water volume: 2434 thousand km3.

Salinity: on the surface - 36.0-36.9% °, at a depth of more than 2000 m - 34.98%. "

Tides: mostly daily, up to 0.6 m.

Evaporation rate per year: 1000-1750 mm.

The climate is tropical in the south, subtropical in the north.

Average air temperature in January: Veracruz (Veracruz, Mexico) + 19 ° С, New Orleans (Louisiana, USA) + 12 ° С.

Average air temperature in July: Veracruz (Veracruz, Mexico) + 31 ° С, New Orleans (Louisiana, USA) + 28 ° С.

Average water temperature in summer: + 29 ° С.

Average water temperature in winter: from + 18 ° С in the north, to + 25 ° С in the south.

Average annual precipitation: 1000-1200 mm.

Relative humidity: 60-80%.

Gulf of Mexico landmarks

Natural: Everglades National Park (Florida, USA); resorts: Key Biscayne, Pensacola, Destin, Miami, Panama City (Florida, USA), Orange Beach (Alabama, USA), Cancun (Mexico);

The Gulf of Mexico is

Historical and cultural: city ruins Mayan (Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico); pyramids of the Aztecs (Mexico);

The Gulf of Mexico is

The city of Havana (Cuba): the fortress of La Fuersa (second half of the 16th century), the Santa Clara Monastery (mid-17th century), the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (mid-17th century), the Town Hall (late 18th century), the cathedral square with the 18th century cathedral century, the memorial complex named after Jose Marti, Prado Boulevard, the National Capitol (first half of the XX century), the Bolshoi Theater of Havana;