What is it about?
The loop current eddies are like rings of water detached from the water that enters the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea through Yucatan and Cuba. These eddies dominate the ocean circulation in the Gulf and are particularly relevant for the western Gulf of Mexico where Mexico is looking into new oil and gas sources. We characterized the currents by using an artificial neural network method named self-organized maps, allowing the description of the circulation patterns.
Featured Image
Photo by Freysteinn G. Jonsson on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Knowing the ocean circulation in an area of oil and gas exploitation allows planning for oil spill contingencies, as the circulation is the main driver moving the oil spill to other areas. Also, it is possible to enable rapid forecasts systems based on the circulation patterns, that may save valuable time to take action in the case of contingencies.
Perspectives
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Ocean Circulation in the Western Gulf of Mexico Using Self‐Organizing Maps, Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans, May 2019, American Geophysical Union (AGU),
DOI: 10.1029/2018jc014377.
You can read the full text:
Resources
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page