| dc.description.abstract | After the Macondo (Deepwater Horizon; DWH) oil spill in 2010, an array of six deep ocean current moorings were deployed near the spill site for a period of two years in order to investigate the regional oceanic current variability and relate to oil spill transport predictions. In this analysis these mooring data were utilized to produce climatological maps of ocean current speed and direction in order to characterize how the ocean moves as a function of depth and season (i.e., time) throughout this region. Progressive vector diagrams, current magnitude profiles, and basic statistical metrics including mean, standard deviation, minimum, maximum, etc. were the principal data products used to analyze the variability between near-surface and near-bottom ocean currents throughout time. Results reveal the significance of time and location in oceanographic measurement making and analyses: variability in ocean currents were highly dependent upon when and where measurements were taken, both within the water column and along the continental slope itself. The variability due to these parameters ultimately describe the various transport and subsequent fates of the different DWH spill constituents that remained partially along the surface and partially subsurface. This analysis proves the necessity for comprehensive temporal and spatial sampling programs in order to effectively capture/describe oceanographic variability, and thus will have important implications for future oil spill response and mitigation efforts in the deep ocean in addition to contributing to the general understanding of oceanic processes within the Gulf of Mexico itself. | en |
