OCS Study BOEM 2012-107 Proceedings: Twenty-Sixth Gulf of Mexico Information Transfer Meeting March 2011 Editors Melanie McKay Copy Editor Judith Nides Production Editor Prepared under BOEM Contract 1435-00-01-CA-39526 (M05AC12281) by University of New Orleans Office of Conference Services New Orleans, Louisiana 70814 Published by U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management New Orleans Gulf of Mexico OCS Region December 2012 DISCLAIMER This report was prepared under contract between the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the University of New Orleans, Office of Conference Services. This report has been technically reviewed by the BOEM, and it has been approved for publication. Approval does not signify that the contents necessarily reflect the views and policies of the BOEM, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. It is, however, exempt from review and compliance with the BOEM editorial standards. REPORT AVAILABILITY This report is available on CD from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, for $15.00, and free of charge as a pdf file downloaded from the BOEM Web site. Copies can also be viewed at selected Federal Depository Libraries. The addresses are listed below. To order a CD, use the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region contact information below and reference OCS Study BOEM 2012-107. To download a pdf copy, use the Environmental Studies Program Information System (ESPIS) and search on the study report number. In the near future, you will also be able to get this report also from the National Technical Information Service. U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Ocean Energy Management National Technical Information Service Gulf of Mexico OCS Region 5301 Shawnee Rd. Public Information Office (MS 5034) Springfield, Virginia 22312 1201 Elmwood Park Blvd. Phone: (703) 605-6000, 1-800-553-6847 New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394 Fax: (703) 605-6900 Phone: (504) 736-2519, 1-800-200-GULF Web site: http://www.ntis.gov/ Fax: (504) 736-2620 CITATION This study should be cited as: McKay, M. and J. Nides, eds. 2012. Proceedings: Twenty-sixth Gulf of Mexico information transfer meeting, March 2011. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, New Orleans, LA. OCS Study BOEM 2012- 107. 349 pp. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... xi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................................... xiii INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ xv PLENARY SESSION ..................................................................................................................... 1 Chair: James Kendall, BOEMRE Co-Chair: Alan Thornhill, BOEMRE SESSION 1A PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY ......................................................................... 21 Chair: Rebecca Green, BOEMRE Co-Chair: Alexis Lugo-Fernández, BOEMRE SESSION 1B CATASTROPHIC EVENTS AND ASSESSMENT OF COASTAL IMPACTS OF THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO: STUDY APPROACH, BASELINE DETERMINATION, AND STUDY COMPABILITY ............................................ 63 Chair: Larry Hartzog, BOEMRE Co-Chair: Arie Kaller, BOEMRE SESSION 1C WHERE IS THE PLACE IN SPACE? UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF GEOGRAPHY ON SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH MODELING THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF ...................................................................................... 77 Chair: Sindey Chaky, BOEMRE Co-Chair: Harry Luton, BOEMRE SESSION 2A MARINE ARCHAEOLOGY — ASSESSING POTENTIAL IMPACTS TO HISTORIC RESOURCES ON THE OCS ........................................................... 93 Chair: Jack Irion, BOEMRE Co-Chair: Chris Horrell, BOEMRE SESSION 2B DEEP-SEA CORALS — LOPHELIA II: REEFS, RIGS AND WRECKS .................................................................................................................................... 105 Chair: Bill Shedd, BOEMRE Co-Chair: James Sinclair, BOEMRE v SESSION 2C SPILL RESPONSE TECHNOLOGY ................................................................. 135 Chair: Darice Breeding, BOEMRE Co-Chair: Barret Fortier, BOEMRE SESSION 2D MARINE ARCHAEOLOGY — MODELING OF SURVIVING PREHISTORIC LANDFORMS ON THE OCS ......................................................................... 141 Chair: Brian Jordan, BOEMRE Co-Chair: David Ball, BOEMRE SESSION 2E DEEP-SEA CORALS — LOPHELIA II: USGS ................................................ 159 Chair: Bill Shedd, BOEMRE Co-Chair: James Sinclair, BOEMRE SESSION 2F PROTECTED SPECIES RESEARCH ............................................................... 187 Chair: Deborah Epperson, BOEMRE Co-Chair: Tre Glenn, BOEMRE SESSION 3A NATURAL GAS HYDRATES .......................................................................... 199 Chair: Bill Shedd, BOEMRE Co-Chair: Roger Amato, BOEMRE SESSION 3B OFFSHORE ECOLOGY I .................................................................................. 211 Chair: James Sinclair, BOEMRE Co-Chair: Maureen Mulino, BOEMRE SESSION 3C AVIAN RESEARCH AND MONITORING STRATEGIES TO ASSESS POTENTIAL IMPACTS RELATED TO OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT .................................................................................................... 235 Chair: Jeff Gleason, BOEMRE Co-Chair: Dave Moran, BOEMRE SESSION 3D SHALLOW SEDIMENT TRANSPORT ........................................................... 249 Chair: Roger Amato, BOEMRE Co-Chair: Bill Shedd, BOEMRE SESSION 3E OFFSHORE ECOLOGY II ................................................................................. 263 Chair: James Sinclair, BOEMRE Co-Chair: Maureen Mulino, BOEMRE vi SESSION 3F PHYSICAL SCIENCES ...................................................................................... 293 Chair: Holli Ensz, BOEMRE Co-Chair: Margaret Metcalf, BOEMRE INDEX TO AUTHORS .............................................................................................................. 305 ATTENDEES ............................................................................................................................. 309 vii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1A.1. Loop Current dynamics array and CICESE’s arrays. Deployment: April 2009. Rotation: July and November 2010. Retrieval: November 2011....................................................................................................................... 25 Figure 1A.2. 13-month mean fields for selected isotherm depths (corrected for mooring draw down caused by strong currents), 40-hour low pass filtered currents, and SSH from the altimeter gridded products. .......................... 27 Figure 1A.3. Crest-trough upper-lower layer coupling, July–August 2009............................... 28 Figure 1A.4. Ensemble averaged time-series of transports across the boundaries of the deep eastern Gulf control volume (see text) across 90˚W (black), Yucatan Channel (blue), and z = -1,000m horizontal plane (red). Also plotted are the Florida transport (gold curve) and the difference between the area-mean SSH in the eastern Gulf and the Caribbean Sea (dashed). The time-axis is over the Loop Current Cycle of 240 days with Stages A, B and C as discussed in text (see also Chang and Oey 2011). To show more clearly the relationship between the different variables during a Loop Current Cycle, a 30-day running-average has been applied to all the time series. ...................................... 33 Figure 1A.5. Monthly-binned histogram of the Loop Current eddy separation times for the 45 separation events observed in the 30-year record, 1980 through 2009. ............................................................................................... 40 Figure 1A.6. Scatterplot of retreat latitude versus separation period of the following Loop Current eddy separation event. Regression lines for various subsets of the data record are shown along with the prediction regression model (black line) for the entire record. .............................................. 40 Figure 1A.7. RAFOS float trajectories from the Exploratory Program (April 2003 to May 2004). The floats were deployed at various depths from 1,000 m to 3,000 m at 500 m intervals. The sound source locations are marked by the red diamonds, and the steep S Sigsbee escarpment at the base of the northern continental slope is shown by the gray shading. Note the concentration of floats and their westward transport along the escarpment. ........................................................................................................... 46 ix Figure 1A.8. Sound source locations (red diamonds) and preliminary deployment cruise tracks for the three-year field study. The gray shading represents the sound source coverage for depths greater than 1,500 m. Shadow zones are the small areas where only one source can be used and therefore location fixes are not available. ............................................................. 46 Figure 1A.9. Five Barnys equipped with ADCPs (red dots) are moored at the East Flower Garden Bank. Four temperature/conductivity string moorings (blue stars) are located next to Barny moorings 1–4. Bathymetry contours