The large marine snow formation event observed in oil-contaminated surface waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) after the Deepwater Horizon accident possibly played a key role in the fate of the surface oil. We characterized the unusually large and mucus-rich marine snow that formed and conducted roller table experiments to investigate their formation mechanisms. Once marine snow lost its buoyanc...

Two modified passive samplers were evaluated at multiple field locations. The sampling rate (SR) of the modified polyurethane foam (PUF)-disk passive sampler for total gaseous mercury (TGM) using gold-coated quartz fiber filters (GcQFF) and gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM) using ion-exchange membranes (IEM) were 6.4 ± 1.4 and 15.3 ± 0.3 m(3) day(-1), respectively. The relative percent difference ...

Anomalously high precipitation and river discharge during the spring of 2005 caused considerable freshening and depletion of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in surface waters along the coastal Gulf of Maine. Surface pCO2 and total alkalinity (TA) were monitored by repeated underway sampling of a crossshelf transect in the western Gulf of Maine (GOM) during 2004–05 to examine how riverine fluxe...

Adaptation and defense responses are the consequences of exposure to drought stress in plants. Salicylic acid (SA) as a natural signaling molecule poses a significant impacts on various aspects of plant growth and development. This study investigates the effects of SA on carotenoids content, lipid peroxidation rate and antioxidant enzymes activities. A pot experiment was conducted using a facto...

Estuarine water salinity is important to coastal ecosystems and the economy. To examine potential effect of Mississippi River freshwater discharge on other estuaries, we used machine learning Cubist algorithm model three estuaries (Apalachicola Bay, Weeks Grand Bay) northern Gulf Mexico (GoM). The models were trained — both with without as input its along variables including wind, discharge, de...

The Gulf of Maine (GOM) has seen an increasing number introduced species, some which have significantly impacted benthic community structure. In 2017, a specimens the European dorid nudibranch, Doris pseudoargus, were observed on rocky ledges in waters off Cape Ann, Massachusetts. presence numerous and egg masses suggested species had been established before 2017. Additional field observations ...

The Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus, is a commercially, culturally, and ecologically significant species in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), whose offshore stages were likely impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DWH). To test for DWH effects and to better understand the planktonic ecology of this species, we monitored Callinectes spp. megalopal settlement and condition at sites within and outsi...

Spatially explicit ecosystem models of all types require an initial allocation of biomass, often in areas where fisheries independent abundance estimates do not exist. A generalized additive modelling (GAM) approach is used to describe the abundance of 40 species groups (i.e. functional groups) across the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) using a large fisheries independent data set (SEAMAP) and climate sca...

Joint Inversion of Production and Temperature Data Illuminates Vertical Permeability Distribution in Deep Reservoirs. (August 2012) Zhishuai Zhang, B.S., Nankai University Co-Chairs of Advisory Committee: Dr. Behnam Jafarpour Dr. Akhil Datta-Gupta Characterization of connectivity in compartmentalized deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GoM) reservoirs is an outstanding challenge of the industry that can ...

The radar signal recorded by earth observation (EO) satellites is sensitive to soil moisture and surface roughness, which both influence the onset of runoff. This paper focuses on inversion of these parameters using a multi-angular approach based on RADARSAT-1 data with incidence angles of 35 and 47 (in mode S3 and S7). This inversion was performed with three backscatter models: Geometrical Opt...