B. Ann Swift
Kathryn M. Scanlon
Mark K. Capone
2002
<p>In 1999, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council recommended that <abbr title="National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration">NOAA</abbr>'s National Marine Fisheries Service establish two approximately 11-square-mile areas on the shelf edge in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico as no-fishing areas. One of the areas, the Madison-Swanson Marine Protected Area (<abbr title="Marine Protected Area">MPA</abbr>) lies about 100 km south of Panama City, Florida. The second area, Steamboat Lumps <abbr title="Marine Protected Area">MPA</abbr> lies about 150 km SSE of Madison-Swanson. The high-resolution seismic-reflection data contained herein were collected as part of a larger study of the effectiveness of no-fishing reserves in protecting grouper spawning aggregations. These subbottom profiles will be used in conjunction with other data to map the seafloor geology and the character and extent of benthic habitats within and surrounding the two MPAs. They show the shape and acoustic impedence of the seafloor and the thicknesses and orientations of shallow subsurface horizons. These data may be helpful in the following applications:</p>
<ol>
<li>choosing biological monitoring sites</li>
<li>management decisions in the <abbr title="Marine Protected Area">MPA</abbr>s</li>
<li>choosing sites for future <abbr title="Marine Protected Area">MPA</abbr>s</li>
<li>studies of paleo-sealevel</li>
<li>studies of the inter-relationships between seafloor geology and benthic ecology</li>
<li>studies of sedimentary geology and geologic framework of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico</li>
</ol>
application/pdf
10.3133/ofr0245
en
U.S. Geological Survey
Archive of chirp subbottom data collected during USGS cruise ORGN00005, northeastern Gulf of Mexico, 15 February-2 March 2000
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