Abstract: TAMU Gulf of Mexico/NOAA Bathymetry (TGMNB) CD-ROM

LIU, JIA Y., and WILLIAM R. BRYANT
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

The most elemental parameter for describing the characteristics of the seafloor is its depth. The most elemental parameter for the description of a particular environment of an area is its bathymetry. The northwestern continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico has a very complex bathymetry. The processes that determined the topography and morphology of the slope and the distribution of sediments within these areas are dominated by halokinesis of allochthonous salt. Detailed bathymetry can be used as an educational tool in helping to understand the nature of the continental margin and is essential in evaluating slope instabilities, pipeline spanning, mass transport, fishery information and physical modeling.

The TGMNB CD-ROM contains bathymetry, slope gradient, flow direction, and drainage pattern generated from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOM) multibeam data collected in a 7 year period in the northwestern continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico. The CD-ROM contains video "fly-by" in selected areas and allows the user to select his/her areas of interest from an index map and zoom-in on the specific areas, allow the use of different color schemes and scales in displaying the map and select the desired layers to be displayed (e.g., slope gradient over bathymetry). The user can download digital data to a local disk, and through the use of VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) the user can "walk around" and examine areas of interest.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90932©1998 GCAGS/GCS-SEPM Meeting, Corpus Christi, Texas