Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a major body of water
bordered and nearly landlocked by North America.
The gulf's eastern, north, and northwestern shores lie within the
United States of America (specifically, the states of Florida,
Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas); its southwestern and
southern shores lie within Mexico (specifically, the states of
Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana
Roo); on the southeast it is bordered by Cuba. It connects with the
Atlantic Ocean via the Florida Straits between the U.S. and Cuba,
and with the Caribbean Sea via the Yucatan Channel between Mexico
and Cuba.
Gulf of Mexico
in 3D perspective.
(Note: In common usage, at least in the U.S., the term "Gulf Coast"
usually refers to either the continuous portion of the coast
running from Cape Sable, Florida, to Brownsville, Texas, or from
Cape Sable, Florida, to the northern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula
at Cabo Catoche, Quintana Roo. Both meanings exclude Cuba as well
as the Florida Keys.)
The total area of the Gulf of Mexico is approximately 615,000 mi²
(1.6 million km²), the southern third of which lies within the
tropics, and plunges to a depth of 2,080 fathoms (3,804 m). This
deepest part is Sigsbee Deep, an irregular trough more than 300
nautical miles (550 km) long, sometimes called the "Grand Canyon
under the sea." The cooler water from the deep stimulates plankton
growth, which attracts small fish, shrimp, and squid. The Gulf
Stream, a warm Atlantic Ocean current and one of the strongest
ocean currents known, originates in the gulf. The gulf has been
visited many times by powerful Atlantic hurricanes, some of which
have caused extensive human death and other destruction).
Gulf of Mexico
Tidal ranges are extremely small in the Gulf of Mexico due to the
narrow connection with the ocean much like the
Mediterranean.
The Bay of Campeche in Mexico constitutes a major arm of the Gulf
of Mexico. Additionally, the gulf's shoreline is fringed by
numerous bays and smaller inlets. A number of rivers empty into the
gulf, most notably the Mississippi River. The land that forms the
gulf's coast, including many long, narrow barrier islands, is
almost uniformly low-lying and is characterized by marshes and
swamps as well as stretches of sandy beach.
The continental shelf is quite wide at most points along the coast.
The shelf is exploited for its oil by means of offshore drilling
rigs, most of which are situated in the western gulf. Another
important commercial activity is fishing; major catches include
various fishes as well as shrimp and crabs, with oysters being
harvested on a large scale from many of the bays and sounds. Other
important industries along the coast include shipping,
petrochemical processing and storage, paper manufacture, and
tourism.
Coastal cities of note include Tampa, St. Petersburg, Pensacola,
Mobile, New Orleans, Beaumont, and Houston (all in the U.S.),
Tampico, Tuxpam, Veracruz and Mérida (in Mexico), and Havana (in
Cuba).
The gulf's coastal areas were first settled by Native American
groups, including those representing several of the early advanced
cultures of Mexico. During the period of European exploration and
colonization the entire region became a theatre of contention
between the Spanish, French and English. The present-day culture of
the coastal region is primarily Spanish-American (Mexico, Cuba) and
Anglo-American (U.S.).
A point of interest about the Gulf is that 65 million years ago,
the Chicxulub crater was formed when a large meteorite hit the
earth. It is hypothesized that this impact was the asteroid that
caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Pollution
Because of the ever increasing amount of nitrogen and phosphates
dissolved in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, pollution has more
than doubled since 1950. Current estimates suggest that three times
as much nitrogen is being carried into the Gulf today compared with
levels 30 years ago or at any time in history. Blooms of
photosynthesizers die and sink, and the processes of their decay
exhausts the available supplies of oxygen dissolved in the water.
Every summer there is now an area south of the Louisiana coastline,
larger than the U.S. state of Massachusetts at over 7,000 mi²
(18,000 km²) that is hypoxic. These waters do not carry enough
oxygen to sustain marine life. This annually enlarging "dead zone"
is a major threat to the fishing industry and to public
health.
Fishing Boats in
Biloxi
Also, there are frequent "red tide" algae blooms that kill fish and
marine mammals and cause respiratory problems in humans and some
domestic animals when the blooms reach close to shore. This has
especially been plaguing the southwest Florida coast, from the Keys
to north of Pasco County, Florida.
Issue #241
