Geologists highlighted the channel branch in the white circle. Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Gulf of Mexico 2012. Download larger version (jpg, 324 KB).
Geologists highlighted the channel branch in the white circle. Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Gulf of Mexico 2012. Download larger version (jpg, 324 KB).
We mapped a fascinating feature on the seafloor this leg. Though it looks much like an underwater river, on-shore geologists told us that it is a perched leveed channel. The sinuous channel is likely carved by sediments traveling in currents along the seafloor. Levees are created as sediment deposits on both sides of the channel. The data may provide new insights into sediment transport from the Mississippi River far into the Gulf of Mexico. Some scientists suggested that it may also lead to new information on localized benthic community distribution and hydrocarbon reserves.
