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The Gulf of Mexico () is an
oceanic basin In hydrology, an oceanic basin (or ocean basin) is anywhere on Earth that is covered by seawater. Geologically, most of the ocean basins are large Structural basin, geologic basins that are below sea level. Most commonly the ocea ...
and a
marginal sea This is a list of seas of the World Ocean, including marginal seas, areas of water, various gulfs, bights, bays, and straits. In many cases it is a matter of tradition for a body of water to be named a sea or a bay, etc., therefore all these ...
of the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the
Gulf Coast of the United States The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The list of U.S. states and territories by coastline, coastal states th ...
; on the southwest and south by the
Mexican states A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent federative entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, government, state governor, a ...
of
Tamaulipas Tamaulipas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas, is a state in Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 43 municipalities. It is located in nor ...
,
Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
,
Tabasco Tabasco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Tabasco, 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It i ...
,
Campeche Campeche, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche, is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, make up the Administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by the sta ...
,
Yucatán Yucatán, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate municipalities, and its capital city is Mérida. ...
, and
Quintana Roo Quintana Roo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 administrative divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into municipalities of ...
; and on the southeast by
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
. The coastal areas along the Southern U.S. states of
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
,
Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
,
Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
,
Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
, and
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, which border the Gulf on the north, are occasionally referred to as the "
Third Coast "Third Coast" is an American colloquialism used to describe coastal regions distinct from the East Coast of the United States, East Coast and the West Coast of the United States, West Coast of the United States. Generally, the term "Third Coast" ...
" of the United States (in addition to its Atlantic and Pacific coasts), but more often as "the Gulf Coast". The Gulf of Mexico took shape about 300 million years ago (mya) as a result of
plate tectonics Plate tectonics (, ) is the scientific theory that the Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of , an idea developed durin ...
. The
Gulf of Mexico basin The formation of the Gulf of Mexico, an oceanic rift basin located between North America and the Yucatan Block, was preceded by the breakup of the Supercontinent Pangaea in the Late-Triassic, weakening the lithosphere. Rifting between the North ...
is roughly oval and is about wide. Its floor consists of
sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock formed by the cementation (geology), cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or de ...
s and recent sediments. It is connected to part of the Atlantic Ocean through the
Straits of Florida The Straits of Florida, Florida Straits, or Florida Strait () is a strait located south-southeast of the North American mainland, generally accepted to be between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, and between the Florida Keys (U.S.) an ...
between the U.S. and Cuba, and with the
Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...
via the
Yucatán Channel The Yucatán Channel or Straits of Yucatán (Spanish: ''Canal de Yucatán'') is a strait between Mexico and Cuba. It connects the Yucatán Basin of the Caribbean Sea with the Gulf of Mexico. It is just over wide and nearly deep at its deepest po ...
between Mexico and Cuba. Because of its narrow connection to the Atlantic Ocean, the gulf has very small tidal ranges. The size of the gulf basin is about . Almost half of the basin consists of shallow
continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...
waters. The volume of water in the basin is roughly (). The gulf is one of the most important
offshore petroleum Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the ter ...
production regions in the world, making up 14% of the United States' total production. Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico also contributes to weather across the United States, including severe weather in
Tornado Alley Tornado Alley, also known as Tornado Valley, is a loosely defined location of the central United States and, in the 21st century, Canada where tornadoes are most frequent. The term was first used in 1952 as the title of a research project to st ...
.


Name

As with the
name of Mexico Several hypotheses seek to explain the etymology of the name "Mexico" (''México'' in modern Spanish) which dates, at least, back to 14th century Mesoamerica. Among these are expressions in the Nahuatl language such as (in translation), ''Mexitli ...
, the gulf's name is associated with the ethnonym ''
Mexica The Mexica (Nahuatl: ; singular ) are a Nahuatl-speaking people of the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers of the Triple Alliance, more commonly referred to as the Aztec Empire. The Mexica established Tenochtitlan, a settlement on an island ...
'', which refers to the
Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...
-speaking people of the
Valley of Mexico The Valley of Mexico (; ), sometimes also called Basin of Mexico, is a highlands plateau in central Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico was a centre for several pre-Columbian civilizations including Teotihuacan, ...
better known as the
Aztecs The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the ...
. In
Aztec religion The Aztec religion is a polytheistic and monistic pantheism in which the Nahua concept of '' teotl'' was construed as the supreme god Ometeotl, as well as a diverse pantheon of lesser gods and manifestations of nature. The popular religion te ...
, the gulf was called , or 'House of
Chalchiuhtlicue Chalchiuhtlicue (from ''chālchihuitl'' "jade" and ''cuēitl'' "skirt") (also spelled Chalciuhtlicue, Chalchiuhcueye, or Chalcihuitlicue) ("She of the Jade Skirt") is an Aztec deity of water, rivers, seas, streams, storms, and baptism. Chalch ...
', after the deity of the seas. Believing that the sea and sky merged beyond the horizon, they called the seas , meaning 'sky water', contrasting them with finite, landlocked bodies of water, such as lakes. The
Maya civilization The Maya civilization () was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period. It is known by its ancient temples and glyphs (script). The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writin ...
, which used the gulf as a major trade route, likely called the gulf , meaning 'great water'. Up to 1530, European maps depicted the gulf, though left it unlabeled.
Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...
called it "Sea of the North" () in his dispatches, while other Spanish explorers called it the "Gulf of Florida" () or "Gulf of Cortés" (). A 1584 map by
Abraham Ortelius Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer from Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands. He is recognized as the creator of the list of atlases, first modern ...
also labeled it as the "Sea of the North" (). Other early European maps called it the "Gulf of St. Michael" (), "Gulf of
Yucatán Yucatán, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate municipalities, and its capital city is Mérida. ...
" (), "Yucatán Sea" (), "Great Antillean Gulf" (), "
Cathay Cathay ( ) is a historical name for China that was used in Europe. During the early modern period, the term ''Cathay'' initially evolved as a term referring to what is now Northern China, completely separate and distinct from ''China'', which w ...
an Sea" (), or "Gulf of New Spain" (). At one point,
New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...
encircled the gulf, with the
Spanish Main During the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the Spanish Main was the collective term used by English speakers for the parts of the Spanish Empire that were on the mainland of the Americas and had coastlines on the Caribbean Sea or Gulf of ...
extending into what later became Mexico and the southeastern United States. The name "Gulf of Mexico" (; , later ) first appeared on a world map in 1550 and a historical account in 1552. As with other large bodies of water, Europeans named the gulf after Mexico, land of the Mexica, because mariners needed to cross the gulf to reach that destination. This name has been the most common name since the mid-17th century, when it was still considered a Spanish sea. French
Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
used this name as early as 1672. In the 18th century, Spanish admiralty charts similarly labeled the gulf as "Mexican Cove" or "Mexican Sound" ( or ). Until the
Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...
broke away from Mexico in 1836, Mexico's coastal boundary extended eastward along the gulf to present-day Louisiana. Among the other
languages of Mexico The Constitution of Mexico does not declare an official language; however, Spanish is the '' de facto'' national language spoken by over 99% of the population making it the largest Spanish speaking country in the world. Due to the cultural in ...
, the gulf is known as in
Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...
, in
Yucatec Maya Yucatec Maya ( ; referred to by its speakers as or ) is a Mayan languages, Mayan language spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula, including part of northern Belize. There is also a significant diasporic community of Yucatec Maya speakers in San Fra ...
, and in
Tzotzil The Tzotzil are an Indigenous Maya people of the central highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. As cited by Alfredo López Austin (1997), p. 133, 148 and following. As of 2000, they numbered about 298,000. The municipalities with the largest Tzotzil pop ...
. On January 20, 2025, United States president
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
signed an executive order directing U.S. federal agencies to adopt the name Gulf of America for the gulf waters bounded by the U.S. Although there is no formal protocol on the general naming of
international waters The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed region ...
, ''Gulf of Mexico'' is officially recognized by the
International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) (French: ''Organisation Hydrographique Internationale'') is an intergovernmental organization representing hydrography. the IHO comprised 102 member states. A principal aim of the IHO is to ...
, which seeks to standardize the names of international maritime features for certain purposes and counts all three countries adjacent to the gulf as member states. Major online map platforms and several U.S.-based media outlets voluntarily adopted the change. Mexican president
Claudia Sheinbaum Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (born 24 June 1962) is a Mexican politician, energy and climate change scientist, and academic who has served as the 66th president of Mexico since 2024. She is the List of elected and appointed female heads of state and ...
objected to the declaration of a name change.


Extent

The
International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) (French: ''Organisation Hydrographique Internationale'') is an intergovernmental organization representing hydrography. the IHO comprised 102 member states. A principal aim of the IHO is to ...
publication ''
Limits of Oceans and Seas ''Limits of Oceans and Seas'' ( or , S-23) is a special publication of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) defining the names and borders of the oceans and seas. The publication serves as an international standard for hydrographic ...
'' defines the southeast limit of the Gulf of Mexico as:
A line joining
Cape Catoche Cabo Catoche or Cape Catoche, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, is the northernmost point on the Yucatán Peninsula. It lies in the municipality of Isla Mujeres, about north of the city of Cancún. According to the International Hydrograph ...
Light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...
() with the
Light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...
on Cape San Antonio in Cuba, through this island to the meridian of 83°W and to the Northward along this meridian to the latitude of the South point of the
Dry Tortugas Dry Tortugas National Park is a national park of the United States located about west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, in the United States. The park preserves Fort Jefferson and the several Dry Tortugas islands, the westernmost and most iso ...
(24°35′N), along this parallel Eastward to Rebecca Shoal (82°35′W) thence through the shoals and
Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...
to the mainland at the eastern end of
Florida Bay Florida Bay is the bay located between the southern end of the Florida mainland (the Everglades, Florida Everglades) and the Florida Keys in the United States. It is a large, shallow estuary that while connected to the Gulf of Mexico, has limited ...
and all the narrow waters between the
Dry Tortugas Dry Tortugas National Park is a national park of the United States located about west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, in the United States. The park preserves Fort Jefferson and the several Dry Tortugas islands, the westernmost and most iso ...
and the mainland being considered to be within the Gulf.


Population

The total population of the five U.S. states facing the gulf is 67 million people. Of these, a total of 15.8 million people live in the Gulf Coastal Region, in counties directly bordering the gulf. The six Mexican states that face the gulf have a total population of 19.1 million people. Three provinces of northwest
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
, including
Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.drilling rig A drilling rig is an integrated system that Drilling, drills wells, such as oil or water wells, or holes for piling and other construction purposes, into the earth's subsurface. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to ...
s in the gulf hosted a temporary population of more than 10,000 workers on any given day, who were rotated on a weekly staggered schedule. Increasing automation later led to a decline in the offshore worker population.


Geology

The consensus among geologists is that before the late
Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...
, the Gulf of Mexico did not exist. Before the late Triassic, the area consisted of dry land, which included
continental crust Continental crust is the layer of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks that forms the geological continents and the areas of shallow seabed close to their shores, known as '' continental shelves''. This layer is sometimes called '' si ...
that now underlies
Yucatán Yucatán, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate municipalities, and its capital city is Mérida. ...
, within the middle of the supercontinent
Pangaea Pangaea or Pangea ( ) was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It assembled from the earlier continental units of Gondwana, Euramerica and Siberia during the Carboniferous period approximately 335 mi ...
. This land lay south of a continuous mountain range that extended from north-central Mexico, through the
Marathon Uplift The Marathon Uplift is a Paleogene-age domal uplift, approximately in diameter, in southwest Texas. The Marathon Basin was created by erosion of Cretaceous and younger strata from the crest of the uplift.McBride, E.F. and Hayward, O.T., 1988''Geo ...
in west
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
and the
Ouachita Mountains The Ouachita Mountains (), simply referred to as the Ouachitas, are a mountain range in western Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. They are formed by a thick succession of highly deformed Paleozoic strata constituting the Ouachita Fold and Thru ...
of
Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
, and to
Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
where it linked directly to the
Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...
. It was created by the collision of continental plates that formed Pangaea. As interpreted by Roy Van Arsdale and Randel T. Cox, this mountain range was breached in the late
Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...
by the formation of the
Mississippi Embayment The Mississippi embayment is a physiographic feature in the south-central United States, part of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. It is essentially a northward continuation of the fluvial sediments of the Mississippi River Delta to its conflu ...
. The
rift In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-graben ...
ing that created the basin was associated with zones of weakness within Pangaea, including sutures where the
Laurentia Laurentia or the North American craton is a large continental craton that forms the Geology of North America, ancient geological core of North America. Many times in its past, Laurentia has been a separate continent, as it is now in the form of ...
,
South American South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
, and African plates collided to create it. First, there was a late Triassic–early
Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...
phase of rifting during which
rift valley A rift valley is a linear shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges produced by the action of a geologic rift. Rifts are formed as a result of the pulling apart of the lithosphere due to extensional tectonics. The linear ...
s formed and filled with continental
red beds Red beds (or redbeds) are sedimentary rocks, typically consisting of sandstone, siltstone, and shale, that are predominantly red in color due to the presence of ferric oxides. Frequently, these red-colored sedimentary strata locally contain t ...
. Second, the continental crust was stretched and thinned as rifting progressed through early and middle Jurassic times. This thinning created a broad zone of transitional crust, which displays modest and uneven thinning with block faulting and a broad zone of uniformly thinned transitional crust, which is half the typical thickness of continental crust. At this time, rifting first created a connection to the Pacific Ocean across central Mexico and later eastwards to the Atlantic Ocean. This flooded the opening basin to create an enclosed marginal sea. The subsiding transitional crust was blanketed by the widespread deposition of
Louann Salt The Louann Salt is a widespread evaporite formation that formed in the Gulf of Mexico during the Callovian in the mid Jurassic. The Louann formed in a rift as the South American and North American Plates separated, from an embayment of the Pacifi ...
and associated
anhydrite Anhydrite, or anhydrous calcium sulfate, is a mineral with the chemical formula CaSO4. It is in the orthorhombic crystal system, with three directions of perfect cleavage parallel to the three planes of symmetry. It is not isomorphous with the ...
evaporite An evaporite () is a water- soluble sedimentary mineral deposit that results from concentration and crystallization by evaporation from an aqueous solution. There are two types of evaporite deposits: marine, which can also be described as oce ...
s. During the late Jurassic, continued rifting widened the basin and progressed to the point that
seafloor spreading Seafloor spreading, or seafloor spread, is a process that occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge. History of study Earlier theories by Alfred Wegener ...
and formation of
oceanic crust Oceanic crust is the uppermost layer of the oceanic portion of the tectonic plates. It is composed of the upper oceanic crust, with pillow lavas and a dike complex, and the lower oceanic crust, composed of troctolite, gabbro and ultramaf ...
occurred. At this point, sufficient circulation with the Atlantic Ocean was established that the deposition of Louann Salt ceased. Seafloor spreading stopped at the end of the Jurassic, about 145–150 mya.During the late Jurassic through early Cretaceous, the basin experienced a period of cooling and
subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope mov ...
of the crust underlying it. The subsidence resulted from crustal stretching, cooling, and loading. Initially, the crustal stretching and cooling combination caused about of tectonic subsidence of the central thin transitional and oceanic crust. The basin expanded and deepened because subsidence occurred faster than sediment could fill it. Later, loading of the crust within the basin and adjacent coastal plain by the accumulation of kilometers of sediments during the rest of the
Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...
and all of the
Cenozoic The Cenozoic Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...
further depressed the underlying crust to its current position about below sea level. Particularly during the Cenozoic, a time of relative stability for the coastal zones, thick
clastic wedge In geology, a clastic wedge is a thick accumulation of sediments or sedimentary rocks eroded and deposited landward of a mountain chain or geological boundary. They begin at the mountain front, thicken considerably landwards of it to a peak depth, ...
s built out the continental shelf along the northwestern and northern margins of the basin. To the east, the stable
Florida Platform The Florida Platform is a flat geological feature with the emergent portion forming the Florida peninsula. Structure The platform forms an escarpment between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. The platform's western edge, or Florida Esca ...
was not covered by the sea until the latest Jurassic or the beginning of Cretaceous time. The Yucatán Platform was emergent until the mid-Cretaceous. After both platforms were submerged, the formation of
carbonates A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid, (), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word "carbonate" may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate group . ...
and evaporites has delineated the geologic history of these two stable areas. Most of the basin was rimmed during the early Cretaceous by carbonate platforms, and its western flank was involved during the latest Cretaceous and early
Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...
periods in a compressive deformation episode, the
Laramide Orogeny The Laramide orogeny was a time period of mountain building in western North America, which started in the Late Cretaceous, 80 to 70 million years ago, and ended 55 to 35 million years ago. The exact duration and ages of beginning and end of the o ...
, which created the
Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that ...
of eastern Mexico. The Gulf of Mexico is 41%
continental slope A continental margin is the outer edge of continental crust abutting oceanic crust under coastal waters. It is one of the three major zones of the ocean floor, the other two being deep-ocean basins and mid-ocean ridges. The continental margi ...
, 32%
continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...
, and 24%
abyssal plain An abyssal plain is an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor, usually found at depths between . Lying generally between the foot of a continental rise and a mid-ocean ridge, abyssal plains cover more than 50% of the Earth's surface. They ...
with the greatest depth of 12,467 feet in the Sigsbee Deep. Seven main areas are given as: *
Gulf of Mexico basin The formation of the Gulf of Mexico, an oceanic rift basin located between North America and the Yucatan Block, was preceded by the breakup of the Supercontinent Pangaea in the Late-Triassic, weakening the lithosphere. Rifting between the North ...
; contains the Sigsbee Deep. * Northeast Gulf of Mexico; extends from a point east of the
Mississippi River Delta The Mississippi River Delta is the confluence of the Mississippi River with the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana, southeastern United States. The river delta is a area of land that stretches from Vermilion Bay on the west, to the Chandeleur Is ...
near
Biloxi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities ar ...
to the eastern side of
Apalachee Bay Apalachee Bay is a bay in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico occupying an indentation of the Florida coast to the west of where the Florida peninsula joins the United States mainland. It is bordered by Taylor, Jefferson, Wakulla, and Franklin ...
. * South Florida Continental Shelf and Slope; extends along the coast from Apalachee Bay to the
Straits of Florida The Straits of Florida, Florida Straits, or Florida Strait () is a strait located south-southeast of the North American mainland, generally accepted to be between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, and between the Florida Keys (U.S.) an ...
and includes the Florida Keys and
Dry Tortugas Dry Tortugas National Park is a national park of the United States located about west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, in the United States. The park preserves Fort Jefferson and the several Dry Tortugas islands, the westernmost and most iso ...
. *
Campeche Bank Campeche Bank is part of the Gulf of Mexico and extends from the Yucatan Straits in the east to the Tabasco-Campeche Basin in the west. Campeche Bankin Geonames.org (cc-by)/ref> The Campeche ocean bank is from Mexico's geography of Campeche n ...
; extends from the Yucatán Straits in the east to the
Tabasco Tabasco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Tabasco, 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It i ...
Campeche Basin in the west and includes Arrecife Alacran. *
Bay of Campeche The Bay of Campeche (), or Campeche Sound, is a bight in the southern area of the Gulf of Mexico, forming the north side of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. It is surrounded on three sides by the Mexican states of Campeche, Tabasco and Veracruz. The ...
; a
bight The word is derived from Old English ''byht'' (“bend, angle, corner; bay, bight”). In modern English, bight may refer to: * Bight (geography), recess of a coast, bay, or other curved feature * Bight (knot), a curved section, slack part, or loo ...
extending from the western edge of Campeche Bank to the offshore regions east of
Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
. * Western Gulf of Mexico; located between Veracruz to the south and the
Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...
to the north. * Northwest Gulf of Mexico; extends from Alabama to the Rio Grande.


Brine pools

A number of brine pools, sometimes called brine lakes, are known on the seafloor of the northern half of the Gulf of Mexico. Brine pools in the Gulf of Mexico range from just across to long.
Brine Brine (or briny water) is a high-concentration solution of salt (typically sodium chloride or calcium chloride) in water. In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawat ...
is produced wherever the water of the Gulf comes in contact with the Louann Salt, an
evaporite An evaporite () is a water- soluble sedimentary mineral deposit that results from concentration and crystallization by evaporation from an aqueous solution. There are two types of evaporite deposits: marine, which can also be described as oce ...
formation from the Jurassic period, along faults or in unconsolidated sediments. The Louann Salt extends under most of the continental shelf around the northern part of the Gulf from west of Florida to Texas. Under the pressure of overlaying sediments, the salt deforms and migrates, a process known as
salt tectonics upright=1.7 Salt tectonics, or halokinesis, or halotectonics, is concerned with the geometries and processes associated with the presence of significant thicknesses of evaporites containing rock salt within a stratigraphic sequence of rocks. This ...
. Masses of salt may rise through overlaying sediments to form salt domes, or may be extruded along the Sigsbee Escarpment where the slope of the continental shelf exposes lower laying stata. The brines usually exceed 200 parts-per-thousand (ppt) of salt and are 25% or more denser than most seawater (average 35 ppt). The density difference inhibits mixing of the brine with other sea water, and the brine flows downslope and gathers in depressions in the gulf floor. Hydrocarbons and gas hydrates rising from salt
diapir A diapir (; , ) is a type of intrusion in which a more mobile and ductilely deformable material is forced into brittle overlying rocks. Depending on the tectonic environment, diapirs can range from idealized mushroom-shaped Rayleigh–Taylor ...
s may cause doming of the gulf floor, with the gas sometimes erupting strongly enough to leave a depression in the gulf floor surrounded by a rim, where brine may pool. The East Flower Garden Bank brine pool is in a crater formed by the collapsed cap of a salt dome. The circular pool covers with a maximum depth of , and is beneath the surface of the Gulf. It is
anoxic Anoxia means a total depletion in the level of oxygen, an extreme form of hypoxia or "low oxygen". The terms anoxia and hypoxia are used in various contexts: * Anoxic waters, sea water, fresh water or groundwater that are depleted of dissolved ox ...
and contain quantities of hydrogen sulfide and methane. The brine pool known as GB425, which is deep, is fed by a
mud volcano A mud volcano or mud dome is a landform created by the eruption of mud or Slurry, slurries, water and gases. Several geological processes may cause the formation of mud volcanoes. Mud volcanoes are not true Igneous rock, igneous volcanoes as th ...
. The temperature at the surface of the pool can vary from , and is on average warmer than normal bottom temperatures. The brine pool known as GC233 is at a depth similar to that of GB425, deep. The pool sits in a depression at the top of a mound and covers about . While GC233 has a lower inflow of brine than GB425 and a temperature about below that of GB425, the two pools share some similarities, such as a salinity of about 130 ppt, low sulfides, almost no sulfates, and high concentrations of hydrocarbons. The Orca Basin is deep, and covers about with a maximum depth of . The large size is the result of the merger of several salt domes. Salinity in the pool increases gradually over a depth of , and reaches 300 ppt at depth, with zero dissolved oxygen. A brine pool was discovered in 2014 on the sea floor at a depth of with a circumference of and depth of , which is four to five times saltier than the surrounding water. The site cannot sustain any kind of life other than
bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...
,
mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...
s with a
symbiotic relationship Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biolo ...
,
tube worm A tubeworm is any worm-like sessile invertebrate that anchors its tail to an underwater surface and secretes around its body a mineral tube, into which it can withdraw its entire body. Tubeworms are found among the following taxa: * Annelida, the ...
s, and certain kinds of
shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...
. It has been called the "Jacuzzi of Despair" because it is warmer at compared to the surrounding water at .


Hydrology

Circulation of water in and through the Gulf is part of the larger circulation patterns of the Atlantic Ocean. Water flows into the Gulf from the Caribbean Sea through the Yucatan Channel as the Yucatan Current, and exits to the North Atlanic Ocean through the
Florida Straits The Straits of Florida, Florida Straits, or Florida Strait () is a strait located south-southeast of the North American mainland, generally accepted to be between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, and between the Florida Keys (U.S.) ...
as the
Florida Current The Florida Current is a thermal ocean current that flows from the Straits of Florida around the Florida Peninsula and along the southeastern coast of the United States before joining the Gulf Stream Current near Cape Hatteras. Its contributing cu ...
, which becomes the
Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...
. Movement through the two straits is confined to the upper layers of ocean water, as the Yucatan Strait has a maximum depth of only , while the Florida Straits has a maximum depth of only . The Yucatan Current fills most of the Yucatan Channel to a depth of up to , with a maximum flow of per second. There are weaker countercurrents along the coasts of Cuba and Yucatan and below the main current. The average
volumetric flow rate In physics and engineering, in particular fluid dynamics, the volumetric flow rate (also known as volume flow rate, or volume velocity) is the volume of fluid which passes per unit time; usually it is represented by the symbol (sometimes \do ...
through the Yucatan Channel varied between 15.8 and 28.1
Sverdrup In oceanography, the sverdrup (symbol: Sv) is a non- SI metric unit of volumetric flow rate, with equal to . It is equivalent to the SI derived unit cubic hectometer per second (symbol: hm3/s or hm3⋅s−1): is equal to . It is used almost ...
s ( hectometers per second) from 1999 to 2013. The Florida Current fills all of the Florida Straits (at approximately 81°W, between the lower
Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...
and Cuba) to a depth of , with a maximum flow of per second. The average
volumetric flow rate In physics and engineering, in particular fluid dynamics, the volumetric flow rate (also known as volume flow rate, or volume velocity) is the volume of fluid which passes per unit time; usually it is represented by the symbol (sometimes \do ...
through the Florida Straits varied between 27.2 and 27.9 Sverdrups. The Yucatan Current is connected to the Florida Current by an anti-cyclonic (clockwise) loop of variable size, the
Loop Current Mesh analysis (or the mesh current method) is a circuit analysis method for planar circuits; planar circuits are circuits that can be drawn on a plane surface with no wires crossing each other. A more general technique, called loop analysis ...
. The Loop Current may extend into the northeastern part of the Gulf, and may flow over the continental shelf along the west coast of the Florida peninsula. The Loop Current is as strong as the Gulf Stream and dominates the Gulf. Anti-cyclonic and cyclonic (anti-clockwise) rings or
eddies In fluid dynamics, an eddy is the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid is in a turbulent flow regime. The moving fluid creates a space devoid of downstream-flowing fluid on the downstream side of the object. Fluid ...
are shed from the Loop Current and move into the western Gulf. Cyclonic and anti-cyclonic eddies form pairs, and such pairs of eddies often dominate circulation in the western Gulf. The Loop Current is up to in diameter and is surrounded by small cyclonic (anti-clockwise) eddies. Large warm-core rings or eddies are shed off the Loop Current at irregular intervals. The Loop Current can be seen in satellite images using both
sea surface temperature Sea surface temperature (or ocean surface temperature) is the ocean temperature, temperature of ocean water close to the surface. The exact meaning of ''surface'' varies in the literature and in practice. It is usually between and below the sea ...
s and
Sea surface height Ocean surface topography or sea surface topography, also called ocean dynamic topography, are highs and lows on the ocean surface, similar to the hills and valleys of Earth's land surface depicted on a topographic map. These variations are exp ...
. On the east side of the Gulf, a weak countercurrent flows north along the
continental slope A continental margin is the outer edge of continental crust abutting oceanic crust under coastal waters. It is one of the three major zones of the ocean floor, the other two being deep-ocean basins and mid-ocean ridges. The continental margi ...
of the Florida peninsula. In the Northeast corner of the Gulf there is a weak cyclonic circulation over the continental shelf. The strength of this circulation is inversely proportional to how far north the Loop Current extends. The Loop Current is part of the
North Atlantic Gyre The North Atlantic Gyre of the Atlantic Ocean is one of five great oceanic gyres. It is a circular ocean current, with offshoot eddies and sub-gyres, across the North Atlantic from the Intertropical Convergence Zone (calms or doldrums) to the pa ...
, an
ocean current An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of seawater generated by a number of forces acting upon the water, including wind, the Coriolis effect, breaking waves, cabbeling, and temperature and salinity differences. Depth contours, sh ...
circulation that includes the
Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...
,
North Atlantic Current The North Atlantic Current (NAC), also known as North Atlantic Drift and North Atlantic Sea Movement, is a powerful warm western boundary current within the Atlantic Ocean that extends the Gulf Stream northeastward. Characteristics The NAC ...
,
Canary Current The Canary Current is a wind-driven surface current that is part of the North Atlantic Gyre. This eastern boundary current branches south from the North Atlantic Current and flows southwest about as far as Senegal where it turns west and later jo ...
, and
North Equatorial Current The North Equatorial Current (NEC) is a westward wind-driven current mostly located near the equator, but the location varies from different oceans. The NEC in the Pacific and the Atlantic is about 5°-20°N, while the NEC in the Indian Ocean is v ...
. The eddies shed by the Loop Current spread though the Gulf, affecting the circulation in almost all parts of the Gulf. The creation of the eddies is a variable and often complex process, influenced in part by how far the Loop Currents has penetrated into the Gulf. Eddies shed by the Loop Current sometimes reattach to the Loop Current. Eddies surrounding the Loop Current react interactively with it, affecting both the penetration of the loop into the Gulf, and the size and number of eddies shed by the loop. Rings or eddies shed from the Loop Current may be up to in diameter and deep. The outer currents in the ring may flow at up to , while the rings as a whole move westward at about . The water flowing into the Gulf from the Caribbean Sea is not homogenous. About 40% is from the South Atlantic Ocean, and is warmer and fresher than the rest of the water. The South Atlantic component is distinguishable in the upper of the left hand and central parts of the Florida Current. Another component in the deeper part of the current is
Antarctic intermediate water Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) is a cold, relatively low salinity water mass found mostly at intermediate depths in the Southern Ocean. The AAIW is formed at the ocean surface in the Antarctic Convergence zone or more commonly called the An ...
. The rest of the water carried into the Gulf consists of various masses from the North Atlantic.


History


Pre-Columbian

As early as the
Maya civilization The Maya civilization () was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period. It is known by its ancient temples and glyphs (script). The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writin ...
, the Gulf of Mexico was used as a trade route off the coast of the
Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the C ...
and present-day
Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
.


Spanish exploration

Although Europeans credited the Spanish voyage of
Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
with the discovery of the Americas, the ships in his four voyages did not reach the Gulf of Mexico. Instead, the Spanish sailed into the Caribbean around Cuba and
Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...
. The first alleged European exploration of the Gulf of Mexico was by
Amerigo Vespucci Amerigo Vespucci ( , ; 9 March 1454 – 22 February 1512) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Florence for whom "Naming of the Americas, America" is named. Vespucci participated in at least two voyages of the A ...
in 1497. Vespucci is purported to have followed the coastal land mass of
Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...
before returning to the Atlantic Ocean via the Straits of Florida between
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
and Cuba. However, this first voyage of 1497 is widely disputed. Many historians doubt that it took place as described. In his letters, Vespucci described this trip, and once
Juan de la Cosa Juan de la Cosa (c. 1450 – 28 February 1510) was a Basque navigator and cartographer, known for designing the earliest European world map which incorporated the territories of the Americas discovered in the 15th century. De la Cosa was the o ...
returned to Spain, a famous world map was produced. In 1506,
Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...
participated in the conquest of Hispaniola and Cuba, receiving a large estate of land and enslaving
Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
people for his efforts. In 1510, he accompanied
Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar Diego Velázquez de CuéllarPronounced: (1465 – c. June 12, 1524) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' and ''adelantado'' who was first governor of Cuba. In 1511 he led the successful conquest and colonization of Cuba. As the first governor ...
, an aide to the governor of Hispaniola, on his expedition to conquer Cuba. In 1518, Velázquez put him in command of an expedition to explore and secure the interior of Mexico for colonization. In 1517,
Francisco Hernández de Córdoba Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comm ...
discovered the Yucatán Peninsula. This was the first European encounter with an advanced civilization in the
Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...
, with solidly built buildings and complex social structures which they found comparable to those of the
Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...
. They also had reason to expect that this new land would have
gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
. All of this encouraged two further expeditions, the first in 1518 under the command of
Juan de Grijalva Juan de Grijalva (; c. 1490 – 21 January 1527) was a Spanish conquistador, and a relative of Diego Velázquez.Diaz de Castillo, Bernal. 1963, The Conquest of New Spain, London: Penguin Books, He went to Hispaniola in 1508 and to Cuba in 1511. ...
, and the second in 1519 under the command of
Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...
, which led to the Spanish exploration, military invasion, and ultimately settlement and colonization known as the
Conquest of Mexico The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was a pivotal event in the history of the Americas, marked by the collision of the Aztec Triple Alliance and the Spanish Empire. Taking place between 1519 and 1521, this event saw the Spanish conquista ...
. Hernández did not live to see the continuation of his work: he died in 1517, the year of his expedition, as the result of the injuries and the extreme thirst suffered during the voyage, and disappointed in the knowledge that Velázquez had given precedence to Grijalva as the captain of the next expedition to Yucatán. In 1523, a treasure ship was wrecked en route at
Padre Island Padre Island is the largest of the Texas barrier islands and the world's longest barrier island. The island is located along Texas's southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico and is noted for its white sandy beaches. Meaning ''father'' in Spanish, ...
, Texas. When word of the disaster reached Mexico City, the viceroy requested a rescue fleet and sent
Ángel de Villafañe Ángel de Villafañe (b. c. 1504) was a Spanish conquistador of Florida, Mexico, and Guatemala, and was an explorer, expedition leader, and ship captain (with Hernán Cortés), who worked with many 16th-century settlements and shipwrecks along t ...
from Mexico City, marching overland to find the treasure-laden vessels. Villafañe traveled to Pánuco and hired a ship to transport him to the site, which that community had already visited. He arrived in time to greet García de Escalante Alvarado (a nephew of
Pedro de Alvarado Pedro de Alvarado (; 1485 – 4 July 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, ''conquistador'', ''adelantado,'' governor and Captaincy General of Guatemala, captain general of Guatemala.Lovell, Lutz and Swezey 1984, p. 461. He participated in the c ...
), commander of the salvage operation, when Alvarado arrived by sea on July 22, 1554. The team laboured until September 12 to salvage the Padre Island treasure. This loss, combined with other ship disasters around the Gulf of Mexico, led to a plan for establishing a settlement on the northern Gulf Coast to protect shipping and rescue castaways more quickly. As a result, the expedition of
Tristán de Luna y Arellano Tristán de Luna y Arellano (1510 – September 16, 1573) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador of the 16th century.Herbert Ingram Priestley, Tristan de Luna: Conquistador of the Old South: A Study of Spanish Imperial Strategy (1936). http://pa ...
was sent and landed at
Pensacola Bay Pensacola Bay is a bay located in the northwestern part of Florida, United States, known as the Florida Panhandle. The bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, is located in Escambia County and Santa Rosa County, adjacent to the city of Pensac ...
on August 15, 1559. On December 11, 1526,
Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...
of the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
granted
Pánfilo de Narváez Pánfilo de Narváez (; born 1470 or 1478, died 1528) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' and soldier in the Americas. Born in Spain, he first sailed to the island of Jamaica (then Santiago) in 1510 as a soldier. Pánfilo participated in the conque ...
a licence to establish colonial settlements along the present-day Gulf Coast of the United States, known as the
Narváez expedition The Narváez expedition was a Spanish expedition started in 1527 that was intended to explore Florida and establish colonial settlements. The expedition was initially led by Pánfilo de Narváez, who died in 1528. Many more people died as the e ...
. The contract gave him one year to gather an army, leave Spain, be large enough to found at least two towns of 100 people each, and garrison two more fortresses anywhere along the coast. On April 7, 1528, they spotted land north of what is now
Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater i ...
. They turned south and traveled for two days, looking for a great harbour the master pilot Miruelo knew of. Sometime during these two days, one of the five remaining ships was lost on the rugged coast, but nothing else is known. In 1697, French sailor
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1706) or Sieur d'Iberville was a French soldier, explorer, colonial administrator, and trader. He is noted for founding the colony of Louisiana in New France. He was born in Montreal to French ...
was chosen by the Minister of Marine to lead an expedition to rediscover the mouth of the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
and to settle
Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
, which French explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle had named. The English coveted this region, however in 1682 it was named to honour Louis XIV of France, King Louis XIV of France. D'Iberville's fleet sailed from Brest, France, Brest on October 24, 1698, reaching Santa Rosa Island (Florida), Santa Rosa Island near Pensacola, Florida, Pensacola; he sailed from there to Mobile Bay and explored Dauphin Island, Alabama, Massacre Island. He anchored between Cat Island (Mississippi), Cat Island and Ship Island (Mississippi), Ship Island. On February 13, 1689, he went to ashore at what is now
Biloxi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities ar ...
, with his teenage brother Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, and completed Fort Maurepas on the northeast side of the Bay of Biloxi on May 1. Three days later, d'Iberville sailed for France leaving his brother Jean-Baptiste as second in command. The first permanent settlement, Fort Maurepas (now Ocean Springs, Mississippi), was founded in 1699 by d'Iberville. By then the French had also built a small fort at the mouth of the Mississippi at a settlement they named La Balize, Louisiana, La Balise (or La Balize), "Sea mark, seamark" in French.


Geography

The Gulf of Mexico's eastern, northern, and northwestern shores lie along the US states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The US portion of the coastline spans , receiving water from 33 major rivers that drain 31 states and 2 Canadian provinces, and consisting of the coastline from the southern tip of
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
and the
Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...
to the U.S.–Mexican border between Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Tamaulipas. The Mexican coastline spans , consisting of the coastline from the US border to the Cabo Catoche
Light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...
(near Cancún) at the northern tip of the
Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the C ...
. Cuba has only of official gulf coastline, along its northern land boundary. The southwestern and southern shores of the gulf lie along the List of states of Mexico, Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, and the northernmost tip of Quintana Roo. On its southeast quadrant, the gulf is bordered by Cuba. It supports major American, Mexican, and Cuban fishing industries. The outer margins of the wide continental shelves of Yucatán and Florida receive cooler, nutrient-enriched waters from the deep by a process known as upwelling, which stimulates plankton growth in the Photic zone, euphotic zone. This attracts fish, shrimp, and squid. River drainage and atmospheric fallout from industrial coastal cities also provide nutrients to the coastal zone.The
Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...
, a warm Atlantic Ocean current and one of the strongest
ocean current An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of seawater generated by a number of forces acting upon the water, including wind, the Coriolis effect, breaking waves, cabbeling, and temperature and salinity differences. Depth contours, sh ...
s known, originates in the gulf as a continuation of the Caribbean Current–Yucatán Current–
Loop Current Mesh analysis (or the mesh current method) is a circuit analysis method for planar circuits; planar circuits are circuits that can be drawn on a plane surface with no wires crossing each other. A more general technique, called loop analysis ...
system. Other circulation features include a permanent cyclonic Ocean gyre, gyre in the
Bay of Campeche The Bay of Campeche (), or Campeche Sound, is a bight in the southern area of the Gulf of Mexico, forming the north side of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. It is surrounded on three sides by the Mexican states of Campeche, Tabasco and Veracruz. The ...
and anticyclonic gyres, which are shed by the Loop Current and travel westwards, where they eventually dissipate. The Bay of Campeche constitutes a major arm of the Gulf of Mexico. Numerous bays and smaller inlets fringe the gulf's shoreline. Streams that empty into the gulf include the Mississippi River and the Rio Grande in the northern gulf and the Grijalva River, Grijalva and Usumacinta River, Usumacinta rivers in the southern gulf. The land that forms the gulf's coast, including many long, narrow barrier islands, is almost uniformly low-lying and is defined by marshes, swamps, and stretches of sandy beach. The Gulf of Mexico is an excellent example of a passive margin. The
continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...
is quite wide at most points along the coast, notably at the Florida and Yucatán Peninsulas. The shelf is exploited for its petroleum, oil through offshore drilling rigs, most of which are situated in the western gulf and the Bay of Campeche. Another important commercial activity is fishing; major catches include Northern red snapper, red snapper, amberjack, tilefish, swordfish, and various grouper, as well as
shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...
and crabs. Oysters are also harvested on a large scale from many bays and sounds. Other important industries along the coast include shipping, petrochemical processing and storage, military use, paper manufacture, and tourism. The gulf is considered aseismic; however, mild tremors have been recorded throughout history (usually 5.0 or less on the Richter magnitude scale). Interactions between sediment loading on the sea floor and adjustment by the crust may cause earthquakes. On September 10, 2006, the United States Geological Survey, U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center reported that a 2006 Gulf of Mexico earthquake, magnitude 6.0 earthquake occurred about west-southwest of Anna Maria, Florida. The quake was reportedly felt from Louisiana to Florida. There were no reports of damage or injuries. Items were knocked from shelves and seiches were observed in swimming pools in parts of Florida. The earthquake was described by the USGS as an intraplate earthquake, the largest and most widely felt recorded in the past three decades in the region. According to ''The Tampa Tribune'' on the following day, earthquake tremors were last felt in Florida in 1952, recorded in Quincy, Florida, Quincy, northwest of Tallahassee, Florida, Tallahassee.


Maritime boundary delimitation agreements

Cuba and Mexico: Exchange of notes constituting an agreement on the Boundary delimitation, delimitation of the exclusive economic zone of Mexico in the sector adjacent to Cuban maritime areas (with map), of July 1976. Cuba and United States: Maritime boundary agreement between the United States of America and the Republic of Cuba, of December 1977. Mexico and United States: Treaty to resolve pending boundary differences and maintain the Rio Grande and Colorado River as the international boundary, of November 1970; Treaty on maritime boundaries between the United States of America and the United Mexican States (Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean), of May 1978, and treaty on the delimitation of the continental shelf in the western Gulf of Mexico beyond , of June 2000. In December 2007, Mexico submitted information to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) regarding the extension of Mexico's continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. Mexico sought an extension of its continental shelf in the Western Polygon based on international law, UNCLOS, and bilateral treaties with the United States, in accordance with Mexico's domestic legislation. In March 2009, the CLCS accepted Mexico's arguments for extending its continental shelf up to into the Western Polygon. Since this would extend Mexico's continental shelf well into territory claimed by the United States, Mexico and the United States would need to enter a bilateral agreement based on international law that delimits their respective claims.


Shipwrecks

A ship now called the ''Mardi Gras'' sank around the early 19th century about off the coast of Louisiana in of water. The ship, whose real identity remains a mystery, is believed to have been a privateer or trader. The shipwreck lay forgotten at the bottom of the sea until it was discovered in 2002 by an oilfield inspection crew working for the Okeanos Gas Gathering Company (OGGC). In 2007, an expedition led by Texas A&M University and funded by OGGC under an agreement with the Minerals Management Service (now BOEM) was launched to undertake the deepest scientific archaeological excavation to that date to study the site on the seafloor and recover artifacts for public display in the Louisiana State Museum. Videos and a documentary about the project, ''Mystery Mardi Gras Shipwreck,'' was made by Nautilus Productions with help from BOEM, Texas A&M University, the Florida Public Archaeology Network and Veolia Environmental about the project, short videos and video updates during the expedition. Video footage from the ROV was used in the documentary. On July 30, 1942, the SS Robert E. Lee, SS ''Robert E. Lee'', captained by William C. Heath, was torpedoed by the . The steamship was en route to New Orleans, sailing southeast of the entrance to the Mississippi River; she was being escorted by USS ''PC-461-class submarine chaser, PC-566'', captained by Lieutenant Commander Herbert G. Claudius. The explosion destroyed the #3 hold; vented through the B and C decks; and damaged the engines, the radio compartment, and the steering gear. ''PC-566'' dropped depth charges on a sonar contact, sinking ''U-166''. The badly damaged ''Robert E. Lee'' first listed to port, then to starboard, and finally sank within about 15 minutes of the attack. One officer, nine crew members, and 15 passengers were lost. The passengers aboard ''Robert E. Lee'' were primarily survivors of previous torpedo attacks by German U-boats. In 2001, the wrecks of ''U-166'' and ''Robert E. Lee'' were found during the C & C Marine survey. The submarine was found in of water, about from where it had attacked the liner.


Biota

Various biota include Chemosynthesis, chemosynthetic communities near cold seeps and nonchemosynthetic communities such as bacteria and other micro-benthos, meiofauna, macrofauna, and megafauna (larger organisms such as crabs, sea pens, crinoids, demersal fish, cetaceans, and the extinct Caribbean monk seal) are living in the Gulf of Mexico. Recently, resident Bryde's whales within the gulf were classified as an endemic, unique subspecies and making them as one of the most endangered whales in the world. The Gulf of Mexico yields more fish, shrimp, and shellfish annually than the south and Mid-Atlantic states, mid-Atlantic, Chesapeake Bay, Chesapeake, and New England areas combined. The Smithsonian Institution Gulf of Mexico holdings are expected to provide an important baseline of understanding for future scientific studies on the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill. In Congressional testimony, Jonathan Coddington, associate director of Research and Collections at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, provides a detailed overview of the Gulf collections and their sources which Museum staff have made available on an online map. The samples were collected for years by the former Minerals Management Service (renamed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement) to help predict the potential impacts of future oil/gas explorations. Since 1979, the specimens have been deposited in the national collections of the National Museum of Natural History.


Pollution

The major environmental threats to the gulf are Agricultural pollution, agricultural runoff and oil drilling. There are 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells beneath the gulf. These have generally not been checked for potential environmental problems. In 1973 the United States Environmental Protection Agency prohibited the dumping of undiluted chemical waste by manufacturing sediment interests into the gulf, and the military confessed to similar behavior in waters off Horn Island (Mississippi), Horn Island. Microplastics within semi-enclosed seas like the gulf have been reported in high concentrations and the gulf's first such study estimated concentrations that rival the highest globally reported. There are frequent "Algal bloom#Red tides, 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 and southern Florida coast, from the
Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...
to north of Pasco County, Florida. The gulf contains a Hypoxia (environmental), hypoxic Dead zone (ecology), dead zone that runs east–west along the Texas–Louisiana coastline. In July 2008, researchers reported that between 1985 and 2008, the area roughly doubled in size. It was in 2017, the largest ever recorded. Poor agricultural practices in the northern portion of the Gulf of Mexico have led to a tremendous increase of nitrogen and phosphorus in neighboring marine ecosystems, which has resulted in algae blooms and a lack of available oxygen. Occurrences of virilization and estrogen suppression were observed as a result. A 2007 study of the Atlantic croaker found a disproportioned sex ratio of 61% males to 39% females in hypoxic sites. This was compared with a 52% to 48% male-female ratio found in reference sites, showing impaired reproductive output for fish populations inhabiting hypoxic coastal zones.


Oil spills

According to the National Response Center, the oil industry has thousands of minor accidents annually in the Gulf of Mexico. The gulf's largest Ixtoc I oil spill, oil spill to date began in June 1979, when the ''Ixtoc I'' oil platform in the Bay of Campeche suffered a blowout (well drilling), blowout and a catastrophic explosion, and lasted until the well was finally capped in April 1980. On April 20, 2010, the ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil platform, located in the Mississippi Canyon about off the Louisiana coast and operated by the British multinational company BP, Deepwater Horizon explosion, suffered a catastrophic explosion and later sank. Oil flowed from the wellhead, about below the surface on the ocean floor, creating a oil spill, slick that covered hundreds of square kilometers of ocean surface, threatening marine life, adjacent Salt marsh, coastal wetlands, and the livelihoods of Gulf Coast shrimpers and fishermen. Estimates of the daily flow jumped several times—on April 24, it was by BP's estimate; on April 28, a NOAA scientist increased the estimate to ; and on May 27 the USGS put the rate at . Final estimates suggested a leak of , a scale that had been suggested by both independent observers and federal scientists early on, but official attempts to release modeling data had been suppressed by the White House Office of Management and Budget according to a report by National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, the government commission investigating the response. On July 15, BP announced that the leak had stopped. In July, BP agreed to pay $18.7 billion to the U.S. government, the states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, as well as 400 local authorities. , BP had spent $54 billion on cleanup, penalties, and to repair environmental and economic damage. On May 12, 2016, oil from subsea infrastructure on Royal Dutch Shell, Shell's ''Brutus'' oil rig released 2,100 barrels of oil. This leak created a oil slick in the sea about south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana, according to the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.


Meteorological significance

The gulf's warm
sea surface temperature Sea surface temperature (or ocean surface temperature) is the ocean temperature, temperature of ocean water close to the surface. The exact meaning of ''surface'' varies in the literature and in practice. It is usually between and below the sea ...
s can feed powerful, deadly, and destructive Atlantic hurricanes such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, 2005. In the open Atlantic, a tropical cyclone, hurricane will upwelling, draw up cool water from the depths, making it less likely that further hurricanes will follow (warm water being one of the preconditions necessary for their formation). However, the gulf is shallower; when a hurricane passes over, the water temperature may drop, but it soon rebounds enough to support another tropical cyclone. From 1970 to 2020, surface temperatures warmed at about twice the rate observed for the global ocean surface. Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico is a primary factor for the development of tornadoes and other severe weather in
Tornado Alley Tornado Alley, also known as Tornado Valley, is a loosely defined location of the central United States and, in the 21st century, Canada where tornadoes are most frequent. The term was first used in 1952 as the title of a research project to st ...
, a term used to describe an area of the United States that is one of the most tornado-prone areas in the world. Dry air from the Rocky Mountains converges with Gulf moisture in the area, which produces storms and supercells that produce some of the most violent tornadoes in the world. A study published in the ''Journal of Climate'' by Dongmin Kim, Sang-Ki Lee, and Hosmay Lopez, found that the Madden–Julian oscillation strengthens the North American low-level jet, which increases the flow of Gulf moisture and atmospheric instability into the Central United States, furthering tornadogenesis in the region.


See also

* Charlotte Harbor (estuary), an estuary in Florida * Green Canyon, a US Gulf of Mexico petroleum exploration area * Gulf of Mexico Foundation * Jack 2 (a test well in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico) * Keathley Canyon, a US Gulf of Mexico petroleum exploration area * Nepheloid layer * Outer Continental Shelf * Sigsbee Escarpment, a US Gulf of Mexico petroleum exploration area * Territorial evolution of the Caribbean * Tunica Mound


Notes


References


Further reading

*


External links


Resource Database for Gulf of Mexico Research
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gulf Of Mexico Bodies of water of Alabama Bodies of water of Florida Bodies of water of Louisiana Bodies of water of Mississippi Bodies of water of Texas Geographical naming disputes Gulf of Mexico, Gulfs of Mexico Gulfs of the Atlantic Ocean Gulfs of the United States Landforms of Campeche Landforms of Tabasco Landforms of Tamaulipas Landforms of Veracruz Landforms of Yucatán Marginal seas of the Atlantic Ocean Mexico–United States border Piracy by body of water Seas of the United States