Gulf of Mexico Deep Reef and Oil Seep Data from 2010 Cruise

NOAA's Lophelia II 2010 cruise collected oceanographic and visual data from the Gulf of Mexico to study deep-sea coral reefs and hydrocarbon seeps. The dataset includes Conductivity, Temperature, Depth (CTD) profiles from the NOAA Ship RONALD H. BROWN and ROV JASON II, alongside wet lab images, microscope images, dive plans, and summaries. Data collection occurred from October 15 to November 4, 2010.

Use Cases

• Analyzing CTD data to map water column properties around deep-sea coral reefs.
• Using wet lab and microscope images for species identification and coral health assessment.
• Reviewing dive plans and summaries to reconstruct ROV operations and sampling locations.
• Correlating visual evidence from oil seeps with oceanographic conditions from CTD casts.

Strengths

• Data originates from a major NOAA research cruise using the R/V Ronald H. Brown and the ROV Jason II.
• Multimodal dataset combines quantitative CTD measurements with qualitative visual documentation.
• Covers a specific 21-day research expedition focused on a distinct ecological study.

Limitations

• Exact row counts, file sizes, and a complete column list are unavailable from all sources.
• A significant conflict exists on the last updated date: Data.gov lists 2026-03-05, while NASA Earthdata lists 2010-11-05.
• License information is not provided by any source.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected via shipboard CTD and ROV operations during the Lophelia II 2010 cruise.

Time Range

2010-10-15 to 2010-11-04

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:03:45.358532

Geography

Gulf of Mexico