Orca Basin

Orca Basin

The Orca Basin is a mid-slope, silled, mini-basin in the northern Gulf of Mexico some 300 km southwest of the Mississippi River mouth on the Louisiana continental slope.[1] It is unique amongst the mini-basins in this area, in containing a large brine pool of anoxic salt brine. The lake is approximately 123 km2 (47 sq mi) in area and up to 220 m (720 ft) deep[2] under 2,400 m (7,900 ft) depth of Gulf water[1] and is derived from dissolution of underlying Jurassic age Louann Salt. With a volume of 13.3 km3 (3.2 cu mi) the pool results from the dissolution of about 3.62 billion tonnes of the Louann Salt bed into seawater.[2] The basin owes its shape to ongoing salt tectonics and is surrounded by salt diapirs.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Meckler, A. N., et. al., Glacial to Holocene terrigenous organic matter input to sediments from Orca Basin, Gulf of Mexico, Earth and Planetary Science Letters 272 (2008) 251–263 http://www.eawag.ch/organisation/abteilungen/surf/publikationen/2008_meckler
  2. ^ a b Pilcher, R.S. and Blumstein, R.D. 2007. Brine volume and salt dissolution rates in Orca Basin, northeast Gulf of Mexico. AAPG Bulletin; 91; no. 6; p. 823-833 http://aapgbull.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/91/6/823 Abstract

External links


Coordinates: 26°56′46″N 91°20′44″W / 26.94611°N 91.34556°W / 26.94611; -91.34556

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