Project Page

Influence of river induced fronts on hydrocarbon transport

Implementing Organization

University of Miami

Overview

DWH Project Funding

$2,220,530

Known Leveraged Funding

$0

Funding Organization

Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI)

Funding Program

Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative GoMRI Grant Program

Details

Project Category

Science

Project Actions

Physical Aspects Research

Targeted Resources

Human and/or Institutional Capacity

Project Description

Our objective is to understand, quantify and be able to predict the role of river plume induced fronts and circulation regimes in enhancing, modifying or altering the transport pathways of hydrocarbons, in the presence of complex topography, shelf flows and strong oceanic currents. Strong evidence has emerged that such fronts and currents played a crucial, but poorly understood, role controlling oil pathways in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) during the Deepwater Horizon (DwH) incident. The study area will cover the entire GoM, including the Florida Straits. Two major hypotheses will be examined: a) large river plumes create distinct circulation regimes, separated with strong fronts that are of fundamental importance for hydrocarbon transport; b) accurate estimates of hydrocarbon pathways need to take into account the thickness of oil.

Contact

Villy Kourafalou
None
vkourafalou@rsmas.miami.edu
Project Website
Project Partners

None

Affiliated Institutions

None

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