A survey to characterize the principal components of benthic communities over the entire northern Gulf of Mexico from 1999 to 2002 (NODC Accession 0002192)

A research program has been initiated by the Minerals Management Service (Contract No. 1435-01-99-CT-30991) to gain better knowledge of the benthic communities of the deep Gulf of Mexico entitled "The Deepwater Program: Northern Gulf of Mexico Continental Slope Habitat and Benthic Ecology." Increasing exploration and exploitation of fossil hydrocarbon resources in the deep-sea prompted the Minerals Management Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior to support an investigation of the structure and function of the assemblages of organisms that live in association with the sea floor in the deep-sea. The program, Deep Gulf of Mexico Benthos or DGoMB, is studying the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) continental slope from water depths of 300 meters on the upper continental slope out to greater than 3,000 meters water depth seaward of the base of the Sigsbee and Florida Escarpments. The study is focused on areas that are the most likely targets of future resource exploration and exploitation.美国内政部矿产管理局（Minerals Management Service）已启动一项研究项目（合同编号：1435-01-99-CT-30991），旨在深化对墨西哥湾深海底栖生物群落（benthic communities）的认知，该项目命名为《深水项目：墨西哥湾北部大陆坡栖息地与底栖生态学》。随着深海化石油气资源勘探开发活动的持续增加，美国内政部矿产管理局遂支持开展相关调查，以研究深海海底共生生物群落的结构与功能。该项目全称为墨西哥湾深海底栖生物研究计划（Deep Gulf of Mexico Benthos，简称DGoMB），其研究范围覆盖墨西哥湾（Gulf of Mexico，简称GOM）北部大陆坡，水深区间从大陆坡上部的300米，延伸至锡格斯比陡崖与佛罗里达陡崖基部外侧超过3000米的海域。本研究聚焦于未来资源勘探开发最具潜力的目标区域。