Where is the Next Storm ?
In the last week of September 2002, Hurricane Isidore clipped the Yucatan Peninsula and headed north across the Gulf of Mexico. Landfall was predicted to be on the coast of East Texas, Louisiana or Mississippi, and in its path were the offshore production platforms spread out along the Mississippi Delta. The continential shelf is recognisable from satellite photography in space (see Figure 1), and it can be traced easily on regional maps (see Figure 2). The Delta and offshore regions are a maze of shipping channels and drilling platforms (see Figure 3). The crown or donut patterns reflect drilling around salt domes buried deep in the subsurface where oil accumulations tend to concentrate (see Figure 4). Drilling and production in these areas have kept the northern Gulf of Mexico active through decades of ups and downs in the oil and financial markets. However, as technology extends the capability to drill farther offshore, in deeper waters over the continental shelf, the infrastructure in more likely to be in the path of extreme weather (see Figure 5).
Figure 1: Satellite Image of the
Gulf of Mexico on the Geography Network
Figure 2: Gulf of Mexico region
Figure 3: Mississippi Delta Area
Figure 4: Salt Dome,
Producing Formation and Wells Tapping it
Figure 5: Jack-up rig in Shallow Water Offshore Louisiana
Category:
Geosciences
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