Gulf of Mexico historic shipwrecks help scientists unlock mysteries of deep-sea ecosystems

There are more than 2,000 known historic shipwrecks sitting on the ocean floor in the Gulf of Mexico, spanning some 500 years of maritime history: from the time of the 16th century Spanish explorers to the American Civil War and through the World War II era. In addition to their historical and cultural significance, historic shipwrecks also serve as artificial reefs, supporting a rich deep-sea ecosystem.

In 2014, a multidisciplinary team of scientists launched a project investigating the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on shipwrecks that lie hundreds to thousands of feet underwater and the microbial communities forming the base of these ecosystems. The project is the first of its kind to study deep-sea shipwreck microbiomes, and the long-term impacts of an oil spill on shipwrecks and their microbial inhabitants, according to the researchers.

The team found that the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill significantly altered microbial communities thriving near shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico, potentially changing these diverse ecosystems and degrading the historically and culturally significant ships they live on. The findings are also revealing how decades-old, or even centuries-old, shipwrecks could be used to monitor the health of deep-ocean ecosystems, and the effects of oil and gas activity in the Gulf. Members of the project team presented their new research at the 2016 Ocean Sciences Meeting co-sponsored by the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, The Oceanography Society and the American Geophysical Union.

The Gulf of Mexico Shipwreck Corrosion, Hydrocarbon Exposure, Microbiology, and Archaeology (GOM-SCHEMA) project is part of the National Oceanographic Partnership Program sponsored by BOEM, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and George Mason University. More information about the project can be found at: http://hamdanlab.com/GOM-SCHEMA/ and http://www.boem.gov/GOM-SCHEMA/

Press release can be found here:
http://news.agu.org/press-release/gulf-of-mexico-historic-shipwrecks-help-scientists-unlock-mysteries-of-deep-sea-ecosystems/
Video Produced by AGU

Narration by:
Melanie Damour / Marine Archaeologist at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

Video credits:
Deep Sea Systems International's Global Explorer ROV

Image credits:
Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University.
PAST Foundation.
http://www.boem.gov/GOM-SCHEMA/
Viosca Knoll Wreck (pdf): http://www.boem.gov/GOM-SCHEMA/
http://uwf.edu/anthropologyapp/mardigras/
http://hamdanlab.com/shipwreck-sites/anona-2/
http://hamdanlab.com/shipwreck-sites/robert-e-lee-1942/u166-1942/
http://hamdanlab.com/shipwreck-sites/ewing-bank/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/boemgov/14610281418/in/album-72157646122218843/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/100225253@N05/13480100915/in/album-72157643093086663/

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