Novel Insights into the Circulation, Biogeochemistry, and Ecosystem Function of the Gulf of Mexico: A Perspective from Mexican Waters in Support of Oil Spill Preparedness

Book excerpt: In response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), and given the increased activities of the offshore oil industry, an international multidisciplinary consortium - the CIGOM Consortium - was funded by Mexico's Energy Secretariat (SENER) and its National Council for Science and Technology (CONACyT). Spanning 2015-2022, CIGOM's goals were to establish an environmental baseline to characterize the southern GOM’s natural variability and contribute to the understanding of ecosystem function, use cutting-edge technologies to observe the ocean, couple physical circulation and biogeochemical models to gain understating of oceanographic processes, generate oil spill scenarios using model ensembles and statistical techniques and conducting vulnerability assessments. Over 300 researchers participated in the CIGOM consortium's efforts.