Coastal and Marine Geology Program Internet Map Server:
Outer Continental Shelf,
Northwestern Gulf of Mexico Seafloor Mapping

Internet Map Server Description

USGS Northwest Gulf of Mexico Internet Map Server default map view. Click here for a larger image. Image will open in new browser window.

The Outer Continental Shelf, Northwestern Gulf of Mexico Internet Map Server contains data generated from USGS surveys conducted in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) located about 110 miles off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana. The area is managed by the Marine Sanctuaries Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In 1997 and 2002, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted surveys to map 12 regions of interest to the Minerals Management Service (MMS) and the FGBNMS, including Alderdice, Sonnier, Geyer, Bright, Rankin, Jakkula, McNeil, Bouma, McGrail, Rezak, and Sidner Banks. This website provides a link to the USGS/CMGP Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary interactive map server that allows on-line viewing of the acoustic backscatter and shaded relief swath bathymetry images generated from the collected multibeam echosounder data.

The USGS Northwest Gulf of Mexico Internet Map Server contains published data layers and information from the Coastal and Marine Geology Program (CMGP), Tectonics and Sedimentary Processes of the Salt Deformed Texas-Louisiana Continental Slope project. An example of the default map view is shown above.  This map view shows the extent of the general survey area and the location and extents of the various multibeam surveys.

Other basemap data layers relative to the specific mapsite have been compiled from a variety of public domain sites and are also available for viewing and download.

Within the Internet Map Server, data layers have been grouped within category headings.  Clicking the appropriate data folder will expand or collapse the folder allowing the individual data layers to be displayed. Data layers may be "turned-off or on" by selecting the visible button beside the layer name. The map view will automatically update. A complete description of the available data layers and links to download the data may be found in the GIS Data Catalog.