Mississippi Canyon facts for kids
The Mississippi Canyon is a huge undersea canyon located in the central part of the Gulf of Mexico. It lies south of Louisiana and is a major feature of the ocean floor there. Experts from the United States Geological Survey say it's the most important natural feature in this part of the Gulf. This canyon is about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) wide on average and stretches for 120 kilometres (75 mi). The U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) uses the name Mississippi Canyon for a large area of federal oil and gas lease blocks, which are mostly around, but also outside, the actual canyon.
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Finding Oil and Gas Deep Underwater
The Mississippi Canyon area is very important for finding and producing oil and gas from deep under the ocean. Many companies explore here because there are large amounts of oil and gas trapped far below the seabed.
Major Oil and Gas Discoveries
According to a report from the Minerals Management Service, several big oil and gas discoveries have been made in the Mississippi Canyon area. These include projects like Aconcagua, Camden Hills, and Blind Faith. These discoveries were made in water depths greater than 2,134 metres (7,001 ft), which is very deep! Another important project in this area is the Thunder Horse project.
Many oil and gas projects have been set up in the Mississippi Canyon area since 1979. These projects use different types of platforms and systems to get the oil and gas from the ocean floor. Some of the well-known projects include:
- Cognac
- Lena
- Mars
- Ursa
- Mensa
- King
- Horn Mountain
- Matterhorn
Top Production Areas
Between 2000 and 2001, five of the top 20 areas for deepwater oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico were in the Mississippi Canyon. These included some of the very best production spots. For example, the Mars project, in water 2,933 feet (894 m) deep, produced a lot of oil. The Ursa project, in water 3,800 feet (1,200 m) deep, also produced a huge amount. Other big producers were the Mensa, Cognac, and Crosby projects. All these major projects were managed by the company Shell.
The Deepwater Horizon Accident
On April 20, 2010, a drilling rig called the Deepwater Horizon was working in the Mississippi Canyon area. It was located in block 252, about 40 miles (64 km) off the coast of Louisiana. The rig had a terrible accident, an explosion, and it sank about a day and a half later.
This accident caused a very large oil spill. At first, people thought only a little oil was leaking. But soon, it became clear that a huge amount of oil was flowing out of the wellhead, which was about 1-mile (1.6 km) below the ocean surface. The oil quickly spread across hundreds of square miles of the ocean. This created a big threat to marine life, like fish and dolphins, and to the important coastal wetlands along the shore. Later, experts estimated that a very large amount of oil, between 20,000 barrels (3,200 m3) and 40,000 barrels (6,400 m3), was leaking every day from the damaged well.
