The effects of selected physical and biological factors on the early development of a subtidal invertebrate assemblage were examined at an offshore oil platform in the Santa Barbara Channel (California, USA).
Using quadrat sampling of video transects obtained by the submersible Delta,
we characterized the larger invertebrates living on the shell mounds surrounding
Sammarco, P. W., A. Lirette, Y. F. Tung, G. S. Boland, M. Genazzio, and J. Sinclair
Thousands of oil platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico have provided hard substrate for settlement of Caribbean corals and have facilitated their range expansion.
Approximately 4000 oil and gas platforms exist in the northern Gulf of Mexico. These platforms provide hard substratum that extends throughout the euphotic zone, in a region where such has been rare in recent geological time.
As a peak in the global number of offshore oil rigs requiring decommissioning approaches, there is growing pressure for the implementation of a “rigs-to-reefs” program in the deep sea, whereby obsolete rigs are converted into artificial reefs.
Deep-water coral reefs are classified as vulnerable marine ecosystems, with trawling identified as the primary cause of reef destruction. Lophelia pertusa is the main reef-building species in deep-water coral reefs.
Page, H. M., J. E. Dugan, C.S. Culver, and J.C. Hoesterey
We report the presence of 3 exotic invertebrate species inhabiting offshore oil and gas platforms on the Pacific offshore continental shelf (POCS) of central and southern California, USA.
In a study of the fouling communities of petroleum platforms near the Louisiana coast, scraped samples were collected by divers at depths from 1 to 30 m.
A biological survey was made following an uncontrolled gas flow at a gas well in the North Sea in May 1983. The survey indicates that no lethal and sublethal effects were detectable amongst the macrobenthic fauna living on the jacket of the platform.
