ARTICLE IN PRESS

Continental Shelf Research 25 (2005) 18361852

www.elsevier.com/locate/csr

Transitional carbonate-terrigenous shelf sub-environments

inferred from textural characteristics of surcial sediments in
the Southern Gulf of Mexico
Hector A. Hernandez Aranaa,b,, Martin J. Attrillb,
Richard Hartleyc, Gerardo Gold Bouchotd
a

El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Avenida Centenario km 5.5 Apartado Postal 424 Chetumal, Quintana Roo C.P. 77000, Mexico
b
Marine Biology & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus,
Plymouth PL4 8AA UK
c
School of Geography, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
d
CINVESTAV-IPN, Antigua Carretera a Progreso km 2.5 Merida, Yucatan, C.P. 97310, Mexico
Received 24 May 2004; received in revised form 20 June 2005; accepted 27 June 2005
Available online 26 August 2005

Abstract
The present study describes the spatial and temporal patterns of surcial sediments within the transition zone of the
terrigenous and carbonate (CO) provinces in the Southern Gulf of Mexico after ood events during the rainy season of
1999. The sampling design consisted of two across-shelf (A, B) and two along-shelf (C, D) transects that followed depth
and sediment gradients. Twelve stations, approximately 78 km apart, were allocated to each transect. PVC cores of
10 cm in diameter were taken to a depth of 5 cm for organic matter (OM), CO content and grain-size analysis after
recording relevant information such as corer penetration, characteristics of the surcial layer of sediment and depth of
the soft liqueed layer if present. OM was determined by combustion and CO content was analysed by acid digestion
and titration. Size-frequency distributions (SFDs) were measured using a Malvern Mastersizer X laser particle sizer into
15 whole phi size intervals. A multivariate approach was chosen to look in detail at the derived sediment SFDs and pick
up depth-related sub-environments that would help to construct a conceptual model of sediment movement.
Additionally, OM and CO content were used to identify the relative inuences of river input and CO sediment, together
with the bulk sediment surface area/OM relationship to strengthen the interpretation of sediment sources. Three subenvironments were qualitatively identied within the Southern Gulf of Mexico and validated using a multivariate
approach, which reect the across-shelf topography and depth gradient. The spatial pattern was temporally maintained
in relation to sediment size distribution and CO content. OM and CO content showed an inverse association in response
to the effect of ne sediment of terrigenous origin carrying adsorbed OM. In contrast, CO content seems to be related to
coarser material with less surface area and organic content. A number of differences were found between the present
Corresponding author at: El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Avenida Centenario km 5.5 Apartado Postal 424 Chetumal, Quintana

Roo C.P. 77000, Mexico. Fax: +52 983 8350450.

E-mail address: hectorh@ecosur-qroo.mx (H.A. Hernandez Arana).
0278-4343/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.csr.2005.06.007

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1837

and previous studies carried out on the transitional area of the southern Gulf in relation to sediment size and CO
content. It is considered that these differences are mainly the consequence of local hydrology, which makes transitional
environments highly variable. As in other COsiliclastic transitions, climate and hydrological setting are the main
controls of the dispersion and deposition of ne materials on the Southern Gulf of Mexico shelf.
r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Shelf sediments; Grain size; Mixed sediments; Multivariate analysis; Gulf of Mexico

1. Introduction
Two provinces constitute the Southern Gulf of
Mexico: Campeche Bank and Campeche Bay. The
former is an extensive CO shelf characterised by a
gentle slope and irregular bottom with sandbanks,
coral reefs and autochthonous biogenic and
authogenic sediments along most of the coast of
the Yucatan Peninsula (Antoine, 1972; Martin and
Bouma, 1978). Because of its karstic topography,
there is an absence of surcial runoff and the
presence of clastic sediments across the southwestern region is due to transport by currents from
Campeche Bay (Logan et al., 1969; Rezak and
Edwards, 1972). The physical properties of the
water column are considered vertically uniform,
with high salinity and density due to high
evaporation and the lack of surcial river runoff
(Monreal Gomez et al., 1992). Campeche Bay is
characterised by its narrow shelf with a steep
slope; sedimentary features change into a terrigenous shelf of very ne silt and clay bottom,
presumably with an area of persistently turbid
bottom water (Rezak et al., 1990) due to the
presence of the Grijalva-Usumacinta and San
Pedro-San Pablo rivers delta system. This coastal
plain is the largest deltaic uvial system in Mexico,
accounting for 35% of the total drainage of the
country. However, the sediment load is low
(o50 ton km
2) and at present is undergoing
erosive processes related to coastal currents
(Aguayo Camargo et al., 1999).
The south-western region of the bank and the
continental area of the Campeche Bay have been
studied intensively due to the presence of salt
domes with oil-trapping characteristics (Bishop,
1980; Klemme, 1980). These two characteristic
provinces contain surcial sediments of different
origins, being relict marine autochthonous sedi-

ments on Campeche Bank and terrigenous unconsolidated sediments in Campeche Bay. The
dynamics of the area produce an extensive transition zone where the interaction of river discharges,
coastal currents and intruding oceanic water
occurs, generating an area of mixed surcial
sediments (Yanez-Arancibia and Sanchez-Gil,
1983). The criterion used to identify the transition
zone is the percentage of CO content in recent
sediments. Different authors have proposed varied
levels of CO content for this transition region,
ranging from 25% to 75%. The isoline of 75% CO
content has been proposed as the limit between the
terrigenous and CO provinces (Bello and Cano,
1991; Carranza Edwards et al., 1993). Gutierrez
Estrada and Galaviz Solis (1991) proposed a
classication system based on the amount of CO
content and mean grain size (MGS) (phi units) for
surcial sediments, providing a tool that allows the
degree of mixing of CO and terrigenous sediments
to be evaluate.
Extensive research exists on the characterisation
of the obvious, different depositional environments
(i.e. river beds, coastal dunes and beaches).
However, difculties arise when the aim is to
differentiate samples from a more or less homogeneous environment (Hartmann and Christiansen,
1992; Sutherland and Lee, 1994). An additional
difculty is present when human activities, such as
offshore oil production, contribute to a local
modication of the depositional environment. Oil
drilling activity is a prime issue of concern relating
to offshore oil production due to the use of oilbased mud (Gray and Darley, 1981). These factors
vary in extent and are focused in localised areas of
the Southern Gulf of Mexico, providing an
opportunity to explore the interactions between a
number of natural and non-natural variables that
putatively inuence surcial sediments. The present

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H.A. Hernandez Arana et al. / Continental Shelf Research 25 (2005) 18361852

study aims to describe the spatial and temporal

patterns of surcial sediment within the transition
zone in the Southern Gulf of Mexico after ood
events of 1999 during the rainy season. A multivariate approach was chosen to look in detail at the
derived sediment size-frequency distributions
(SFDs) and pick up depth-related sub-environments. Additionally, organic matter (OM) and CO
content were used to identify the relative inuences
of river input and CO sediment, together with the
bulk sediment surface area/OM relationship to
strengthen the interpretation of sediment sources.
Distance of sampling stations to oilrigs was used to
determine any pattern of sediment characteristics
in relation to offshore oil-activities. Finally, we
aimed to construct a conceptual model of sediment
sources and transport from our own data and
previous studies.

2. Methods
2.1. Study area
The study area is located between latitude
191000 191400 N and longitude 911400 921300 W, in

the transitional environment that occurs between

the CO and terrigenous provinces of the Campeche Bank and Bay (Fig. 1). The study area
includes Mexicos largest offshore oil production
region, covering an area of 8000 km2 that includes
natural oil seeps and approximately 200 platforms
with a range of functions (Valdes and Ortega
Ramirez, 2000). The water circulation pattern is
driven by the Caribbean current during the spring
and summer, with a south to south-west direction,
but during autumn and winter the ow reverts to
an east to north-east direction (Boicourt et al.,
1998). The wind regime in the Southern Gulf of
Mexico is driven by the easterly trade all year
round, except when northern cold fronts or
northers occur during autumn and winter.
Northers can have high speeds (420 m s
1)
and wind stress, and last for 13 days during the
winter season (Salas de Leon et al., 1992a); they
are also a mechanism for water mixing reaching
175 m deep (Vidal et al., 1994). Freshwater
discharge from the Grijalva-Usumacinta rivers
into the SW Gulf has been estimated to have an
annual average of 2.13  103 m3 s
1 with peak
discharges from July to September/October
(CNA, 2001). River runoff in the SW Gulf

Fig. 1. Study area indicating the location of stations along four transects AD. Stations sampled for surcial sediments in November
1999, after the rainy season, and April 2000, after the northers season.

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produces a strong stratication of salinity and

density that reaches 42 km offshore from the river
mouth, affecting the top 15 m of the water column
in autumn (Monreal Gomez et al., 1992; Salas de
Leon et al., 1992b). Water column stability
changes from stratied to homogeneous between
the rainy and the northers seasons, markedly
affecting the near-shore platform (o30 m depth)
(Czitrom et al., 1986).

relevant information such as corer penetration,

characteristics of the surcial layer of sediment
and depth of the soft liqueed layer if present.
Samples were taken using a PVC core of 10 cm in
diameter to a depth of 5 cm, transferred to a
previously labelled plastic bag and frozen until
analysis.

2.2. Study design

OM was determined by combustion (Dean,

1974) and CO content was analysed by acid
digestion and titration (Holme and McIntyre,
1984). SFDs were measured using a Malvern
Mastersizer X laser particle sizer (Wolfe and
Michibayashi, 1995) into 15 whole phi size
intervals. The analysis model was very polydispersed, the scatter matrix for Mie theory correction was 2OHD and the particle refractive index
approximately 2.53. The analysis size spectrum
ranged from 0.1 to 2000 mm. Two sets of lenses
were employed, a 45 mm for the range size of
0.180 mm and a 1000 mm for the size range of
42000 mm. Samples were dispersed in a 0.1%
sodium hexametaphosphate solution and sonicated for 30 s. The resultant grain-size distributions correspond to an average of ve runs
measured from the 1000 mm lens data and blended
with one reading on the 45 mm lens.

The sampling design consisted of two acrossshelf (A, B) and two along-shelf (C, D) transects
(Fig. 1). Across-shelf transects started 40 km NW
off the Terminos Lagoon system and extended to
approximately 80 km offshore. Consequently,
these transects followed a depth gradient of
12135 m and a sediment gradient of ne sand to
clay. Along-shelf transects followed a putative
sediment gradient from clay/silt to ne sand, and
CO content from 20% to 50%, whilst depth was
kept relatively constant, ranging from 30 to 50 m
(with the exception of stations D1 and D2 at 67 m
depth). These latter transects commenced
6070 km N-NE offshore from the rivers mouths
and extended for approximately 80 km along
shore. Twelve stations, approximately 78 km
apart, were allocated to each transect. By sampling
along putative gradients in depth and sediment
size/CO content at different times, the sampling
design effectively allows for an examination of the
inuence of river runoff, winter storms and the
presence of oil activities. The intersections were
sampled twice in November and only once in
April, making a total of 48 and 44 stations,
respectively.
2.3. Sampling methodology
Sampling was carried out from 11 to 13
November 1999 after the rainy season and from
14 to 16 April 2000 after the northers season.
Stations were located and positioned using the
satellite navigation system of the vessel, and
sampled (without replication) using a box corer.
The recovered core was sub-sampled for OM, CO
content and grain-size analysis after recording

2.4. Laboratory analyses

2.5. Data analysis

The Malvern Mastersizer X program was used
to calculate the moment descriptive statistics of
MGS, sorting, skewness and kurtosis. Additional
data included the specic surface area of the
sediments (SSAS, expressed as m2 g
1 and calculated as spherical theoretical proxies assuming a
density of 2.65 g cm
3 for the sediment), percentage of sand, silt, clay and modal fractions. Based
on eld observations of sediment characteristics
and depth intervals, the samples were divided into
three sub-environments. Initially, this included the
near-shore at depths lower than 30 m, inner shelf
at depth between 30 and 50 m and outer shelf at
depths greater than 50 m.
Multivariate analysis was undertaken using
the PRIMER (Clarke et al., 2001) and the

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H.A. Hernandez Arana et al. / Continental Shelf Research 25 (2005) 18361852

Statgraphics plus 4.1v packages. Correlationbased PCA ordination and discriminant analysis
(DA) were run with two data sets from both
sampling dates: (1) Arc-sin transformed data of
the 92 SFDs plus bulk OM and CO content. (2)
Derived moment descriptive statistics (MGS,
sorting, skewness) from the 92 SFDs, SSAS, bulk
OM and CO content. The objective was to look at
particular sizes of sediment that could provide an
insight into any existing gradient or pattern of
depositional sub-environments and to compare
with the summarising statistics seeking to obtain a
better environmental ordination that allows validating a priori proposed classication. This type of
analysis has been used previously to identify
and differentiate sedimentary environments
(Fernandez et al., 2003; Barcelo et al., 1999;
Syvitsky, 1991). Histograms of SFD were employed to visualise our proposed conceptual model
of across-shelf sediment transport. In order to
further validate our proposed a priori classication of sub-environments two textural classication were employed. One was based on CO content
and sediment MGS (Gutierrez Estrada and
Galaviz Solis, 1991) and a further three component classication scheme was based on sand/silt/
clay ratios using ternary plots in order to

distinguish between different hydrodynamic regimes (Flemming, 2000). Spearman correlation

analyses were performed to investigate the correlation between OM and CO content with sediment
grain-size parameters as a tool to investigate
sediment sources.

3. Results
Field observations provided insights for a
preliminary qualitative classication. Three subenvironments were distinguished by sediment
compaction (measured qualitatively as depth of
main core penetration), bivalve and gastropod
shell abundance and the occurrence of a top layer
of liquid dense mud: near-shore, inner and outer
shelf (Table 1). The sampling after the rainy season
coincided with conditions derived from a very
heavy rainy season with serious ooding along the
south and south-western Gulf coast of Mexico.
Therefore, an increased sediment load was discharged onto the continental shelf of the Campeche Bay and Bank. Samples taken after the
northers season will have been affected by pulses
of strong northerly winds up to 17 m s
1, which
occurred during autumn and winter and are

Table 1
Preliminary classication of three sub-environments based on eld observations of sediment characteristics during the sampling
programs of November 1999 and April 2000 in the Southern Gulf of Mexico
Sub-environment

Core penetration (cm)

Shell content

Sediment rmness

Other observations

Near-shore, 1227 m
deep. Stations 15 of
transects A and B

2535

Abundant, particularly
oyster shells on transect
B

Wood and seagrass

debris

Inner shelf, 3050 m

deep. Stations 68 of
transects A and B.
Stations 112 of transect
C. Stations 312 of
transect D

3560

A gradient of scarce to
abundant from the SW
to NE of transects C
and D

Outer shelf, 450130 m

depth. Stations 912 of
transects A and B.
Stations 1 and 2 of
transect D

4055

Abundant pteropod and

Foraminifera shells

Top layer of dense

liquid mud 35 cm deep.
Absent in April. Below
it a well-compacted ne
matrix grey in color
Top layer of dense
liquid mudo3 cm,
below it a soft greenish
(plasticine consistency)
sediment of 1020 cm
deep in November and
510 cm deep in April
Top layer of soft greyish
(plasticine consistency)
sediment of 20 cm deep
in November and
515 cm deep in April

Wood debris (southwest end of transect C)

and tar present at the
crossing of the transects

Tar in some samples

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30
20
PC2

Table 2
Mean and extreme values of moment descriptive statistics for
three shelf sub-environments classied qualitatively based on
eld observations of sediment characteristics during the
sampling programs of November 1999 and April 2000 in the
Southern Gulf of Mexico

1841

10

Mean grain size Sorting Skewness Kurtosis

0
2.56
1.45
1.97

1.69

0.14
0.76

6.75
3.12
4.30

Inner shelf
Maximum 7.39
Minimum 6.24
Average
7.15

2.47
1.56
1.72

0.67

0.63
0.35

4.86
2.62
3.54

Outer shelf
Maximum 7.55
Minimum 6.38
Average
7.36

3.28
1.55
1.89

0.38

1.1

0.28

6.5
3.21
4.66

April 2000
Near-shore
Maximum 6.07
Minimum 4.67
Average
5.49

3.43
1.82
2.16

1.30

0.26
0.69

4.85
2.04
3.85

Inner shelf
Maximum 7.43
Minimum 6.86
Average
7.17

2.38
1.59
1.77

0.66

1.13
0.25

5.79
3.14
3.78

Outer shelf
Maximum 7.60
Minimum 7.32
Average
7.44

2.24
1.62
1.78

0.42

1.26

0.07

6.61
2.97
4.21

-10

-15

-5

(a)

15
PC1

25

35

45

6.2
4.2
PC2

November 1999
Near-shore
Maximum 6.82
Minimum 4.79
Average
5.65

2.2
0.2
-1.8

associated with intense wave action. Mean and

extreme values of moment descriptive statistics for
each of the three sub-environments for both
sampling dates (Table 2) indicated a gradient of
sediment grain size and skewness from the nearshore to the outer shelf, i.e. a gradient of coarse silt
to ne silt across the shelf with an excess of ne
particles towards the deeper areas.
3.1. Multivariate statistical analysis
Fig. 2 displays the factor-scores of the PCA
ordination using SFD, OM and CO content
(Fig. 2a) and moment descriptive statistics, SSAS,

-2.6
(b)

-0.6

1.4

3.4

5.4

PC1

Fig. 2. PCA ordinations plotting factor-scores for samples

taken during the rainy (open symbols) and northers (closed
symbols) seasons from the Southern Gulf of Mexico using data
of: (a) 92 SFDs, SSAS, bulk OM and CO content; (b) derived
sediment moment statistics, SSAS, bulk OM and CO content
(&, near-shore; n, inner shelf; B, outer shelf).

OM and CO content (Fig. 2b) for both sampling

dates. PC1 in Fig. 2a explains the largest amount
of variation (75.3%). Therefore, the most inuential variable is CO content followed by the 32 mm
fraction; high CO content and high percentages of
coarse silt are accounting the most for the nearshore separation (Table 3a). The inner and outer
shelf are characterised by a gradual increase of
ner material and dilution of CO content, inferred
form the negative loading of the third most
inuential variable (4 mm fraction) and the positive
loading of the CO content. The second PC
explains a small amount of variation (10%) and
the most inuential variables with negative loadings were CO content and the 816 mm fraction.
PC1 in Fig. 2b explains 52% of variation and
shows a similar pattern of across-shelf changes in

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H.A. Hernandez Arana et al. / Continental Shelf Research 25 (2005) 18361852

Table 3
Percentage of variation explained by the rst two PCs and
coefcients in the linear combination of variables making up
the PCs
PC1

PC2

(a) For the ordination of arc-sin transformed data of 92 SFD,

bulk OM and CO content from the Southern Gulf of Mexico
% Variation
75.3
10.0
Variable loadings
OM

0.181

0.084
CO
0.360

0.276
0.1 mm

0.008

0.004
0.125 mm

0.025

0.006
0.25 mm

0.06

0.002
0.5 mm

0.114
0.015
1 mm

0.179
0.044
2 mm

0.262
0.026
4 mm

0.343

0.06
8 mm

0.286

0.221
16 mm
0.125

0.36
32 mm
0.595

0.111
63 mm
0.2
0.035
125 mm
0.188
0.049
250 mm
0.233
0.096
500 mm
0.105
0.118
1000 mm
0.04
0.157
(b) For the ordination of normalised data of derived sediment
moment statistics, SSAS, bulk OM and CO content from the
Southern Gulf of Mexico
% variation
52.1
22.5
Variable loadings
SSAS (m2 gm
1)

0.494
0.09
Moment MGS (phi)

0.504

0.1
Moment std. dev.(phi)
0.233
0.626
Moment skewness
0.228

0.691
Moment kurtosis
0.031
0.299
OM %

0.443

0.105
CO %
0.446

0.111
Note: Bold gures are the highest coefcients for the most
important variables along the rst two PCs.

sediment size, as noted from the most inuential

variables such as SSAS, sediment MGS and the
dilution of CO material by terrigenous input
(indicated by the coefcient of OM and CO content).
PC2 explains 22% of variation and is inuenced
mainly by sediment standard deviation (sorting) and
skewness, the difference in signs for sorting and
skewness coefcients indicating that their inuence
occurs in opposite directions (Table 3b). In summary, the plots of PCA factor-scores showed a

depth-related gradient with the near-shore clearly

separated from the inner shelf, which in turn grades
smoothly into the outer shelf, with samples from the
outer shelf clustered together at the far right side of
the plots.
The depth gradient observed in the PCA
ordinations along PC1 provides insight into the
hydrodynamics of the area. From the sediment
size spectrum histograms, a relative high contribution of coarse silt and sand fractions (432 mm) is
observed at the near-shore (Fig. 3). Those fractions decrease at the inner shelf with a corresponding increase of ne to medium silts (4 and 16 mm).
There is little difference between the inner shelf
and outer shelf; however, the relative contribution
of sediment fractions between 16 and 63 mm is
reduced and substituted by an increase in fractions
between 1 and 2 mm (clay and very ne silt). The
sediment grain-size distributions present a normal
gradient of deposition, changing from coarser to
ner with increasing depth and becoming more
negatively skewed (decreasing values) from the
near-shore towards the outer shelf, indicating an
across-shelf direction of transport. Temporal
differences were not observable at any of the three
shelf sub-environments.
A DA was performed to validate the proposed
qualitative classication of three sub-environments. Fig. 4 displays the results of the rst and
second discriminant functions (df) that best
separate the three sub-environments for the
combined sampling dates using SFD, OM and
CO content data, with 96.74%. The percent of
stations correctly classied within the three
proposed sub-environments. The relative percentage of variation and the canonical correlation
value for the df1 and df2 were 83.59%, 0.95 and
16.41%, 0.82, respectively. Wilks lambda for
df1 and df2 was 0.026 and 0.32, with po0:0001.
A similar result was obtained for the data set
of moment descriptive statistics, SSAS, OM and
CO content, hence only one ordination plot is
presented.
3.2. Textural classification and sediment sources
The bivariate classication of surcial sediments
from the SW Gulf of Mexico using the data of the

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45

40

40

35

35

30

30
25

1000
1000
1000

16

250

outer shelf November 1999

outer shelf April 2000

50

30

45
40

25

35
30

freq vol %

25
20
15
10

20
15
10

16

0.25

250

1000

microns

63

16

0.25

0.06

5
0.06

freq vol%

250

1000

250

63

16

10

5
0.25

15

10

0.25

20

15

5
0

25

0.06

20

250

30

25

63

35

30

63

40

35

63

45

40

freq vol %

45

0.06

inner shelf April 2000

50

16

inner shelf November 1999

1000

250

63

16

10

5
1

10

0.25

15

20

15

20

0.25

25

0.06

freq vol %

50

45

50

freq vol %

near shore April 2000

50

0.06

freq vol %

near shore November 1999

1843

microns

Fig. 3. Histograms of sediment-SFD compiled by pooling stations for the near-shore, inner and outer shelf showing the across-shelf
change in sediment grain size.

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1844

NS
IS

central and SW areas of the inner shelf (sites

18 of transect D and 14 of transect C).
(b) Very coarse to medium silt of calcareous origin
mixed with terrigenous material (450% CO
content) on the near-shore, the central and NE
areas of the inner shelf (sites 512 of transect C
and 912 of transect D).

OS
Centroids

5.3

Df 2

3.3
1.3
-0.7
-2.7
-4

-2

Df 1
Fig. 4. DA ordination plot for samples taken during the rainy
and northers seasons from the Southern Gulf of Mexico using
data of 92 SFDs, SSAS, bulk OM and CO content (, nearshore; n, inner shelf; E, outer shelf).

NS

IS

OS

30

40

50

7.6

MGS

7.1
6.6
6.1
5.6
5.1
4.6

20

60

70

80

CO %
Fig. 5. Scatter plot of bivariate classication of surcial
sediments from the Southern Gulf of Mexico (see text for
explanation) based on CO content and sediment MGS: o50%
CO content terrigenous sediments with carbonate inuence;
450% CO content carbonate sediments mixed with terrigenous material (&, near-shore; n, inner shelf; B, outer shelf).

present study, as proposed by Gutierrez Estrada

and Galaviz Solis (1991), shows two sub-environments in relation to CO content and moment
MGS (Fig. 5).
(a) Fine silt of terrigenous and calcareous origin
(o50% CO content) on the outer shelf, the

Flemmings (2000) textural classication was

employed in order to demonstrate further the
consistency of the qualitatively proposed subenvironments classication in relation to sediment
composition and hydrology regime. Figs. 6a and b
show that according to Flemmings textural
classication the studied area corresponds to a
textural class between D-I and D-II (extremely
silty slightly sandy mud and very silty slightly
sandy mud) for the near-shore sub-environment.
The inner shelf part contains few stations within
the D-II and the rest of them within the E-II
textural class (very silty slightly sandy mud and
slightly clayey silt). Most of the stations from the
outer shelf were classied within the E-II category.
Thus, in terms of textural classication there is no
clear difference between the inner and outer shelf
sub-environments. From the two plots it can be
inferred that temporal differences are minimal; the
area can be considered depositional, presenting a
selective deposition across the shelf with a higher
energy regime on the near-shore, decreasing
towards the outer shelf.
Our data suggest a relationship between sediment MGS and CO with no difference between
seasons and with CO sediments being coarser than
terrigenous ones. Percentage of CO plotted against
SSAS conrms the association (Fig. 7a), where
carbonated sediments are coarser and with less
SSAS. Similarly, an inverse relationship between
bulk CO and OM is observed (Fig. 7b) in
November and April. The correlation between
organic content and sediment grain size has been
explained in terms of adsorption to aluminosilicate
continental shelf sediments, and also would reect
hydrodynamic equivalence between particulate
OM and ne size sediments (Mayer, 1994).
Considering Meyers hypothesis that the specic
surface area of sediment controls OM in continental shelves, we explored the relationship

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1845

Fig. 6. Textural classication of surcial sediments from the Southern Gulf of Mexico using ternary plots based upon Flemmings
scheme of textural classes: (a) samples taken after the rainy season in November 1999 and (b) samples taken after the norther season in
April 2000 (J, near-shore; K, inner shelf; &, outer shelf).

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1846

Table 4
Spearman correlation coefcients for the association between
specic surface area of sediment (SSAS), mean grain size
(MGS), organic matter (OM), carbonate content (CO) and
distance to oil elds on the along shelf transects sampled in
November 1999 and April 2000

SSAS m2/g

0.8
0.6
0.4

SSAS

0.2

OM

CO

(a) Along-shelf transects C and D after the rainy season

November 1999
SSAS
MGS
0.87
OM
0.18
0.21
CO

0.28

0.35

0.41
Dist to oil elds

0.08

0.02
0.19
0.15
(b) Along-shelf transects C and D after the northers season April
2000
SSAS
MGS
0.83
OM
0.30
0.47
CO

0.46

0.69

0.41
Dist to oil elds
0.11
0.23

0.22
0.39

Note: Bold gures represent the highest signicant r coefcients.

0
20

30

40

(a)

50

60

70

80

CO %
18
15
12

OM %

MGS

0
20

30

(b)

40

50

60

70

80

CO %

3.3. Along-shelf sediment characteristics

18
15
OM %

12
9
6
3
0
0
(c)

0.2

0.4
0.6
SSAS m2/g

0.8

Fig. 7. Scatter plots of the association between: (a) CO content

and SSAS, r
0:75, po0:05; (b) OM % and CO content,
r
0:60 and
0.73 for the rainy and norther season,
respectively, po0:05 and (c) OM % and SSAS, r 0:57 and
0.64 for the rainy and norther season, respectively, po0.05
(K, rainy season; +, northern season).

between SSAS for bulk sediment samples and bulk

OM. Our results indicate an overall positive
relationship (Fig. 7c) for both rainy and norther
seasons.

Our sampling design allowed us to remove the

previously demonstrated depth effect by considering transects C and D independently. As highlighted earlier, there is an increasing CO content
from SW to NE along the isobaths. Table 4
contains Spearman correlation coefcients between SSAS, sediment MGS, OM and CO for
both sampling dates. The assumption previously
made, in relation to CO content with MGS and
SSAS, seems invalid after the rainy season where
no association was present, but in April there was
a weak association between CO and sediment
MGS, and CO with SSAS. The inverse relationship between OM and CO is maintained for both
sampling dates, although with low but signicant r
coefcients. Furthermore, there is no association
between OM and sediment MGS or SSAS for the
sampling during November 1999, but a weak
relationship in April.
It is therefore a possibility that additional
sources of OM, not associated with sediment
particles, exist after the rainy season. This may
relate to the presence of oil rigs; to explore this

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further sediment variables were plotted against

estimated distances to oil rigs (distances were
roughly estimated from Nautical chart S.M. 840.
Secretaria de Marina, 1994). No relationship was
observed between OM, sediment MGS or any of
the individual sediment size fractions and distance
to oilelds. However, it is worth pointing out that
of those sites sampled in November 1999, and with
an organic content higher than 10%, half of them
included tar balls (observed from the eld and
during sample processing). In April 2000, the three
highest values of OM were found at sites where tar
balls were recorded.

4. Discussion
Both multivariate techniques allowed the proposed three sub-environments to be separated,
although DA resolved the group separation better.
This outcome supports the ability of multivariate
techniques to separate spatial and temporal
patterns when present (Syvitsky, 1991; Fernandez
et al., 2003). The clear separation of near-shore
stations from those on the inner and outer shelf
suggests that the 30 m isobath is a natural
boundary for differential depositional environments. The depth gradients observed in the multivariate ordinations can be interpreted in terms of
hydrodynamics affecting the deposited sediment
coming from river discharges, the CO shelf and in
situ production. A relatively high contribution of
coarse silt and sand fractions is observed at the
near-shore. Winnowing of the ne spectra of the
sediment grain-size distribution occurs, sizes
o32 mm being preferentially removed by the
hydrology regime occurring at the near-shore.
These ner sediments are then subsequently
deposited across the inner shelf, where the wind
generated currents and waves are less likely to
reach the bottom (Mooers, 1976). Temporal
differences were not observable, indicating that
the mechanisms involved in the sediment transport
and deposition are continuously present within the
sampling time span.
Sediment particle size distribution is thought to
reect the hydrodynamics of the depositional area,
and can be used to infer direction of transport

1847

(Flemming, 2000). McLaren and Bowles (1985)

proposed a model for sequential deposits where
grain-size distributions change with the direction
of transport and can become ner, better sorted
and more negatively skewed with a decreasing
energy regime. The Southern Gulf of Mexico
transitional continental shelf can be described as a
depositional environment, with decreasing energy
regime as depth increases. In consequence, we
would expect a change in the grain-size distribution becoming ner and more negatively skewed
(decreasing values) towards the inner and outer
shelf. Indeed sediment became ner, as noted from
the histograms of SFD and ternary plots, and
skewness values decreased along the depth gradient. Sediment type in our study area is mainly silt,
with variable amounts of sand and clay ranging
from 10% to 25%. When waves and currents act
over a cohesive sediment structure they contribute
to uidisation and liquefaction, and the complex
mixture behaves as a dense suspension which can
be transported by weak bottom currents (Teisson
et al., 1993). Field observations were made of a
dense liquid surcial layer of sediment at the nearshore and inner shelf during November 1999.
Drake (1999) characterised the sediment grain-size
distribution of a ood layer on the Eel shelf
(Northern California) and points out that this
layer has high porosity, grain-size variability and
presents a marked change in compaction at the
pre-ood layer. We did not measure vertical
variation of grain-size distribution down the core,
but we believe that the qualitative differences on
the near-shore and inner shelf are result of the
discharges after the heavy rainy season and the
action of waves and bottom currents over a ne
sediment matrix.
Explaining the interactions between the terrigenous and CO provinces has been difcult due to
the sampling scale applied by the few studies
undertaken in the Southern Gulf. One of the
proposed approaches is the bivariate classication
of Gutierrez Estrada and Galaviz Solis (1991).
This classication involves sediment MGS and CO
content measurements providing 14 sedimentary
units ranging from terrigenous gravel to CO
clay, with several units of mixed sediment of
different sizes. These authors draw the limit of the

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transition zone as 50% CO content and the

present study area was previously classied into
three sub-environments: (a) mixed calcareous clay
at the near-shore; (b) mixed clay at the inner shelf
and (c) calcareous silt at the outer shelf. However,
when plotting our own data we found only two
sub-environments. There is an agreement in the
range of values for CO content but not in sediment
MGS. The data in this study indicate sediment
MGS within the range of very coarse to ne silt
distributed from the near-shore towards the outer
shelf, different from other studies where ner
sediment MGS (clay) was reported for the outer
shelf (see cited references in the methods section),
although sediment grain sizes were determined by
different methods. Similarly, Flemmings textural
classication scheme using ternary plots classied
the present study area in mainly two textural
classes: (a) extremely silty slightly sandy mud and
(b) slightly clayey silt. The CO content in this
classication scheme is not considered, but it is an
important feature for the Southern Gulf of Mexico
sediment classication.
The assumption made in relation to CO sediments being coarser than terrigenous ones should
consider their physical properties. Tucker and
Wright (1990) advice caution when interpreting
grain-size data of CO material because of differences in biological destruction, disintegration and
unique hydrodynamic properties. They noted that
lime mud on the Bahamas shelf comes from
biological disintegration of calcareous algae (e.g.
Halimeda and Penicillus) and transported across
shelf. According to Logan et al. (1969), coralline
algae represent up to 30% of total grained
constituents on the inner shelf/near-shore environment of the northern part of Campeche Bank. We
considered that the association between CO and
sediment size (MGS or SSAS) is useful for
inferring that CO material is continuously being
supplied towards the transitional environment,
both by direct deposition and biological disintegration of shell debris (as observed from the
amount of shell fragments) and by continuous
transport from the northern shelf. There is a
frontier of inuence probably resulting from an
interaction of counter-currents feeding terrigenous
material.

The association between CO and sediment MGS

contrasts with the relationship between OM and
sediment MGS. In the Western Gulf of Mexico,
rivers are the main source of terrestrial OM, which
tends to accumulate on the continental shelf
depending upon local input and shelf width
(Hedges and Parker, 1976). The correlation found
between bulk OM, CO content and SSAS provides
evidence to suggest that the interaction of terrigenous and CO material at the transition zone is a
consequence of the hydrodynamic behaviour of
ne sediments and the associated OM adsorbed on
its surface (Mayer, 1994). The major interaction
occurs within the near-shore sub-environment
decreasing gradually until replaced by a terrigenous depositional environment on the outer shelf
and the SW extreme of the inner shelf.
4.1. Across-shelf transport conceptual model in the
context of the hydrology of the Southern Gulf of
Mexico
Forcing mechanisms of sediment entrainment
and transport in the continental shelf of the Gulf
of Mexico are generally the passage of cold fronts,
plus occasional tropical storms and hurricanes
(Fuentes Yaco et al., 2001). For example, in 1999
extreme wind speed during autumn and winter
reached 17 m s
1 (CNA, pers. commun.) and these
winds are able to generate wave heights on the
range of 3 m. Fig. 8 depicts our conceptual model
of sediment movement and extent of the transitional zone in the Southern Gulf of Mexico that
includes information from the present and previous studies. The depth prole along transects
AB running from SE to NW shows two changes
in slope, the rst occurring at 30 m deep, which we
consider as a natural boundary of wave shear
stress of re-entraining sediments. Rosales Hoz et
al. (1999) have inferred a south-west bottom
current near-shore; this type of current is likely
to move the entrained material from the nearshore to the inner shelf. A second bottom current,
with N-NE direction, was inferred to be coming
from the river mouths, which they interpreted as
being responsible of transporting the terrigenous
load. This situation is likely to occur during
autumn and winter when the general supercial

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1849

Fig. 8. Conceptual model of sediment transport in relation to shelf topography, wind and wave stress and regional hydrology, and
location of the transitional area based on the criteria of 2550% carbonate content (shadowed areas) from data obtained in this and
previous studies. Current patterns were drawn from the various studies referenced in the text, with bottom currents as interpreted from
Rosales Hoz et al. (1999). Drawn isolines of 25% and 75% from Carranza Edwards et al. (1993) and isoline of 50% from Gutierrez
Estrada and Galaviz Solis (1991).

shelf circulation of the western and south-western

Gulf is shifted to ow towards the Campeche Bank
(Boicourt et al., 1998). This physical setting can
explain the along-shelf spatial distribution where
terrigenous sediments are present at the SW
extreme of transects CD and CO content
increases towards the NE.
The second change in slope that occurs at
5060 m deep is proposed to delimit the transition
area between the inner and outer shelves. According to McGrail and Carnes (1983), atmospheric
forcing from autumn and winter winds in the
northern Gulf produce inertial oscillations,
which propagate through the water column and
cause 2040 cm s
1 bottom currents at 100 m
depth. These are able to carry sediments offshore
beyond the shelf break, as proved during
current meter mooring observations on the
Texas shelf, where a nepheloid bottom layer is
present throughout the year. This benthic nepheloid layer develops more easily on a muddy
substrate with an along-isobath component
(Shideler, 1981).

There has not been any published information

in relation to bottom suspended sediments in the
southern Gulf, but the suggestion of the existence
of sediment-laden water near the bottom in
the southern Gulf area (Rezak et al., 1990) is
attractive to explain the large area of inuence of
terrigenous sediments. In this situation, very dense
liquid mud generated by occulation and sedimentation from the rivers load, or from reentraining by hydrological conditions, can be
transported long distances by along-shelf currents,
particularly in extreme conditions of river discharges as those presented during the rainy
season of 1999.
A number of models of spatial distribution of
surcial sediments have depicted the depth-related
gradient of silt and clay on the terrigenous
province, as well as the continuous transitional
change towards the CO province, as the main
characteristics in the southern Gulf. All current
models contain a highly variable description of
the transition zone as a consequence of the
extensive areas covered during those studies. There

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H.A. Hernandez Arana et al. / Continental Shelf Research 25 (2005) 18361852

are a number of differences between the present

model and those derived from previous studies
(Fig. 8). Carranza Edwards et al. (1993) proposed
the transitional area as the one between 25% and
75% of CO content and the outer shelf area
was considered within the terrigenous province.
However, here we found that CO content is
425% for the outer shelf and the 75% limit was
not reached within our area. The most commonly
used criterion for the limit for the transitional area
is the 50% CO content and this study complements previous ones (see earlier references).
The transitional area extends to 60 km N-NE off
the rivers mouth at the near-shore and up to
140 km along the inner shelf. In relation to
sediment size, the SE portion of transects AB
and NE extremes of transects CD have been
classied as sandy, sandy mud and calcareous
mud. In this study, those areas range from sandy
mud to mud, based on Folks classication of
sand:mud ratio (Folk, 1954). The rest of the area
is muddy with some sandy-mud sites located near
to the oil elds. It is considered that these
differences with previous studies are mainly the
consequence of local hydrology, which makes
transitional environments highly variable. As in
other COsiliclastic transitions (Murray et al.,
1982; Roberts, 1987; Roberts and Murray, 1988;
Murray et al., 1988), climate and hydrological
setting are the main controls of the dispersion and
deposition of ne materials on the Southern Gulf
of Mexico shelf.

5. Conclusions
Three sub-environments were identied within
the Southern Gulf of Mexico using a multivariate
approach, which reect the across-shelf topography and depth gradient. The spatial pattern was
temporally maintained in relation to sediment
grain-size distribution and CO content. OM and
CO content showed an inverse association in
response to the effect of ne sediment of terrigenous origin carrying adsorbed OM. On the
contrary, CO content seems to be related to
coarser material with less SSAS and organic
content.

Re-entrainment of sediments o32 mm from the

near-shore and subsequent transport towards the
inner and outer shelf are probably caused by the
combination of wave and currents generated by
wind forcing coupled to bottom currents. The
near-shore sub-environment is limited by the
730 m isobath and considered a natural boundary
for wind-wave effect on the seabed. Differences
between the inner and outer shelf are small,
grading smoothly from one to another, but
identiable at 5060 m depth.
River inuence, measured in terms of CO
content and OM, is estimated to extent 70 km
from the rivers mouth to the shelf break and
200 km along the isobaths, covering an area of
approximately 14,000 km2 as a result of hydrological dynamics. However, no increase in ne
material was observed as expected because the
very heavy rainy season of 1999. No temporal
differences were found in the amount of ne
material after 5 months, showing a conservative
transitional area in which its interaction with the
neighbouring provinces can only be measured
relative to the prevailing physical setting.
The presence of oil rigs did not show any
association with the analysed variables at the
studied scale; however, individual observations of
the presence of tar balls in the sediments suggested
a local contribution from oil activities.

Acknowledgements
The British Council and CONACyT (Mexico)
are thanked for providing nancial support
through a scholarship to H.A.H.A. Special thanks
are due to D. Salas de Leon and E. Escobar
Briones for providing logistic support within the
oceanographic research programs PROMEBIO 2
and 3 (ICMyL-UNAM Mexico). The authors
express their gratitude to the commander and
crew of the oceanographic vessel B./O. Justo
Sierra and the M.Sc. students that provided help
during the sampling program and onboard processing of samples. H. Weissenberger is thanked for
map editing. Two anonymous referees are thanked
for their comments which contributed to the
improvement of the nal manuscript.

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