Benthic Faunal Baselines in the Gulf of Mexico: A Precursor to Evaluate Future Impacts

This chapter provides a comparison between recently developed, post-oil spill baseline measurements throughout the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and previous, pre-oil spill baselines for benthic foraminifera, meiofauna, and macrofauna for areas impacted by the Deepwater Horizon (2010) and Ixtoc 1 (1979–1980) oil spills. This comparison will provide two primary outcomes: (1) assessment of any lasting changes in benthic faunal assemblages caused by the Deepwater Horizon and Ixtoc 1 oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico and (2) augmentation of pre-oil spill baselines or establishment of “new normal” post-oil spill baseline measurements that can be utilized to quantitatively assess impact, response, and recovery of benthic fauna in the event of a future oil spill.