Tracking of salinity plumes generated by brine discharges into the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico

A nearly continuous discharge of a brine solution was begun in March 1980 through a submerged multiport diffuser to the Gulf of Mexico at a nominal rate of /day. The brine discharge is the result of leaching and filling of storage caverns in the salt dome at the Bryan Mound site of the Department of Energy\´s Strategic Petroleum Reserve Program. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the results of tracking the salinity plumes. The tracking procedure consists of towing a salinity sensor on the sea floor through the diffuser area. The data are used to construct isohaline contours which are used to evaluate the areal extent of the plume. Vertical salinity profiles are also measured to determine the vertical extent of the plume. The results show the largest areal extent of the above ambient contour was 17.9 km². The highest above ambient contour was which covered an area of 0.04 km². The average vertical extent was 5.4 m directly over the diffuser.