The surface sediments in the North-Central and Eastern Gulf of Mexico can be appropriately characterized by physical analysis, especially by comparison of wet-bulk density. Two hundred and eighty, 1-5 meter cores have been collected on positive sea floor features in three physiographic regions in the Gulf of Mexico: the Intraslope Basin, Sigsbee Escarpment, and Mississippi Fan regions. Analysis found that using three independent calculations or approximation of wet-bulk density proved to reasonably identify distinct, surfical sediment characteristics for each of these three regions. After initial segregation into three density regimes, the cores were characterized based on analysis of p-wave velocity, porosity, impedance, void ratio, water content, shear strength and various observed physical properties such as grain-size, sediment structure, and color. The methods of characterization lead to the unique classification of surfical sediments in these physiographic regions.
