Description
The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), intends to award a sole-source contract to The University of Mississippi for specialized geophysical, geological, and geochemical data acquisition in the Orca Basin on the Gulf of America Outer Continental Shelf. The contractor will conduct a deep-water, AUV-led and ROV seafloor and subseafloor survey and seafloor and brine/water-column sampling efforts. The requirement includes high-resolution AUV geophysical mapping, design, mobilization, cruise planning, operational execution, in-situ QC, and post-processing.
• High-resolution AUV geophysical mapping, including multibeam bathymetry, backscatter, sidescan mosaics, and subbottom profiling to characterize brine pool morphology, mineralization indicators, geomorphic features, and sedimentary structures.
• Target identification using AUV geophysical anomalies to locate candidate sites for subsequent geological or geochemical sampling.
• Seafloor geological sampling, sedimentological and mineralogical laboratory analyses.
• Water-column and brine sampling and laboratory analyses for critical mineral indicators.
• Delivery of all raw and processed data, integrated maps, interpretive summaries, sample catalogs, analytical results, and a final report synthesizing the implications for critical mineral potential in the Orca Basin.