{{Short description|Roughly triangular basin that is the deepest part of the Gulf of Mexico}} The '''Sigsbee Deep'''<ref group=Note>The name "Sigsbee Deep" has sometimes been applied to '''Sigsbee Basin''', a U. S. Board on Geographic Names approved name for a feature nominally at [https://maps.google.com/maps?q=42%C2%B0+58%27+00%22+N+069%C2%B0+13%27+00%22+W&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sll=38.846224,-77.306373&sspn=0.102544,0.139561&t=h&z=8 42° 58' 00" N 069° 13' 00" W] in the Gulf of Maine. See multiple features named for Sigsbee at [http://earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/history.htm#S National Geospatial Intelligence Agency's Undersea Features History.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211184523/http://earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/history.htm |date=2012-02-11 }}</ref> ('''Mexico basin''' in the U. S. Board on Geographic Names Advisory Committee on Undersea Features Gazetteer)<ref Name=GEBCO>{{cite web |url=http://www.gebco.net/data_and_products/undersea_feature_names/#feature_links4 |title=IHO-IOC GEBCO Gazetteer of Undersea Feature Names (Microsoft Excel spreadsheet/Adobe PDF document formats) |author=IHO-IOC GEBCO |date=March 2011 |work=IHO-IOC GEBCO Gazetteer of Undersea Feature Names |publisher=International Hydrographic Organization |access-date=12 February 2012}}</ref> is a roughly triangular basin that is the deepest part of the Gulf of Mexico named for Charles Dwight Sigsbee.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/history.html#S|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20110511222341/http://earth%2Dinfo.nga.mil/gns/html/history.html#S|url-status=dead|title=Undersea Features History|publisher=National Geospatial Intelligence Agency|access-date=9 February 2012|archive-date=2011-05-11}}</ref> There is some confusion of names that apply to the basin or a particular point in the basin, with both being found in technical and popular literature applying to both basin and the coordinates.

thumb|right|250px|Contour map of Gulf of Mexico as sounded by the C&GS Steamer ''Blake'' between 1873 and 1875. Over 3,000 soundings went into this chart, most of the deep water soundings taken by the Sigsbee Sounding Machine. This was the first realistic bathymetric map of any oceanic basin. In: "Three Cruises of the BLAKE" by Alexander Agassiz, 1888. P. 102.

== Description ==

The basin is located in the southwestern quadrant of the gulf, with its closest point to the U.S. coast at {{convert|200|mi|km}} southeast of Brownsville, Texas.<ref name="gulfbase">{{cite web |url=http://www.gulfbase.org/facts.php |title=General Facts about the Gulf of Mexico |work=GulfBase.org |access-date=2009-11-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091210103009/http://www.gulfbase.org/facts.php |archive-date=2009-12-10 }}</ref> The actual maximum depth is disputed, and estimates range between {{convert|3750|and|4384|m|ft}}. The average depth of the gulf is roughly {{convert|1615|m|ft}}.<ref name="gulfbase" /> The Sigsbee Abyssal Plain is the deepest and flattest sector of the deep basin.<ref Name=GEBCO />

=== Name/Location differences ===

The use of "Sigsbee" for the feature originates from Commander Charles Dwight Sigsbee's Gulf of Mexico surveys that defined the general features of the body while he was commanding officer of the USC&GS ''George S. Blake''. "Sigsbee Deep" applied to the entire deep basin appears on some of the [http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/history/breakthru/media/12_gulfbathy.html earliest charts of the Gulf of Mexico].

Sigsbee Deep is a variant name for the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) approved name of '''Mexico Basin''' for cartographic materials produced by federal agencies.<ref Name=NGA>{{cite web |url=http://geonames.nga.mil/ggmaviewer/default.asp |title=GeoNames Search Results (Sigsbee Deep) |publisher=National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) |access-date=11 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115173351/http://geonames.nga.mil/ggmaviewer/default.asp |archive-date=15 January 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A proposal by the United States renaming Sigsbee Deep, with coordinates of 23° 52′ N 91° 35′ W, to "Mexico Basin" was rejected by the Sixteenth Meeting of the GEBCO Subcommittee on Undersea Feature Names, the international authority on feature names, in 2003 with the note that it is "an historical name dating back to Sir John Murray." The committee discussion of the United States nomination Mexico Basin as having the coordinates 23° 52′ N 91° 35′ W as the Sigsbee Deep under consideration noted the Mexico Basin is in the GEBCO Gazetteer with coordinates of 22° 30′ N 95° 00′ W to 25° 00′ N 90° 00′ W.<ref Name=SCUFIN16>{{cite web |url=http://www.gebco.net/about_us/meetings_and_minutes/documents/gebco_scufn_16_report.pdf |title=Sixteenth Meeting of the GEBCO Sub-committee on Undersea Feature Names (SCUFN) |author=GEBCO Sub-committee on Undersea Feature Names |date=10–12 April 2003 |publisher=International Hydrographic Bureau, Monaco |access-date=11 February 2012}}</ref><ref group=Note>The cited reference discusses differences in United States and IHO committee views and variations between names recommended by the Advisory Committee on Undersea Features (ACUF) of the U. S. BGN and the GEBCO committee.</ref> The issue appears to be one of the entire basin or a particular point within the basin for application of the names. The United States' proposal to rename the 23° 52′ N 91° 35′ W point "Mexico basin was rejected while the ACUF Mexico basin with "Sigsbee deep" as an alternate name is given in the NGA database as 25° N 92° W.<ref Name=NGA /><ref Name=SCUFIN16 />

There are other features with BGN approved names in the region in recognition of Sigsbee:<ref Name=NGA /><ref Name=AR1879>{{cite book |title=Report Of The Superintendent of the Coast And Geodetic Survey Showing The Progress Of The Work for the Fiscal Year Ending June, 1879 |last=U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey |year=1879 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. }}</ref> * Sigsbee Plain - [https://maps.google.com/maps?q=23%C2%B0+30%27+00%22+N+093%C2%B0+00%27+00%22+W&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=23.503552,-93.010254&spn=14.876719,17.86377&sll=43.033333,-69.116667&sspn=148.099409,285.820313&t=h&z=6 23° 30′ 00″ N 093° 00′ 00″ W]<ref Name=NGA /> * Sigsbee Knolls - [https://maps.google.com/maps?q=23%C2%B0+45%27+00%22+N+092%C2%B0+25%27+00%22+W&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=23.745126,-92.406006&spn=7.437437,8.931885&sll=23.503552,-93.010254&sspn=14.876719,17.86377&t=h&z=7 23° 45′ 00″ N 092° 25′ 00″ W]<ref Name=NGA /> * Sigsbee Escarpment - [https://maps.google.com/maps?q=26%C2%B0+00%27+00%22+N+092%C2%B0+30%27+00%22+W&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=25.99755,-92.504883&spn=14.584315,17.86377&sll=23.745126,-92.406006&sspn=7.437437,8.931885&t=h&z=6 26° 00′ 00″ N 092° 30′ 00″ W]<ref Name=NGA />

== Notes == {{reflist|group=Note}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

== External links == * [http://www.deepseadrilling.org/10/volume/dsdp10_01.pdf Deep Sea Drilling Project: Leg 10 of the ''Glomar Challenger''] * [http://www.portpublishing.com/Computer%20Based/retaildetailgmsea.htm GULF OF MEXICO SEAFLOOR]

{{Coord|23|52|N|91|35|W|scale:5000000|display=title}}

Category:Landforms of the Gulf of Mexico Category:Oceanic basins of the Atlantic Ocean Category:Abyssal plains