The Minerals Management Service (MMS) awarded a contract to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to conduct a four-year study titled: Exploratory Study of Deepwater Currents in the Gulf of Mexico (often referred to as simply the Exploratory Study). Generally, this project had been in the MMS planning phases for several years, however, the specifics were substantially affected by two years of field measurements (August 1999 - August 2001) made in the vicinity of Green Knoll (Figure 1.1-1) by SAIC (Hamilton et al., 2003). The objectives and background leading to the present study also incorporated the substantial insights developed as part of the MMS-funded Deepwater Physical Oceanography Reanalysis and Synthesis of Historical Data conducted by Texas A&M University (Nowlin et al., 2001). In addition to the Exploratory Study, the MMS is presently funding two additional field measurement programs with the goal of an improved documentation and understanding of physical oceanographic conditions in the deepwater of the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM).