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Study Provides Some Answers to Fate of Deepwater Horizon Oil

By Guest PostDecember 20, 2014Environment50, chris reddy, david valentine, fate, gas, gulf of mexico, harold steinacker, kosmologie, macondo well, matrix modelle, negative wealth shocks, oil, plume, prothese der zukunft, retirement study, risk of dying, sea surface, seafloor, surface oil slicks, thomas stieglitz, ucsb, wealth loss, whoi

Nearly five years after the Deepwater Horizon explosion led to the release of roughly 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, scientists are still working to answer the question: Where did all the oil go?

During the 2010 crisis, some of the oil gushing from the seafloor appeared as slicks on the sea surface, while roughly half of it, scientists estimate, remained trapped in deep ocean plumes of mixed oil and gas, one of which was more than a mile wide, hundreds of feet high and extended for miles southwest of the broken riser pipe at the damaged Macondo well. Many natural processes—like evaporation and biodegradation—and human actions—like the use of dispersants and flaring of gas at the surface—impacted the chemical makeup and fate of the oil, adding to the complexity of accounting for it. (more…)

Study Identifies Deepwater Horizon Debris as Likely Source of Gulf of Mexico Oil Sheens

By Guest PostAugust 5, 2013Environmentbp, chemical makeup, chris reddy, christoph aeppli, coast guard, cofferdam, dave valentine, deepwater horizon debris, deepwater horizon rig, drilling operations, environmental, fingerprint, gas chromatography, gcxgc, gulf of mexico, industrial chemicals, legal concerns, macondo well, matthias kellermann, oil samples, oil sheens, olefins, preliminary data, real world problem, robert k nelson, source, study, synthetic hydrocarbons, technique, two dimensional, ucsb, united states, university of california, whoi

A chemical analysis of oil sheens found floating recently at the ocean’s surface near the site of the Deepwater Horizon disaster indicates that the source is pockets of oil trapped within the wreckage of the sunken rig. Both the Macondo well and natural oil seeps common to the Gulf of Mexico were confidently ruled out.

Researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) used a recently-patented method to fingerprint the chemical makeup of the sheens and to estimate the location of the source based on the extent to which gasoline-like compounds evaporated from the oil sheens. The study was published online in Environmental Science & Technology. (more…)

First-of-its-Kind Study Reveals Surprising Ecological Effects of 2010 Chile Earthquake

By Guest PostMay 7, 2012Environment2010 chile earthquake, arroyo quemado, california, cataclysmic occurrence, central chile, Chile, coastal ecosystem, coastal zone, earthquake, ecological effects, eduardo jaramillo, fondecyt, jenny dugan, lter, magnitude, national science foundation, natural disaster, sand crabs, sandy beach, tectonically active, tsunami, ucsb

Long-forgotten coastal habitats reappeared, species unseen for years returned

The reappearance of long-forgotten habitats and the resurgence of species unseen for years may not be among the expected effects of a natural disaster.

Yet that’s exactly what researchers found in a study of the sandy beaches of south central Chile, after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake and devastating tsunami in 2010.

Their study also revealed a preview of the problems wrought by sea level rise–a major symptom of climate change. (more…)

Scientists Identify Microbes Responsible for Consuming Natural Gas in Deepwater Horizon Spill

By Guest PostOctober 7, 2011Environmentapril spill, bacteria, cold loving bacteria, colwellia, cycloclasticus, david valentine, deepwater horizon oil spill, DNA, ecological history, ethane, geological past, gulf of mexico, methane, microbe, molly redmond, national science foundation, natural gas, oceanography, oceanospirillales, petroleum hydrocarbons, propane, psychrophilic, sequencing dna, spill, submerged plume, surface oil slicks, ucsb, university of california at santa barbara, water temperature

*Water temperature played key role*

In the results of a new study, scientists explain how they used DNA to identify microbes present in the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill–and the particular microbes responsible for consuming natural gas immediately after the spill.

Water temperature played a key role in the way bacteria reacted to the spill, the researchers found. (more…)

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Study Provides Some Answers to Fate of Deepwater Horizon Oil

Study Identifies Deepwater Horizon Debris as Likely Source of Gulf of Mexico Oil Sheens

First-of-its-Kind Study Reveals Surprising Ecological Effects of 2010 Chile Earthquake

Scientists Identify Microbes Responsible for Consuming Natural Gas in Deepwater Horizon Spill