Scientists Map and Confirm Origin of Large, Underwater Hydrocarbon Plume in Gulf
The 1.2-mile-wide, 650-foot-high plume of trapped hydrocarbons provides at least a partial answer to recent questions asking where all the oil has gone as surface slicks shrink and disappear. “These results indicate that efforts to book keep where the oil went must now include this plume” in the Gulf, said Christopher Reddy, a WHOI marine geochemist and oil spill expert and one of the authors of the study, which appears in the Aug. 19 issue of the journal Science.
“In June, we observed the plume migrating slowly [at about 0.17 miles per hour] southwest of the source of the blowout,” said Camilli. The researchers began tracking it about three miles from the well head and out to about 22 miles (35 kilometers) until the approach of Hurricane Alex forced them away from the study area.
More:
Report Paints New Picture of Gulf Oil
As millions of barrels of oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico this summer from a blown-out BP well, the media painted a portrait of dark, massive plumes billowing into the sea. Meanwhile, a recent U.S. government report has stated that microbes are breaking down the oil quickly. Neither picture is correct, at least in the case of a plume described in the first peer-reviewed publication of oil-spill observations.
Paper:
Tracking Hydrocarbon Plume Transport and Biodegradation at Deepwater Horizon
Richard Camilli, Christopher M. Reddy, Dana R. Yoerger, Benjamin A. S. Van Mooy, Michael V. Jakuba, James C. Kinsey, Cameron P. McIntyre, Sean P. Sylva, James V. Maloney
Published Online August 19, 2010
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1195223
Tags: oilspill
