Scientists Find That Tons Of Oil Seep Into The Gulf Of Mexico Each Year

Science Daily ^ | January 27th, 2000

[Halfmanhalfamazing]

Twice an Exxon Valdez spill worth of oil seeps into the Gulf of Mexico every year, according to a new study that will be presented January 27 at the Ocean Sciences Meeting in San Antonio, Texas.

But the oil isn't destroying habitats or wiping out ocean life. The ooze is a natural phenomena that's been going on for many thousands of years, according to Roger Mitchell, Vice President of Program Development at the Earth Satellite Corporation (EarthSat) in Rockville Md. "The wildlife have adapted and evolved and have no problem dealing with the oil," he said.

Oil that finds its way to the surface from natural seeps gets broken down by bacteria and ends up as carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. So knowing the amount of fossil fuel that turns to carbon dioxide naturally is important for understanding how much humans may be changing the climate by burning oil and gas.

Using a technique they developed in the early 1990s to help explore for oil in the deep ocean, Earth Satellite Corporation scientists found that there are over 600 different areas where oil oozes from rocks underlying the Gulf of Mexico. The oil bubbles up from a cracks in ocean bottom sediments and spreads out with the wind to an to an area covering about 4 square miles.

"On water, oil has this wonderful property of spreading out really thin," said Mitchell. "A gallon of oil can spread over a square mile very quickly." So what ends up on the surface is an incredibly thin slick, impossible to see with the human eye and harmless to marine animals.

When oil spreads out over water, surface tension causes it to act like a super-thin sheet of Saran Wrap, flattening down small waves on the ocean surface.

[Halfmanhalfamazing]

This is a good link; good information to save

[ConservativeMind]

Get the EPA to fine it, pronto!

[brownsfan]

It’s funny how we treat oil like it’s from outer space. We act as though oil is not natural, and is evil.

Oil is not fossil fuel, it’s created in the earth by a process we don’t understand. It’s natural, and part of the ecosystem.

We, collectively, are still idiots.

[Paladin2]

Oil has energy so it can be a food for the right metabolism. It’s good for the biosphere to have carbon available to be recycled.

[HerrBlucher]

Yup, human pollution pales in comparison to what Gaia herself spews out. She should be slapped with hefty fines and sent to jail. Shame on her!

[Paladin2]

We, collectively, are still idiots.

Only in so far as we allow 'rats and RINOs to rule us.

[GeronL]

I think we will find that some animals need the oil.

[Westbrook]

See, if we drill the oil, then we release the pressure that squeezes it into the Gulf. That way, we can save the seagulls and obscure microscopic snails, or whatever else the enviro-whacko alarmists are screaming about with their hair on fire.

Oh, but wait! The Cubans are letting the Chinese do it for us.

Never mind.

[Paladin2]

"Yup, human pollution pales in comparison to what Gaia herself spews out."

Have you ever been to Yellowstone? The EPA needs to get the Park Service to clean that place up. It reeks of Sulfur.

[Truth29]

Can’t you see a new Obama “green” jobs initiative to grout natural seeps to save the planet? mega sarc/

[brownsfan]

“Only in so far as we allow ‘rats and RINOs to rule us.”

We let the ‘rats take over the schools, and now we are paying the price. We are significantly outnumbered by ‘rats and RINOs.

[Lazamataz]

I think we will find that some animals need the oil.

[GeronL]

That works for me.

[earlJam]

Oil seeping into the Gulf? Has been going on for thousands of years?

Wow! The Bush family has a longer history than I knew about.

[Don Corleone]

Oil is not fossil fuel, it’s created in the earth by a process we don’t understand. It’s natural, and part of the ecosystem.

Reports show that the oil in certain deposits is actually replenishing itself through some still unknown process. IOW we are making oil as we speak.

[al baby]

Ok smarty pants where does Baby oil come from ?

[BullDog108]

I'd hit it!

ooooooops, wrong thread.......

[Lazamataz]

Well, I would!

[Dem Guard]

Dinasaur Poop?

[brownsfan]

“Reports show that the oil in certain deposits is actually replenishing itself through some still unknown process. IOW we are making oil as we speak.”

I’m aware of that, but you won’t hear it in the media. The general public is uninformed.

[YankeeReb]

Well we can't get it but maybe Bamster can give money to Brazil so they can develop it while enriching George Soros.

[texas_mrs]

We are decades behind Russia in rejecting the fossil fuel idea and accepting abiotic oil as fact. I think fostering this idea is coming back to bite the oil industry in the butt now.

[Uncle Miltie]

Pumping oil out of the sea floor reduces the pressure that causes seepage.

Save the Whales; Drill Baby, Drill!

[pepperdog]

Oil seeping to the surface in the Gulf has been going forever, and now it’s NEWS! The ignorance in this country is astounding!

[al_c]

So .... this naturally oozing oil is harmful to the environment? Then we’d better drill it so we can stop global warming!

[BOBTHENAILER]

EPA & ACLU now in intense preparation to file suit in Federal District Court against God. The have determined that only god can be sued since he is a vengeful God, as proven by the Bible.

Allah, et al, will be spared because Allah is most merciful and peaceful.

[Ditter]

They are just now figuring this out? I have known it since I got that black gooey stuff on my feet and the seat of my new bathing suit on Galveston beach.

[RebelTXRose]

Do you think GOD had a plan???

[Sudetenland]

Yeah, it may not harm the aquatic life, but it makes for a really lousy beach. Nothing like getting tar on your bare feet...nasty evil oil...hey I know, maybe we should suck all of it out of the ground and burn it as fuel. Yeah, that's the ticket! Burn the oil as a source of energy.

Wow,then Galveston would become a pristine beach.:) Do I have to think of everything? Drill here, drill now!

[Sudetenland]

Ha ha! Yeah, it's formed by magic. Geologists and petroleum engineers don't know anything...armchair philosophers and crank "scientists" they are the real experts. /sarc

[crusty old prospector]

Yeah, it is found in caves beneath the earth from dead dinosaurs (sarc). Hard to believe all of those dinosaurs made it out into the ocean after they died. When an animal dies on land, its carcass is consumed by scavengers. The same today as it was in times before. The few dinosaurs that are preserved were killed in flash floods along rivers.

[CPT Clay]

LOL

[steelyourfaith]

Of course, just let the oil waste away rather than put it to good human use. I despise the Ecotard-Government Complex that has denied to us the opportunity of harnessing our own viable energy sources. We can’t drill, can’t refine, can’t do nuclear, but can chase the wind dream as long as it doesn’t compromise Ted Kennedy’s view on the Cape ... oh wait....

[Old Professer]

Oil on troubled waters; Ben Franklin demonstrated that over 200 years ago.

[The Great RJ]

When the Chinese are soon drilling off the coast of Florida in areas where US oil producers are forbidden to go, I'm sure they will have a pristine record and clean up any spills they make. Remember how the Chinese had to shut down industrial plants for the Olympics just to clear the air.

[Sudetenland]

Only the uninformed, uneducated would say it comes from dinosaurs. Claiming that is like when critics of evolution claim that evo's say that man evolved from apes; evolution has never made that claim. Only uneducated, uninformed rubes or dishonest critics make that claim for evolution.

Oil comes from biomass, not simply dinosaurs. That is why it is found in shale deposits and why geologists looking for tells when drilling look in the cuttings for "bugs."

[crusty old prospector]

It is a little more complicated than that as “bugs” are pretty much found in all rocks, especially marine-laid deposits. Most sedimentary rock is composed of shale, which is composed primarily of mud-sized particles. To become a source bed for petroleum, the rock needed to have been deposited in a hostile, reducing environment. Why? Because in normal, oxygenated water, the remains of dead life that fall to the bottom are consumed by a whole host of organisms, such as a worms. Without oxygen, very little life can exist and the organic matter is not consumed. It can be buried with the mud particles that trickle down to the bottom to form shale after compaction. Bury it down about two miles and hydrocarbon generation occurs.

[HighlyOpinionated]

Sent this info to Isakson and Chambliss and asked them if they knew about and suggesting DRILLING FOR OIL sooner than later.

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

It can be buried with the mud particles that trickle down to the bottom to form shale after compaction. Bury it down about two miles and hydrocarbon generation occurs.

What is the it you are referring to?

[crusty old prospector]

The organic matter. Typically, oil source rocks are made up primarily of dead algae that lived up near the surface of the ocean in the photic zone. When they die, they make the long voyage down to Davy Jones' locker.

The organic matter that makes a natural gas source rock is primarily made up of leaves, twigs, etc. What happens during a big flood on the Mississippi River? All of the plant debris is sent out into the gulf and eventually gets buried with the mud. If it is not consumed by the critters on the ocean bottom, it can become a source rock. Source rocks are actually pretty rare in the geologic record as most of the time, there is enough oxygen on the ocean bottom to sustain life to consume the organic mush before it can be buried. Sedimentation rates are on the order of 1 inch per thousand years out in the basin.

[crusty old prospector]

Here is a wikipedia blurb. Most oil source rocks are Type II kerogen and gas source rocks are Type III. Type I are pretty rare as they are formed in freshwater lakes, which have sourced much of the oil in the Uinta Basin of northeastern Utah.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerogen

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

thanks

[crusty old prospector]

By the way, oil seeps are a pretty good indicator that there is an accumulation down below as the oil is probably coming up a fault. Many of the earliest oil fields in the world were found beneath seeps. If you know where one is today, it might be a good idea to go get a lease.

[SierraWasp]

Is your tagline in a coma, or comma???

[BOBTHENAILER]

Been meaning to change it and I only noticed it yesterday. Sheesh,

[SierraWasp]

Unless what???

[GraceG]

Gaia is so distressed over oil spills that she is polluting herself with oil.....

That will be the latest line spewed from the eco-tards.

[BOBTHENAILER]

A question everyone must ask themselves more and more every day.

Unless we suck it up and do something about it.

[SierraWasp]

Well... ya know what Mao said about where real power comes from, right??? (he was dead right)

[BOBTHENAILER]

YEP