Posted on 10/20/2009 7:05:19 AM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
Get the EPA to fine it, pronto!
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.
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.
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!
Only in so far as we allow 'rats and RINOs to rule us.
I think we will find that some animals need the oil.
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.
Have you ever been to Yellowstone? The EPA needs to get the Park Service to clean that place up. It reeks of Sulfur.
Can’t you see a new Obama “green” jobs initiative to grout natural seeps to save the planet? mega sarc/
“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.
That works for me.
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.
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.
Ok smarty pants where does Baby oil come from ?
ooooooops, wrong thread.......
Well, I would!
“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.
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