Plumes of Gulf Oil Spreading East on Sea Floor

CNN ^ | August 17, 2010 | Staff

[lbryce]

A new report set to be released Tuesday renews concerns about the long-term environmental impact of the Gulf Coast oil disaster, and efforts to permanently plug the ruptured BP oil well have been delayed again.

Researchers at the University of South Florida have concluded that oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill may have settled to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico further east than previously suspected -- and at levels toxic to marine life.

Initial findings from a new survey of the Gulf conclude that dispersants may have sent droplets of crude to the ocean floor, where it has turned up at the bottom of an undersea canyon within 40 miles of the Florida Panhandle. The results are scheduled to be released Tuesday, but CNN obtained a summary of the initial conclusions Monday night.

Plankton and other organisms at the base of the food chain showed a "strong toxic response" to the crude, and the oil could well up onto the continental shelf and resurface later, according to researchers.

"The dispersant is moving the oil down out of the surface and into the deeper waters, where it can affect phytoplankton and other marine life," said John Paul, a marine microbiologist at USF.

The spill erupted April 20 with an explosion that sank the offshore drilling platform Deepwater Horizon. The blast killed 11 men and uncapped an undersea gusher that spewed an estimated 205 million gallons of oil into the Gulf before it was temporarily shut on July 15.

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man in the Gulf, said Monday that attempts to permanently seal the well won't start until the latest potential problem is evaluated.

[Carry_Okie]

Gad Ernest, we're talking stuff I learned 25 years ago in an oceanology course!

The is about the DeSoto Canyon, which is off the coast of Pensacola, FL. From what I could find in a quick scan it goes to a maximum depth of about 3,000 feet, which is at the lower limit of the mesopelagic zone. Some light does penetrate this deep and there are phytoplankton that live in the mesopelagic zone, but I do not know how deep.

[Marine_Uncle]

Maybe new sub species of phytoplankton have evolved. Ones that seek to sit at the bottom of deep canyons where they then starve themselves to death. Call them suicide-plantko.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

LOL...I never had a course in oceanology ...I was into pure math, and a little physics....

I thought the canyons in the Gulf were something like that really deep one off of the Cayman Islands.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

LOL!

See #61....these are not deep canyons like I was thinking of them.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

API numbers get heavier down the scale. IE; 10 API is heavier than 30 API (minimum N2 fuel oil spec) This is just the opposite of Specific Gravity. I think you can find a chart on google or via the American Petroleum Institute.

FYI; there are residual oil streams that are close to 10 pounds per gallon and are quoted as negative API numbers.

Viscosity (thin or thick oil) is expressed in Saybolt Seconds, Saybolt Furol Seconds, Saybolt Universal Seconds or Kinematic Centistokes at 100 F, 122 F, 140 F or 210 F. (Oil changes its viscosity and volume depending on its temperature.)

Heavy oils, no matter what the temperature at loading in a truck or rail car, are corrected to 60 F. Products are sold as “net corrected to 60 F” gallons. IE: A truck loaded at 210 F might have 6250 gallons gross and 5875 net gallons. The net number is the legal number.

Asphalt is sold by the ton, containing about +/- 235 gallons.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Oh , and the capping of the macondo Well has some interesting options ....I just posted this :

BP's Deepwater Oil Spill - The Two Options - and Open Thread

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

And CNN is glad to help.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

But the corexit breaks out the components as I understand it....guess we all need a tutorial on just how it works.

[TigersEye]

Good catch on the phytoplankton. What the marine microbiologist is missing is that bacteria live in the depths which eat the crude oil and they become food for the phytoplankton either directly or through other critters in the food chain.

As for oil pooling on the bottom and later welling up to the surface; probably as much as the vastly larger quantities of oil naturally seeping from the sea floor. ie not at all. It solidifies and becomes part of the sea floor.

Nature healed what man inflicted in 1979 Gulf spill Read more: June 10, 2010

" "A lot of the fishermen around here will tell you that the fish never came back,'' says Vega Morales. ``They'll say, `Oh, in the old days, you could catch fish with your hat, it was so easy.' That's how we are, always talking about the one that got away. But the truth is, after maybe nine months or so, it was back to normal." " (Ixtoc 1)

"Soto, who followed the fish and shrimp population off Mexico closely, found to his surprise that for most species the numbers had returned to normal within two years."

--------------------------------------------------------

Oil Cleanup Expert Comments on Gulf Spill

"Every year 2 million to 12 million tons of oil naturally seep from the ocean floor and into the sea. In fact, many of the deposits in the Gulf of Mexico were discovered by observing these oil seeps, which is why the hydrocarbon degraders are everywhere, waiting for their “dinner” or fuel. Fishermen should be prepared for the extra catches that are coming because after every major oil spill there’s an explosion of local fish."

"But before a fish explosion can happen, the microorganisms need to be able to get to the oil and digest it. Since oil and water don’t mix, adding a dispersant will accelerate the breakdown of the oil, making it more available to the microorganisms."

---------------------------------------------------------

1979's Ixtoc oil well blowout in Gulf of Mexico has startling parallels to current disaster

"Even with those obstacles, fishers still managed to amass an impressive catch in 1979 -- when oil was gushing into the Gulf."

"Researchers in Campeche found shrimping that year enjoyed a high. The total tonnage of seafood caught in the Gulf of Mexico grew by 5.9 percent compared with the previous 12 months, and octopus capture in the Bay of Campeche beat the previous record by 50 percent."

"Tunnell's follow-up research into life near Texas beaches showed that organisms whose populations were apparently reduced by the massive spill replenished themselves within a few years."

It's fish food. How does the toxicity of crude oil or dispersants compare to the stuff constantly flowing from deep sea vents? Or undersea volcanoes? Places where some of the most basic forms of life thrive and begin turning those toxic chemicals into proteins that fertilize the oceans for higher life forms.

[deport]

Thanks for your response.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Subthread at today's TOD discussing the Georgia scientists finding most oil was still in the gulf:

Most BP oil still in the Gulf, say Georgia scientists

[norwaypinesavage]

"So where did the crude go to?"

Some evaporated, some was picked up by skimmers, some was consumed by bacteria, and thus changed chemical composition, and some is still there as floating oil and tar balls.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

To your question about the volatiles; from my experience, the light ends can be driven off by agitation and there are certainly opportunities for this in an ocean environment.
And it can happen on land. I have observed 190 F flash oil (requiring a rail road car placard) moved from one tank to another, then loaded on rail cars. Checking the flash after loading, we found 201 F which did not require placards. It was important because non placard cars ship on a different, and usually lower, rate.

[Wonder Warthog]

Sorry, Georgia boys, but that so-called report is about as useful as trying to piss into the wind during a hurricane. NOT ONE concentration number anywhere to be found, and it is the CONCENTRATION of the oil that determines toxicity...nothing more, nothing less. The highest number I have seen ANYWHERE is 5 ppm for oil in the plumes, which is well below the toxicity limit for anything but a very few highly vulnerable marine species (and mostly the larvae of them, not the adult forms). And that number was from weeks ago. The concentration today is probably MUCH, MUCH less.

The oil that is in the Gulf is disappearing due to a large number of different removal mechanisms. If the oil is present as suspended microscopic droplets, it's pretty much harmless, and getting more harmless as time passes.

[Marine_Uncle]

"Dissolved". Will anyone challenge her on this.
The CNN article indicates they speak without having positive proof. Just hunches.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

You would think someone would point that out to the Media Reporters....Yah right!!

[tdscpa]

Don’t know how far it has gone yet, but, hopefully it will escape the gulf and go to Great Britain, so the British can enjoy the produce of British Petroleum!