Deepwater Oil Plume in Gulf Degraded by Microbes, Study Shows

ScienceDaily ^ | August 26, 2010 | ScienceDaily

[Freeport]

ScienceDaily (Aug. 24, 2010) — In the aftermath of the explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, a dispersed oil plume was formed at a depth between 3,600 and 4,000 feet and extending some 10 miles out from the wellhead. An intensive study by scientists with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) found that microbial activity, spearheaded by a new and unclassified species, degrades oil much faster than anticipated. This degradation appears to take place without a significant level of oxygen depletion.

"Our findings show that the influx of oil profoundly altered the microbial community by significantly stimulating deep-sea psychrophilic (cold temperature) gamma-proteobacteria that are closely related to known petroleum-degrading microbes," says Terry Hazen, a microbial ecologist with Berkeley Lab's Earth Sciences Division and principal investigator with the Energy Biosciences Institute, who led this study. "This enrichment of psychrophilic petroleum degraders with their rapid oil biodegradation rates appears to be one of the major mechanisms behind the rapid decline of the deepwater dispersed oil plume that has been observed."

The uncontrolled oil blowout in the Gulf of Mexico from BP's deepwater well was the deepest and one of the largest oil leaks in history. The extreme depths in the water column and the magnitude of this event posed a great many questions. In addition, to prevent large amounts of the highly flammable Gulf light crude from reaching the surface, BP deployed an unprecedented quantity of the commercial oil dispersant COREXIT 9500 at the wellhead, creating a plume of micron-sized petroleum particles. Although the environmental effects of COREXIT have been studied in surface water applications for more than a decade, its potential impact and effectiveness in the deep waters of the Gulf marine ecosystem were unknown.

[Freeport]

Interesting. Grab some of those microbe's and get to growing them for other cleanup jobs. Nature never ceases to amaze... Unless you're a tree huger apparently.

[PGR88]

Oh well, another enviro-lib armageddon that just didn’t happen. On to the next manufactured crisis!

[ArmstedFragg]

Turns out the Woods Hole study, which the media reported last week as a “brand new study”, and made all kind of sensationalized “massive oil plume” claims about, was actually done in April while the well was still flowing.

This one has some actual relevant information.

[Tribune7]

Rush was right.

[Son-Joshua]

What all those people, who worship the planet, refuse to accept is that there’s a Creator who figured everything out when He was building the earth. He knew that oil would naturally spew out from the ocean floor. Therefore, there needed to be a scavenger which in this case is this oil eating microbe that feeds on this carbon base substance. The left is worshiping the wrong thing thus they act surprised when the Lord provides His own solution for our screw-ups.

[ThomasMore]

Our findings, which provide the first data ever on microbial activity from a deepwater dispersed oil plume, suggest that a great potential for intrinsic bioremediation of oil plumes exists in the deep-sea," Hazen says. "These findings also show that psychrophilic oil-degrading microbial populations and their associated microbial communities play a significant role in controlling the ultimate fates and consequences of deep-sea oil plumes in the Gulf of Mexico

God is good! I think these things have evolved over hundreds of millions of years and thrive on the natural seepage of oil in the ocean depths keeping the water cleansed. Tree-huggers take note. You have NO control...God has it all.

[PATRIOT1876]

*What all those people, who worship the planet, refuse to accept is that there’s a Creator who figured everything out when He was building the earth. He knew that oil would naturally spew out from the ocean floor. Therefore, there needed to be a scavenger which in this case is this oil eating microbe that feeds on this carbon base substance. The left is worshiping the wrong thing thus they act surprised when the Lord provides His own solution for our screw-ups.*

People on our side were talking about this weeks before the leak was fixed. Back when they were saying, “This is the worst thing ever to happen, EVER!”

God has figured everything out. It's impossible to think that such a smooth running “machine” as our planet just happened accidentally by the god of time.

[SuziQ]

Oh well, another enviro-lib armageddon that just didn’t happen. On to the next manufactured crisis!

Yeah, sadly this crisis was wasted. ;o)

[Liberty1970]

What did they think would happen? We basically just unleashed a lot of fertilizer down there. Not everything that man does to nature is destructive/harmful, even in ‘catastrophe’s’ like the BP spill.

[Phil]

“Mother Nature” you gotta love her!!!!!!!!!

[truthguy]

Rush was right.

No, the guy who gave him the info was right. But I give credit to Limbaugh for saying it. He in effect was correct. I knew it was well even before the spill. Mother nature has cleaned up oil spills before. Oil leaks naturally from cracks in the ocean floor. If mother nature had not found a way to clean up the mess there would be a layer of oil covering all the world's oceans. Funny how the eco-alarmists never figure these things out.

[ThePatriotsFlag]

Back when it was not popular to hold this opinion (check the date on my post) I predicted this one. But how can one take the credit for "prediction" when one already knows? Dispersants and the Piper. (Told 'ya so!)