Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution researchers have mapped out a meandering, 22-mile undersea oil smoke plume from the BP PLC well in the Gulf of Mexico, work say it provides strong evidence that oil from the disaster remain locked deep in the ocean a prolonged period.
The study published yesterday is based on sensitive measurements end of June, and the findings contrast with recent statements by top government officials officials that most of the oil from the world’s largest marine spill was gone or rapidly degrading.
At the Woods Hole researchers calculations, plume probably still exists, but government officials said their more recent observations have shown the oil is rapidly degraded by microbes.
The researchers tracked Woods Hole a 1.2-mile-wide cloud of diluted oil and gas, more than 3000 meters below the surface and starting about 3 miles from the source. They reported in the journal Science that the plume was very degrading slowly in the cold, dark depths, researchers worrying that the pollutants could harm spell for marine life.
The oil “is maintained for longer periods than we expected,”said Richard Camilli, chief scientist at the two-week expedition, which the plume with a chemical-sniffing spectrometer that can identify microscopic oil components measured.” Many people speculated the surface of oil droplets were readily biodegraded be. We thought it was still there.”
The scientists studied the plume is just one of many that have been identified. They seem constantly changing shape and location, but remain at approximately the same depth.
Although BP and is now limited, how much oil under water and how fast will be broken is crucial for predicting the impact on marine species and areas likely how long will remain closed to fishing.
It has long been the conventional wisdom that the oil that is lighter than water, would soon rise. But the unprecedented use of dispersants designed to break the underwater part of the 4.9 million barrels of oil worked so well, many scientists say large amounts of oil under water.
These are not thick rivers of oil. Rather, they are diffuse mixture of microscopic droplets of oil and gas, more like smoke or clouds – a glass of sea water would be clear and odorless.
Even so, some scientists are concerned that these tiny droplets of oil and gas and chemical dispersants can be toxic to marine life that serves as the foundation of the ocean food web, as well as other species.
Earlier this month, Jane Lubchenco, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief, said that “at least 50 percent of the oil that was released has now disappeared from the system, and most of the rest is degrading rapidly, or is removed from beaches .”
source:boston.com
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