Formation and Characterization of Oil–Mineral Aggregates

Stoffyn-Egli, Patricia; Lee, Kenneth

doi:10.1016/s1353-2561(02)00128-7

Cited by 134 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Oil-mineral aggregates are usually o50 mm (Omotoso et al, 2002;Stoffyn-Egli and Lee, 2002), much smaller than marine snow, but may, depending on clay content and wave action, contribute appreciably towards moving oil residues to the sea floor (Khelifa et al, 2005;Niu et al, 2011), because of the high excess density of minerals. The wide continental shelf of the Northern GoM receives inorganic particles from continental rivers, run-off and coastal erosion and the mid-depth intermediate nephloid layers may extend far past the shelf edge (Dickson and McCave, 1986).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation of rapidly-sinking, oil-associated marine snow

Passow

2016

Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography

130

100

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a b s t r a c tSignificant amounts of oil accumulated at the sea surface and in a subsurface plume during the Deepwater Horizon (DwH) spill in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) in 2010. A substantial fraction of this oil was removed from the marine environment by mechanical recovery or burning, or it reached shorelines, whereas another fraction remained within the marine environment, where it dispersed (chemically or naturally), emulsified or sedimented. After the DwH accident the sedimentation of hydrocarbons to the seafloor via rapidly sinking, oil-associated marine snow has become a focus of attention, and it has been hypothesized that marine snow formation significantly impacted the distribution of the oil from the DwH spill.Here, roller table experiments are presented that investigated the conditions inducing the formation of oil-associated marine snow, focusing especially on the effects of oil type, photochemical aging of oil, and the presence of phytoplankton or dispersant. Large, mucus-rich marine snow, termed microbial marine snow, formed in treatments incubated with the oil that had accumulated at the sea surface. This bacteria-mediated formation of up to cm-sized marine snow in the absence of particles 41 mm, represents a unique formation pathway different from that of the physical coagulation of particles. Microbial marine snow, albeit smaller, also formed in the presence of crude oil that had been aged for Z3 weeks in sunlight, but no particles formed in the presence of unaltered crude. The dispersant Corexit 9500A (Corexit:oil ratio¼1:100) impeded the formation of microbial marine snow, requiring a re-evaluation of the benefits and detriments of Corexit 9500A as a mediating measure. Phytoplankton aggregates also incorporated fossil carbon, providing an alternate pathway for the formation of oil-associated marine snow. The ubiquitous formation and rapid sedimentation of oil-rich marine snow can explain the high accumulation rate of flocculent material at the seafloor and on corals observed after the DwH spill. These results may raise awareness that oil spill response and assessment need to include sedimentation of hydrocarbons via marine snow as a significant distribution mechanism and may guide future modeling efforts and budget calculations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation of rapidly-sinking, oil-associated marine snow

Passow

2016

Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography

130

100

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“…These droplets remained concentrated close to the well's coordinates (2,11,12,15), but modeling suggests that droplet size drove further vertical partitioning, with droplets >50 μm mixing upwards by August 2010 and smaller droplets remaining suspended in the deep ocean (7,17,18). Some suspended oil was eventually deposited to the seafloor, likely via oilmineral aggregates or microbial flocs (8,19,20), with intense contamination within ∼5 km of the well (21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26). Surficial sediments near the well were found to carry >1,000-fold-elevated concentrations of dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (4), an active ingredient of the chemical dispersant applied at the wellhead, and to exhibit a radiocarbon deficit consistent with oil deposition (27).…”

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confidence: 99%

Persistence and biodegradation of oil at the ocean floor following Deepwater Horizon

Bagby

Reddy

Aeppli

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster introduced an unprecedented discharge of oil into the deep Gulf of Mexico. Considerable uncertainty has persisted regarding the oil’s fate and effects in the deep ocean. In this work we assess the compound-specific rates of biodegradation for 125 aliphatic, aromatic, and biomarker petroleum hydrocarbons that settled to the deep ocean floor following release from the damaged Macondo Well. Based on a dataset comprising measurements of up to 168 distinct hydrocarbon analytes in 2,980 sediment samples collected within 4 y of the spill, we develop a Macondo oil “fingerprint” and conservatively identify a subset of 312 surficial samples consistent with contamination by Macondo oil. Three trends emerge from analysis of the biodegradation rates of 125 individual hydrocarbons in these samples. First, molecular structure served to modulate biodegradation in a predictable fashion, with the simplest structures subject to fastest loss, indicating that biodegradation in the deep ocean progresses similarly to other environments. Second, for many alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons biodegradation occurred in two distinct phases, consistent with rapid loss while oil particles remained suspended followed by slow loss after deposition to the seafloor. Third, the extent of biodegradation for any given sample was influenced by the hydrocarbon content, leading to substantially greater hydrocarbon persistence among the more highly contaminated samples. In addition, under some conditions we find strong evidence for extensive degradation of numerous petroleum biomarkers, notably including the native internal standard 17α(H),21β(H)-hopane, commonly used to calculate the extent of oil weathering.

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“…Numerous studies have been carried out dealing with oil-mineral aggregates as a method of dispersing oil slicks, but which have applicable results to the study of sinking sediments in rivers. These studies have suggested that turbulent energy, type of dispersant, and sediment characteristics could influence the amount of oil entrained by the mineral phase (Ajijolaiya et al 2006;Khelifa et al 2005b;Stoffyn-Egli and Lee 2002). Ma et al (2008) also demonstrated that increased turbulence energy can increase the interaction between oil and suspended minerals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ma et al (2008) also demonstrated that increased turbulence energy can increase the interaction between oil and suspended minerals. Ajijolaiya et al 2006, Guyomarch et al 2002, and Stoffyn-Egli and Lee 2002 showed that the formation of oil-mineral aggregates is enhanced by mineral properties such as particle size, surface area, concentration, and surface chemistry. The kinetics of OMA formation were investigated by Payne et al (1989Payne et al ( , 2003 and Hill et al (2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating diluted bitumen entrained by suspended sediments in river rapids using O2 absorption rate

Perez

Furlan

Ellenberger

et al. 2015

Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Suspended sediments and river rapids can cause oil slicks to fragment and sink, greatly complicating the cleanup process of a spill. Responders need methods for estimating the severity of spilled oil entrainment in rivers in order to properly plan resource allocation. This work presents a novel technique for predicting the amount of oil entrained by suspended sediments in rivers, using the atmospheric oxygen absorption rate of rivers as a way to estimate the surface turbulence. The technique may be used by measuring the gas transfer velocity or by using parametric equations for gas transfer velocity based on river parameters such as slope, depth, and discharge rate. In very turbulent rapids, 13 % of a diluted bitumen slick could be brought down by clay-sized sediments in about 10 min if the sediment concentration is high enough, and 80 % would be brought down in 2 h.

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Formation and Characterization of Oil–Mineral Aggregates

Cited by 134 publications

References 19 publications

Formation of rapidly-sinking, oil-associated marine snow

Formation of rapidly-sinking, oil-associated marine snow

Persistence and biodegradation of oil at the ocean floor following Deepwater Horizon

Estimating diluted bitumen entrained by suspended sediments in river rapids using O2 absorption rate

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