“…This natural mechanism contributes to dispersion of spilled oil because it enhances stability of oil droplets in the water column. More recently, it has been suggested that formation of oil mineral aggregates (OMA) may play a major role in the natural cleaning of oiled shorelines and may be the basis for the development of oil spill countermeasure technologies (Bragg, Prince, Harner, & Atlas, 1994;Bragg & Yang, 1993;, 1999J ez equel, Merlin, & Lee, 1999;Kepkay, Bugden, Lee, & Stoffyn-Egli, 2002;Khelifa, Stoffyn-Egli, Hill, & Lee, 2002, 2003a, 2003bLee et al, 2003, Lee, Lunel, Wood, Swannell, & Stoffyn-Egli, 1997Le Floch et al, 2002;Muschenheim & Lee, 2002;Omotoso, Munoz, & Mikula, 2002;Owens, 1999;, 1994Payne, Clayton, & Kirstein, 2003, 1989, 1999Wood, Lunel, Baily, Lee, & Stoffyn-Egli, 1997). Nevertheless, little is known about the influence of water salinity and clay type on OMA formation.…”