What Happened to All of the Oil?

Passow, Uta; Hetland, Robert D.

doi:10.5670/oceanog.2016.73

Cited by 43 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…They likely indicate net deposition, not total deposition as they do not consider resuspension, mobilization and degradation of oil. In addition, the areal extent of the areas that were considered may have been too limited (Stout and German, 2015;Passow and Hetland, 2016;Passow and Ziervogel, 2016).…”

Section: Research Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also unprecedented was the scientific attention focused on the accident and the response of the ecosystem. One of the more unexpected results for response planners was the extensive sedimentation of oil-associated marine snow to the deep seafloor, making up as much as 14% (Daly et al, 2016;Passow and Hetland, 2016;Passow and Ziervogel, 2016) of the quantity of oil released. The sedimentation of oil to the deep seafloor is thought to have been mediated, at least in part, by the so-called MOSSFA process (marine oil snow sedimentation and flocculent accumulation; Daly et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Isotopic composition of sinking particles: Oil effects, recovery and baselines in the Gulf of Mexico, 2010–2015

Chanton

Giering

Bosman

et al. 2018

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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The extensive release of oil during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the northern Gulf of Mexico perturbed the pelagic ecosystem and associated sinking material. To gauge the recovery and post-spill baseline sources, we measured D We interpret this depletion period, also observed in d 13C data, as caused by the incorporation of naturally seeped oil into sinking particles. Determination of post-spill baselines for these isotopic signatures allows for evaluation of anthropogenic inputs in future.

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Section: Research Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotopic composition of sinking particles: Oil effects, recovery and baselines in the Gulf of Mexico, 2010–2015

Chanton

Giering

Bosman

et al. 2018

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, resuspension leads to lateral transport and redistribution of the material that sank to the seafloor. After the DwH accident such re-distribution processes make it especially difficult to estimate the total amount of Macondo oil that reached the seafloor (Passow and Hetland, 2016).BNLs, which are formed when the frictional stress of water motion strips sediment off the seafloor, therewith carrying particles into the overlying water layer, exist near the seafloor, but may reach tens to hundreds of meters upward into the water column (McCave et al, 1976). The thickness of the BNL extending above the seafloor scales with the strength of the bottom currents and the particle composition.…”

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confidence: 99%

Scales of seafloor sediment resuspension in the northern Gulf of Mexico

Diercks

Dike

Asper

et al. 2018

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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Diercks, A-R, et al. 2018 Scales of seafloor sediment resuspension in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Elem Sci Anth, 6: 32. DOI: https://doi. org/10.1525/elementa.285 IntroductionThe sedimentation of large amounts of oil via marine snow and its accumulation on the deep seafloor (>1,200 m) during and after the Deepwater Horizon (DwH) oil spill (Passow et al., 2012;Valentine et al., 2014;Brooks et al., 2015;Chanton et al., 2015;Daly et al., 2016;Joye, 2016;Joye et al., 2016;Passow, 2016) raised questions regarding the distribution and re-distribution processes of freshly sedimented material (marine snow) on the seafloor. Once on the seafloor, marine snow contributes to unconsolidated fluffy sediment layers (Gardner, 1978;Gardner et al., 1984;1985;Walsh et al., 1988;Pilskaln et al., 1998;Newell et al., 2005) that are subject to resuspension and the production of benthic nepheloid layers (BNLs).Resuspension leads to the re-invigoration of degradation processes, which would impact the degradation rates of the oil associated with marine snow following the DwH accident (Ziervogel et al., 2016). Additionally, resuspension leads to lateral transport and redistribution of the material that sank to the seafloor. After the DwH accident such re-distribution processes make it especially difficult to estimate the total amount of Macondo oil that reached the seafloor (Passow and Hetland, 2016).BNLs, which are formed when the frictional stress of water motion strips sediment off the seafloor, therewith carrying particles into the overlying water layer, exist near the seafloor, but may reach tens to hundreds of meters upward into the water column (McCave et al., 1976). The thickness of the BNL extending above the seafloor scales with the strength of the bottom currents and the particle composition. Bottom currents >10 cm s -1 may cause resuspension events (Gardner et al., 2017), especially when low density phytodetritus or fine silt covers sediments, but large benthic storms reach 20 cm s -1 (Gardner et al., 1985). Besides locally resuspended material, particles in the BNL also include aggregates settling from the upper ocean as Time-series data of size-specific in-situ settling speeds of marine snow in the benthic nepheloid layer (moored flux cameras), particle size distributions (profiling camera), currents (various current meters) and stacked time-series flux data (sediment traps) were combined to recognize resuspension events ranging from small-scale local, to small-scale far-field to hurricane-scale. One smallscale local resuspension event caused by inertial currents was identified based on local high current speeds (>10 cm s -1) and trap data. Low POC content combined with high lithogenic silica flux at 30 m above bottom (mab) compared to the flux at 120 mab, suggested local resuspension reaching 30 mab, but not 120 mab. Another similar event was detected by the changes in particle size distribution and settling speeds of particles in the benthic nepheloid layer. Flux data indicated two other small-scale events, which occurre...

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“…The challenges of predicting DWH spill effects were exacerbated by the three-dimensional (3-D) movement of the oil from depth. Approximately half of the released oil reached the surface (Federal Interagency Solutions Group, 2010;Passow and Hetland, 2016) as a weathered, reddish-brown substance, less cohesive compared to crude oil (Peterson et al, 2012). The other half formed a deepwater plume that settled at approximately 1,100 m (Diercks et al, 2010), where it was advected by midwater and deep-sea currents (Camilli et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%