Mystery Solved of What Happened to Oil from Deepwater Horizon Spill

Started by Solar, June 30, 2017, 09:23:11 AM

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Solar

But amazingly, the oil virtually disappeared on its own, leading to various explanations. One explanation was that natural causes — oil-eating microbes had done the trick.

Now, because of the work of Anderson and others, the oil-degrading bacteria has been identified, and the explanation has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, under the rather lengthy title, "Simulation of Deepwater Horizon oil plume reveals substrate specialization within a complex community of hydrocarbon-degraders."

"We simulated the conditions of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in the lab and were able to understand the mechanisms for oil degradation from all of the principal oil-degrading bacteria that were observed in the original oil spill."

After a 64-day study, Anderson summarized the results. "Our study demonstrated the importance of using dispersants in producing neutrally buoyant, tiny oil droplets, which kept much of the oil from reaching the ocean surface. Naturally occurring microbes at this depth are highly specialized in growing by using specific components of the oil for their food source. So the oil droplets provided a large surface area for the microbes to chew up the oil."

The practical result of this study is the what to do about oil spills in the future, Anderson explained. "We now have the capability to identify the specific organisms that would naturally degrade the oil if spills occurred in other regions and to calculate the rates of the oil degradation to figure out how long it would take to consume the spilled oil at depth."

It is unclear whether these microbes exist in other climate zones, such as Alaska. "The Gulf of Mexico is home to one of the largest concentrations of underwater hydrocarbon seeps, and it has been speculated that this helped in the selection of oil-degrading microbes that were observed in the underwater plumes.... Our greatest hope would be that there were no oil spills in the future. But having the ability to manipulate conditions in the laboratory could potentially allow us to develop new insights for mitigating their impact."

https://www.thenewamerican.com/tech/environment/item/26369-mystery-solved-of-what-happened-to-oil-from-deepwater-horizon-spill
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Hoofer

BP ought to ask for that fine money BACK!

They were feeding beneficial microbes for future spills.

BP is the new Environmentalist Superstar!!!   Captain Planet - move over, there's a new kid on the block!   :ttoung:
All animals are created equal; Some just take longer to cook.   Survival is keeping an eye on those around you...

Solar

Quote from: Hoofer on June 30, 2017, 02:46:07 PM
BP ought to ask for that fine money BACK!

They were feeding beneficial microbes for future spills.

BP is the new Environmentalist Superstar!!!   Captain Planet - move over, there's a new kid on the block!   :ttoung:
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Hoofer

Quote from: Solar on June 30, 2017, 06:28:08 PM
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Keep those little friggin' bugs away from our oil reserves!   That's all we need, bacterial contamination of an energy rich resource.
All animals are created equal; Some just take longer to cook.   Survival is keeping an eye on those around you...

Solar

Quote from: Hoofer on July 01, 2017, 05:49:17 AM
Keep those little friggin' bugs away from our oil reserves!   That's all we need, bacterial contamination of an energy rich resource.

Just think, the worst oil spill in history, and not a drop to be found at sea?
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