Tracking the H ercules 265 marine gas well blowout in the G ulf of M exico
| Autor: | Bryan J. O'Malley, Tamay M. Özgökmen, Isabel C. Romero, Shuyi S. Chen, Patrick Schwing, María J. Olascoaga, Francisco J. Beron-Vera, Dana L. Wetzel, Steven A. Murawski, Susan M. Snyder, David J. Hollander, Ping Zhu, Edward H. Ryan |
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| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
chemistry.chemical_classification
Pollution 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences biology media_common.quotation_subject Sediment Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon 010501 environmental sciences Oceanography biology.organism_classification 01 natural sciences Demersal zone Plume Foraminifera Drifter Geophysics chemistry Space and Planetary Science Geochemistry and Petrology Indicator species Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) Environmental science 0105 earth and related environmental sciences media_common |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. 121:706-724 |
| ISSN: | 2169-9291 2169-9275 |
| Popis: | On 23 July 2013, a marine gas rig (Hercules 265) ignited in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The rig burned out of control for 2 days before being extinguished. We conducted a rapid-response sampling campaign near Hercules 265 after the fire to ascertain if sediments and fishes were polluted above earlier baseline levels. A surface drifter study confirmed that surface ocean water flowed to the southeast of the Hercules site, while the atmospheric plume generated by the blowout was in eastward direction. Sediment cores were collected to the SE of the rig at a distance of ∼0.2, 8, and 18 km using a multicorer, and demersal fishes were collected from ∼0.2 to 8 km SE of the rig using a longline (508 hooks). Recently deposited sediments document that only high molecular weight (HMW) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations decreased with increasing distance from the rig suggesting higher pyrogenic inputs associated with the blowout. A similar trend was observed in the foraminifera Haynesina germanica, an indicator species of pollution. In red snapper bile, only HMW PAH metabolites increased in 2013 nearly double those from 2012. Both surface sediments and fish bile analyses suggest that, in the aftermath of the blowout, increased concentration of pyrogenically derived hydrocarbons was transported and deposited in the environment. This study further emphasizes the need for an ocean observing system and coordinated rapid-response efforts from an array of scientific disciplines to effectively assess environmental impacts resulting from accidental releases of oil contaminants. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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