Deep-C Scientists Study the Fate of Oil in the Gulf of Mexico
Oil that has mixed with sand creates "sand patties" that can be found on the beaches along the Gulf of Mexico. This sample and many more are part of a comprehensive effort by researchers from the FSU Magnet Lab and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). The goal of this work is to determine the extent of weathering or how the oil has changed with time. (Scientists note that they can “fingerprint” the hydrocarbon residues in these sand patties back to the Macondo well, but they occasionally find oiled samples that are not from the Deepwater Horizon disaster). In addition, they have shared these samples with scientists from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, University of California at Santa Barbara, and the University of Plymouth (UK) as well as students working in the WHOI lab from Spain and Switzerland. These groups and individuals are investigating the samples with a variety of tools, each designed to focus on different weathering processes.
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Two years ago, in the wake of an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, thousands of barrels of crude oil were flowing into the ocean daily from a damaged well about 40 miles southeast of the Louisiana coast. The flow of oil would continue for nearly three months while scientists and engineers worked to cap the Macondo well, and the disaster would eventually become the largest accidental marine oil spill in history.
As the Deepwater Horizon accident was unfolding, Deep-C scientists were among those who worked feverishly to determine how much oil was being discharged into the environment and where it was going. In the immediate aftermath of the blowout, experts from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and other Deep-C institutions worked to collect urgently needed samples and data. This data would assist investigators, other scientists, and engineers in their oil spill response efforts.
Today, the process of gathering and analyzing information about the fate of the Deepwater Horizon oil carries on. Deep-C researchers continue to work in the areas affected by the spill studying the long-term fate and effects of petroleum hydrocarbons in the Gulf.
Over the past two years, marine chemist Chris Reddy and other members of the WHOI lab have visited and revisited sites along the Gulf Coast that were affected by the spill. Reddy looks for samples of Deepwater Horizon oil that have mixed with sand to create what he refers to as "sand patties" on the beaches.
"Grand Isle, Louisiana was one of the areas heavily oiled after the blowout." Reddy explains. "And despite an excellent clean-up effort, we can still find small samples on the beaches there."
So in a recent visit, Reddy collected samples on the beaches of Grand Isle to determine if they contained oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill. Reddy notes that oil from the Macondo well has an orange tint to it that you can still see if you look for it. And his lab confirmed that the samples collected at Grand Isle in April 2012 did, in fact, contain Macondo well oil.
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