Sustained Deposition of Contaminants From the Deepwater Horizon Spill

Authors

Beizhan Yan, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia UniversityFollow
Uta Passow, University of California, Santa BarbaraFollow
Jeffrey P. Chanton, Florida State University
Eva-Maria Nöthig, Alfred Wegener Institute
Vernon Asper, University of Southern MississippiFollow
Julia Sweet, University of California, Santa Barbara
Masha Pitiranggon, Lamont-Dohery Earth Observatory of Columbia UniversityFollow
Arne Diercks, University of Southern MississippiFollow
Dorothy Pak, University of California, Santa Barbar

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-14-2016

Department

Marine Science

School

Ocean Science and Engineering

Abstract

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill resulted in 1.6–2.6 × 10¹⁰ grams of petrocarbon accumulation on the seafloor. Data from a deep sediment trap, deployed 7.4 km SW of the well between August 2010 and October 2011, disclose that the sinking of spill-associated substances, mediated by marine particles, especially phytoplankton, continued at least 5 mo following the capping of the well. In August/September 2010, an exceptionally large diatom bloom sedimentation event coincided with elevated sinking rates of oil-derived hydrocarbons, black carbon, and two key components of drilling mud, barium and olefins. Barium remained in the water column for months and even entered pelagic food webs. Both saturated and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon source indicators corroborate a predominant contribution of crude oil to the sinking hydrocarbons. Cosedimentation with diatoms accumulated contaminants that were dispersed in the water column and transported them downward, where they were concentrated into the upper centimeters of the seafloor, potentially leading to sustained impact on benthic ecosystems.

Comments

Originally published at 10.1073/pnas.1513156113

Publication Title

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Volume

113

Issue

24

First Page

E3332

Last Page

E3340

Recommended Citation

Yan, B., Passow, U., Chanton, J. P., Nöthig, E., Asper, V., Sweet, J., Pitiranggon, M., Diercks, A., Pak, D. (2016). Sustained Deposition of Contaminants From the Deepwater Horizon Spill. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113(24), E3332-E3340.
Available at: https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/16792