Researchers confirm subsea Gulf oil plumes are from BP well

[kpete]

Source: McClatchy

By Sara Kennedy
McClatchy Newspapers

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Through a chemical fingerprinting process, University of South Florida researchers have definitively linked clouds of underwater oil in the northern Gulf of Mexico to BP's runaway Deepwater Horizon well — the first direct scientific link between the subsurface oil clouds commonly known as "plumes" and the BP oil spill, USF officials said Friday.

Until now, scientists had circumstantial evidence, but lacked that definitive scientific link.

The announcement came on the same day that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that its researchers have confirmed the existence of the subsea plumes at depths of 3,300 to 4,300 feet below the surface of the Gulf. NOAA said its detection equipment also implicated the BP well in the plumes' creation.

Together, the two studies confirm what in the early days of the spill was denied by BP and viewed skeptically by NOAA's chief — that much of the crude that gushed from the Deepwater Horizon well stayed beneath the surface of the water.




Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/23/1744612/researchers-confirm-subsea-gulf.html#ixzz0uZ6i6x5g

[lovuian]

1. Gotcha BP

now we have more evidence

[defendandprotect]

2. K&R --

good to see McClatchy is still around --


"It has gone from a two-dimensional disaster to a three-dimensional catastrophe."

Don't really understand all the significance of that -- but it certainly is true that we

seem to have no clue when we do things how they might all compound -- but what is obvious

is that this disrespect for nature and animal-life has to be stopped before anything this

suicidal is ever done again.

50,000 oil rigs in the Gulf -- !!! The ocean floor must be MESH about now!!

[EFerrari]

3. And still these criminals remain in charge of the operation.

Disgusting.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Wow. Some researchers that BP was not able to buy up.

[Powdered Toast Man]

5. Well... DUH! n/t

[Snazzy]

6. Who burrowed-in at NOAA anyway?

Some sort of Bush malfeasance with this whole deal. 10 years ago, as far as I know, it was just science.

[destes]

11. If one's goal is to debunk global warming..........

........it's helpful to appoint cronies to the NOAA. How convenient that they're still around when one needs to spin a spill.

[XemaSab]

7. There's a big shocker

:eyes:

[waronbanks]

8. Now how long before we find out the oil they have seen

coming up from the sea floor some 2 miles away IS from the pressure building and forcing the oil and methane gas under the sea floor and is ready to blast through at any moment. They have all assured us that oil is not related to the well. Lying scum. They dont care if they blow the whole Gulf of Mexico up. They'll keep lying to cover up the damage this has done until the bitter end.

They (both BP AND our government) just DO NOT CARE.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

9. How could BP be left in charge of this catastrophe? Can somebody explain that?

[wuvuj]

10. I'd say the dispersants injected...

...at the well caused the oil/water mix to stay below the surface. Probably have been used to "hide" oil leaks before?

Only good thing is that it keeps the oil off the surface and off the beaches and marshes...away from birds and animals that breath on the surface?

But what microbe is going to be able to digest this poisonous mix?

[DCBob]

12. That is exactly what I was thinking.. the dispersants have kept the oil below the surface..

Hard to say which is worse at this point. Best case scenario the "dispersed" oil will get degraded over time by microbes and other organisms. Worst case it will just hang there and kill off living creatures in the Gulf for years. It might also at some point reemerge to the surface fouling the coastlines for who knows how long. Regardless it sounds like a serious problem for which BP needs to be held accountable.

[Lasher]

13. Yes, that's just what's happened.

From the article linked in the OP:

The finding is important because oil that escaped from the mile-deep, blown-out well had been treated with dispersants, which broke the oil in the water column into tiny droplets, and therefore did not form an oil slick at the surface, said Richard H. Pierce, senior scientist and director of the Center for Ecotoxicology at Sarasota's Mote Marine Laboratory.

"It's more readily taken up and absorbed and ingested by marine animals," he explained.

Although dispersed oil degrades more quickly over the long-run, in the short-term, it poses a more toxic threat to marine life, Pierce said.

In addition to keeping at least some of the oil from our shores and surface creatures, faster degradation is an advantage.