title: Tracking hydrocarbon plume transport and biodegradation at Deepwater Horizon.
abstract: The Deepwater Horizon blowout is the largest offshore oil spill in history. We present results from a subsurface hydrocarbon survey using an autonomous underwater vehicle and a ship-cabled sampler. Our findings indicate the presence of a continuous plume of oil, more than 35 kilometers in length, at approximately 1100 meters depth that persisted for months without substantial biodegradation. Samples collected from within the plume reveal monoaromatic petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations in excess of 50 micrograms per liter. These data indicate that monoaromatic input to this plume was at least 5500 kilograms per day, which is more than double the total source rate of all natural seeps of the monoaromatic petroleum hydrocarbons in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Dissolved oxygen concentrations suggest that microbial respiration rates within the plume were not appreciably more than 1 micromolar oxygen per day.
authors: Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA. rcamilli@whoi.edu
authors: Richard
authors: R
authors: Camilli
authors: Christopher M
authors: CM
authors: Reddy
authors: Dana R
authors: DR
authors: Yoerger
authors: Benjamin A S
authors: BA
authors: Van Mooy
authors: Michael V
authors: MV
authors: Jakuba
authors: James C
authors: JC
authors: Kinsey
authors: Cameron P
authors: CP
authors: McIntyre
authors: Sean P
authors: SP
authors: Sylva
authors: James V
authors: JV
authors: Maloney
mesh_terms: D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000378:metabolism; D010578:Petroleum / Q000378:metabolism; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D006838:Hydrocarbons; D010578:Petroleum; D014873:Water Pollutants