Assessing the footprint and volume of oil deposited in deep-sea sediments following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The lateral and vertical extents of Macondo oil in deep-sea sediments resulting from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill were determined using chemical forensics and geostatistical kriging of data from 2397 sediment samples from 875 cores collected in 2010/2011 and 2014. The total mass of Macondo-derived hopane on the seafloor in 2010/2011 was conservatively estimated between 2.00 and 2.26metric tons, derived from 219,000 to 247,000barrels of oil; or 6.9 to 7.7% of the 3.19millionbarrels spilled. Macondo-derived hopane was deposited over 1030 to 1910km2of the seafloor, mostly (>97%) in surface (0-1cm) and near-surface (1-3cm) sediments, which is consistent with short-term oil deposition. Although Macondo oil was still present in surface sediments in 2014, the total mass of Macondo-derived hopane was significantly lower (~80 to 90%) than in 2010/2011, affirming an acute impact from the spill and not long-term deposition from natural seeps.
NewFields Environmental Forensics Practice, LLC, 300 Ledgewood Pl., Suite 305, Rockland, MA, United States. Electronic address: sstout@newfields.com.
Scott A
SA
Stout
NewFields Atlanta, LLC, 1349 W. Peachtree St., Suite 2000, Atlanta, GA, United States.
Shahrokh
S
Rouhani
NewFields Environmental Forensics Practice, LLC, 300 Ledgewood Pl., Suite 305, Rockland, MA, United States.
Bo
B
Liu
NewFields Atlanta, LLC, 1349 W. Peachtree St., Suite 2000, Atlanta, GA, United States.
Jacob
J
Oehrig
NOAA, Assessment and Restoration Division, 1410 Neotomas Ave., Suite 110, Santa Rosa, CA, United States.
Robert W
RW
Ricker
NOAA, Assessment and Restoration Division, 345 Middlefield Rd., MS-999 Menlo Park, CA, United States.
Gregory
G
Baker
Industrial Economics, Incorporated, 2067 Massachusetts Ave., 4th Floor, Cambridge, MA, United States.
Christopher
C
Lewis
D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D060851:Gulf of America; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D061329:Oil and Gas Fields; D059392:Petroleum Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry; D062206:Spatial Analysis; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
Benthic exposure; Chemical fingerprinting; Fallout plume; Hopane; PAH; Submerged oil