Journal
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Volume 84, Issue 1-2, Pages 125-134Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.05.027
Keywords
Oil dispersions; Emulsions; Hydrocarbons; Depletion; Biodegradation; Flume basin
Funding
- BP Exploration & Production, Inc.
- BP Gulf Coast Restoration Organization
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Physically and chemically (Corexit 9500) generated Macondo 252 oil dispersions, or emulsions (no Corexit), were prepared in an oil-on-seawater mesocosm flume basin at 30-32 degrees C, and studies of oil compound depletion performed for up to 15 days. The use of Corexit 9500 resulted in smaller median droplet size than in a physically generated dispersion. Rapid evaporation of low boiling point oil compounds (C <= 15) appeared in all the experiments. Biodegradation appeared to be an important depletion process for compounds with higher boiling points in the dispersions, but was negligible in the surface emulsions. While n-alkane biodegradation was faster in chemically than in physically dispersed oil no such differences were determined for 3- and 4-ring PAH compounds. In the oil dispersions prepared by Corexit 9500, increased cell concentrations, reduction in bacterial diversity, and a temporary abundance of bacteria containing an alkB gene were associated with oil biodegradation. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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