Journal
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Volume 114, Issue 1, Pages 327-342Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.09.046
Keywords
Submerged oil; Benthic exposure; Chemical fingerprinting; Fallout plume; Hopane; PAH
Funding
- NOAA
Ask authors/readers for more resources
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 226 metric tons, derived from 219,000 to 247,000 barrels of oil; or 6.9 to 7.7% of the 3.19 million barrels spilled. Macondo-derived hopane was deposited over 1030 to 1910 km(2) of the seafloor, mostly (>97%) in surface (0-1 cm) and near-surface (1-3 cm) 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 (similar to 80 to 90%) than in 2010/2011, affirming an acute impact from the spill and not long-term deposition from natural seeps. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available