New Analysis: The First Day of an Oil Spill on the Open Sea
© 2014 EPFL
In a study just published in Environmental Science & Technology, Jonas Gros and Deedar Nabi report detailed field measurements and computer simulations of chemical changes in an oil slick during the first day of an open-ocean oil spill.
The study is the first to report on detailed compositional measurements during the initial day of a sea surface oil spill, because scientists usually do not arrive within a few hours after an accidental release. However the first hours and days of an oil spill are likely the period of highest hydrocarbon concentration levels in the water column. So the early evaporation and dissolution behavior of oil is crucial for determining the early hydrocarbon exposures of marine organisms.