Oil spill

Oil Spill

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Oil spill

An oil spill is the release of a liquid

Liquid

Liquid is one of the principal states of matter. A liquid is a fluid that has the particles loose and can freely form a distinct surface at the boundaries of its bulk material....
petroleum

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds....
hydrocarbon

Hydrocarbon

In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. With relation to chemical terminology, aromatic hydrocarbons or arenes, alkanes, alkenes and alkyne-based compounds composed entirely of carbon or hydrogen are referred to as "pure" hydrocarbons, whereas other hydrocarbons with bonded com...
into the environment due to human activity, and is a form of pollution

Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms ....
. The term often refers to marine

Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology....
oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean

Ocean

An ocean is a major body of Seawater, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a World Ocean that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas....
or coastal waters. The oil may be a variety of materials, including crude oil, refined petroleum products (such as gasoline

Gasoline

File:GasCan.jpgGasoline or petrol is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture, primarily used as fuel in internal combustion engines.It consists mostly of aliphatic hydrocarbons, enhanced with iso-octane or the aromatic hydrocarbons toluene and benzene to increase its octane rating....
or diesel fuel) or by-products, ship

Ship

A ship is a large watercraft that floats on water. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size. Ships may be found on lakes, seas, and rivers and they allow for a variety of activities, such as the ferry or cargo ships, fishing, cruise ship, Coast guard, and warship....
s' bunkers, oily refuse or oil mixed in waste

WASTE

WASTE is a peer-to-peer and friend-to-friend protocol and software application developed by Justin Frankel at Nullsoft in 2003 that features instant messaging, chat rooms and file browsing/sharing capabilities....
. Spills take months or even years to clean up.

Oil is also released into the environment from natural geologic seeps on the sea floor.

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Environmental effects

The oil penetrates and opens up the structure of the plumage

Plumage

Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season....
of birds, reducing its insulating ability, and so making the birds more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant

Buoyancy

In physics, buoyancy is the upward force that keeps things afloat. The net upward buoyancy force is equal to the magnitude of the weight of fluid displaced by the body....
in the water. It also impairs birds' flight abilities, making it difficult or impossible to forage and escape from predators. As they attempt to preen, birds typically ingest oil that coats their feathers, causing kidney

Kidney

The kidneys are Organ that have numerous biological roles. Their primary role is to maintain the homeostasis balance of bodily fluids by filtering and secreting Metabolomics#Metabolitess and minerals from the blood and excreting them, along with water , as urine....
damage, altered liver

Liver

The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals; it has a wide range of functions, a few of which are detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion....
function, and digestive tract irritation. This and the limited foraging ability quickly causes dehydration

Dehydration

Dehydration is the removal of water from an object. In Physiology terms, it entails a relative deficiency of water molecules in relation to other dissolved solutes....
and metabolic

Metabolism

Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that occur in living organisms in order to maintain life. These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments....
imbalances. Hormonal balance alteration including changes in luteinizing protein can also result in some birds exposed to petroleum. Most birds affected by an oil spill die unless there is human intervention.

Marine mammal

Marine mammal

Marine mammals are a diverse group of roughly 120 species of mammal that are primarily ocean-dwelling or depend on the ocean for food. They include the cetaceans , the sirenians , the pinnipeds , and several otters ....
s exposed to oil spills are affected in similar ways as seabirds. Oil coats the fur of Sea otters and seals

Pinniped

Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae ....
, reducing its insulation abilities and leading to body temperature fluctuations and hypothermia

Hypothermia

Hypothermia is a condition in which an organism's temperature drops below that required for normal metabolism and bodily functions. In warm-blooded animals, core body temperature is maintained near a constant level through biologic homeostasis....
. Ingestion of the oil causes dehydration and impaired digestions.

Methods of cleaning

A sheen is usually dispersed (but not cleaned up) with detergents which makes oil settle to the bottom. Oils that are denser than water, such as Polychlorinated biphenyl

Polychlorinated biphenyl

Polychlorinated biphenyls are a class of organic compounds with 1 to 10 chlorine atoms attached to biphenyl which is a molecule composed of two benzene rings each containing six carbon atoms....
s (PCBs), can be more difficult to clean as they make the seabed toxic.

Methods for cleaning up include:

Bioremediation
Bioremediation

Bioremediation can be defined as any process that uses microorganisms, fungi, phytoremediation or their enzymes to return the natural environment altered by contaminants to its original condition....
: use of microorganism
Microorganism

A microorganism or microbe is an organism that is microscopic . The study of microorganisms is called microbiology, a subject that began with Anton van Leeuwenhoek's discovery of microorganisms in 1675, using a microscope of his own design....
s or biological agents to break down or remove oil
Bioremediation Accelerator: Oleophilic, hydrophobic chemical, containing no bacteria, which chemically and physically bonds to both soluble and insoluble hydrocarbons. The bioremedation accelerator acts as a herding agent in water and on the surface, floating molecules to the surface of the water, including solubles such as phenols and BTEX, forming gel-like agglomerations. Non-detectable levels of hydrocarbons can be obtained in produced water and manageable water columns. By overspraying sheen with bioremediation accelerator, sheen is elimiinated within minutes. Whether applied on land or on water, the nutrient-rich, create a bloom of local, indigenous, pre-existing, hydrocarbon-consuming bacteria, which break down the hydrocarbons into water and carbon dioxide.
Controlled burning can effectively reduce the amount of oil in water, if done properly. But it can only be done in low wind
WIND

The Global Geospace Science WIND satellite is a NASA science spacecraft launched at 04:31:00 EST on November 1, 1994 from launch pad 17B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Merritt_Island%2C_Florida, Florida aboard a McDonnell Douglas Delta II 7925-10 rocket....
, and can cause air pollution
Air pollution

Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or damages the natural environment, into the Earth's atmosphere....
.
Dispersant
Dispersant

A dispersant or a dispersing agent or a plasticizer is either a non-surface active polymer or a surfactant added to a Suspension , usually a colloid, to improve the separation of wiktionary:Particles and to prevent settling or clumping....
s act as detergent
Detergent

A detergent is a material intended to assist cleaning. The term is sometimes used to differentiate between soap and other surfactants used for cleaning....
s, clustering around oil globules and allowing them to be carried away in the water. This improves the surface aesthetically, and mobilizes the oil. Smaller oil droplets, scattered by currents, may cause less harm and may degrade more easily. But the dispersed oil droplets infiltrate into deeper water and can lethally contaminate coral
Coral

Corals are marine organisms from the class Anthozoa and exist as small sea anemone?like polyps, typically in colonies of many identical individuals....
. Recent research indicates that some dispersants are toxic to corals.
Watch and wait: in some cases, nautural attentuation of oil may be most appropriate, due to the invasive nature of facilitated methods of remediation, particularly in ecologically sensitive areas.
Dredging: for oils dispersed with detergents and other oils denser than water.
Skimming
Skimmer (machine)

An oil skimmer is a machine that separates a liquid or particles floating on another liquid. A common application is removing oil floating on water....
: Requires calm waters
Solidifying

Equipment used includes:

Booms: large floating barriers that round up oil and lift the oil off the water
Skimmers
Skimmer (machine)

An oil skimmer is a machine that separates a liquid or particles floating on another liquid. A common application is removing oil floating on water....
: skim the oil
Sorbents: large absorbents that absorb oil
Chemical and biological agents: helps to break down the oil
Vacuums: remove oil from beaches and water surface
Shovel
Shovel

A shovel is a tool for lifting and moving loose material such as coal, gravel, snow, soil, or sand and is an extremely common tool which is used extensively in agriculture, construction and gardening....
s and other road equipments: typically used to clean up oil on beaches

Prevention

Secondary containment - methods to prevent releases of oil or hydrocarbons into environment.
Oil Spill Prevention Containment and Countermeasures (SPCC) program by the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an List of United States federal agencies of the federal government of the United States charged to Regulation of chemicals and protect human health by safeguarding the natural environment: air, water, and land....
.
Double hulling - build double hull
Double hull

A double hull is a ship Hull design and construction method where the bottom and sides of the ship have two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull which is somewhat further into the ship, perhaps a few feet, which forms a redundant barrier to seawater in case...
s into vessels, which reduces the risk and severity of a spill in case of a collision or grounding. Existing single-hull vessels can also be rebuilt to have a double hull.

Estimating the volume of a spill

By observing the thickness of the film of oil and its appearance on the surface of the water, it is possible to estimate the quantity of oil spilled. If the surface area of the spill is also known, the total volume of the oil can be calculated.

Oil spill model systems are used by industry and government to assist in planning and emergency decision making. Of critical importance for the skill of the oil spill model prediction is the adequate description of the wind and current fields. There is a worldwide oil spill modelling (WOSM) program.

	Film thickness		Quantity spread
Appearance	in	mm	gal/sq mi	L/ha
Barely visible	0.0000015	0.0000380	25	0.370
Silvery sheen	0.0000030	0.0000760	50	0.730
First trace of color	0.0000060	0.0001500	100	1.500
Bright bands of color	0.0000120	0.0003000	200	2.900
Colors begin to dull	0.0000400	0.0010000	666	9.700
Colors are much darker	0.0000800	0.0020000	1332	19.500

Largest oil spills

**Oil spills of over 100,000 tons or 30 million US gallons, ordered by tons**
Spill / Tanker	Location	Date	*Tons of crude oil	Reference
Gulf War oil spill Gulf War oil spill The Gulf War oil spill is regarded as the worst oil spill in history, resulting from actions taken during the Gulf War in 1991. It caused considerable damage to wildlife in the Persian Gulf especially in areas surrounding Kuwait and Iraq....	Persian Gulf Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes Persian Gulf naming dispute referred to as the Arabian Gulf by certain Arab countries or simply The Gulf, although nei...	January 23, 1991	136,000 - 1,500,000
Ixtoc I oil well Ixtoc I Ixtoc I was an exploratory oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, about south of the U.S. state of Texas. On June 3, 1979, the well suffered a blowout and is recognised as the second largest oil spill in history....	Gulf of Mexico Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an oceanic basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba....	June 3, 1979–March 23, 1980	454,000 - 480,000
Atlantic Empress Atlantic Empress The *Atlantic Empress* was a Greece oil tanker that was involved in two large oil spills. The spills together are the fourth largest total oil spill on record and the largest ship-based spill.... / Aegean Captain	Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an island country in the southern Caribbean, lying northeast of the South American country of Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles....	July 19, 1979	287,000
Fergana Valley Fergana Valley The Fergana Valley or Farghana Valley is a region in Central Asia spreading across eastern Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Shakhimardan khanate Pamirs Central Asia....	Uzbekistan Uzbekistan Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a Landlocked_country#Doubly_landlocked_country country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union....	March 2, 1992	285,000
Nowruz oil field	Persian Gulf Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes Persian Gulf naming dispute referred to as the Arabian Gulf by certain Arab countries or simply The Gulf, although nei...	February 1983	260,000
ABT Summer	Angola Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordering Namibia to the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, and Zambia to the east, and with a west coast along the Atlantic Ocean....	1991	260,000
Castillo de Bellver	Saldanha Bay Saldanha Bay Saldanha Bay is a natural harbour on the south-western coast of South Africa, north west of Cape Town. The town that developed around the bay, also called Saldanha, was was incorporated with five other towns into the Saldanha Bay Local Municipality in 2000.... , South Africa South Africa The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....	August 6, 1983	252,000
Amoco Cadiz Amoco Cadiz The *Amoco Cadiz* was a VLCC , owned by Amoco, that split in two after running aground on Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany , on March 16, 1978, resulting at that time in the largest oil spill ever, currently the fifth-largest in history ....	Brittany Brittany Brittany is a former independent Celtic nations monarchy and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy.... , France France France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....	March 16, 1978	223,000
Amoco Haven tanker disaster Amoco Haven tanker disaster The M/T Haven , was a VLCC , leased to Troodos Shipping . In 1991, while loaded with 144,000 tonnes of crude oil, the ship exploded, caught fire and sank off the coast of Genoa, Italy, killing six Cyprus crew and flooding the Mediterranean with up to 50,000 tonnes of crude oil....	Mediterranean Sea Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea or Ocean off the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia.... near Genoa Genoa Genoa is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. The city has a population of about 610,000 and the urban area has a population of about 900,000.... , Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....	1991	144,000
Odyssey	Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada.... , Canada Canada Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....	1988	132,000
Sea Star	Gulf of Oman Gulf of Oman The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman , or Gulf of Makran , is a strait that connects the Arabian Sea with the Strait of Hormuz, which then runs to the Persian Gulf....	December 19, 1972	115,000
Torrey Canyon Torrey Canyon The *Torrey Canyon* was a supertanker capable of carrying a cargo of 120,000 tons of crude oil, which was shipwrecked off the western coast of Cornwall England in March 1967 causing an environmental disaster....	Scilly Isles, UK	March 18, 1967	80,000 - 119,000
Irenes Serenade	Navarino Bay, Greece Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkans. It has borders with Albania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the north, and Turkey to the east....	1980	100,000
Urquiola	A Coruña A Coruña A Coru?a is the second largest city in Galicia in northwestern Spain, second only in size to the port of Vigo in the Pontevedra . The city is also the capital of A Coru?a and it was the capital of Galicia from the year 1563 to 1982 when it moved to Santiago de Compostela.... , Spain Spain Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....	May 12, 1976	100,000

One tonne of crude oil is roughly equal to 308 US gallons, or 7.33 barrels.

External links

, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of all aspects of marine science and engineering and to the education of marine researchers....

Oil spill

Environmental effects

Methods of cleaning

Prevention

Estimating the volume of a spill

Largest oil spills

See also

Further reading

External links