Part II - Oil in the environment
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2013
Summary
Introduction
When oil is spilled into a marine environment, it immediately begins to undergo changes in its form and constituents as it is moved by wind, waves, and currents to other places. If the spill occurs close to land, some of the oil will be deposited on shorelines. Over time, much of the deposited oil is removed by cleanup efforts, bioremediation, or natural processes. Some of the oil may end up beneath the shoreline surface, particularly in locations sheltered from natural weathering. Understanding what happens to spilled oil and the forces affecting its fate is an essential prerequisite to assessing its potential effects on valued natural and cultural resources. That is the focus of the chapters in this section.
In Chapter 3, Paul Boehm, Jerry Neff, and David Page describe the physical and chemical factors that affect oil in water and how these factors came into play in the Exxon Valdez spill. As the oil changes and undergoes weathering over time, it is essential to sample the composition of the oil. This requires careful attention to sampling design. In the Exxon Valdez spill, intensive sampling of the water column showed that perhaps one quarter of the spilled oil evaporated from the water’s surface within a few days, and concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) had returned to background levels within a few months.
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- Oil in the EnvironmentLegacies and Lessons of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, pp. 54 - 56Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2013