22-mile-long plume from Gulf oil spill floats 3,000 feet below surface

(Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

By Stephanie Lam, Aug. 20, 2010
Epoch Times Staff

Scientists have detected a plume of hydrocarbons that is over 22 miles long, 1.2 miles wide, and 650 feet high more than 3,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, and have identified it as residue of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

“In June, we observed the plume migrating slowly [at about 0.17 miles per hour] southwest of the source of the blowout,” said Dr. Richard Camilli of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in a press release.

The researchers tracked the plume from June19-28, until the approach of Hurricane Alex forced them to terminate the study. Data obtained during the time suggest that the plume is much longer than the tracked 22 miles.

The study, published in the journal Science Thursday, found that contrary to previous beliefs, the subsurface plume was biodegrading very slowly, though the researchers said there have been few studies on subsurface oil, so the result may not be representative of the full picture.

At this rate of biodegradation, the researchers think the plume will persist for a long time.

“It is possible that oil could be transported considerable distances from the well before being degraded,” Dr. Benjamin Van Mooy of WHOI said.

The researchers conducted some 57,000 chemical analyses and detected BTEX, a class of petroleum hydrocarbons including benzene, toluene, ethybenzene, and total xylenes, at concentrations of more than 50 micrograms per liter. In addition, there are chemicals in the plume that the researchers are yet able to identify.

“We don’t know how toxic it is,” said Dr. Christopher Reddy of WHOI, “and we don’t know how it formed, or why. But knowing the size, shape, depth, and heading of this plume will be vital for answering many of these questions.”

“With this work we are able to describe the special extent of the plume and one of the interesting characteristics of this plume is that it was stable at approximately 1100 meters water depth. And that’s something that’s a little bit unexpected, and we don’t have any clear indication as to why it set up at that depth,” Dr. Richard Camilli said via teleconference.

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