Deepwater Horizon oil spill: From the pipe to the beaches

Over 171 million gallons of crude oil was released from the broken riser pipe in the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Nature changed the oil's composition as it traveled 5000 feet to the surface and floated in the Gulf of Mexico. Whereas its much harder to find traces of the disaster one year later, petroleum hydrocarbons continue to exist and provide invaluable clues on how nature responds to uninvited guests. Come see recent work on sand patties collected on the Gulf of Mexico beaches--What compounds are present, what is left, how did it happen, and why is this important?

Christopher Reddy is a Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and served at the oil spill headquarters in 2010 as a liaison between scientists, the media, BP officials, and US Coast Guard command staff. He has studied oil spills from World War II wrecks, the 1969 spill in West Falmouth, and the 2010 BP Gulf Oil Spill, given congressional testimonies, and published over 110 peer reviewed articles and book chapters on environmental chemistry.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• crude
• oil
• gulf
• mexico
• deepwater
• horizon
• disaster
• nature
• composition
• beach
• petroleum
• hydrocarbons
• sand
• patties
• compounds
• woods
• hole
• oceanographic
• institution
• BP