Hands Across the Sands 'Hammock Coast' Pawleys Island, SC.m4v

At high noon on Pawleys Island, SC, Saturday, June 26, young and old joined hands as part of a global response to the Gulf Coast oil spill disaster. Perri Runion of Pawleys Island said she led the gathering as a protest against off-shore oil drilling. "People are joining hands her and around the globe to say 'no' to expanded off-shore drilling and 'yes' to renewable energy," said Runion, who is outdoor programs and marketing director for Surf the Earth, main event sponsor, along with various environmental groups. Meeting in Myrtle Beach to the north, more than 95 members and guests of the Grand Strand Technology Council heard two Coastal Carolina University professors talk about the "remotely" possible impact of the Gulf oil spill disaster on local beaches and marshes on the Atlantic Coastal waters of Horry and Georgetown counties. Speaking at a conference at at the Conference Center at Horry-Georgetown Technical College Grand Strand Campus Thursday night, June 24, Dr. Louis Keiner, talked about "Ocean Currents and Modeling," and Dr. Jim Luken, spoke on "Wetlands Ecology." Dr. Keiner said if the Gulf Stream swings up close to the Grand Strand, then tar balls carried by the flow will be constrained by the outer continental shelf and the inner shelf, meaning at least an 80-mile buffer along Myrtle Beach beaches, compared to being much closer to eastern Florida coastal areas. Dr. Luken said the nearby coast of South Carolina contains numerous salt-marshes. "These marshes are often connected to the ocean by tidal inlets," he said. "Damaged coastal marshes can cause a fouling of leaf tissue, which stops gas exchange." Having oil on the soil surface limits oxygen availability, Dr. Luken said. "However, depending on amount and timing of oil deposition, plants may recover. Salt marsh recovers faster than mangroves, which are more frequently found in Florida." The CCU professor said there can be direct toxic effects to plant tissue, and talked about some lessons learned from the Exxon Valdez Disaster, when two researchers, Y. Rosen and P. Henderson, said cleaning up oil is tough at the beginning and gets harder every day. "The first job is to contain a spill, a nearly impossible task in the real world." Luken said the fates of spilled oil include evaporation, surface run-off, soil penetration and biodegradation. "These are complex processes of water-in-oil emulsion and particle deposition as the mixture disperses. Released oil can be weathered and dispersed, evaporated, oxidized, biodegraded or emulsified forming sort of a chocolate mousse of water in oil." Summing up the process, Luken said immediately after release into the environment, oil begins to move, weather and experiences changes in physical and chemical properties. "These effects vary with the type of oil--light oil such as jet fuel or diesel, medium oils found in most crude and heavy crude," Luken said. "Such effects are controlled by exposure time and oil concentration." A 3.2 YouTube video tells this Grand Strand tech story, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dgywTjjCoE

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Gulf
• coast
• oil
• spill
• Deepwater
• Horizon
• wetlands
• marsh
• mangrove
• Louisiana
• plants
• dispersants
• burning
• biostimulation
• clean
• wetlandfoundation

[CoastalDigital]

Dedicated by residents of South Carolina to the efforts of citizens and businesses in the Gulf who are dealing with this Deepwater Horizon spill. Our prayers are with you each day . May reason prevail.

[Grantalonus]

As a very frequent visitor, Pawleys is in my thoughts every day. Let's all hope for the best for every resident in the Southeast being affected by this debacle!