Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative

Here are highlights from selected GoMRI-funded peer-reviewed publications related to advancements in knowledge about physical ocean processes that affect how an oil spill moves.

Hydrocarbon-degrading microbes living in ocean environments consumed and metabolized oil droplets following Deepwater Horizon, which significantly influenced the oil’s fate in the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil spilled in the ocean can sink to the seafloor due to its high density or by attaching to floating particulate matter, as happened during the Marine Oil Snow Sedimentation and Flocculent Accumulation (MOSSFA) event following Deepwater Horizon.

Technical advances in genomics since Deepwater Horizon have revealed the natural capacity of microbes to catalyze bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbons.

April 2020 marks ten years since the tragic Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico. It also marks a decade of oil spill research that followed funded by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiate (GoMRI), resulting in more than 1,350 peer-reviews studies published so far, that are helping us understand the oil’s fate and impacts and be better prepared for future spills.