C-IMAGE Launches Beneath the Horizon Interactive Website – JUNE 8, 2017 (From Spring 2017 Newsletter) On April 20, 2017, the seventh anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Center for the Integrated Modeling and Analysis of the Gulf Ecosystem (C-IMAGE) launched a new website called Beneath the Horizon (BeneaththeHorizon. org). The interactive site shares…
Scientists analyzed sediment cores from two sites near the Macondo wellhead to characterize possible spill impacts on benthic foraminifera (single celled organisms with a hard shell). The team found elevated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations and a significant decrease in density and species diversity for foraminifera.
A 12-day science expedition on the exploration vessel Ocean Intervention II embarks June 11 to investigate how oil, gas, and chemical dispersants affect marine life and their environment deep in the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists and outreach personnel onboard the vessel will interact with the public and school-age children using streaming video, social media, and question-and-answer sessions.
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico resulted in the deaths of 11 oil rig workers and ultimately the largest marine oil spill in history. As this environmental disaster recedes into history, researchers from institutions across the U.S. continue to study its enduring ecological impacts.
Instruments already exist that measure ocean currents, and others that measure wind, such as NASA’s QuickScat and RapidScat. But a new, airborne radar instrument developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is able to measure both.
Trust in scientific findings is especially important when the research relates to your livelihood and health as it did for commercial and recreational fishing communities after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Many scientists conducting early studies on the spill believed that they were considered trustworthy, like firemen and policemen. However, it became apparent as the spill unfolded that the relationship of the public, science, and trust was complex and sometimes on shaky ground.
Scientists conducted genetic sequencing on bacteria to document the oil-associated groups in sediment affected by marine oil snow post-Deepwater Horizon. The researchers observed increases in bacteria that degrade aerobic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and anaerobic sulfate-reducing bacteria in sediment collected from September-November 2010.
The Deepwater Horizon event highlighted the need for more economical and ecofriendly methods to accurately track and study ocean currents. Scientists with the Consortium for Advanced Research on Transport of Hydrocarbon in the Environment II (CARTHE II) spent two years testing different structures and materials to develop a practical, cost-efficient, and biodegradable drifter design.
Scientists tested a new analytical method for a fast and comprehensive characterization of organic compounds in marine sediments. The Rapid Analyte Detection and Reconnaissance (RADAR) method couples atmospheric pressure photoionization in positive ion mode (APPI-P) with Fourier transform ion cyclotron mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS).
The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) is pleased to announce new Sea Grant informational brochures on two popular marine animals – sea turtles and dolphins – that many people were concerned about after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Now seven years later, scientists have a better understanding about how they fared.