Researchers optically tracked 600 biodegradable bamboo plates floating in the Gulf of Mexico for 2.5 hours to better understand how small-scale currents (scales of minutes and meters) affect surface dispersion.
Scientists employed autonomous underwater vehicle-borne seismo-acoustics and photography to provide insights into the origins, dynamics, and evolution of an active hydrocarbon seep in the Green Canyon Lease Block 600 (GC600).
Scientists compared laboratory-generated weathered oil with weathered oil samples collected during Deepwater Horizon to better understand how different processes, specifically photo-oxidation and bio-oxidation, affect how oil changes chemically and physically.
Scientists compared oil biodegradation model parameters and ran simulations to understand the relative importance of variables that affect predictions for oil fate from a deep-water release.
University of New Orleans doctoral student Kendal Leftwich, who is a member of the LADC-GEMM research consortium investigating how Deepwater Horizon affected large marine mammals, created and implemented a year-long physics methodology to engage high school students in university research.
Scientists synthesized data from 53 peer-reviewed laboratory studies that investigated how Deepwater Horizon oil may affect 20 ray-fin fish species.
University and industry scientists are developing a benign alternative to chemical dispersants used for oil spill response, such as COREXIT used during Deepwater Horizon.
Researchers examined the biological and physiological response of phytoplankton to oil and oil plus dispersant in laboratory experiments.
Scientist John Taylor with the University of Cambridge analyzed simulations of small-scale fronts (<10 kilometers across) to better understand how they influence buoyant material transport across the ocean.
Scientists analyzed radiocarbon isotopes, which identify the source of carbons in compounds such as oil and methane, and applied those “fingerprints” to quantify recovery of deep-seafloor sediment contaminated by Deepwater Horizon.