Dissolution of anthropogenic and natural hydrogen sulfide in deep-ocean conditions

Abstract

ABSTRACT Natural and anthropogenic event information helped to simulate the physical–chemical behavior of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in a deep oil spill and a hypothetical deep-ocean hydrothermal discharge. This research led to the development of the Lagrangian model of the discharge plumes in both cases and also analyzed the profiles of the H2S concentration at different depths taking into account its dissolution in ocean water and oceanographic conditions, such as thermohaline stratification, current fields, as well as the characteristics of the spilled hydrocarbon and the hydrothermal. The results revealed a first approximation in the identification of the dynamic behavior of the concentration profiles of H2S as a function of the oceanographic conditions. Hydrogen sulfide concentrations vary between natural and anthropogenic discharges at various depths, leading to a numerical model for applying in chemical oceanography.