Impacts of the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spilling on the Gulf Coastal Salt Marsh and its Carbon Sequestration Capacity

Abstract

The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill is one of the largest marine oil discharges in the United States [1]. The DWH oil spill released 4,900,000 barrels of crude oil into the northern Gulf of Mexico for the duration of 87 days. The proliferation of the oil discharge reached to more than 650 miles of the Gulf coastal habitats [2]. The wetlands of northern Gulf of Mexico were severely damaged with significant oiling to vegetation, soil, and wildlife. Although immediate short-term impacts of the DWH oil spill on coastal wetland vegetation are obvious, the long-term ecological impacts and recovery from this oil spill are practically unknown. The crude-oil deposition can have a dominant impact on the wetland ability to sequester carbon.