Towards an Understanding of the Evolution (Fate and Transport) of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Abstract

ABSTRACT 2017-192 While examination of the question “what happened to the oil?” has been undertaken on other oil spills, the wealth of data from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident presents a unique opportunity to deeply examine this question. To do so, several investigative threads need to be pulled together. In this paper, results from several relevant data sets and related studies and published papers pertaining to the behavior and fate of oil released from the Macondo well during the accident will be discussed. These data sets include: 1) analysis of the weathering processes, changes in chemistry, and partitioning of oil components that occurred and 2) data on the concentrations and movement of oil in the water, on the surface, and to the shoreline that created various “footprints” over time. The available data on water column chemistry, distributions, and partitioning; water chemistry related to surface oil distributions over time; biodegradation; sediment chemistry and distributions; and fate of the oil on the shoreline are all essential to this effort. This presentation will present a high-level, data-driven overview of the fate of the oil.