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Offshore oceanic impacts from the BP oil spill

Nature Geoscience volume 3, page 446 (2010)Cite this article

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This April's events contrast markedly with earlier massive spills in the US, such as the Exxon Valdez accident in 19891 and the Santa Barbara spill in 19692, both of which released oil directly into the near-surface ocean. The resultant slicks were mainly influenced by surface winds and currents, and much of the oil was either washed up on beaches — 40% for the Exxon Valdez — or removed with skimmers. The 1978 Ixtoc oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was caused by a blowout at the seafloor3. Although the blowout only occurred at a depth of 70 m, it continued for nine months. Controlling the BP blowout — which is located at a depth of 1,667 m and around 80 km from the coast — is likely to take much longer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, 30602-3636, Georgia, USA

    Samantha Joye

  2. Department of Oceanography, Florida State University, PO Box 3064326, Tallahassee, 32306, Florida, USA

    Ian MacDonald

Authors
  1. Samantha Joye
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  2. Ian MacDonald
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Correspondence to Samantha Joye or Ian MacDonald.

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Joye, S., MacDonald, I. Offshore oceanic impacts from the BP oil spill. Nature Geosci 3, 446 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo902

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