Lubchenco cautioned that oil samples needed to be chemically fingerprinted, because of the potential for confusion with
natural oil seeping into the gulf.
«The Gulf is a great place for these bacteria because it has more
natural oil seeps than any other place in the world,» Hazen says.
About 0.6 kilograms of methane emerge each second in the summer, Mumma said, which is comparable to the emissions from
a natural oil seep near Santa Barbara, California.
Hazen, who has studied previous oil spill sites, notes that
natural oil seeps in the region ensure a constant presence of such cold - loving oil - eaters.
In the water above
natural oil seeps in the Gulf of Mexico, where oil and gas bubbles rise almost a mile to break at the surface, scientists have discovered something unusual: phytoplankton, tiny microbes at the base of the marine food chain, are thriving.
«In Gulf Of Mexico, microbes thrive above
natural oil seeps: New insight into how plankton and oil interact.»
It also shows how the Gulf has adapted to
natural oil seeps.
MacDonald had been working on data using satellite images of
natural oil seeps for 10 years and added in the Deepwater Horizon spill work a few years ago.
And more importantly, their data creates a map, showing where the active
natural oil seeps are located.
Researcher Ajit Subramaniam, an oceanographer at Columbia University's Lamont - Doherty Earth Observatory, used the data set to focus on
natural oil seeps and discovered something unusual — phytoplankton, the base of the marine food chain — were thriving in the area of these
natural oil seeps.
We have not yet been to those depths to survey the communities that we know about — mostly
natural oil seep communities, some within 6 miles of the Deepwater Horizon — to see if they have been impacted.
But
natural oil seeps off California...
One we're watching: Reports are emerging that what was initially reported as
a natural oil seep off the coast of Brazil might be coming from a Chevron appraisal well instead.
Not exact matches
When amber necklaces for teething babies are worn against the skin, the
natural warmth of the fossilized resin causes the treatment
oil (Succinic Acid) to
seep into the skin and enter the bloodstream.
The
natural seeps of gas and
oil could contribute to the overall levels in the ocean water, possibly complicating scientists» attempts to understand how much
oil spilled and what the effects will be on the gulf.
But
natural seeps still produce enough
oil and gas that the scientists can smell it at the surface and see the
oil bubbles burst.
The
oil itself does not appear to help the phytoplankton, but the low concentration of
oil found above
natural seeps isn't killing them, and turbulence from the rising
oil and gas bubbles is bringing up deep - water nutrients that phytoplankton need to grow, according to a new study appearing in the latest issue of Nature Geoscience.
An
oil slick from a
natural seep lasts between one and seven days and reaches between 1 and 100 square kilometers.
The
natural seeps, found in many parts of the Gulf of Mexico, are tiny compared to an
oil - well blowout.
For years now, wastewater pumped underground as part of
oil and gas development has
seeped into
natural cracks in that rock, easing the friction that keeps it stuck in place.
In an exhibition titled
Seep by two artists a video beautifully highlights the
natural seepage of
oil out of the ground in Iran.
Greg Lindquist is an artist and environmental advocate, whose paintings bring light to corporate (coal ash spills) and
natural (
oil seeping) pollution of rivers and lakes.
In polluted harbors and places with
natural seeps,
oil spills have disappeared «miraculously» overnight.