 |
Questions? Call 888-624-8373 |
|
|
|
|
Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 1
Introcluction
This report follows up and expands on the ear 1 ier National Research
Council (NRC) report Petroleum in the Marine Environment published in
1975. As noted in the preface to the present publication, much of the
earlier report was based on studies and findings predating a 1973
workshop that formed a basis for the earlier study. Since then, much
research has provided further insight into the problems of dealing with
petroleum in the world's oceans. The new interpretations and data
bases that have developed in the intervening years are summarized in
the present document. The report is the result of an intensive and
multidisciplinary effort and, to the best of our ability, represents
fair assessment of the problems relating to petroleum-derived hydro-
carbons in the marine environment.
This report is an extension of the earlier report in several ways.
It follows the same basic format in that the major chapters deal with
inputs, analytical methods, fates, and effects. However, all chapters
are larger than those in the 1975 report, the significantly expanded
chapter on effects reflecting the extensive scientific effort in recent
years that has gone into determining effects of petroleum on marine
organisms. To this purpose, extensive lists of references are provided
at the ends of the chapters for readers who wish more detailed infor-
mation on various subjects. We have also included discussions of
petroleum contamination in such geograph ic areas as the polar environ-
ment and the mangrove and coral reef systems of tropical waters--areas
not considered in the earlier report. In many instances we have gone
into considerable detail, especially in those disciplines where new
work appears promising or new ideas have added to our understanding of
the hazards of petroleum contamination. Finally, where necessary, we
have taken extra space for discussions of controversial subjects such
as the potential hazards to human health, the impact of oil-related
activities in the northern Gulf of Mexico, and the potential impact of
petroleum on f isher ies.
To avoid the space-consuming repetition of
tional names, abbreviations are used extensively throughout the report.
To aid the reader, a list of abbreviated terms is given in Appendix B.
Petroleum is a naturally occurring substance composed of a highly
complex and variable mixture of hydrocarbons with minor amounts of
compounds containing nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen atoms in their mole
.
scientific and organiza
1
OCR for page 2
2
cures. For the purposes of this report, the term "petroleum" will be
used generically; i.e., it will include, in large part, the commercially
produced materials ranging from methane-rich natural gases to extremely
viscous heavy oils. It will also include refined products such as gaso-
line, kerosene, and lubricating oil, but not commercially transformed
product. such as halogenated hydrocarbons, ethylene glycol, formalde-
hyde, and phthalic acid.
Because many of the compounds found in petroleum can also originate
from sources other than petroleum--for example, hydrocarbons from forest
and grass fires, and from combustion of fossil fuels (e.g., coal, fuel
oil, and gas)--we caution that it was often difficult to separate these
types of sources of hydrocarbons in the marine environment. We have
attempted to address this issue explicitly in appropriate sections of
this report.
It would have been very satisfying if we could have found answers
to all the questions relating to petroleum in the marine environment.
In fact, progress has been made in many areas, and the result is better
understanding and more credible evaluations of potential hazards.
However, uncertainties about various physical, chemical, and biological
processes in the ocean and the complexity and variety of petroleum
types and products contribute to doubts that remain regarding the
var ious inputs, fates, and ef feats of petroleum in the mar ine
environment .
Special mention should be made of two relatively recent parallel
studies that culminated in published reports while this report was
being prepared. One was prepared by the Mar ine Pollution Subcommittee
of the Br itish National Committee on Oceanic Research for the Royal
Society in 1980 and entitled The Effects of Oil Pollution: Some
Research Needs. The other is Oil Pollution of the Sea, prepared for
the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution in 1981. These reports
appeared to be designed primarily to help assess the relative importance
of oil pollution research within the context of other environmental
pollution and research priorities as applied to the United Kingdom,
although information of generic use was assembled in these reports.
The focus of the present report is to provide an independent assessment
of the knowledge and state-of-the-art research concerned with petroleum
in the marine environment. We gained this assessment by convening a
public hearing, commissioning review papers by 46 experts, seeking
extensive peer review of those papers, and convening a large workshop,
followed by repeated distillations, summations, and evaluations of this
large body of information by the six-member steering committee and
additional peer review at key stages in the final document development.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
mar ine
Items in cart [0]
