Oil in the Sea Inputs, Fates, and Effects (1985) / Chapter Skim
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APPENDIX A: Impact of Some Major Spills (Spill Case Histories)
APPENDIX A: Impact of Some Major Spills (Spill Case Histories)
Pages 549-582
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From page 549... ...
Despite these difficulties, it is encouraging that acute spills have not only continued to receive scientific attention since the writing of the last NRC report, but also that field studies have increased in number and in scope and have yielded some valuable data. The long term follow-up studies have provided further understanding, both of the vulnerability of the various ecosystems and of the biological recovery processes.
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From page 550... ...
AN INSHORE SPILL: THE BARGE FLORIDA Two spills in relatively protected waters were intensively studied for many years: the Florida barge spill of 1969 (Sanders et al., 1972, 1980) in the West Falmouth area of Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, and the Arrow spill of 1970 in Chedabucto Bay, Nova Scotia.
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From page 551... ...
In the sediments the spilled oil fared rather differently, with recognizable components of the spilled No. 2 fuel oil persisting for at least 8 years.
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From page 552... ...
Recovery was essentially complete within a year after the spill. However, at the intermediate and heavily oiled sites the recovery process was markedly different.
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From page 553... ...
(Figure A-1 ~ . AN OPEN BAY SPILL: THE ARROW The Arrow spill (Anon, 1970 ~ occurred on February 4, 1970, in Chedabucto Bay, Nova Scotia, when the tanker ran aground on Cerberus Rock on her way into the off-loading facilities in the Strait of Canso.
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From page 554... ...
100 1C ~DENS/ TY {clumu/of iced FIGURE A-1 Faunal discrepancy indices at various stations in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, following the Flor Ida spill .
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From page 555... ...
Eventually a considerable portion of the oil droplets became associated with the fecal pellets. AS much as 10% of the oil in the water was associated with the copepods, and up to 7% was found in the fecal pellets, sugggesting that this route may be an important sedimentation route for spilled oil.
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From page 556... ...
~in- ROCK CHEDA BUC TO BA Y -W. : ATLANTIC OCEA N FIGURE A-3 Geographical extent of shoreline contamination in Chedabucto Bay, February 1970, immediately following Arrow breakup.
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From page 557... ...
. However, whereas the Arrow broke up in a large embayment, with initially onshore winds, the Argo Merchant ran aground and broke up in open waters, with prevailing offshore winds for most of the spill period.
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From page 558... ...
( H9/1) .~ /~6 FIGURE A-5 Summary of stranded Bunker C fuel oil reentry pattern into mar ine environment by oil stranded on low energy gravel-cobble beach .
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From page 559... ...
_ l Y _ 71- 70- 6g. 68- 67° 41 g40 FIGURE A-6 Hor izontal dispersion of oil spilled from the Argo Merchant, December 17, 20, and 23, 1977.
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From page 560... ...
. In the water column, concentrations of oil ranged up to 340 ug/L, and in several stations were uniform down to 20 m.
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From page 561... ...
. A NEAR-SHORE SPILL HTTH ONSHORE WIND: THE AMOCO CADIZ The Amoco Cadiz spill (Hess, 1978; Conan et al., 1978, 1981; Gundlach et al.
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From page 562... ...
~_\ St. Br.euc Brittany 0 2S km Lorient at,\ FIGURE A-7 Hor izontal extent of oil movement from the Amoco Cadiz spill as determined by chemical analyses on water samples and f rom visual observations by overflights and scientific cruises.
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From page 563... ...
Evaporation of the more volatile components is thought to have car r fed from 20% to 40% of the spilled oil from the sea surface into the atmosphere (Figure A-8. The Amoco Cadiz apparently differed from other similar spills in that the amount of the cargo that eventually became entrapped or incorporated into the water column was greater than seen elsewhere, probably because of the h igher wave energy and the ver tical mixing of the water column typifying that par t of the Engl ish Channel .
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From page 564... ...
Analyses of specimens representing four species oiled dur ing the incident showed Amoco Cadiz oil in only one, the common shag (Phalacrocorax ar istotelis) , ~ ndicating that the others may have died from physical effects of the oil on the birds (Lawler et al., 1981)
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From page 565... ...
Although it is difficult to relate these abnormalities directly to the oiling from the AmOCO Cadiz, 2-8 months earlier, such changes are characteristic of many vertebrates subjected to long term stress (Lopez et al., 1981)
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From page 566... ...
Part of the Ile Grande salt marsh was subjected to a massive cleanup effort involving both manual and mechanized labor to remove oiled debris, resulting in increased drainage and erosional drainage velocities through the marsh. Heavy traffic through the marsh primary drainage channel further weakened the channel's bottom sediment structure, enhancing the erosion of the fine sediments .
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From page 567... ...
There had been no studies of tropical oil spills in any great detail before 1979, and the little work that had been done was directed toward the impacts on the intertidal zone. The little work done previously on the fate of oil in the open ocean had been related largely to the occurrence of pelagic tar e The long r elease per iod of Ixtoc I , however, allowed scientists to prepare for more detailed physical and chemical studies than have generally been possible in the case of the tanker spills.
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From page 568... ...
Estimates of the volume of spilled oil vary considerably, from 454 ,000 to over 1.4 million tons due to uncertainties of estimating flow from the fractured well over such a long period of time. Estimates of the amount burned vary from 30% (Ross et al., 1979)
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From page 569... ...
_ 500m ............................... : flames 7m high ·:: :~:: ::: :~:j~ I SOm -lo' diameter of fire 400 m ·' flame 7m high small surface fire oil slick Sl.Sm 4,,,,,,,,,~^,,,,,,-,....
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From page 570... ...
Analyses for hydrocarbons of sediments near the well site showed that no more than 0. 5-3 % of the spilled oil eventually became associated with the bottom sediments in the blowout area.
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From page 571... ...
Benthos Li ttle, i f any, Ixtoc oil could be detected in sur face sediments on the South Texas outer continental shelf by grab sample techniques. However, sorbent pad samples detected Ixtoc oil associated with a mobile sedimentary material nepheloid in the so-called nepheloid layer, consisting of fine suspended particles in the water overlying the bottom (Boehm et al., 1982~.
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From page 572... ...
As a result, little is known about the potential impact of oil on tropical ecosystems, especially the common mangrove and coral reef communities, which constitute a large part of the tropical marine coastline. The tanker Zoe Colocotroni ran aground off LaParguera, Puerto Rico, on 18 March 1973.
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From page 573... ...
The coastline of Massachusetts escaped this fate 6 years later when the Argo Merchant ran aground on the Nantucket Shoal, largely because of offshore winds operating for most of the postspill per iod. On the other hand, Amoco Cadiz oil remained near the Brittany coast for several weeks under the action of the shifting northeasterly and northwesterly winds.
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From page 574... ...
Another, generally unexplored, factor seems to be the rate of release of spilled oil, with the rate of oil spillage being related to spill impact. For example, the Amoco Cadiz spilled approximately 100,000 tons over 1-2 days, while the Ixtoc I blowout spilled about the same amount in about 2 months.
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From page 575... ...
Evaporated? Swept ou t into the Atlantic 8,421 Zoe Colocotronib Pumped overboard5, 000 Ashore in Bahia Sucia3,00060 At sea/evaporated2, 00040 Amoco CadizC Total spilled223,000 Subtidal sediments18,0008 Onshore62, 00028 Water column30,00013.5 Biodegraded10,0004.5 Evaporated67 ,00030 Unaccounted for 46,000 20.5 Canon (1970 ~ .
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From page 576... ...
Amoco Cadiz: Consequences d 'une pollution . accidentelle par les hydrocarbures .
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From page 577... ...
Amoco Cadiz: Consequences d'une pollution accidentelle par les hydrocarbures. CNEXO, Paris.
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From page 578... ...
In Conan et al., eds. Amoco Cadiz: Consequences d'une pollution accidentelle par les hydrocarbures .
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From page 579... ...
Amoco Cadiz: Consequences d'une pollution accidentelle par les hydrocarbures.
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From page 580... ...
In Conan et al ., et al., eds. Amoco Cadiz: Consequences d'une pollution accidentelle par les hydrocarbures .
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From page 581... ...
Amoco Cadiz: Consequences d'une pollution accidentelle par les hydrocarbures.
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From page 582... ...
1976 . Re-entry of f ire year old standard Bunker C fuel oil from a low-energy beach into the water, sediments, and biota of Cbedabucto Bay, Nova Scotia.
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