Location of Spilled Oil From 2010 Deepwater Horizon Event Found

Chipmunk100 writes: A study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (abstract) claims to have identified the location of two million barrels of submerged oil thought to be trapped in the deep ocean following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill. By analyzing data from more than 3,000 samples collected at 534 locations over 12 expeditions, they identified a 1,250-square-mile patch of the deep sea floor upon which 2 to 16 percent of the discharged oil was deposited. The fallout of oil to the sea floor created thin deposits most intensive to the southwest of the Macondo well. The oil was most concentrated within the top half inch of the sea floor and was patchy even at the scale of a few feet."

Comments

Re:Think about it

[MightyMartian]

Evaporation and emulsification; evaporation leaves behind the heavier components of oil, emulsification creates a seawater-oil mixture that will sink.

There's also all the dispersants that BP flung at the leak, whose long-term effects probably still aren't fully understood.