New insights into microbial responses to oil spills from the Deepwater Horizon incident
On April 20, 2010, a catastrophic eruption of methane caused the Deepwater Horizon exploratory drill rig drilling the Macondo Well in Mississippi Canyon Block 252 (MC252) to explode. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was unprecendeted for several reasons: the volume of oil released; the spill duration; the well depth; the distance from the shore-line (77 km or about 50 miles); the type of oil (light crude); and the injection of dispersant directly at the wellhead. This study clearly demonstrated that there was a profound and significant response by certain members of the in situ microbial community in the deep-sea in the Gulf of Mexico. In particular putative hydrocarbon degrading Bacteria appeared to bloom in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, even though the temperature at these depths is never >5 C. As the plume aged the shifts in the microbial community on a temporal scale suggested that different, yet metabolically important members of the community were able to respond to a myriad of plume constituents, e.g. shifting from propane/ethane to alkanes and finally to methane. Thus, the biodegradation of hydrocarbons in the plume by Bacteria was a highly significant process in the natural attenuation of many compounds released during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Earth Sciences Division
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 1050984
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL-5048E; TRN: US201218%%1173
- Journal Information:
- SIMS News, Vol. 16, Issue 3; Related Information: Journal Publication Date: 2011
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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