Identification

Title

On the possible long-term fate of oil released in the Deepwater Horizon incident, estimated using ensembles of dye release simulations

Abstract

We have conducted an ensemble of 20 simulations using a high resolution global ocean model in which dye was continuously injected at the site of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig for two months. We then extended these simulations for another four months to track the dispersal of the dye in the model. We have also performed five simulations in which dye was continuously injected at the site of the spill for four months and then run them out to one year from the initial spill date. The experiments can elucidate the approximate timescales and space scales of dispersal of polluted waters and also give a quantitative estimate of the dilution rate. Given the uncertainty in rates of chemical or biological degradation for oil or an oil-dispersant mixture, we do not include a decay term for the dye. Thus, these results should be considered an absolute upper bound on the possible spatial extent of the dispersal of oil or oil-dispersant mixture.', The model results indicate that it is likely that oil-polluted waters from the Deepwater Horizon incident will, at some time over the six months following the initial spill date, be transported at relatively low concentrations over a significant part of the North-West Atlantic Ocean. However, this does not imply that oil will reach the eastern shores of North America, or that it will even be detectable. We present probabilities for the transport timescales and estimates of ensemble mean arrival times, and we briefly discuss the likely dispersion timescales and pathways of dye released in the subsurface ocean.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7474b9g

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2010-08-16T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact