Slightly Weathered Exxon Valdez Oil Persists in Gulf of Alaska Beach Sediments after 16 Years
Short JW, Irvine GV, Mann DH, Maselko JM, Pella JJ, Lindeberg MR, Payne JR, Driskell WB, Rice SD. 2007. Slightly Weathered Exxon Valdez Oil Persists in Gulf of Alaska Beach Sediments after 16 Years. Environmental Science & Technology. 41(4):1245-1250
Oil stranded by the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill has persisted in subsurface sediments of exposed shores for 16 years. With annualized loss rates declining from ~68% yr-1 prior to 1992 to ~4% yr-1 after 2001, weathering processes are retarded in both sediments and residual emulsified oil (“oil mousse”), and retention of toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is prolonged. The n-alkanes, typically very readily oxidized by microbes, instead remain abundant in many stranded emulsified oil samples from the Gulf of Alaska. They are less abundant in Prince William Sound samples, where stranded oil was less viscous. Our results indicate that, at some locations, remaining subsurface oil may persist for decades with little change.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Short, Jeffrey; Irvine, Gail; Mann, Daniel; Maselko, Jacek; Pella, Jerome; Lindeberg, Mandy; Payne, James; Driskell, William; Rice, Stanley
- Date of Issue
- 2007-01-18
- Units
- KATM , KEFJ , SWAN
- Keywords
- Exxon Valdez, Oil mousse, oil weathering, Prince William Sound