The Oil Has Disappeared?

[VictorB]

Mighty oil-eating microbes help clean up the Gulf - Yahoo! News

The BP Spill: Has the Damage Been Exaggerated? - TIME

So ... Has Anyone Seen the Oil That Spilled into the Gulf? | VF Daily | Vanity Fair

Scientists and government officials are currently on the hunt for much of the oil that leaked into the Gulf of Mexico, reports The Washington Post. While experts remain positive that the oil is still in the Gulf—“That stuff's somewhere,” a researcher hypothesized to the paper—most of it is AWOL. According to the Post, “p to 4 million barrels (167 million gallons), the vast majority of the spill, remains unaccounted for in government statistics. Some of it has, most likely, been cleaned up by nature. Other amounts may be gone from the water, but they could have taken on a second life as contaminants in the air, or in landfills around the Gulf Coast.”

Some believe that a portion of the oil was consumed by ocean-dwelling microbes. The tiny organisms, like humans, enjoy oil on their seafood. But the microbes can only do so much: scientists are also reporting that masses of oil have migrated miles away from the spill. Other researchers have observed small quantities of oil located within the bodies of the Gulf’s population of crabs. Crabs, unlike microbes, should not ingest oil. Still, of the 5.2 million barrels that likely leaked, we’ve only destroyed 1.2 million barrels worth of the stuff. The country will continue to restlessly search the land and seas for oil, which, really, is exactly what we’ve always done anyway.

 

[geochem1st]

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/backstage/100063-maybe-gulf-spill-isnt-bad-we-thought.html

 

[River]

Yeah, it's all been converted into aromatic hydrocarbons, which we'll be unknowingly ingesting over the next few years. Be on the lookout for two-headed cows.

 

[b-squared]

It's there, I'd reckon, just hanging below the surface...nasty thought.

BB

 

[jeff_farkas]

It's there, I'd reckon, just hanging below the surface...nasty thought.

BB

+1. All that oil can't just disappear that fast.

 

[The Mick2]

"The tiny organisms, like humans, enjoy oil on their seafood."

 

[coldsteal2]

oil is a natural part of the earth, it seems like
there would already a plan in nature that deals with
an oil spill in the ocean.

 

[geochem1st]

oil is a natural part of the earth, it seems like
there would already a plan in nature that deals with
an oil spill in the ocean.

Yeah, uranium-238 is natural too, and it will decay with a half-life of 4.47 billion years to a harmless element.

The thing is, will we be around long enough to make it through the time it takes to naturally cleanup our messes. PAH's in oil are known carcinogens. The oil in the deep part of the Gulf will not breakdown for a very, very long time and will be available to the marine life for decades to come.... but yes eventually it will naturally clean up.

 

[PraXis]

I took it all and lathered myself in it.

 

[Beerdog80]

I took it all and lathered myself in it.

pics?

 

[geochem1st]

I took it all and lathered myself in it.

pics?

Pwozzie you sexy devil....

 

[Beerdog80]

Pwozzie you sexy devil....

Hey look! It's TARzan



Too early?

 

[goatbreath]

OOOH MATRON!!!!

 

[brianugly]

Nope. It all took the shuttle up to Michigan.

 

[River]

oil is a natural part of the earth, it seems like
there would already a plan in nature that deals with
an oil spill in the ocean.

So are volcanoes. When Yosemite goes, we're nonetheless screwed.

Edit: I mean Yellowstone. Thanks to Beerdog for the correction.

 

[Beerdog80]

So are volcanoes. When Yosemite goes, we're nonetheless screwed.

Think you mean Yellowstone, unless you were referring to the nearby Long Valley Caldera.

 

[River]

Think you mean Yellowstone.

Right you are! I knew something wasn't right, but I couldn't put my finger on it, thanks.

Always nice to know someone's reading what I write.

 

[Beerdog80]

Right you are! I knew something wasn't right, but I couldn't put my finger on it, thanks.

Always nice to know someone's reading what I write.

Oh yeah. Long Valley is plenty powerful too but not nearly as 'active' as Yellowstone is currently.