RAPID: Hydrocarbon Dissolution Fluxes from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Plume: GCxGC Chemical Analysis and Mass Transfer Modeling

由于其在海面下的深度，墨西哥湾的深水地平线油柱代表着一种新的漏油类别，也是研究海洋中碳氢化合物行为的科学机会。传统的漏油模型不太可能准确地预测上升的油柱对水体的溶解碳氢化合物负荷的大小。因此，由此产生的环境评估可能低估了对地下水生野生动物和生态资源的风险和损害程度。通过这笔快速反应研究拨款(RAPID)，伍兹霍尔海洋研究所的科学家们将对海底石油渗漏和深水地平线井口涌出的石油羽流产生的碳氢化合物溶解通量进行前所未有的估计。这一努力将是实验室、全面的二维气相色谱(GC×GC)和建模工具的结果，这些工具在解决这些问题的集体能力方面是无与伦比的。此外，伍兹霍尔的调查人员将与其他几个快速资助的研究团队合作，这些团队将在同时收集的样本上研究漏油事件的命运和行为的其他方面。更广泛的影响：这项研究的结果将有助于更广泛地了解地球系统中的石油命运和碳循环。从这项研究中获得的知识也将直接转化为参与漏油损害评估和修复的州和联邦机构。国际石油公司已经并将继续向媒体提供采访，并向其他各方通报这起漏油事件的化学情况。拟议的工作将提供必要的概念、流程和参数，使现有的行业漏油模型能够适应深海海底重大漏油的史无前例的情况。预计海上钻井作业将扩大到更深的水域，这可能不可避免地导致未来发生更多漏油事件的风险。深水地平线事件为正确评估这种类型的石油泄漏造成的地下碳氢化合物含量提供了一个宝贵的机会。

Due to its depth under the sea surface, the Deepwater Horizon oil plume in the Gulf of Mexico represents a new category of oil spill and a scientific opportunity to study the behavior of hydrocarbons in the ocean. Conventional oil spill models are unlikely to predict accurately the magnitude of the dissolved hydrocarbon load to the water column from a rising oil plume. Hence, resulting environmental assessments may underestimate the extent of risks and damage to aquatic wildlife and ecological resources in the subsurface. With funding through this Grant for Rapid Response Research (RAPID), scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will develop unprecedented estimates of hydrocarbon dissolution fluxes arising from the sea floor oil seep and upwelling oil plume emitting from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead. This effort will be the result of laboratory, comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC), and modeling tools that are unsurpassed in their collective ability to address these questions. In addition, the Woods Hole investigators will collaborate with several other RAPID-funded research teams, who will be studying other aspects of the fate and behavior of the spill on samples collected at the same time. Broader Impacts: Results from this research will contribute broadly to an understanding of petroleum fate and carbon cycling in the Earth system. Knowledge gained from this research will also be translated directly to state and federal agencies involved in the damage assessment and restoration of the spill. The PI has and will continue to provide interviews to the press as well as inform other parties on the chemistry of this spill. The proposed work will provide the concepts, processes, and parameters necessary for existing industry oil spill models to be adapted to the unprecedented situation of a major oil release on the deep sea floor. The anticipated expansion of offshore drilling operations into deeper waters may lead inevitably to the risk of more spills in the future. The Deepwater Horizon incident provides an invaluable opportunity to assess properly the subsurface hydrocarbon content resulting from this type of oil release.