Effects of dispersants on mitigating environmental impacts of marine oil pollution

漏油是对海洋环境最具挑战性的威胁之一，可能对渔业、经济和社会产生长期影响。分散剂通常作为一种补救策略，将石油分散到水柱中，产生更容易被本地石油降解细菌降解的小油滴。虽然分散剂是防止沿海污染的众多工具之一，但人们担心它们可能会导致海洋油雪（MOS）的形成。据推测，MOS将石油输送到深海，可能破坏海底生态系统。这个博士将研究分散剂是否抑制或增强MOS的形成在一系列相关条件。

Oil spills are one of the most challenging threats to the marine environment that can have long-term impacts on fisheries, the economy and society. Dispersants are commonly applied as a remediation strategy to disperse oil into the water column and produce small oil droplets that are more readily degraded by indigenous oil-degrading bacteria. Whilst dispersants are one of the many tools to prevent coastal contamination, there are concerns they may contribute to the formation of marine oil snow (MOS). MOS has been speculated to transport oil into the deep sea, potentially damaging benthic ecosystems. This PhD will investigate whether dispersants inhibit or enhance the formation of MOS over a range of relevant conditions.