The Fate of Oil in the Water Column Following Experimental Oil Spills in the Arctic Marine Nearshore
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic1808Keywords:
Canada. Baffin Island Oil Spill Project, Marine oil spills, Oil spill cleanup, Oil spill dispersants, Hatt, Cape, waters, Nunavut, Ragged ChannelAbstract
Petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations in the water column were monitored after a release of crude oil onto the water surface and a subsurface release of chemically dispersed oil. During the surface release, petroleum hydrocarbons did not disperse into the water column deeper than 1 m. The highest concentrations observed under the slick were less than 2 mg/l. The chemically dispersed oil released resulted in concentrations over 50 mg/l in the Bay 9 study area for 12 hours. Estimated exposures of the benthic communities to oil in the three experimental bays were 3 mg/l/h, 30 mg/l/h, and 300 mg/l/h respectively. The highest exposures were to oil retaining many of its more toxic components.
Key words: dispersant, oil, fluorometry, gas chromatography, oil spill
