Oil in the Beaufort and Mediterranean Seas

Abstract

Spillage of oil into the Beaufort Sea in the course of exploration and exploitation of offshore resources may occur at an estimated rate of 20 milligrams per square metre per year, or about one-fifth the rate of spillage into the Mediterranean Sea. Overall rates of degradation and dispersion of spilled oil under the conditions prevailing in the Beaufort Sea are however likely to be significantly slower than under the conditions in the Mediterranean. The various input, degradation and dispersion rates may be interrelated in the form of a simple algebraic equation. From current estimates of these rates it is suggested that standing concentrations of oil in the Beaufort Sea could in time become comparable to those in the Mediterranean.