The University of Texas at Austin

Chemical Study Shows Different Patterns of Oil Weathering

February 20, 2013

Chemical Study Shows Different Patterns of Oil Weathering — Dr. Zhanfei Liu (University of Texas at Austin) collected water samples in May 2010 in the northern Gulf of Mexico in areas affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and used them to study the oil weathering process. (Photo credit: Z. Liu)

Scientists studying the weathering processes that altered the oil released during the Deepwater Horizon spill recently published their findings in the September 2012 Issue of Environmental Research Letters: The weathering of oil after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: Insights from the chemical composition of the oil from the sea surface, salt marshes, and sediments. Understanding the chemical, physical, and biological processes involved is important in advancing research on the toxicity of weathering oil, its impact on coastal ecosystems, and for improving response to future events.

Research sponsored by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative