Far-Field Modeling of a Deep-Sea Blowout: Sensitivity Studies of Initial Conditions, Biodegradation, Sedimentation, and Subsurface Dispersant Injection on Surface Slicks and Oil Plume Concentrations

Perlin, Natalie; Paris, Claire B.; Berenshtein, Igal; Vaz, Ana C.; Faillettaz, Robin; Aman, Zachary M.; Schwing, Patrick; Romero, Isabel C.; Schlüter, Michael; Liese, Andreas; Noirungsee, Nuttapol; Hackbusch, Steffen

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-11605-7_11

Cited by 12 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…By 2010 it was understood that processes occurring within a few meters from the wellhead are better captured with near-field models, which can simulate the rising buoyant mixture of oil, gas, entrained seawater and formation of gas hydrate, and determine the plume evolution, including dissolution and formation of plumes by density stratification (Camilli et al, 2010;Diercks et al, 2010;Socolofsky et al, 2011;Paris et al, 2012). Once the liquid, gas-saturated hydrocarbon leaves the plume mixture in the form of individual droplets, advection by ocean currents controls their distribution and farfield models can track the individual movement and fate of each droplet (Paris et al, 2012;Le Hénaff et al, 2012;Spaulding et al, 2015;Perlin et al, 2020).…”

Section: Deep Plume: First Modeling Attemptsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The 2010 DWH spill drove rapid advances in oil transport modeling. Improvements included better estimations of the initial size of droplets in the break up jet (Bandara and Yapa, 2011;Johansen et al, 2013;Zhao et al, 2014bZhao et al, , 2016Li et al, 2017;Malone et al, 2018), and concerned the representation of both near-field (with respect to the DWH site) plume dynamics (Yapa et al, 2012;Gros et al, 2016Gros et al, , 2017Spaulding et al, 2017), and farfield dispersal and fate (Le Paris et al, 2012;French-McCay et al, 2015;Lindo-Atichati et al, 2016;Spaulding et al, 2017;Perlin et al, 2020). The complexity of the processes included in the models increased, and it became possible to represent realistically the near-field processes in far-field models either by increasing parameterization accuracy, i.e., releasing droplets following observed lognormal droplet size distribution (DSD, from Spaulding et al, 2017;Malone et al, 2018) as done in Perlin et al (2020), or by directly coupling near-and far-field models (French-McCay et al, 2016;Vaz et al, 2020).…”

Section: Oil Transport and Fate Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sub-grid scale turbulent diffusion is accounted for by adding a random displacement scaled by a diffusivity coefficient derived from observations (Okubo, 1987). The windinduced drift, that is important to predict accurately the surface slicks at the ocean surface, is incorporated in the velocity field from the hydrodynamic model and explicitly considered (Reed et al, 1999;Le Hénaff et al, 2012;Perlin et al, 2020). The droplet terminal velocity is obtained from a relationship involving the droplet buoyancy as a function of density, size and shape (i.e., Reynolds number), and the viscosity and density of the ambient fluid (Clift et al, 1978;Chen and Yapa, 2003;Zheng et al, 2003;Yapa et al, 2010).…”

Section: Oil Transport and Fate Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During their ascent, droplets can aggregate with organic and inorganic matter, forming oil-particulate aggregates (OPA) and marine oil snow (MOS), both of which have a higher density than droplets, and subsequently settle on the seafloor (Khelifa et al, 2010;Daly et al, 2016;Zhao et al, 2016;Dissanayake et al, 2018;Vaz et al, 2020). Presently most far-field models account for the key processes that determine the oil fate (dissolution, biodegradation, evaporation, aggregation) using parameters that are constant, or at most dependent on ambient seawater variables, such as temperature, together with wind and wave fields for surface slicks, through a simple relationship (French-McCay et al, 2015;Perlin et al, 2020). Studies investigating the role of biodegradation, dissolution, and droplet size, however, have pointed to the importance of these parameter choices on the final distribution of liquid and dissolved hydrocarbon components (Paris et al, 2012;North et al, 2015;Lindo-Atichati et al, 2016;Perlin et al, 2020;Vaz et al, 2020).…”

Section: Oil Transport and Fate Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Transport, Fate and Impacts of the Deep Plume of Petroleum Hydrocarbons Formed During the Macondo Blowout

Bracco

Paris

Esbaugh³

et al. 2020

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Section: Deep Plume: First Modeling Attemptsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Oil Transport and Fate Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Oil Transport and Fate Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Oil Transport and Fate Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Transport, Fate and Impacts of the Deep Plume of Petroleum Hydrocarbons Formed During the Macondo Blowout

Bracco

Paris

Esbaugh³

et al. 2020

Front. Mar. Sci.

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“…The first was the formation of subsurface hydrocarbon intrusions, which formed when emulsified oil (or oil droplets) exiting the broken riser pipe reached neutral buoyancy before reaching the surface. The primary intrusion depth was 1000-1300 m water depth, which impinged directly on benthic habitats along the bathymetric slope of the nGoM (Joye et al, 2011;Kessler et al, 2011;Paris et al, 2012;Romero et al, 2015;Perlin et al, 2020). The second mechanism, now termed Marine Oil Snow Sedimentation and Flocculent Accumulation (MOSSFA) is the enhanced flocculation and sinking of particles containing petrogenic, pyrogenic, lithogenic, and biological (organic and inorganic, marine, and terrestrial) sources (Passow et al, 2012;Ziervogel et al, 2012;Passow, 2014;Brooks et al, 2015;Romero et al, 2015Romero et al, , 2017Daly et al, 2016Daly et al, , 2020Schwing et al, 2017aSchwing et al, , 2020aQuigg et al, 2020).…”

Section: Oil Spill Scenariomentioning

confidence: 99%

A Synthesis of Deep Benthic Faunal Impacts and Resilience Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

et al. 2020

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The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill significantly impacted the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGoM) deep benthos (>125 m water depth) at different spatial scales and across all community size and taxa groups including microbes, foraminifera, meiofauna, macrofauna, megafauna, corals, and demersal fishes. The resilience across these communities was heterogeneous, with some requiring years if not decades to fully recover. To synthesize ecosystem impacts and recovery following DWH, the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GOMRI) Core 3 synthesis group subdivided the nGoM into four ecotypes: coastal, continental shelf, open-ocean, and deep benthic. Here we present a synopsis of the deep benthic ecotype status and discuss progress made on five tasks: (1) summarizing pre-and post-oil spill trends in abundance, species composition, and dynamics; (2) identifying missing data/analyses and proposing a strategy to fill in these gaps; (3) constructing a conceptual model of important species interactions and impacting factors; (4) evaluating resiliency and recovery potential of different species; and (5) providing recommendations for future long-term benthic ecosystem research programs. To address these tasks, we assessed time series to detect measures of population trends. Moreover, a benthic conceptual model for the GoM deep benthos was developed and a vulnerability-resilience analysis was performed to enable holistic interpretation of the interrelationships among ecotypes, resources, and stressors. The DWH oil spill underscores the overall need for a system-level benthic management decision support tool based on long-term measurement of ecological quality status (EQS). Production of such a decision support tool requires temporal baselines and time-series data collections. This approach provides EQS for multiple stressors affecting the GoM beyond oil spills. In many cases, the lessons learned from DWH, the gaps identified, and the recommended approaches for future long-term hypothesis-driven research can be utilized to better assess impacts of any ecosystem perturbation of industrial impact, including marine mineral extraction.

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Transport Processes in the Gulf of Mexico Along the River-Estuary-Shelf-Ocean Continuum: a Review of Research from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative

Justić

Kourafalou

Mariotti

et al. 2021

Estuaries and Coasts

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Estuarine and coastal geomorphology, biogeochemistry, water quality, and coastal food webs in river-dominated shelves of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) are modulated by transport processes associated with river inputs, winds, waves, tides, and deep-ocean/continental shelf interactions. For instance, transport processes control the fate of river-borne sediments, which in turn affect coastal land loss. Similarly, transport of freshwater, nutrients, and carbon control the dynamics of eutrophication, hypoxia, harmful algal blooms, and coastal acidification. Further, freshwater inflow transports pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, and oil into receiving estuaries and coastal systems. Lastly, transport processes along the continuum from the rivers and estuaries to coastal and shelf areas and adjacent open ocean (abbreviated herein as “river-estuary-shelf-ocean”) regulate the movements of organisms, including the spatial distributions of individuals and the exchange of genetic information between distinct subpopulations. The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) provided unprecedented opportunities to study transport processes along the river-estuary-shelf-ocean continuum in the GoM. The understanding of transport at multiple spatial and temporal scales in this topographically and dynamically complex marginal sea was improved, allowing for more accurate forecasting of the fate of oil and other constituents. For this review, we focus on five specific transport themes: (i) wetland, estuary, and shelf exchanges; (ii) river-estuary coupling; (iii) nearshore and inlet processes; (iv) open ocean transport processes; and (v) river-induced fronts and cross-basin transport. We then discuss the relevancy of GoMRI findings on the transport processes for ecological connectivity and oil transport and fate. We also examine the implications of new findings for informing the response to future oil spills, and the management of coastal resources and ecosystems. Lastly, we summarize the research gaps identified in the many studies and offer recommendations for continuing the momentum of the research provided by the GoMRI effort. A number of uncertainties were identified that occurred in multiple settings. These include the quantification of sediment, carbon, dissolved gasses and nutrient fluxes during storms, consistent specification of the various external forcings used in analyses, methods for smooth integration of multiscale advection mechanisms across different flow regimes, dynamic coupling of the atmosphere with sub-mesoscale and mesoscale phenomena, and methods for simulating finer-scale dynamics over long time periods. Addressing these uncertainties would allow the scientific community to be better prepared to predict the fate of hydrocarbons and their impacts to the coastal ocean, rivers, and marshes in the event of another spill in the GoM.

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Far-Field Modeling of a Deep-Sea Blowout: Sensitivity Studies of Initial Conditions, Biodegradation, Sedimentation, and Subsurface Dispersant Injection on Surface Slicks and Oil Plume Concentrations

Cited by 12 publications

References 47 publications

Transport, Fate and Impacts of the Deep Plume of Petroleum Hydrocarbons Formed During the Macondo Blowout

Transport, Fate and Impacts of the Deep Plume of Petroleum Hydrocarbons Formed During the Macondo Blowout

A Synthesis of Deep Benthic Faunal Impacts and Resilience Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Transport Processes in the Gulf of Mexico Along the River-Estuary-Shelf-Ocean Continuum: a Review of Research from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative

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