Marine Oil Snow Sedimentation and Flocculent Accumulation (MOSSFA) Events: Learning from the Past to Predict the Future

Quigg, Antonietta; Passow, Uta; Daly, Kendra L.; Burd, Adrian B.; Hollander, David J.; Schwing, Patrick; Lee, Kenneth

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-11605-7_12

Cited by 22 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 142 publications

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“…Recently, a conceptual development of oil-particle coagulation capability was developed by Zhao et al [104,105]. Furthermore, the new term MOSSFA (marine oil snow sedimentation and flocculent accumulation) was identified in 2013 [106], after the Deepwater Horizon (DwH) accident, in order to assess the procedures affecting the formation and fate of oil-associated marine snow [107][108][109]. A well-defined schematic diagram of the process of MOSSFA into the water column and its driving parameters is presented in Quigg et al [109].…”

Section: Sedimentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oil Spill Modeling: A Critical Review on Current Trends, Perspectives, and Challenges

Keramea

Spanoudaki

Zodiatis

et al. 2021

JMSE

145

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Several oil spill simulation models exist in the literature, which are used worldwide to simulate the evolution of an oil slick created from marine traffic, petroleum production, or other sources. These models may range from simple parametric calculations to advanced, new-generation, operational, three-dimensional numerical models, coupled to meteorological, hydrodynamic, and wave models, forecasting in high-resolution and with high precision the transport and fate of oil. This study presents a review of the transport and oil weathering processes and their parameterization and critically examines eighteen state-of-the-art oil spill models in terms of their capacity (a) to simulate these processes, (b) to consider oil released from surface or submerged sources, (c) to assimilate real-time field data for model initiation and forcing, and (d) to assess uncertainty in the produced predictions. Based on our review, the most common oil weathering processes involved are spreading, advection, diffusion, evaporation, emulsification, and dispersion. The majority of existing oil spill models do not consider significant physical processes, such as oil dissolution, photo-oxidation, biodegradation, and vertical mixing. Moreover, timely response to oil spills is lacking in the new generation of oil spill models. Further improvements in oil spill modeling should emphasize more comprehensive parametrization of oil dissolution, biodegradation, entrainment, and prediction of oil particles size distribution following wave action and well blow outs.

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Section: Sedimentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oil Spill Modeling: A Critical Review on Current Trends, Perspectives, and Challenges

Keramea

Spanoudaki

Zodiatis

et al. 2021

JMSE

145

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“…Dispersed oil droplets are subject to rapid biodegradation, and can also interact with minerals and organic matter. In coastal areas oil-mineral aggregates are common (Owens, 1999;Loh and Yim, 2016;Li et al, 2020) and result in sinking or suspension in the water column depending on the nature of the aggregate (Quigg et al, 2020). Suspended sediment particles from the Mississippi River outflow generated oil mineral aggregates during the MC-252 spill (Figure 2), although their quantitative influence is not clear (Daly et al, 2016).…”

Section: Composition Of Mos and Potential Impact On The Benthos And Associated Biotamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are many examples from mesocosm studies of the formation of oil-algal-bacterial complexes (e.g., Lee et al, 1985;Macnaughton et al, 2003;Coulon et al, 2012). In the open sea the resultant oil-containing flocs have been called marine oil snow (MOS) or oil-related marine snow (Brakstad et al, 2018b) among other names (Quigg et al, 2020), shown schematically in Figure 3. From analysis of MOS captured in sediment traps (Stout and German, 2018) it has been estimated that the extensively biodegraded residue of 217,700 to 229,900 barrels of oil was deposited in the form of MOS over an area of at least 7,600 km 2 following the MC-252 spill, representing around 7% of the estimated 3.19 million barrels of spilled oil (Barbier, 2015).…”

Section: Composition Of Mos and Potential Impact On The Benthos And Associated Biotamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to respond effectively to crude oil released to the marine environment it is imperative to understand the interplay between the physical, chemical, and biological factors that determine petroleum fate, transport, and impact on the biota and surrounding environment. Marine snow (MS) came to prominence as a vehicle for transporting oil to the benthos during the 2010 Macondo spill (hereafter referred to as the MC-252 spill, because the Macondo Prospect is located in Mississippi Canyon Block 252 of the Gulf of Mexico), and has stimulated a lot of research to determine its quantitative importance, resulting in several reviews on the topic (e.g., Daly et al, 2016;Passow and Ziervogel, 2016;Quigg et al, 2016Quigg et al, , 2020Decho and Gutierrez, 2017;Brakstad et al, 2018b;Burd et al, 2020;Kujawinski et al, 2020;Passow and Overton, 2021).…”

Section: Introduction and Scopementioning

confidence: 99%

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Marine Oil Snow, a Microbial Perspective

Gregson

McKew

Holland³

et al. 2021

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Under certain conditions, dispersed crude oil in the sea combines with organisms, organic matter, and minerals to form marine oil snow (MOS), thereby contributing to the sinking of oil to the seafloor. Marine microbes are the main players in MOS formation, particularly via the production of extracellular polymeric substances. Distinct groups of microbes also consume the majority of the hydrocarbons during descent, leading to enrichment of the less bioavailable hydrocarbons and asphaltenes in the residue. Here we discuss the dynamics of microbial communities in MOS together with their impacts on MOS evolution. We explore the effects of dispersant application on MOS formation, and consider ways in which laboratory experiments investigating MOS formation can be more representative of the situation in the marine environment, which in turn will improve our understanding of the contribution of MOS to the fate of spilled oil.

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“…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). MOSSFA resulted in a four-fold increase in bulk sedimentation (Brooks et al, 2015;Larson et al, 2018), intensification of reducing conditions for up to 3 years following the oil spill (Hastings et al, 2016), and a two-three-fold increase in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations (Romero et al, 2015).…”

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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Marine Oil Snow Sedimentation and Flocculent Accumulation (MOSSFA) Events: Learning from the Past to Predict the Future

Cited by 22 publications

References 142 publications

Oil Spill Modeling: A Critical Review on Current Trends, Perspectives, and Challenges

Oil Spill Modeling: A Critical Review on Current Trends, Perspectives, and Challenges

Marine Oil Snow, a Microbial Perspective

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

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