On the short-term and long-term impact of drilling activities in the Dutch sector of the North Sea

Daan, R.; Mulder, M.

doi:10.1006/jmsc.1996.0129

Cited by 40 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…Waters around the platforms are sometimes contaminated by chemicals including substances that affect benthic communities. Detailed studies showed effects of drilling activities (discharge of oil-based muds) only up to about 1 km from the platform (Daan and Mulder 1996).…”

Section: 633mentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction to the Assessment—Characteristics of the Region

Quante

Colijn

Bakker

et al. 2016

North Sea Region Climate Change Assessment

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This scene-setting chapter provides the basis for the climate change-related assessments presented in later chapters of this book. It opens with an overview of the geography, demography and major human activities of the North Sea and its boundary countries. This is followed by a series of sections describing the geological and climatic evolution of the North Sea basin, the topography and hydrography of the North Sea (i.e. boundary forcing; thermohaline, wind-driven and tidally-driven regimes; and transport processes), and its current atmospheric climate (focussing on circulation, wind, temperature, precipitation, radiation and cloud cover). This physical description is followed by a review of North Sea ecosystems. Marine and coastal ecosystems are addressed in terms of ecological habitats, ecological dynamics, and human-induced stresses representing a threat (i.e. eutrophication, harmful algal blooms, offshore oil and gas, renewable energy, fisheries, contaminants, tourism, ports, non-indigenous species and climate change). Terrestrial coastal range

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Section: 633mentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction to the Assessment—Characteristics of the Region

Quante

Colijn

Bakker

et al. 2016

North Sea Region Climate Change Assessment

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“…Kingston 1987, Neff et al 1987, Gray et al 1990, Olsgard & Gray 1995, Daan & Mulder 1996, the use of water-based drilling muds has increased and is currently considered the less environmentally harmful alternative. Waterbased drill cuttings (crushed bed rock mixed with drilling muds) have been considered to have minor or no negative impact on the marine environment except burial (e.g.…”

Section: Resale or Republication Not Permitted Without Written Consenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological and biogeochemical effects of organic matter and drilling discharges in two sediment communities

Trannum¹,

Nilsson²,

Schaanning³

et al. 2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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The present study investigates the relation between community characteristics, input of organic matter and drill cuttings. Drill cuttings are discharged from offshore oil and gas exploration, and settle on soft bottom sediments where the benthic fauna may be affected. In a 3-factorial mesocosm experiment, 2 benthic communities were treated with either water-based drill cuttings or natural sediment in combination with addition or no addition of organic matter, and biochemical and biological responses were studied. The biogeochemical response of organic matter and drill cuttings additions resembled each other, in both cases resulting in enhanced sediment-water fluxes of oxygen, nitrate and ammonium, and reduced concentration of oxygen in sediment pore water. This finding indicated degradation of an organic compound in the water-based drill cuttings. Regarding the biological response, benthic community composition was significantly different for all treatment factors, evidenced by PERMANOVA. Abundance and biomass were reduced in boxes without addition of organic matter, probably as a response to starvation, while abundance and taxa richness were reduced in boxes with drill cuttings. The particular effect of water-based drill cuttings on the environment seems to be complex, and should be investigated further. KEY WORDS: Benthos · Biogeochemical fluxes · Oil exploration · Organic matter · Oxygen microdistributions · Water-based drilling mud Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 442: [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] 2011 mental impacts around drilling installations using oilbased and synthetic muds (e.g. Kingston 1987, Neff et al. 1987, Gray et al. 1990, Olsgard & Gray 1995, Daan & Mulder 1996, the use of water-based drilling muds has increased and is currently considered the less environmentally harmful alternative. Waterbased drill cuttings (crushed bed rock mixed with drilling muds) have been considered to have minor or no negative impact on the marine environment except burial (e.g. Hyland et al. 1994, Currie & Isaacs 2005, Netto et al. 2010. However, recent studies have indicated that the effects may be more severe than previously assumed, and that impact factors other than burial trigger the response (Schaanning et al. 2008, Trannum et al. 2010. In light of possible expansion of drilling activities to pristine areas further north and in more coastal, shallow areas, we need to increase our knowledge of the generality of benthic responses.Benthic community composition varies across all spatial scales, but common environmental drivers include sediment characteristics, depth, input of organic matter and temperature (e.g. Gray 1974, Rhoads 1974, Grebmeier et al. 1988, Etter & Grassle 1992, Ambrose & Renaud 1995, Ellingsen 2002, Quijón et al. 2008, Li et al. 2009). A general problem in ecological monitoring is the differentiation of anthropogenic-induced changes from the natural variations constantly occurring in marine comm...

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“…By January 2001 oil-and synthetic-based muds could no longer be released into the environment (OSPAR Commission 2000, 2009. We assumed that during the intervening decade, recovery from drilling with these muds will have occurred (Daan & Mulder 1996). Consequently only the effects of water-based muds (WBM) cuttings were considered for well heads and platforms in operation during or since 2001.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human pressures on UK seabed habitats: a cumulative impact assessment

Foden¹,

Rogers²,

Jones³

2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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European Member States are required to assess the status of marine waters, including analysis of cumulative effects. We developed a methodology for evaluating the impact of several human activities that constitute 4 direct pressures on the UK (England and Wales) seabed community: smothering, abrasion, obstruction (sealing), and extraction. The method was tested by mapping the spatial extent of individual and cumulative activities for 2007 by habitat type, quantifying the intensity of activities, and estimating impact using published recovery times. More than half (134 400 km 2 ) of the seabed was directly affected by human activities, of which only 165 km 2 (< 0.1%) was occupied by multiple activities. Benthic fishing accounted for 99.6% of the spatial footprint. Sensitivity to the pressures of human activities varied by habitat type, with estimated recovery times ranging from <1 mo for otter trawling in sand, to ~15 yr for co-occurring aggregate extraction and dredge material disposal in low-energy gravel habitat. Fully integrated, dynamically-linked environmental assessments are generally considered desirable for greater scientific understanding of an ecosystem. The methodology we present for quantifying cumulative effects is a step towards this. However, our findings indicate that a limited number of activities were the predominant cause of widespread, long recovery times of benthic fauna. This suggests that when time and resources are limited, single sector assessment rather than detailed evaluation of cumulative effects, can still usefully guide management. As the observed cumulative effects were primarily related to a few activities, it might reasonably be argued that management effort should be focused on spatially extensive activities, such as benthic fishing to mitigate most of the human impact on the UK seabed.

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On the short-term and long-term impact of drilling activities in the Dutch sector of the North Sea

Cited by 40 publications

References 9 publications

Introduction to the Assessment—Characteristics of the Region

Introduction to the Assessment—Characteristics of the Region

Biological and biogeochemical effects of organic matter and drilling discharges in two sediment communities

Human pressures on UK seabed habitats: a cumulative impact assessment

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