Tar Ball Distribution in the Western North Atlantic.

Surface waters of the Atlantic Ocean were quantitatively sampled for floating tar balls from December 1971 to September 1973. It was found that tar ball concentrations (mg/sq m) generally increase from the Labrador Sea at ocean station Bravo (nearly tar ball free) south to the Sargasso Sea at ocean...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: McGowan,W. E., Saner,W. A., Hufford,G. L.
Other Authors: COAST GUARD RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER GROTON CONN
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1974
Subjects:
Civil Engineering
*OIL POLLUTION
*NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
*TAR
OCEAN SURFACE
SITES
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
SAMPLING
TABLES(DATA)
ATOMIC SPECTROSCOPY
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
IRON OXIDES
NEWFOUNDLAND(PROVINCE)
SARGASSO SEA
DOT/5C
DOT/4BZ/BL
Newfoundland
Labrador Sea
North Atlantic
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA006821
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA006821
Description
Summary:Surface waters of the Atlantic Ocean were quantitatively sampled for floating tar balls from December 1971 to September 1973. It was found that tar ball concentrations (mg/sq m) generally increase from the Labrador Sea at ocean station Bravo (nearly tar ball free) south to the Sargasso Sea at ocean station Echo (greater than 2.6 mg/sq m). This south to north decrease in tar pollution was not only noted for the four ocean station sampling areas, but was also observed along the eastern coast of the United States. Analysis of thirty-five tar ball samples for iron (determined as Fe2O3) indicated high levels of Fe2O3. This implies previous association of the tar balls with iron or steel and suggests that man-made sources are partially responsible for tar ball pollution in addition to natural oil seeps.

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