Fate and Effects of Oil Pollutants in Extremely Cold Marine Environments.

Petroleum degradation was studied using Prudhoe Bay crude oil incubated in situ in several Arctic ecosystems. Studies were conducted in water, ice and sediment ecosystems. No biodegradation of oil was found when oil was allowed to freeze into the ice matrix. When oil was spilled under ice evaporativ...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Atlas, Ronald M
Other Authors: LOUISVILLE UNIV KY DEPT OF BIOLOGY
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1977
Subjects:
Protective Equipment
Toxicology
*OIL POLLUTION
*ECOLOGY
*ARCTIC REGIONS
DEGRADATION
WATER
BACTERIA
TOXICITY
BIOLOGICAL CONTAMINATION
SOILS
ICE
MARINE BIOLOGY
ANIMALS
INVERTEBRATES
OIL SPILLS
MICROORGANISMS
CRUDE OIL
Biodegradation
WUNR205013
Arctic
Prudhoe Bay
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA048334
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA048334
Description
Summary:Petroleum degradation was studied using Prudhoe Bay crude oil incubated in situ in several Arctic ecosystems. Studies were conducted in water, ice and sediment ecosystems. No biodegradation of oil was found when oil was allowed to freeze into the ice matrix. When oil was spilled under ice evaporative losses were greatly restricted and biodegradation rates were very low. In sediment, biodegradative changes in the oil were found within a few days of spillage. When sediment was contaminated with oil there was extensive mortality of invertebrates. Recolonization of contaminated sediment occurred rapidly but recolonization was by different benthic invertebrate species than recolonized uncontaminated sediment.

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