WHERE DID the OIL GO? a DEEPWATER HORIZON FACT SHEET During the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Approximately 200 Million Gallons of Oil Flowed from the Macondo Well
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WHERE DID THE OIL GO? A DEEPWATER HORIZON FACT SHEET During the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, approximately 200 million gallons of oil flowed from the Macondo well. Due to the size and scope of the spill, people wanted to know where the oil would travel. Some oil accumulated at the shoreline, on the ocean’s surface, in an underwater plume, and on the seafloor. RESPONSE ACTIONS NATURAL PROCESSES Responders recovered oil at the After the spill, oil weathered due to wellhead, burned, skimmed, and used environmental exposure. It evaporated, dispersants on some of the surface 20 - 25% emulsified into foam, naturally dispersed, oil out at sea, but some oil still evaporated and/or dissolved. A significant, but lingered in the environment. unknown, portion was broken 5 - 6% burned down by microbes and the sun. 2 - 4% skimmed 12 - 13% 10 - 20% naturally chemically dispersed dispersed underwater oil plume 11 - 25% unaccounted for 3 - 5% oil on the seafloor 16 - 17% recovered at the wellhead PATHWAYS TO THE SEAFLOOR OIL AT THE SEAFLOOR Oil made its way to the seafloor by binding or Scientists estimate that 1,235 combining with sand, burned byproduct, or other square miles of the seafloor particles in the water, causing it to sink. Some animals around the well contained oiled ate oil droplets or particles and then excreted oil- sediments. containing fecal pellets, which sank to the seafloor. Map of shoreline oiling (Map: Environmental Response Management Application) 1,313 miles of oiled shoreline Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida OILING BY HABITAT coasts experienced different amounts of shoreline The two shoreline habitats primarily affected were oiling. The oil impacted 1,313 miles of the 3,540 beaches and coastal wetlands. miles of the U. S. Gulf of Mexico coastline. Wetlands – 687 miles TE/PERCEN STA TA of wetlands were oiled, Y GE B O making up more than half E F IN T (52%) of the oiled shoreline. L Florida O E T R 178 miles A Most of the wetlands that O 14% L were oiled were in Louisiana. H O S I Plant cover decreased by 11 L D I E Mississippi N to 53% in heavily oiled sites L 158 miles G I in Louisiana after the spill. O Louisiana 12% 847 miles 64% Alabama Beaches – 600 miles of sandy beaches were 95 miles oiled, 46% of the oiled shoreline. During the spill, thick, 7% weathered oil washed up on beaches in patches. Some of the oil was buried by sand and re-exposed when wind and Texas waves moved sand around. 35 miles Responders removed 3% approximately 100 million WANT TO LEARN MORE? pounds of oiled Read Deepwater Horizon: Where did the oil go? waste material. and Microbes and oil: What’s the connection? at gulfseagrant.org/oilspilloutreach (Front and back watercolors: Anna Hinkeldey) ACKNOWLEDGMENT Special thanks to the many external reviewers who contributed to the betterment of this oil spill science outreach publication. o r g / o i l s p i l l g u l f s e a g r a n t . o u t r e a c h This work was made possible in part by a grant from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, and in part by the Sea Grant programs of Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and Mississippi-Alabama. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations Texas • Louisiana • Florida do not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations. Mississippi-Alabama GOMSG-G-18-003 .