Natural seepage of crude oil into the marine environment
- 2k Downloads
- 145 Citations
Abstract
Recent global estimates of crude-oil seepage rates suggest that about 47% of crude oil currently entering the marine environment is from natural seeps, whereas 53% results from leaks and spills during the extraction, transportation, refining, storage, and utilization of petroleum. The amount of natural crude-oil seepage is currently estimated to be 600,000 metric tons per year, with a range of uncertainty of 200,000 to 2,000,000 metric tons per year. Thus, natural oil seeps may be the single most important source of oil that enters the ocean, exceeding each of the various sources of crude oil that enters the ocean through its exploitation by humankind.
Keywords
Geographic Information System Synthetic Aperture Radar Seepage Rate Slick Thickness Natural SeepageNotes
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge with thanks Bruce Rogers (USGS) for the preparation of the figures.
References
- Ahlbrandt TS (2002) Future petroleum energy resources of the world. Int Geol Rev 44:1092–1104Google Scholar
- Allen AA, Schlueter RS, Mikolaj PG (1970) Natural oil seepage at Coal Oil Point, Santa Barbara, California. Science 170:974–977Google Scholar
- Anderson RK, Scalan RS, Parker PL, Behrens EW (1983) Seep oil and gas in Gulf of Mexico slope sediment. Science 222:619–621Google Scholar
- Bates CC, Pearson E (1975) Influx of petroleum hydrocarbons onto the ocean. In: Proc 7th Offshore Technology Conf OTC 2390:535–544Google Scholar
- Becker PR, Manen C-A (1988) Natural oil seeps in the Alaskan marine environment. Final Report, Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program, US Department of Commerce, Technical Information Service, PB88-235965Google Scholar
- Blumer M (1972) Submarine seeps: are they a major source of open ocean oil pollution? Science 176:1257–1258Google Scholar
- Clester SM, Hornafius SJ, Scepan U, Estes JE (1996) Quantification of the relationship between natural gas seepage rates and surface oil volume in the Santa Barbara Channel. Trans Am Geophys Union Suppl 77(46), F420Google Scholar
- Cook RA (1982) An oil seep at Leask Bay, Stewart Island, New Zealand. N Z J Geol Geophys 25:115–119Google Scholar
- Fischer PJ (1978) Natural gas and oil seeps, Santa Barbara Basin, California. The State Land Commission 1977, California Gas, Oil, and Tar Seeps, pp 1–62Google Scholar
- Frey MG (1977) Oil in marine waters. In: Proc Offshore Technology Conf OTC 2765:325–330Google Scholar
- GESAMP (1993) Impact of oil and related chemicals and wastes on the marine environment. IMO/FAO/UNESCO/WMO/WHO/IAEA/UN/UNEP Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Pollution (GESAMP) Report and Studies no 50Google Scholar
- Geyer RA, Giammona CP (1980) Naturally occurring hydrocarbons in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. In: Geyer RA (ed) Marine environmental pollution, vol 1, Elsevier Oceanographic Series 27A. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 37–106Google Scholar
- Grossling BF (1977) An estimate of the amounts of oil entering the oceans: sources, effects, and sinks of hydrocarbons in the aquatic environment. Proc Symp American Institute of Biological Sciences, pp 5–36Google Scholar
- Hornafius JS, Quigley D, Luyendyk BP (1999) The world’s most spectacular marine hydrocarbon seeps (Coal Oil Point, Santa Barbara Channel, California): quantification of emissions. J Geophys Res 104(C9):20703–20711Google Scholar
- Hunt JM (1996) Petroleum geochemistry and geology. W.H. Freeman, New YorkGoogle Scholar
- Jeffrey LM (1980) Petroleum residue in the marine environment. In: Geyer RA (ed) Marine environmental pollution, vol 1, Elsevier Oceanographic Series 27A. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 163–179Google Scholar
- Koons CB, Monaghan PH (1977) Input of hydrocarbons from seeps and recent biogenic sources: sources, effects, and sinks of hydrocarbons in the aquatic environment. Proc Symp American Institute of Biological Sciences, pp 94–107Google Scholar
- Kornacki AS, Kendrick JW, Berry JL (1994) Impact of oil and gas vents and slicks on petroleum exploration in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Geo-Mar Lett 14:160–169Google Scholar
- Kvenvolden KA, Harbaugh JW (1983) Reassessment of the rates at which oil from natural sources enters the marine environment. Mar Environ Res 10:223–243CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Levy EM (1978) Visual and chemical evidence for a natural seep at Scott Inlet, Baffin Island, District of Franklin. Geol Surv Can Curr Res Pap 78-1B:21–26Google Scholar
- Levy EM, Ehrhardt M (1981) Natural seepage of petroleum at Buchan Gulf, Baffin Island. Mar Chem 10:355–364CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Lowe SP, Doran T (1988) Oil seeps of the Ionian Islands, Western Greece. Am Assoc Petrol Geol Bull 72:1012Google Scholar
- MacDonald IR (1998) Natural oil spills. Sci Am 279:56–61Google Scholar
- MacDonald IR, Leifer I (2002) Constraining rates of carbon flux from natural seeps on northern Gulf of Mexico Slope. In: Abstr Vol 7th Int Conf Gas in Marine Sediments, 7–12 October 2002, Baku, Azerbaijan. Nafta Press, Baku, p 119Google Scholar
- MacDonald IR, Guinasso NL Jr, Ackleson SG, Amos JF, Duckworth R, Sassen R, Brooks JM (1993) Natural oil slicks in the Gulf off Mexico visible from space. J Geophys Res 98(C9):16,351–16,364Google Scholar
- MacDonald IR, Reilly JF Jr, Best WE, Venkataramaiah R, Sassen R, Guinasso NL Jr, Amos J (1996) Remote sensing inventory of active oil seeps and chemosynthetic communities in the northern Gulf of Mexico. In: Schumacher D, Abrams MA (eds) Hydrocarbon migration and its near-surface expression. Am Assoc Petrol Geol Mem 66:27–37Google Scholar
- Macgregor DS (1993) Relationships between seepage, tectonics and subsurface petroleum reserves. Mar Petrol Geol 10:606–619CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Mikolaj PG, Allen AA, Schlueter RS (1972) Investigation of the nature, extent, and fate of natural oil seepage off southern California. In: Proc 4th Offshore Technology Conf OTC 1549:I-367–I-380Google Scholar
- Miller RG (1992) The global oil system: the relationship between oil generation, loss, half-life, and the world crude oil resource. Am Assoc Petrol Geol Bull 76:489–500Google Scholar
- Miranda FP, Beisl CH, Bentz CM (1998) Application of the Unsupervised Semivariogram Textural Classifier (USTC) for the detection of natural oil seeps using Radarsat-1 data obtained offshore the Amazon River mouth. Am Assoc Petrol Geol Bull 82:1944Google Scholar
- Mitchell R, MacDonald IR, Kvenvolden KA (1999) Estimation of total hydrocarbon seepage into the Gulf of Mexico based on satellite remote sensing images. Trans Am Geophys Union 80(49), Ocean Sciences Meet Suppl OS242Google Scholar
- NAS (1975) Petroleum in the marine environment. National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DCGoogle Scholar
- NAS (1985) Oil in the sea—inputs, fates, and effects. National Academy of Sciences, National Academy Press, Washington, DCGoogle Scholar
- NAS (2003) Oil in the sea III: inputs, fates, and effects. National Academy of Sciences, National Academy Press, Washington, DCGoogle Scholar
- NOAA (1998) Year of the Oceans. Perspectives on marine environmental quality today. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)Google Scholar
- Page D, Boehm PD, Douglas GS, Bence AE, Burns WA, Mankiewicz PJ (1997) An estimate of the annual input of natural petroleum hydrocarbons to seafloor sediments in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Mar Pollut Bull 34:744–749CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Patton JS, Rigler MW, Boehm PD, Fiest DL (1981) Ixtoc I oil spill: flaking of surface mousse in the Gulf of Mexico. Nature 290:235–238Google Scholar
- Quigley DC, Hornafius JS, Luyendyk BP, Francis RD, Clark J, Washburn L (1999) Decrease in natural marine hydrocarbon seepage near Coal Oil Point, California, associated with offshore oil production. Geology 17:1047–1050CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Sandstrom MW, Philp RP (1984) Biological marker analysis and stable carbon isotopic composition of oil seeps from Tonga. Chem Geol 43:167–180CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Straughan D, Abbott BC (1971) The Santa Barbara oil spill: ecological changes and natural oil leaks. In: Hepple P (ed) Water pollution by oil. Institute of Petroleum, London, pp 257–262Google Scholar
- Traynor JJ, Sladen C (1997) Seepage in Vietnam—onshore and offshore examples. Mar Petrol Geol 14:345–362CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Weaver DW (1969) Geology of the northern Channel Islands. Pacific Sect AAPG, SEPM Spec PublGoogle Scholar
- Wilkinson ER (1971) California offshore oil and gas seeps. California Oil Fields—Summary of Operations 57(1):5–28Google Scholar
- Wilkinson ER (1972) California offshore oil and gas seeps. California Division Oil and GasGoogle Scholar
- Wilson RD, Monaghan PH, Osanik A, Price LC, Rogers MA (1973) Estimate of annual input of petroleum to the marine environment from natural marine seepage Trans Gulf Coast Assoc Geol Soc 23:182–193Google Scholar
- Wilson RD, Monaghan PH, Osanik A, Price LC, Rogers MA (1974) Natural marine oil seepage. Science 184:857–865Google Scholar
- Yerkes RF, Wagner HC, Yenne KA (1969) Petroleum development in the region of the Santa Barbara Channel. Geology, petroleum development, and seismicity of the Santa Barbara Channel region, California. US Geol Surv Prof Pap 679:13–27Google Scholar