scholarly journals Editorial: Deep Pelagic Ecosystem Dynamics in a Highly Impacted Water Column: The Gulf of Mexico After Deepwater Horizon

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracey T. Sutton ◽  
Kevin M. Boswell ◽  
Heather D. Bracken-Grissom ◽  
Jose V. Lopez ◽  
Michael Vecchione ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Water Column ◽  
Deepwater Horizon ◽  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
Pelagic Ecosystem

scholarly journals A Multidisciplinary Approach to Investigate Deep-Pelagic Ecosystem Dynamics in the Gulf of Mexico Following Deepwater Horizon

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
April B. Cook ◽  
Andrea M. Bernard ◽  
Kevin M. Boswell ◽  
Heather Bracken-Grissom ◽  
Marta D’Elia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Water Column ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Community Integration ◽  
Deepwater Horizon ◽  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Genetic Sequencing ◽  
Oceanic Ecosystem

The pelagic Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is a complex system of dynamic physical oceanography (western boundary current, mesoscale eddies), high biological diversity, and community integration via diel vertical migration and lateral advection. Humans also heavily utilize this system, including its deep-sea components, for resource extraction, shipping, tourism, and other commercial activity. This utilization has had impacts, some with disastrous consequences. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DWHOS) occurred at a depth of ∼1500 m (Macondo wellhead), creating a persistent and toxic mixture of hydrocarbons and dispersant in the deep-pelagic (water column below 200 m depth) habitat. In order to assess the impacts of the DWHOS on this habitat, two large-scale research programs, described herein, were designed and executed. These programs, ONSAP and DEEPEND, aimed to quantitatively characterize the oceanic ecosystem of the northern GoM and to establish a time-series with which natural and anthropogenic changes could be detected. The approach was multi-disciplinary in nature and included in situ sampling, acoustic sensing, water column profiling and sampling, satellite remote sensing, AUV sensing, numerical modeling, genetic sequencing, and biogeochemical analyses. The synergy of these methodologies has provided new and unprecedented perspectives of an oceanic ecosystem with respect to composition, connectivity, drivers, and variability.

scholarly journals Long-term impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil well blowout on methane oxidation dynamics in the northern Gulf of Mexico

Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Katherine Rogener ◽  
Annalisa Bracco ◽  
Kimberley S. Hunter ◽  
Matthew A. Saxton ◽  
Samantha B. Joye
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Water Column ◽  
Methane Oxidation ◽  
Deepwater Horizon ◽  
Oil Well ◽  
Northern Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Oxidation Rates ◽  
Ocean Environment ◽  
Long Term Impact

The Deepwater Horizon oil well blowout discharged an unprecedented amount of methane into the water column of the northern Gulf of Mexico between April and July 2010. The methanotrophic community bloomed in response to the sustained methane release, resulting in the highest methane oxidation rates measured in the water column of an open ocean environment to date. To assess the long-term impact and recovery of the northern Gulf of Mexico methanotrophic community, we tracked methane dynamics for five years post-blowout. We determined methane concentration and methane oxidation rates at 31 different sites, resulting in ~900 discrete water column samples across the northern Gulf ecosystem, the largest compilation of methane oxidation rate measurements in an offshore ocean environment. Though methane concentrations approached pre-blowout concentrations within one year, methane oxidation rates exhibited a more gradual trend of decreasing activity. These results suggest that Gulf-wide circulation patterns dispersed and redistributed methanotrophic biomass that bloomed and accumulated in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon blowout, and that this biomass was able to perpetuate elevated methanotrophic activity for multiple years after the blowout at levels above anticipated background rates. This dataset provides a rare view of the response of an ocean ecosystem to a large pulse of methane and reveals unanticipated dynamics of microbial methanotrophy as a result of such human-induced methane releases.

Restoring barrier habitat in Louisiana to compensate for natural resource injuries: Shell Island and Chenier Ronquille Barrier Restoration Projects

Shore & Beach ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 65-71
Author(s):  
Whitney Thompson ◽  
Christopher Paul ◽  
John Darnall
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Barrier Island ◽  
Deepwater Horizon ◽  
Coastal Protection ◽  
Restoration Project ◽  
Island Restoration ◽  
Barataria Basin ◽  
Outer Coast

Coastal Louisiana received significant funds tied to BP penalties as a result of the Deepwater Horizon incident. As it is widely considered that the State of Louisiana sustained most of the damage due to this incident, there has been a firm push to waste no time in implementing habitat restoration projects. Sustaining the land on the coast of Louisiana is vital to our nation’s economy, as several of the nation’s largest ports are located on the Gulf coast in Louisiana. In addition, the ecosystems making up the Louisiana coast are important to sustain some of the largest and most valuable fisheries in the nation. Funded by BP Phase 3 Early Restoration, the goals of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Outer Coast Restoration Project are to restore beach, dune, and marsh habitats to help compensate spill-related injuries to habitats and species, specifically brown pelicans, terns, skimmers, and gulls. Four island components in Louisiana were funded under this project; Shell Island Barrier Restoration, Chenier Ronquille Barrier Island Restoration, Caillou Lake Headlands Barrier Island Restoration, and North Breton Island Restoration (https://www. gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/louisiana-outer-coast-restoration, NOAA 2018). Shell Island and Chenier Ronquille are critical pieces of barrier shoreline within the Barataria Basin in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. These large-scale restoration projects were completed in the years following the Deepwater Horizon incident, creating new habitat and reinforcing Louisiana’s Gulf of Mexico shoreline. The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) finished construction of the Shell Island NRDA Restoration Project in 2017, which restored two barrier islands in Plaquemines Parish utilizing sand hydraulically dredged from the Mississippi River and pumped via pipeline over 20 miles over levees and through towns, marinas, and marshes to the coastline. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) also completed the Plaquemines Parish barrier island restoration at Chenier Ronquille in 2017 utilizing nearshore Gulf of Mexico sediment, restoring wetland, coastal, and nearshore habitat in the Barataria Basin. A design and construction overview is provided herein.

scholarly journals Impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on a deep-water coral community in the Gulf of Mexico

2012 ◽  
Vol 109 (50) ◽  
pp. 20303-20308 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. K. White ◽  
P.-Y. Hsing ◽  
W. Cho ◽  
T. M. Shank ◽  
E. E. Cordes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Deepwater Horizon ◽  
Coral Community ◽  
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill ◽  
Water Coral

scholarly journals Sustained deposition of contaminants from the Deepwater Horizon spill

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (24) ◽  
pp. E3332-E3340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beizhan Yan ◽  
Uta Passow ◽  
Jeffrey P. Chanton ◽  
Eva-Maria Nöthig ◽  
Vernon Asper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon ◽  
Water Column ◽  
Deepwater Horizon ◽  
Diatom Bloom ◽  
Drilling Mud ◽  
Deep Sediment ◽  
Pelagic Food Webs ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic ◽  
Large Diatom ◽  
Benthic Ecosystems

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill resulted in 1.6–2.6 × 1010 grams of petrocarbon accumulation on the seafloor. Data from a deep sediment trap, deployed 7.4 km SW of the well between August 2010 and October 2011, disclose that the sinking of spill-associated substances, mediated by marine particles, especially phytoplankton, continued at least 5 mo following the capping of the well. In August/September 2010, an exceptionally large diatom bloom sedimentation event coincided with elevated sinking rates of oil-derived hydrocarbons, black carbon, and two key components of drilling mud, barium and olefins. Barium remained in the water column for months and even entered pelagic food webs. Both saturated and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon source indicators corroborate a predominant contribution of crude oil to the sinking hydrocarbons. Cosedimentation with diatoms accumulated contaminants that were dispersed in the water column and transported them downward, where they were concentrated into the upper centimeters of the seafloor, potentially leading to sustained impact on benthic ecosystems.

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