Peer Review #2 of "Effects of mesoscale eddies on behavior of an oil spill resulting from an accidental deepwater blowout in the Black Sea: an assessment of the environmental impacts (v0.1)"

ABSTRACT The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of International Affairs has been joined by an interagency task force to undertake a program in the Black Sea region called the “Black Sea Environmental Initiative.” The objectives of the task force are to support the countries of the region to address significant Black Sea environmental issues, including oil spill response and prevention. Working with delegates from Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine, DOE and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) coordinated a workshop on a regional oil spill emergency response system for the Black Sea on September 14–17, 1999 in Odessa, Ukraine; DOE and the National Academy of Science, Ukraine cosponsored the workshop. The “Black Sea Environmental Information Center” Web site was unveiled at the Odessa workshop. Created by ORNL, the Web site ( http://pims.ed.ornl.gov/blacksea) facilitates information flow and dialog between the countries of the region. The Web site is intended to provide a comprehensive source for information on: Oil spill cleanup, monitoring, and related commercial technologies Scientists' requests for research partner Various countries' laws, regulations, and standards relating to the environmental condition of the Black Sea Publication of scientific papers and on-line discussions of these issue Individuals and companies working on Black Sea environmental issues The Web site also provides a real time chat capability where meetings are organized. Several meetings among regional officials have been conducted and planning is underway for the first real-time training session, which will be held in the next few months. The Web site also is host to a growing database of historical pollution testing data from research institutes around the Black Sea.

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Coastal/deep ocean interactions in the Black Sea and their ecological/environmental impacts

Journal of Marine Systems ◽

10.1016/0924-7963(95)00030-5 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 7 (2-4) ◽

pp. 293-320 ◽

Cited By ~ 65

Author(s):

H.i̇. Sur ◽

E. Özsoy ◽

Y.P. Ilyin ◽

Ü. Ünlüata

Keyword(s):

Environmental Impacts ◽

Black Sea ◽

Deep Ocean ◽

The Black Sea

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Effects of mesoscale eddies on behavior of an oil spill resulting from an accidental deepwater blowout in the Black Sea: an assessment of the environmental impacts

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.5448 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. e5448

Author(s):

Konstantin A. Korotenko

Keyword(s):

Black Sea ◽

Oil Spill ◽

Marine Environment ◽

Ocean Circulation ◽

Coupled Model ◽

Circulation Model ◽

The Black Sea ◽

Basin Scale ◽

Near Shore ◽

Oil Source

Because of the environmental sensitivity of the Black Sea, as a semi-enclosed sea, any subsea oil spill can cause destructive impacts on the marine environment and beaches. Employing numerical modeling as a prediction tool is one of the most efficient methods to understand oil spill behavior under various environmental forces. In this regard, a coupled circulation/deepsea oil spill model has been applied to the Black Sea to address the behavior of the oil plume resulting from a representative hypothetical deepwater blowout. With climatological forcing, the hydrodynamic module based on DieCAST ocean circulation model realistically reproduces seasonally-varying circulation from basin-scale dominant structures to meso- and sub-mesoscale elements. The oil spill model utilizes pre-calculated DieCAST thermo-hydrodynamic fields and uses a Lagrangian tracking algorithm for predicting the displacement of a large number of seeded oil droplets, the sum of which forms the rising oil plume resulting from a deepwater blowout. Basic processes affecting the transport, dispersal of oil and its fate in the water column are included in the coupled model. A hypothetical oil source was set at the bottom, at the northwestern edge of the Shatsky Ridge in the area east of the Crimea Peninsula where the oil exploration/development is likely to be planned. Goals of the study are to elucidate the behavior of the subsea oil plume and assess scales of contamination of marine environment and coastlines resulting from potential blowouts. The two 20-day scenarios with the oil released by a hypothetical blowout were examined to reveal combined effects of the basin-scale current, near-shore eddies, and winds on the behavior of the rising oil plume and its spreading on the surface. Special attention is paid to the Caucasian near-shore anticyclonic eddy which is able to trap surfacing oil, detain it and deliver it to shores. The length of contaminated coastlines of vulnerable Crimean and Caucasian coasts are assessed along with amounts of oil beached and deposited.

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