Science Related to Oil Spills Active
Crude oil or oil distilled product (e.g. gasoline, diesel fuels, jet fuels) spills can occur during oil exploration, production, and transportation activities. Environmental impacts of spills are complex and can be difficult to assess. The chemical makeup of oil and oil products is diverse which affects oil behavior (e.g. volatilization, sinking). Oil degradation and fate are also influenced by environmental factors such as salinity, temperature, and surface vs underground spills. Oil can impact living organisms both directly (dermal contact, inhalation, ingestion) and indirectly (bioaccumulation in food sources, disruption of recreational activities). USGS scientists have decades of experience supporting assessment and restoration activities for the largest oil spills in U.S history, Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Examples include oil spill remote sensing, vegetation surveys, ecotoxicological impacts, marsh ecology impacts, sea turtle modelling, immunosuppression of oiled biota, coral ecology, and avian and mammalian injury and recovery.
To learn more about how USGS science supports the NRDAR program contact Jo Ellen Hinck, the USGS NRDAR Coordinator.
Return to USGS Science for DOI Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) Program
Browse USGS publications related to NRDAR oil spill cases.
Examples of assessment and restoration projects are below.
Assessment Projects
- Histopathology of Bird Carcasses
Principal Investigator - Julia Lankton
- Ambient Water Concentrations of PAHs at an Oil Spill Using Semi-Permeable Membrane Devices (SPMDs)
Principal Investigator - David Alvarez
Principal Investigator - David Alvarez
- Remote Sensing Estimation of Surface Oil Volume During the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Blowout in the Gulf of Mexico
Principal Investigator - Gregg Swayze
Restoration Projects
- Population Dynamics Model for Least Bell's Vireo Restoration after the Santa Clara River Oil Spill
Principal Investigator - Barbara Kus
- Enhancing Prey Availability for Wintering and Migrating Surf Scoters Damaged by the Cosco Busan Oil Spill
Principal Investigator - Susan De La Cruz
- Marbled Murrelet at Sea Survey, Cosco Busan Oil Spill
Principal Investigator - Josh Adams
- Detecting and Inferring Cause of Change in an Alaska Nearshore Marine Ecosystem
Principal Investigator - James L Bodkin
Explore the NRDAR Case Map and Document Library to learn more about individual cases.
Return to USGS Science for DOI Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) Program
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Below are USGS publications for oil spills associated with specific NRDAR cases.
Oiling accelerates loss of salt marshes, southeastern Louisiana
Timelines and mechanisms of wildlife population recovery following the Exxon Valdez oil spill
Analysis of seafloor change around Dauphin Island, Alabama, 1987–2015
Gene transcription patterns in response to low level petroleum contaminants in Mytilus trossulus from field sites and harbors in southcentral Alaska
Performance measures for a Mississippi River reintroduction into the forested wetlands of Maurepas Swamp
Incipient motion of sand-oil agglomerates
How do en route events around the Gulf of Mexico influence landbird populations
Spatial variation in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure in Barrow's goldeneye (Bucephala islandica) in coastal British Columbia
Cessation of oil exposure in harlequin ducks after the Exxon Valdez oil spill: Cytochrome P4501A biomarker evidence
δ13C and d15N in the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys kempii after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Inter-nesting movements and habitat-use of adult female Kemp’s ridley turtles in the Gulf of Mexico
Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on deep-sea coral-associated sediment communities
- Overview
Crude oil or oil distilled product (e.g. gasoline, diesel fuels, jet fuels) spills can occur during oil exploration, production, and transportation activities. Environmental impacts of spills are complex and can be difficult to assess. The chemical makeup of oil and oil products is diverse which affects oil behavior (e.g. volatilization, sinking). Oil degradation and fate are also influenced by environmental factors such as salinity, temperature, and surface vs underground spills. Oil can impact living organisms both directly (dermal contact, inhalation, ingestion) and indirectly (bioaccumulation in food sources, disruption of recreational activities). USGS scientists have decades of experience supporting assessment and restoration activities for the largest oil spills in U.S history, Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Examples include oil spill remote sensing, vegetation surveys, ecotoxicological impacts, marsh ecology impacts, sea turtle modelling, immunosuppression of oiled biota, coral ecology, and avian and mammalian injury and recovery.
To learn more about how USGS science supports the NRDAR program contact Jo Ellen Hinck, the USGS NRDAR Coordinator.
Return to USGS Science for DOI Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) Program
Browse USGS publications related to NRDAR oil spill cases.
Examples of assessment and restoration projects are below.
Assessment Projects
- Histopathology of Bird Carcasses
Principal Investigator - Julia Lankton
- Ambient Water Concentrations of PAHs at an Oil Spill Using Semi-Permeable Membrane Devices (SPMDs)
Principal Investigator - David Alvarez
Principal Investigator - David Alvarez
- Remote Sensing Estimation of Surface Oil Volume During the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Blowout in the Gulf of Mexico
Principal Investigator - Gregg Swayze
Restoration Projects
- Population Dynamics Model for Least Bell's Vireo Restoration after the Santa Clara River Oil Spill
Principal Investigator - Barbara Kus
- Enhancing Prey Availability for Wintering and Migrating Surf Scoters Damaged by the Cosco Busan Oil Spill
Principal Investigator - Susan De La Cruz
- Marbled Murrelet at Sea Survey, Cosco Busan Oil Spill
Principal Investigator - Josh Adams
- Detecting and Inferring Cause of Change in an Alaska Nearshore Marine Ecosystem
Principal Investigator - James L Bodkin
Explore the NRDAR Case Map and Document Library to learn more about individual cases.
Return to USGS Science for DOI Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) Program
- Data
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
- Publications
Below are USGS publications for oil spills associated with specific NRDAR cases.
Filter Total Items: 82Oiling accelerates loss of salt marshes, southeastern Louisiana
The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill damaged thousands of km2 of intertidal marsh along shorelines that had been experiencing elevated rates of erosion for decades. Yet, the contribution of marsh oiling to landscape-scale degradation and subsequent land loss has been difficult to quantify. Here, we applied advanced remote sensing techniques to map changes in marsh land cover and open wateAuthorsMichael Beland, Trent W. Biggs, Dar A. Roberts, Seth H. Peterson, Raymond F. Kokaly, Sarai PiazzaTimelines and mechanisms of wildlife population recovery following the Exxon Valdez oil spill
Research and monitoring activities over the 28 years since the T/V Exxon Valdez ran aground and spilled oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska have led to an improved understanding of how wildlife populations were damaged, as well as the mechanisms and timelines of recovery. A key finding was that for some species, such as harlequin ducks and sea otters, chronic oil spill effects persisted for at lAuthorsDaniel Esler, Brenda E. Ballachey, Craig O. Matkin, Daniel Cushing, Robert Kaler, James L. Bodkin, Daniel Monson, George G. Esslinger, Kimberly A. KloeckerAnalysis of seafloor change around Dauphin Island, Alabama, 1987–2015
Dauphin Island is a 26-km-long barrier island located southwest of Mobile Bay, Alabama, in the north-central Gulf of Mexico. The island contains sandy beaches, dunes, maritime forests, freshwater ponds and intertidal wetlands, providing habitat for many endangered and threatened species. Dauphin Island also provides protection for and maintains estuarine conditions within Mississippi Sound, supporAuthorsJames G. Flocks, Nancy T. DeWitt, Chelsea A. StalkGene transcription patterns in response to low level petroleum contaminants in Mytilus trossulus from field sites and harbors in southcentral Alaska
The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill damaged a wide range of natural resources, including intertidal communities, and post-spill studies demonstrated acute and chronic exposure and injury to an array of species. Standard toxicological methods to evaluate petroleum contaminants have assessed tissue burdens, with fewer assays providing indicators of health or physiology, particularly when contaminant levAuthorsLizabeth Bowen, A. Keith Miles, Brenda E. Ballachey, Shannon C. Waters, James L. Bodkin, Mandy Lindeberg, Daniel EslerPerformance measures for a Mississippi River reintroduction into the forested wetlands of Maurepas Swamp
The use of freshwater diversions (river reintroductions) from the Mississippi River as a restoration tool to rehabilitate Louisiana coastal wetlands has been promoted widely since the first such diversion at Caernarvon became operational in the early 1990s. To date, aside from the Bonnet Carré Spillway (which is designed and operated for flood control), there are only four operational MississippiAuthorsKen W. Krauss, Gary P. Shaffer, Richard F. Keim, Jim L. Chambers, William B. Wood, Stephen B. HartleyIncipient motion of sand-oil agglomerates
No abstract available.AuthorsMelanie M. A. Schippers, Niels G. Jacobsen, P. Soupy Dalyander, Timothy Nelson, Robert T. McCallHow do en route events around the Gulf of Mexico influence landbird populations
Habitats around the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) provide critical resources for Nearctic–Neotropical migratory landbirds, the majority of which travel across or around the GOM every spring and fall as they migrate between temperate breeding grounds in North America and tropical wintering grounds in the Caribbean and Central and South America. At the same time, ecosystems in the GOM are changing rapidly, wAuthorsEmily B. Cohen, Wylie C. Barrow, Jeffrey J. Buler, Jill L. Deppe, Andrew Farnsworth, Peter P. Marra, Scott R. McWilliams, David W Mehlman, R. Randy Wilson, Mark S Woodrey, Frank R. MooreSpatial variation in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure in Barrow's goldeneye (Bucephala islandica) in coastal British Columbia
Barrow's goldeneyes are sea ducks that winter throughout coastal British Columbia (BC). Their diet consists primarily of intertidal blue mussels, which can accumulate PAHs; accordingly, goldeneyes may be susceptible to exposure through contaminated prey. In 2014/15, we examined total PAH concentrations in mussels from undeveloped and developed coastal areas of BC. At those same sites, we used ERODAuthorsMegan Willie, Daniel Esler, W. Sean Boyd, Philip Molloy, Ronald C. YdenbergCessation of oil exposure in harlequin ducks after the Exxon Valdez oil spill: Cytochrome P4501A biomarker evidence
The authors quantified hepatic hydrocarbon-inducible cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) expression, as ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity, in wintering harlequin ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) captured in Prince William Sound, Alaska (USA), during 2011, 2013, and 2014 (22–25 yr following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill). Average EROD activity was compared between birds from areas oiled by theAuthorsDaniel Esler, Brenda E. Ballachey, Lizabeth Bowen, A. Keith Miles, Rian D. Dickson, John D. Hendersonδ13C and d15N in the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys kempii after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The Deepwater Horizon explosion in April 2010 and subsequent oil spill released 3.19 × 106 barrels (5.07 × 108 L) of MC252 crude oil into important foraging areas of the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys kempii (Lk) in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM). We measured δ13C and δ15N in scute biopsy samples from 33 Lk nesting in Texas during 2010–-12. Of these, 27 were equipped with sateAuthorsKimberly J. Reich, Melania C. López-Castro, Donna J. Shaver, Claire Iseton, Kristen M. Hart, Michael J. Hooper, Christopher J. SchmittInter-nesting movements and habitat-use of adult female Kemp’s ridley turtles in the Gulf of Mexico
Species vulnerability is increased when individuals congregate in restricted areas for breeding; yet, breeding habitats are not well defined for many marine species. Identification and quantification of these breeding habitats are essential to effective conservation. Satellite telemetry and switching state-space modeling (SSM) were used to define inter-nesting habitat of endangered Kemp’s ridley tAuthorsDonna J. Shaver, Kristen M. Hart, Ikuko Fujisaki, David N. Bucklin, Autumn Iverson, Cynthia Rubio, Thomas F. Backof, Patrick M. Burchfield, Raul de Jesus Gonzales Diaz Miron, Peter H. Dutton, Amy Frey, Jaime Peña, Daniel Gomez Gamez, Hector J. Martinez, Jaime OrtizImpacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on deep-sea coral-associated sediment communities
Cold-water corals support distinct populations of infauna within surrounding sediments that provide vital ecosystem functions and services in the deep sea. Yet due to their sedentary existence, infauna are vulnerable to perturbation and contaminant exposure because they are unable to escape disturbance events. While multiple deep-sea coral habitats were injured by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH)AuthorsAmanda W.J. Demopoulos, Jill R. Bourque, Erik E. Cordes, Katherine Stamler