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Science Related to Oil Spills

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By Columbia Environmental Research Center February 25, 2019

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

Media
An oiled Kemp's Ridley sea turtle after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
An oiled Kemp's Ridley sea turtle photographed during a boat-based survey by NOAA to collect oiled sea turtles during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response. Photograph credit: Kate Sampson, NOAA
  • 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

  • PAH Analysis in Bile from Fish Near an Oil Spill

                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

Media
Kemp's ridley sea turtles
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Newly hatched Kemp's ridley sea turtles crawl to the Gulf of Mexico.
  • 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

 

 

 

Media
NRDAR Cases
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details

 

 

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.

No Result Found

Below are USGS publications for oil spills associated with specific NRDAR cases.

Filter Total Items: 123

Sympatry or syntopy? Investigating drivers of distribution and co‐occurrence for two imperiled sea turtle species in Gulf of Mexico neritic waters Sympatry or syntopy? Investigating drivers of distribution and co‐occurrence for two imperiled sea turtle species in Gulf of Mexico neritic waters

Animals co‐occurring in a region (sympatry) may use the same habitat (syntopy) within that region. A central aim in ecology is determining what factors drive species distributions (i.e., abiotic conditions, dispersal limitations, and/or biotic interactions). Assessing the degree of biotic interactions can be difficult for species with wide ranges at sea. This study investigated the...
Authors
Kristen M. Hart, Autumn R. Iverson, Ikuko Fujisaki, Margaret M. Lamont, David N. Bucklin, Donna J. Shaver
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Gulf of America

Assessing the impact of open-ocean and back-barrier shoreline change on Dauphin Island, Alabama, at multiple time scales over the last 75 years Assessing the impact of open-ocean and back-barrier shoreline change on Dauphin Island, Alabama, at multiple time scales over the last 75 years

Dauphin Island and Little Dauphin Island, collectively, make up a geomorphically complex barrier island system located along Alabama’s southern coast, separating Mississippi Sound from the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay. The barrier island system provides numerous economical (tourism, fisheries) and natural (habitat for migratory birds, natural protection of inland and coastal areas from...
Authors
Christopher G. Smith, Joseph W. Long, Rachel E. Henderson, Paul R. Nelson
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Gulf of America

Shared habitat use by juveniles of three sea turtle species Shared habitat use by juveniles of three sea turtle species

The first step in understanding how sympatric species share habitat is defining spatial boundaries. While home range data for juvenile sea turtles exists, few studies have examined spatial overlap of multiple species in foraging habitat. Using satellite tracking technology, we define home ranges for juveniles of 3 sea turtle species (loggerhead, Kemp’s ridley, and green; n = 21) captured...
Authors
Margaret M. Lamont, Autumn R. Iverson
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Gulf of America

Marine threats overlap key foraging habitat for two imperiled sea turtle species in the Gulf of Mexico Marine threats overlap key foraging habitat for two imperiled sea turtle species in the Gulf of Mexico

Effective management of human activities affecting listed species requires understanding both threats and animal habitat-use patterns. However, the extent of spatial overlap between high-use foraging areas (where multiple marine species congregate) and anthropogenic threats is not well known. Our modeling approach incorporates data on sea turtle spatial ecology and a suite of threats in...
Authors
Kristen M. Hart, Autumn R. Iverson, Ikuko Fujisaki, Margaret M. Lamont, David N. Bucklin, Donna J. Shaver
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Gulf of America

Abundance and productivity of marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) off central California during the 2017 breeding season Abundance and productivity of marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) off central California during the 2017 breeding season

Marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) have been listed as “Endangered” by the State of California and “Threatened” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since 1992 in California, Oregon, and Washington. Information regarding marbled murrelet abundance, distribution, population trends, and habitat associations is critical for risk assessment, effective management and evaluation of
Authors
Jonathan J. Felis, Josh Adams, Emily C. Kelsey
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC)

The influence of different deep-sea coral habitats on sediment macrofaunal community structure and function The influence of different deep-sea coral habitats on sediment macrofaunal community structure and function

Deep-sea corals can create a highly complex, three-dimensional structure that facilitates sediment accumulation and influences adjacent sediment environments through altered hydrodynamic regimes. Infaunal communities adjacent to different coral types, including reef-building scleractinian corals and individual colonies of octocorals, are known to exhibit higher macrofaunal densities and...
Authors
Jill R. Bourque, Amanda W.J. Demopoulos
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Species Management Research Program, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Gulf of America

Ecological resilience indicators for mangrove ecosystems Ecological resilience indicators for mangrove ecosystems

Mangrove ecosystems are coastal wetland ecosystems dominated by mangrove species that are typically found in the intertidal zone, characterized by frequently flooded saline soil conditions. The majority of the approximately 500,000 acres of mangrove ecosystem in the United States occurs in the NGoM, and almost all of that is in Florida, with over 90 percent in the four southern counties...
Authors
Richard H. Day, Scott T. Allen, Jorge Brenner, Kathleen Goodin, Don Faber-Langendoen, Katherine Wirt Ames
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Land Management Research Program, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Gulf of America

Laboratory observations of artificial sand and oil agglomerates Laboratory observations of artificial sand and oil agglomerates

Sand and oil agglomerates (SOAs) form when weathered oil reaches the surf zone and combines with suspended sediments. The presence of large SOAs in the form of thick mats (up to 10 centimeters [cm] in height and up to 10 square meters [m2] in area) and smaller SOAs, sometimes referred to as surface residual balls (SRBs), may lead to the re-oiling of beaches previously affected by an oil...
Authors
Robert L. Jenkins, P. Soupy Dalyander, Allison Penko, Joseph W. Long
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Gulf of America

Are prey remains accurate indicators of chick diet? A comparison of diet quantification techniques for Black Oystercatchers Are prey remains accurate indicators of chick diet? A comparison of diet quantification techniques for Black Oystercatchers

The quantification of prey remains is a common method for estimating the diet of a variety of birds. However, these estimates may be subject to biases based on prey body type, nesting habitat, and collection date. To better understand biases and limitations associated with this method, we compared it with two others commonly used to characterize diet: direct observation of parents...
Authors
B.H. Robinson, H.A. Coletti, L.M. Phillips, Abby Powell
By
Cooperative Research Units

The sedimentological characteristics and geochronology of the marshes of Dauphin Island, Alabama The sedimentological characteristics and geochronology of the marshes of Dauphin Island, Alabama

In August 2015, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center collected 11 push cores from the marshes of Dauphin Island and Little Dauphin Island, Alabama. Sample site environments included high marshes, low salt marshes, and salt flats, and varied in distance from the shoreline. The sampling efforts were part of a larger study to assess...
Authors
Alisha M. Ellis, Christopher G. Smith, Marci E. Marot
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Gulf of America

The impact of lidar elevation uncertainty on mapping intertidal habitats on barrier islands The impact of lidar elevation uncertainty on mapping intertidal habitats on barrier islands

While airborne lidar data have revolutionized the spatial resolution that elevations can be realized, data limitations are often magnified in coastal settings. Researchers have found that airborne lidar can have a vertical error as high as 60 cm in densely vegetated intertidal areas. The uncertainty of digital elevation models is often left unaddressed; however, in low-relief...
Authors
Nicholas M. Enwright, Lei Wang, Sinéad M. Borchert, Richard H. Day, Laura C. Feher, Michael J. Osland
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Gulf of America

Hematological indices of injury to lightly oiled birds from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Hematological indices of injury to lightly oiled birds from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Avian mortality events are common following large‐scale oil spills. However, the sublethal effects of oil on birds exposed to light external oiling are not clearly understood. We found that American oystercatchers (area of potential impact n = 42, reference n = 21), black skimmers (area of potential impact n = 121, reference n = 88), brown pelicans (area of potential impact n = 91...
Authors
Jesse A. Fallon, Eric P. Smith, Nina Schoch, James D. Paruk, Evan A. Adams, David C. Evers, Patrick G.R. Jodice, Christopher Perkins, Shiloh A. Schulte, William A. Hopkins
By
Cooperative Research Units, Species Management Research Program, Gulf of America

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

Media
An oiled Kemp's Ridley sea turtle after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
An oiled Kemp's Ridley sea turtle photographed during a boat-based survey by NOAA to collect oiled sea turtles during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response. Photograph credit: Kate Sampson, NOAA
  • 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

  • PAH Analysis in Bile from Fish Near an Oil Spill

                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

Media
Kemp's ridley sea turtles
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Newly hatched Kemp's ridley sea turtles crawl to the Gulf of Mexico.
  • 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

 

 

 

Media
NRDAR Cases
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details

 

 

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.

No Result Found

Below are USGS publications for oil spills associated with specific NRDAR cases.

Filter Total Items: 123

Sympatry or syntopy? Investigating drivers of distribution and co‐occurrence for two imperiled sea turtle species in Gulf of Mexico neritic waters Sympatry or syntopy? Investigating drivers of distribution and co‐occurrence for two imperiled sea turtle species in Gulf of Mexico neritic waters

Animals co‐occurring in a region (sympatry) may use the same habitat (syntopy) within that region. A central aim in ecology is determining what factors drive species distributions (i.e., abiotic conditions, dispersal limitations, and/or biotic interactions). Assessing the degree of biotic interactions can be difficult for species with wide ranges at sea. This study investigated the...
Authors
Kristen M. Hart, Autumn R. Iverson, Ikuko Fujisaki, Margaret M. Lamont, David N. Bucklin, Donna J. Shaver
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Gulf of America

Assessing the impact of open-ocean and back-barrier shoreline change on Dauphin Island, Alabama, at multiple time scales over the last 75 years Assessing the impact of open-ocean and back-barrier shoreline change on Dauphin Island, Alabama, at multiple time scales over the last 75 years

Dauphin Island and Little Dauphin Island, collectively, make up a geomorphically complex barrier island system located along Alabama’s southern coast, separating Mississippi Sound from the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay. The barrier island system provides numerous economical (tourism, fisheries) and natural (habitat for migratory birds, natural protection of inland and coastal areas from...
Authors
Christopher G. Smith, Joseph W. Long, Rachel E. Henderson, Paul R. Nelson
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Gulf of America

Shared habitat use by juveniles of three sea turtle species Shared habitat use by juveniles of three sea turtle species

The first step in understanding how sympatric species share habitat is defining spatial boundaries. While home range data for juvenile sea turtles exists, few studies have examined spatial overlap of multiple species in foraging habitat. Using satellite tracking technology, we define home ranges for juveniles of 3 sea turtle species (loggerhead, Kemp’s ridley, and green; n = 21) captured...
Authors
Margaret M. Lamont, Autumn R. Iverson
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Gulf of America

Marine threats overlap key foraging habitat for two imperiled sea turtle species in the Gulf of Mexico Marine threats overlap key foraging habitat for two imperiled sea turtle species in the Gulf of Mexico

Effective management of human activities affecting listed species requires understanding both threats and animal habitat-use patterns. However, the extent of spatial overlap between high-use foraging areas (where multiple marine species congregate) and anthropogenic threats is not well known. Our modeling approach incorporates data on sea turtle spatial ecology and a suite of threats in...
Authors
Kristen M. Hart, Autumn R. Iverson, Ikuko Fujisaki, Margaret M. Lamont, David N. Bucklin, Donna J. Shaver
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Gulf of America

Abundance and productivity of marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) off central California during the 2017 breeding season Abundance and productivity of marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) off central California during the 2017 breeding season

Marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) have been listed as “Endangered” by the State of California and “Threatened” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since 1992 in California, Oregon, and Washington. Information regarding marbled murrelet abundance, distribution, population trends, and habitat associations is critical for risk assessment, effective management and evaluation of
Authors
Jonathan J. Felis, Josh Adams, Emily C. Kelsey
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC)

The influence of different deep-sea coral habitats on sediment macrofaunal community structure and function The influence of different deep-sea coral habitats on sediment macrofaunal community structure and function

Deep-sea corals can create a highly complex, three-dimensional structure that facilitates sediment accumulation and influences adjacent sediment environments through altered hydrodynamic regimes. Infaunal communities adjacent to different coral types, including reef-building scleractinian corals and individual colonies of octocorals, are known to exhibit higher macrofaunal densities and...
Authors
Jill R. Bourque, Amanda W.J. Demopoulos
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Species Management Research Program, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Gulf of America

Ecological resilience indicators for mangrove ecosystems Ecological resilience indicators for mangrove ecosystems

Mangrove ecosystems are coastal wetland ecosystems dominated by mangrove species that are typically found in the intertidal zone, characterized by frequently flooded saline soil conditions. The majority of the approximately 500,000 acres of mangrove ecosystem in the United States occurs in the NGoM, and almost all of that is in Florida, with over 90 percent in the four southern counties...
Authors
Richard H. Day, Scott T. Allen, Jorge Brenner, Kathleen Goodin, Don Faber-Langendoen, Katherine Wirt Ames
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Land Management Research Program, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Gulf of America

Laboratory observations of artificial sand and oil agglomerates Laboratory observations of artificial sand and oil agglomerates

Sand and oil agglomerates (SOAs) form when weathered oil reaches the surf zone and combines with suspended sediments. The presence of large SOAs in the form of thick mats (up to 10 centimeters [cm] in height and up to 10 square meters [m2] in area) and smaller SOAs, sometimes referred to as surface residual balls (SRBs), may lead to the re-oiling of beaches previously affected by an oil...
Authors
Robert L. Jenkins, P. Soupy Dalyander, Allison Penko, Joseph W. Long
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Gulf of America

Are prey remains accurate indicators of chick diet? A comparison of diet quantification techniques for Black Oystercatchers Are prey remains accurate indicators of chick diet? A comparison of diet quantification techniques for Black Oystercatchers

The quantification of prey remains is a common method for estimating the diet of a variety of birds. However, these estimates may be subject to biases based on prey body type, nesting habitat, and collection date. To better understand biases and limitations associated with this method, we compared it with two others commonly used to characterize diet: direct observation of parents...
Authors
B.H. Robinson, H.A. Coletti, L.M. Phillips, Abby Powell
By
Cooperative Research Units

The sedimentological characteristics and geochronology of the marshes of Dauphin Island, Alabama The sedimentological characteristics and geochronology of the marshes of Dauphin Island, Alabama

In August 2015, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center collected 11 push cores from the marshes of Dauphin Island and Little Dauphin Island, Alabama. Sample site environments included high marshes, low salt marshes, and salt flats, and varied in distance from the shoreline. The sampling efforts were part of a larger study to assess...
Authors
Alisha M. Ellis, Christopher G. Smith, Marci E. Marot
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Gulf of America

The impact of lidar elevation uncertainty on mapping intertidal habitats on barrier islands The impact of lidar elevation uncertainty on mapping intertidal habitats on barrier islands

While airborne lidar data have revolutionized the spatial resolution that elevations can be realized, data limitations are often magnified in coastal settings. Researchers have found that airborne lidar can have a vertical error as high as 60 cm in densely vegetated intertidal areas. The uncertainty of digital elevation models is often left unaddressed; however, in low-relief...
Authors
Nicholas M. Enwright, Lei Wang, Sinéad M. Borchert, Richard H. Day, Laura C. Feher, Michael J. Osland
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Gulf of America

Hematological indices of injury to lightly oiled birds from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Hematological indices of injury to lightly oiled birds from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Avian mortality events are common following large‐scale oil spills. However, the sublethal effects of oil on birds exposed to light external oiling are not clearly understood. We found that American oystercatchers (area of potential impact n = 42, reference n = 21), black skimmers (area of potential impact n = 121, reference n = 88), brown pelicans (area of potential impact n = 91...
Authors
Jesse A. Fallon, Eric P. Smith, Nina Schoch, James D. Paruk, Evan A. Adams, David C. Evers, Patrick G.R. Jodice, Christopher Perkins, Shiloh A. Schulte, William A. Hopkins
By
Cooperative Research Units, Species Management Research Program, Gulf of America
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