New Study of Gulf Oil Spill Details the Plume's Chemical Makeup, Helping Explain Where the Oil Went
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Sunlight illuminates the Deepwater Horizon oil slick off the Mississippi Delta on May 24, 2010, in this image from NASA's Terra satellite. via Wikimedia CommonsAdvanced ocean science tech helps researchers study the spill Towering flames illuminated the pre-dawn darkness, casting shadows on the ship Ocean Intervention III as it floated over the sunken remains of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. The resonant hum of helicopters fused with the roar of fires on either side of the ship, and Chris Reddy could feel the heat on his face. The night of June 21, 2010, Reddy and colleagues from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution were whisked off their research vessel Endeavor to collect samples directly from the blown Macondo well, which had been spewing oil and natural gas into the Gulf of Mexico for two months. They had 12 hours to do something that had never been done before: Use...