Bacteria chows down on remaining oil spill in Gulf

DeafCaroline said:
"federally funded study"

:dunno:
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Btw, tell me, where's the oil slick now in the Gulf of Mexico?

And the funding source you pointed out? What about it? This research came, out of all places, from the UC Santa Barbara (that'd be California).

Maybe these papers will help?
Rapid microbial respiration of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill in offshore surface waters of the Gulf of Mexico
http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/6/3/035301/pdf/1748-9326_6_3_035301.pdf

And, yes, I noticed the funding sources, too.

Oil Biodegradation and Bioremediation: A Tale of the Two Worst Spills in U.S. History - Environmental Science & Technology (ACS Publications)
An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie - interesting reading for those not familiar with differences on oil and the fate and transfer of oil in seawater.
 
Another stupid question from another stupid man.

If there were bacteria so powerful at eating oil that it would clean up the gulf shouldn't we get the earth inoculated against it? I mean wouldn't it endanger all the worlds supply of oil?

What if it escaped and got into the Alaska pipeline?
 
Berry said:
Another stupid question from another stupid man.

If there were bacteria so powerful at eating oil that it would clean up the gulf shouldn't we get the earth inoculated against it? I mean wouldn't it endanger all the worlds supply of oil?

What if it escaped and got into the Alaska pipeline?
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I wouldn't worry about it.
 
DeafCaroline said:
20 experts got together and talked about microbes and oil spills - here's the link to their pdf. As usual, someone is getting the facts blurred.

http://academy.asm.org/images/stories/documents/Microbes_and_Oil_Spills.pdf
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I saw no blurring of facts here. What "blurring of the facts" are you talking about?

There are known (and perhaps some undiscovered ones) advantageous bacterial microbes in the ocean that thrive on oil naturally produced in the environment. There are other processes that are involved in helping break down oil and its chemical components, including the absorption and adsorption of oil on particulates in the water and on the sea floor. The links I gave discussed some of that.
 
kokonut said:
I saw no blurring of facts here. What "blurring of the facts" are you talking about?

There are known (and perhaps some undiscovered ones) advantageous bacterial microbes in the ocean that thrive on oil naturally produced in the environment. There are other processes that are involved in helping break down oil and its chemical components, including the absorption and adsorption of oil on particulates in the water and on the sea floor. The links I gave discussed some of that.
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That's not how you started this thread nor suggested in your OP. You very clearly implied bacteria is cleaning up all the oil and there's nothing to worry about.

:dunno:
 
DeafCaroline said:
That's not how you started this thread nor suggested in your OP. You very clearly implied bacteria is cleaning up all the oil and there's nothing to worry about.

:dunno:
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Nope.

"And seriously I don't think you guys even read the article.

Quote:
But though it would be heartening to think that the bacteria had digested all the oil, Richard Camilli, an oceanographer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, said it was also possible that that the oil plume had moved or diluted to a point beyond detection.
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Dilution plays a big role in helping break down oil even faster allowing more absorption opportunities of oil onto sediment that's floating in the water which will eventually make it's way to the seafloor. Then you have the salt water waveaction, oil eating micro-organisms, and such that help attentuates the effects of oil on the ocean's ecosystem.
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http://www.alldeaf.com/general-chat...own-remaining-oil-spill-gulf.html#post1647244
 
DeafCaroline said:
Nice try at backpedalling. Whatever. :dunno:
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Maybe read a little harder the title of this thread might help?

"Bacteria chows down on remaining oil spill in Gulf "

I had the link up that explained about the oil and microbes, and other processes involved on helping break down the oil spill. Nothing was implied that microbes ate up all of the oil in the BP oil spill. It'd be nice if that was case but then again it would turn out to be a potential disaster if microbes have that ability to digest ALL of the oil so quickly. :lol:
 
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