oil spill

Information about oil spill

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Subsequent to an Oil Spill


An oil spill is the unintentional release of liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment as a result of human activity. The term often refers to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters. Oil can refer to many different materials, including crude oil, refined petroleum products (such as gasoline or diesel fuel) or by-products, ships' bunkers, oily refuse or oil mixed in waste. Spills take months or even years to clean up.

Oil is also released into the environment from natural geologic seeps on the sea floor [1]. Most man-made oil pollution comes from land-based activity, but public attention and subsequent regulation has tended to focus most sharply on seagoing oil tankers [2].

Environmental effects

Studies of the Exxon Valdez oil spill have shown that the external damage caused by oil spills can be greater than was previously thought. One time, a tanker spilled off shore from Aberdeen, Washington, and released 100,000 gallons of oil into the doomed harbor. It is now thought that the impacts to marine life can be less than one part per billion petroleum hydrocarbons.
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oiled birds
The lighter fractions of oil, such as benzene and toluene, are more toxic, but are more volatile and evaporate quickly. Heavier components of crude oil, such as polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) appear to cause the most damage; while they are less toxic, they persist in the environment much longer than volatile components. A heavy oil spill across the shore blankets rock-pools etc, preventing gas exchange and eliminating light as well as directly leaching toxins into the water; it can also become mixed deeply into pebble, shingle or sandy beaches, where it may remain for months or even years. Well-weathered heavy oil on inter-tidal rocks doesn't retain serious toxicity - for example, it will be grazed off by limpets without apparent ill-effect. Seabirds are severely affected by spills as the oil penetrates and opens up the structure of their plumage, reducing the insulating ability of their feathers and making them more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant in the water.
Liquid is one of the four principal states of matter. A liquid is a fluid that can freely form a distinct surface at the boundaries of its bulk material.

Characteristics

A liquid's shape is determined by, not confined to, the container it fills.
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Petroleum (Latin Petroleum derived from Greek πέτρα (Latin petra) - rock + έλαιον (Latin oleum) - oil) or crude oil
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hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. With relation to chemical terminology, aromatic hydrocarbons or arenes, alkanes, alkenes and alkyne-based compounds composed entirely of carbon or hydrogen are referred to as "Pure" hydrocarbons, whereas
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Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine geology. As a noun it can be a term for a certain kind of navy, or those enlisted in such a navy.
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Earth's oceans
(World Ocean)
  • Arctic Ocean
  • Atlantic Ocean
  • Indian Ocean
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Southern Ocean
An ocean (from Ωκεανός, Okeanos
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Territorial waters, or a territorial sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending at most twelve nautical miles (but possibly less, at the coastal country's discretion) from the mean low water mark of a littoral state that is regarded as the sovereign territory of the state,
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Petroleum (Latin Petroleum derived from Greek πέτρα (Latin petra) - rock + έλαιον (Latin oleum) - oil) or crude oil
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Gasoline or petrol is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting mostly of aliphatic hydrocarbons and enhanced with aromatic hydrocarbons toluene, benzene or iso-octane to increase octane ratings, primarily used as fuel in internal combustion engines.
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Diesel or diesel fuel (IPA: /ˈdiːzəl/; voiced "s" because of its eponym) is a specific fractional distillate of fuel oil (mostly petroleum) that is used as fuel in a diesel engine invented by German
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Waste, rubbish, trash, garbage, or junk is unwanted or undesired material. "Waste" is the general term; though the other terms are used loosely as synonyms, they have more specific meanings: rubbish or trash are mixed household waste and including paper
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Oceanic crust      0-20 Ma
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A seep is a wet place where a liquid, usually groundwater, has oozed from the ground to the surface. Seeps are usually not flowing, with the liquid sourced only from underground.
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The seabed (also sea floor , seafloor, or ocean floor) is the bottom of the ocean. At the bottom of the continental slope is the continental rise, which is caused by sediment cascading down the continental slope.
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Man-Made
(2005)
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Man-Made is the eighth album by British alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released in 2005. It was released on the band's own PeMa label in Europe and on Merge Records in North America.
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The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill is considered one of the most devastating man-made environmental disasters ever to occur at sea. Prince William Sound's remote location (accessible only by helicopter and boat) made government and industry response efforts difficult and severely taxed
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Benzene, or Benzol (see also Benzine) is an organic chemical compound with the formula C6H6. It is sometimes abbreviated Ph–H. Benzene is a colorless and inflammable liquid with a sweet smell and a relatively high melting point.
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Toluene, also known as methylbenzene or phenylmethane, is a clear, water-insoluble liquid with the typical smell of paint thinners, redolent of the sweet smell of the related compound benzene.
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Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are chemical compounds that consist of fused aromatic rings and do not contain heteroatoms or carry substituents [1]. These compounds can be point source pollutants (e.g. oil spill) or non-point source (e.g.
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Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar
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