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2011-12 News Archive

Below are news and feature articles that appeared in 2011-2012.

Study Finds Carbon from Deepwater Horizon Entered Food Web
(Source: GoMRI, December 13, 2012) Deep-C scientists studying the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the food web published their recent findings in the November 2012 Environmental Research Letters: Radiocarbon evidence that carbon from the Deepwater Horizon spill entered the planktonic food web of the Gulf of Mexico. Read the article...


Study Finds Oxygenated Compounds Formed in Weathered Oil Samples
(Source: GoMRI, December 12, 2012) Scientists studying the chemical composition of weathered oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill published their recent findings in the July 2012 issue of Environmental Science and Technology: Oil weathering after the Deepwater Horizon disaster Led to the formation of oxygenated residues. Read the article...


Numerical study suggests that subsea injection of oil-dispersing chemical at Macondo well did not prevent oil from rising to the surface
(Source: UM-RSMAS, December 4, 2012) A team of researchers including Deep-C scientists Villy Kourafalou and Ashwanth Srinivasan have developed and tested models to show that the application of oil-dispersing chemicals had little effect on the oil surfacing in the Gulf of Mexico. Their study revealed unexplored pathways of the oil transport by underwater currents and highlights the importance of topographic interactions and vertical flows in moving the deep plume toward deep waters or up the water column. Read the article...


Dispersant makes oil from spills 52 times more toxic
(Source: Science at NBC News, November 30, 2012) “Dispersant makes the oil more deadly by decreasing the size of the droplets, making it more bioavailable to small organisms," says Dr. Ian MacDonald, Florida State University. Read the article...


Working Smart: Deep-C and NOAA Collaboration Improves Gulf Oil Research
(Source: GoMRI, November 8, 2012) “Highly successful” is how Chief Scientist Ian MacDonald described his recent research cruise on the RV Weatherbird II to identify natural oil seeps to use as control sites as part of a larger effort to study the effects of oil and gas in the deep sea environment. Read the article...


Stories from the Field:  The Next Best Thing to Being There
(Source: GoMRI, November 8, 2012) Students, teachers, and journalists joined scientists on board research expeditions and in labs this summer and shared their experiences online. Read the article...


Valdosta State University: Studying Impact of Oil Spill On Gulf’s Marine Ecosystem
(Source: Georgia Trend Magazine, November 2012) Valdosta State University biology professor and Deep-C scientist Dr. James Nienow is part of a team of researchers and scholars trying to identify the impact of oil spills on the food chain. Read the article...


Asphalt in the Seep Ecosystem: Discovering the Nature of Asphalt Deposits in the Gulf of Mexico
(Source: Deep-C.org, October 27, 2012) An asphalt extrusion was discovered during arecent Deep-C cruise on the RV Weatherbird.  This discovery is the first time asphalt volcanism has been seen in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Read the article...


Speeding Back to the Deepwater Horizon:  Investigating New Sheens of Oil Two Years After the Macondo Well Was Capped
(Source: Deep-C.org, October 21, 2012) Federal scientists and BP say oil appears to have leaked last month from the drilling wreckage lying at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico near where a BP well blew out in 2010, causing the nation's worst offshore spill. Read the article...


Changing Seas: A Hard Day's Night
(Source: WPBT-PBS Blog, October 12, 2012) The Changing Seas video crew joined a Deep-C research cruise to get footage of the cutting-edge science in action for a PBS documentary. Read the blog...


Gulf Oil Sheen Blamed on 2010 Wreckage, Not Well
(Source: AP News, October 11, 2012) Federal scientists and BP say oil appears to have leaked last month from the drilling wreckage lying at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico near where a BP well blew out in 2010, causing the nation's worst offshore spill. Read the article...


It's About Florida:  Scientists Talk BP Oil Two Years Later
(Source: WFSU.org, October 8, 2012) Two years after the massive Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Scientists are still trying to piece together what happened to the thousands of gallons of crude oil that kept gushing daily into the ocean. Deep-C Scientists were among the many who worked to determine how much oil was being discharged into the environment. Recently many of those scientists gathered in Tallahassee to discuss their long-term study of the effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Listen to the radio interview...


Radio Interview: Dr. Dean Grubbs Discusses the Effects of the Oil Spill on Marine Life in the Gulf of Mexico
(Source: WFSU.org, October 1, 2012) WFSU radio's Tom Flanigan interviews marine scientist and Deep-C researcher Dean Grubbs about his latest project -- to study the effects of the 2010 Deepwater Horzon oil spill, which released about 210 million gallons of cruide oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Listen to the radio interview...


When Scientific Research and Legal Practice Collide
(Source: Science Magazine: Science and Law, September 28, 2012) he modern historical record and an ongoing dispute between BP and academic researchers reveal that the U.S. legal system can be exploited to attack scientific research and academic thought when it challenges entrenched interests or beliefs. These legal practices erode the ability of scientific research and academics to function properly. Read the article...


After the oil spill: Marine life in the Gulf's deep waters
(Source: Tallahassee Democrat, September 27, 2012) Dean Grubbs has been up close with 15-foot tiger sharks — all in the name of science, of course. A marine ecologist and fish expert, his latest project is to study the effects of the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil explosion — which spewed about 210 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico — on the creatures that live in the deep waters closest to the disaster. Read the article...


October Science Café: Marine Life after the BP Oil Spill
(Source: Deep-C.org, September 21, 2012) Dean Grubbs has been up close with 15-foot tiger sharks — all in the name of science, of course. A marine ecologist and fish expert, his latest project is to study the effects of the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil explosion — which spewed about 210 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico — on the creatures that live in the deep waters closest to the disaster. Read the article...


Studies of Desoto canyon and shelf in Gulf of Mexico uncover upwelling during Hurricane Isaac
(Source: Phys.org, September 17, 2012) As Hurricane Isaac barreled toward New Orleans, a team led by University of Miami (UM) Professor Nick Shay was planning NOAA's P-3 aircraft missions to fly into the storm. The goal: to drop profilers into the storm at optimum locations where they could collect measurements of ocean heat content, salinity and currents during the hurricane. Read the article...


Studies of Desoto canyon and shelf in Gulf of Mexico uncover upwelling during Hurricane Isaac
(Source: Deep-C.org, September 15, 2012) As Hurricane Isaac barreled toward New Orleans, a team led by University of Miami (UM) Professor Nick Shay was planning NOAA's P-3 aircraft missions to fly into the storm. The goal: to drop profilers into the storm at optimum locations where they could collect measurements of ocean heat content, salinity and currents during the hurricane. Read the article...


VSU Professor Studies Effects of the Oil Spill
(Source: The Valdosta Daily Times, September 14, 2012) Nienow studies the microalgae, specifically diatoms, dinoflagellated, and related protists, in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico... Read the article...


ROV Workshop Teaches Marine Science and Underwater Technology to Educators and High School Students
(Source: Deep-C.org September 12, 2012) Aimed at exciting high school teachers and students about the possibilities of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) facilitated Deep-C's first teacher workshop... Read the article...


Beyond Wind & Rain: Isaac Could Stir Up Oil
(Source: OurAmazingPlanet.com, August 29, 2012) By disturbing the sediments in which the spilled oil is buried, near the beach and deeper in the water, Hurricane Isaac could release large quantities of oil, several researchers warn.. Read the article...


Deep-C at Sea: Disciplines Converge to Improve Response to Gulf Contaminants
(Source: GoMRI, August 14, 2012) After the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, people asked basic questions: what happened to the oil, what did it affect, and how did it change the Gulf of Mexico? Read the article...


Up Close and Personal Interview Spotlights Deep-C Scientific Director
(Source: Wakulla.com, August 13, 2012) St. Marks - The St. Marks Yacht Club will host Dr. Felicia Coleman, Director of the FSU Coastal and Marine Laboratory as its featured guest at the Club’s Up Close and Personal Spotlight Event on Saturday, September 8, 2012 at 7:30 pm. Read the article...


VSU professor researches effects of BP oil spill
(Source: The Moultrie Observer, July 24, 2012) The 2010 explosion at BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling site and the subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico proved to be deadly and costly. The oil spill also uncovered a lack of information regarding how such spills might affect the Gulf’s marine ecosystem. Valdosta State University biology professor James Nienow is part of a team of researchers and scholars trying to identify the impact of oil spills on the food chain. Read the article...


Winds Played Important Role in Keeping Oil Away from South Florida
(Source: Science Daily, July 9, 2012) The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in spring 2010 is the largest oil spill in the history of the United States, with more than 200 million gallons of crude oil released at about 1,500 m. depth off the Mississippi Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. At the time of the accident, the proximity of the intense Loop Current, flowing from the Yucatan Channel to the Florida Straits, raised major concerns that the oil at the surface of the ocean would be headed toward the South Florida and East Atlantic coastal areas. However, the dominant transport of oil and oil products was toward the Northern Gulf coastline, and no oil was observed to reach the Atlantic Ocean. Read the article...


Drifters and Floats: The Past, Present, and Near Future
(Source: Deep-C Consortium, Summer 2012) In 1872, scientists aboard the RMS Challenger used a float designed specifically to drift passively with the flow of water (National Oceanographic Partnership Program [NOPP] 1998). This was probably one of the earliest attempts to study ocean currents, though sailors have been using a "log line" or knotted rope to measure ship speed or river currents for over 100 years. We've come a long way since the early days of measuring currents, especially in the past thirty years, and it appears that the technology in this field will continue to grow in the near future. Read the article...


On the Trail of Oil-Munching Organisms
(Source: New York Times, June 14, 2012) A significant amount of the 4.9 million barrels of oil spilled still lies on the ocean floor, lingers in salt marshes or is mixed into beach sand, scientists say. Yet some other oil has been degraded by oil-digesting organisms — and a new paper in the journal PLoS suggests that fungi are among them. Joel Kostka, a microbial ecologist at Georgia Tech said that since it was well known that fungi can degrade oil, “I think it’s an intriguing idea that fungi predominate after contamination hits.” Read the article...


UWF: Most oil from BP spill gone from Gulf along Panhandle
(Source: Pensacola News Journal, June 2, 2012) Two years after tar balls from the Deepwater Horizon oil well explosion began washing up on Pensacola Beach and Perdido Key, there’s good news: Most of the oil is gone from Florida waters. The fear that vast, gooey tar mats of BP oil are lurking on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico just waiting to be unleashed by a hurricane isn’t valid, according to research by University of West Florida scientists. Read the article...


Scientist Provides Update on Oil Spill Research
(Source: The Defuniak Herald, May 4, 2012) “As a scientist, I don’t think I can ever say that we can rest easy,” scientist Richard Snyder’s told community members as he addressed them two years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Snyder, a professor with the University of West Florida’s Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation, was featured speaker at the South Walton Community Council (SWCC) community forum on April 25. Read the article...


UWF researcher says region has ‘pretty much' healed two years after spill
(Source: Tampa Bay Channel 10, April 20, 2012) On the second anniversary of the BP oil spill, a Florida scientist who is studying the Gulf of Mexico says his research indicates marine animals are still being affected by oil contamination. Florida State Professor of Oceanography Jeff Chanton is using radiocarbon dating to get a better understanding of what happened to the 4.9 million barrels of oil that poured into the Gulf. Read the article...


Florida scientist says evidence indicates BP oil spill impacting Gulf marine life
(Source: Tampa Bay Channel 10, April 20, 2012) On the second anniversary of the BP oil spill, a Florida scientist who is studying the Gulf of Mexico says his research indicates marine animals are still being affected by oil contamination. Florida State Professor of Oceanography Jeff Chanton is using radiocarbon dating to get a better understanding of what happened to the 4.9 million barrels of oil that poured into the Gulf. Read the article...


Experts at FSU have been conducting research on the BP oil spill's impact
(Source: The Tallahassee Democrat, April 20, 2012) Scientists studying the Deepwater Horizon oil spill are convinced that it will be years until the full effects of the disaster are fully understood. But that doesn't mean some results aren't evident already, two years to the day after the explosion aboard the oil rig that led to 4.9 million barrels of oil flooding into the Gulf of Mexico. Ian MacDonald, an oceanographer at Florida State University who is part of two BP-funded research projects in the Gulf, says scientists are finding a decline in the food chain. Read the article...


Deep-C Scientists Study the Fate of Oil in the Gulf of Mexico
(Source: Deep-C Consortium, April 2012) Two years ago, in the wake of an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, thousands of barrels of crude oil were flowing into the ocean daily from a damaged well about 40 miles southeast of the Louisiana coast. The flow of oil would continue for nearly three months while scientists and engineers worked to cap the Macondo well, and the disaster would eventually become the largest accidental marine oil spill in history. Read the article...


WHOI Scientists Study the Fate of Oil
(Source: Deep-C Consortium, April 2012) Shorlty after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, a research team led by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) began visiting Grand Isle, Louisiana to sample. Members of the WHOI lab have revisited the site four or five times in the past year and the most recent visit was April 19, when Dr. Chris Reddy collected numerous samples. Read the article...


WHOI Scientists Contribute to Study on Impact to Coral from Deepwater Horizon Spill
(Source: The Maritime Executive, March 26, 2012) Six scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have contributed to a new report finding "compelling evidence" that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has impacted deep-sea coral communities in the Gulf of Mexico. The study, published the week of March 26 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, utilized all of the deep-sea robotic vehicles of the WHOI-operated National Deep Submergence Facility—the three-person submersible Alvin, the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Jason, and the autonomous vehicle Sentry – to investigate the corals, and employed comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography to track the source of petroleum hydrocarbons found. Read the article...


Research at Sea – Tracking and Identifying Oil across the Florida Shelf
(Source: Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, March 2012) Dr. Ian MacDonald with Florida State University (FSU) and Dr. Richard Snyder with the University of West Florida (UWF) have been leading a research team to track and identify oil in sediment and water samples since January 2011. The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) supports this group’s work at sea as they contribute to understanding the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Read the article...


BP Oil Spill's Sticky Remnants Wash Up Sporadically On Gulf Beaches
(Source: National Geographic, March 22, 2012) Markus Huettel, a benthic ecologist at Florida State University, has been researching the status of Deepwater Horizon oil on Florida Panhandle beaches since June 2010. Huettel explained that while much of the BP well's oil was degraded or evaporated. Read the article...


Science experts gather to discuss emerging research, education, and public policy at Ocean Sciences Meeting
(Source: FSU.com, February 2012) Deep-C scientists were among more than 4,000 who gathered in Salt Lake City, Utah from February 19–24, 2012 for the 2012 Ocean Sciences Meeting. The meeting offered a venue for scientific exchange across broad marine science disciplines, including physical, biological, chemical and geological oceanography. Read the article...


Cuba oil spill: the scenarios
(Source: Tampa Bay Times, February 5, 2012) OPINION EDITORIAL by Robert H. Weisberg, USF. Read the article...


Saturday's letters: Restore Act has flaws that need correcting
(Source: Tampa Bay Times, December 31, 2011) OPINION EDITORIAL by Robert H. Weisberg, USF -- You cannot fix it if you don't know how it works, and you cannot restore it if you don't know what it was to begin with. That was the gist of my Dec. 7 testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure when asked to comment on the Restore Act (HR 3096), and that is why two recent Times editorials — one on the president's Gulf Coast Restoration Task Force, the other on the Restore Act — were misleading. Read the article...


Deep-C Researcher Wins Major Meteorology Award for Research on El Niño and the Dynamics of Ocean Currents
(Source: FSU.com, November 15, 2011) Florida State University oceanography professor Allan Clarke grew up in a coastal town in southern Australia where he loved the ocean, the beach and the warmth of thesun. Little did he know that his fondness for that beautiful coastline would one day lead him to become an international expert on physical oceanography, climate dynamics and El Niño. Read the article...


Deep-C Study of Oil Spill in the Gulf Gets Underway
(Source: Deep-C Consortium, November 2011) Members of the Deep Sea to Coast Connectivity in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico (Deep-C) Consortium met recently in Tallahassee, Florida for the project's kick-off meeting, marking the beginning of a long-term study of the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Read the article...


FSU to lead $20 million Gulf oil spill study
(Source: FSU.com, August 30, 2011) Florida State University Professor of Oceanography Eric Chassignet discusses the FSU-led consortium "Deep-C: Deep Sea to Coast Connectivity in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico." The consortium will receive roughly $20 million in research funds for three years to study the aftereffects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Watch video...


$112.5 Million Awarded to Research Consortia Studying Effects of Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on Gulf of Mexico
(Source: Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative website, August 31, 2011) Research on the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico took a major step forward today with the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) Research Board's announcement that eight Research Consortia will be funded for the next three years. A total of $112.5 million over three years will support this portion of the GoMRI research effort. These teams will investigate the fate of petroleum in the environment, the impacts of the spill, and the development of new tools and technology for responding to future spills and improving mitigation and restoration. Read the article...


 

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News and features articles published in 2014

News and features articles published in 2013

News and features articles published in 2011 and 2012

 
 

Deep-C was a four-year, interdisciplinary study of deep sea to coast connectivity in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico.Deep-C is no longer an active research project.  The information on this website is for historical reference purposes only. 

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