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Where is the Oil Spill?
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It's the largest environmental disaster in U.S. - and possibly world - history.
But do you know exactly where it is? Could you point to a map and show where the oil rig sank?
Do you know what the topography of the surrounding area is? Hint: If you think it's flat seafloor - as implied by BPs drawings - you'd be wrong (the spill site is actually located within a giant canyon system, rather than on flat ground).
This essay will provide some basic orientation as to ground zero for the oil spill.
Where Is the Spill Site?
Here is the spill site - designated with the fire icon - as shown on Google maps:
This NOAA image gives a basic overview of the oil spill site in relation to the surrounding area:
The
oil spill is occurring within the "Macondo prospect", which is located
in Mississippi Canyon Block 252 in the Gulf of Mexico.
Here is an image showing the Mississippi Canyon compared to other areas in the Gulf of Mexico:
This shows the relation of Block 252 to nearby sites:
Here is Block 252 shown in comparison with nearby sites:
And this is the definitive high-resolution map showing block 252 in comparison with other prospects in the Mississippi Canyon area and surrounding areas.
But
in order to really get a feel for what's happening underwater, we
should look at detailed topographic maps. Indeed, knowing the
topography and the geology at the spill site is crucial in
understanding the risks involved and being able to determine the best
approach for stopping the leak.
Topography of the Spill Site
Here's a map of the Gulf of Mexico:
Here's another map courtesy of Wired (the spill site is between the two sets of red hash marks):
Here's
an image of the Gulf of Mexico, showing the Sigsbee and Florida
Escarpments (Block 252 is approximately half way in between the 2
escarpments):
Here is a satellite image of the area provided by the Minerals Management Service and NOAA's Multipurpose Marine Cadastre:
Here is a close-up Here is a close-up (I placed a hand icon at the approximate location of the oil spill based on latitude and longitude):
Here is an image - courtesy of NOAA's GeoPlatform service - showing the topography surrounding the leaking wellhead:
Here is a close up of the same image:
Here is the same image with the spill location indicator removed, so that you can see the slope of the area at the spill site:
(Note: the GeoPlatform service is also very useful for forecasting the near-term trajectory of the oil spill).
Here is a map giving a different view of the steep canyon in which the oil spill site is located:
Some oil industry professionals are worried
that a landslide at the spill site could make the oil spill much worse
by carrying away the blowout preventer, riser and all other equipment.
While I have no idea how likely it is that a landslide could occur
before the well is capped, it is true that:
(1) The spill site is located in a steep canyon;
(2) There are hundreds of feet of loose mud and muck on top of the sea floor in this area; and
(3) Many deepwater, oi-rich areas within the Gulf are tectonically active.
Hat tip to Bret.
»
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this is a gas well. i would wager that 50%+ of the hydrocarbons exiting that hole are gaseous: methane[perhaps even some percentage of hydrogen sulfide].at those depths, these gaseous hydrocarbons may be incredibly lethal to aquatic life.
as a rule,hydrocarbon pay zones deeper than 10,000ft are almost always gas pay zones. the liquid hydrocarbons exiting this hole are from those shallow payzones that were probably inadequately cemented. probably because BP elected not to case the hole properly.
personally, i think that there is no known method to successfully plug this hole. hayward has told the congress that the wellhead pressure ranges from 11,000 -12,000psi. at the depth planned for the relief well intersection, the pressure might well be in excess of 25,000psi. if that is the case, i think that there will be no way to plug that hole. any mud,cement that is attempted to be pumped against that pressure will just be vomited back up.
this hole and all the other fractures/fissures that have been introduced into the sea floor above this reservoir will be a hydrocarbon vent[s] until the reservoir is emptied. and that may not take place for years. the methane vented may eventually kill all aquatic life in the gulf, which is much deeper than many realize.
the scariest scenario is the entry of these gaseous hydrocarbons into the florida straits and then the gulf stream, a very fragile and, as yet, a little understood submarine current.
http://s3.credoaction.com.s3.amazonaws.com/comics/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/TMW2010-06-16colorlowres.jpg
This image speaks for itself and belongs on the front page of every major U.S. newspaper and magazine (which of course will not happen):
http://www.alexkearns.com/2010/06/today-in-gulf.html
CP: Thanks for the awesome tip. I wrote it up...
Thank you GW.
Great post, George. Very informative.
Dark patches seen in deeper water Friday might also have been oil, but exceptional numbers of large sharks meant that diving down to investigate was not an option. Hammerhead, bull, and other species of sharks school around boats anchored in 6 feet of water just outside the breaking waves. Most of the sharks in the deeper water are 6 feet long or more with smaller sharks seen inside the sandbars, in one case in a school that was 27 strong. Huge schools of bait fish are hugging the shore, attracting large numbers of birds. King mackerel, Spanish mackerel, mullet, ladyfish, speckled trout, and other fish are congregating in massive numbers amid the sharks.
The Dauphin Island Sea Lab measured large areas of low oxygen water just off the beach at Fort Morgan last week, beginning in water around 20 feet deep. Monty Graham, a University of South Alabama scientist, theorized that the population of oil-consuming microbes had swelled. Sea life begins to die if oxygen levels drop below 2 parts per million. "We saw some very low oxygen levels, some below 1," said Graham, of testing he conducted aboard a Dauphin Island Sea Lab research vessel. He said that the layer of low-oxygen water closest to shore off Fort Morgan began at the bottom and rose up 30 feet. Graham said he believed that the low oxygen levels were responsible for reports of strange behavior among fish: "The low oxygen explains things we've been hearing, like reports of flounder swimming on the surface." The low-oxygen levels offshore may also explain the dense aggregations of fish seen in the surf zone. The turbulent area near shore is naturally high in oxygen due to the influence of the breaking waves. There are numerous reports that suggest that oil is moving beneath the surface in Alabama waters. State officials conducting shrimp trawls in the Mississippi Sound two weeks ago found oil on their nets when they pulled them. More recently, BP contractors working around Dauphin Island reported oil coming up on their anchors. A researcher captured this image. A discarded flag (or one that has fallen from one of the many vessels in the area) rests on the ocean floor amid the oil and the bodies of dead crabs: http://www.alexkearns.com/2010/06/today-in-gulf.html
a picture worth a thousand words. . .
as always, thank you for the work you do GW.
need a boom over here
Take a good swig of Macallan, that will steady your hand (or at least make you feel better) <g>
must be the oil slick on this keyboard
double triple quadruple post
whoa
The knuckleheads above who dispute the seriousness of this disaster and who pretend the IXTOC episode was sui generis are madmen or compensated for their BP shilling; I cannot fathom it is actually their conclusions as reasonable humans.
Do the math anyway you want. This is not going away and it is big. BP bankrupt by sometime in the fall, especially after the first CAT 5 hurricane blows through the GOM and makes all too clear what the knuckleheads are hiding.
Folks calling for clear-headed evaluation of the facts are neither madmen nor BP shills. When folks claim things are happening, or will happen, that physics won't allow, that needs to be pointed out. One can do this pointing out while still feeling empathy for those whose livelihoods are being disrupted or destroyed.
OK... so what's the point, GW? taking a break from your Dodge Challenger commercial?
The point is that the non-media which proclaims itself to be the MassMedia, isn't actively covering an event which should have been declared a national emergency.
This has enormous ramifications, while many Ameritards act like it's yesterday's news ("So yesterday," says Carly the butthead Fiorina).
This may very well presage the end.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.
Heard that on the radio in L.A. this a.m.
DOW chart update:
http://stockmarket618.wordpress.com
http://www.zerohedge.com/forum/latest-market-outlook-1
I think the worst environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico was when they built levees around the Mississippi River. This prevented the river from meandering across the delta and depositing sedient. The result is that the delta is sinking into the Gulf. But since this disaster was caused by the Federal Government, it is forgotten.
Never Let A Good Crisis Go To Waste.
Another Diversion Men!
God Given, By Golly Gosh!
Man the Legislation, Expand the Hearings, Collect the Tribute (Campaign Contributions, etc.) Make Soundbites Whilst the Oil Lands Ashore. The Time is Right. Free Political Manipulation. Expand Our Control.
Raise Taxes to Fund The Necessary Programs Concocted Amongst Yesterday's Stupor. Remit Your Freedoms and Funds to Us, for We Know Best for You, Our Teeming Masses Yearning to Be Led, Our Source of Money, Power and Prestige.
Focus. Divert Your Eyes Not From the Manipulator's Prizes.
there is nothing I hate more than lazy people who want to make statements with no information or background to support their data. What ever you want to say regarding Mr. Washington he does supply sources. Unlike many others who just fight with him but can provide no data or sources. Those people need to grow up. It is acceptable to have an ideological view. Attack someone, but provide some data.
This is a link for the data regarding the exon valdez spill
http://www.evostc.state.ak.us/Universal/Documents/Publications/2010IRSUpdate.pdf
you can read on your own. what is very clear is that the effects last for years. even "clean" beaches have oil underneath the surface which impacts clams and other life for years. I would also imagine cleaning out marshes will never happen, this will effect birthing grounds.
In addition, the impact of this must be added to other environmental stressors. Like the dead zone that already happens, etc.
I don't know what will happen, and yes it isn't the end of the world, but the person who takes the mexico example should provide some evidence to support his/her claims.
Oil is biodegradable. Tragedy? Yes. Forever? No.
Great Article, GW. We are so F@cked.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/17/city-florida-panhandle-taking-oil-m...
Florida Panhandle County Takes Oil Matters Into Its Own Hands
A Florida Panhandle community that's been victimized by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico says it can fight the destruction of its beaches and waterways better than the federal government -- but it's left with one problem: "Who will pay the bill?
Now that tar balls are washing ashore along the beaches of Okaloosa Island, county commissioners say it's time to stop waiting for the federal government's Unified Command Center to approve closing its East Pass -- the area leading to the docks of the profitable fishing village in the town of Destin.
“Over the last 50 days," Okaloosa County Commissioner Chairman Wayne Harris told FoxNews.com, "I like to say we played the game, if you will. We did what we were required to do, which was wait for all the permitting processes and wait for all the permission ....
"Over that period of time, it was obvious to us that somebody in those levels were not communicating with each other.”
Frustration started when the county devised a $9 million plan to implement an extensive boom system of barges and air curtains to close off all inlets and bayous from incoming oil. But the government rejected that proposal and began reducing the number of areas a system would protect. That, Harris says, is when the county decided to take matters into its own hands.
“We were getting the bureaucratic shuffle," he said. "We couldn’t wait for the bureaucratic process. We could not wait for indecisiveness.
"This is our county, and our people depend on us to make decisions.”
John Ward, public information officer for the Unified Command Center in Mobile, Ala., says a 14,000-foot boom system is being placed in nearby Choctawhatchee Bay this week. But Okaloosa has already begun preparing to install its own boom system at East Pass, which also is combating an erosion problem. For now, Harris says, the county is using credit cards to pay the tab. He says the county has a limited reserve fund that can cover just one month of the cost of the system.
“Now they’re letting us do what we want to do,” he said. “The dilemma is, doing what we want to do ... we’ve stood the chance of not getting reimbursed.”
And Okaloosa isn't alone in its decision to go it alone.
“A lot of counties are going beyond what the Unified Command Center is doing … A lot of people are concerned about their counties,” Ward says.
Harris says Okaloosa will file a claim with BP for the cost of its boom system, but it also hopes to use some of a $25 million grant BP has given the state of Florida to help pay for costs like $16,500 for the use of an air curtain each day and $850,000 each month for six barges.
Okaloosa is already hurting financially, as the oil spill has caused many tourists to cancel their summer vacations to the area.
The Breakers condominium on Okaloosa Island is 37 percent behind compared with the same time last year, says General Manager Kathy Houchins. And by the end of this month, she said, that number probably will pass 50 percent.
Much of Okaloosa Island - and the entire county, for that matter - is owned and managed by the USAF. Eglin AFB is the largest AF base on US soil. Good luck "closing" the east pass at Destin, the tidal currents in and out of the Choctaw Bay are fierce there - it is quite narrow.
Okaloosa is in the same boat as everyone else. They have no money to implement anything (because government runs a JIT system since "if they don't spend it all this year they won't get any more next year"). If they fail to implement safety procedures, BP will use it against them in court as a failure to mitigate their damages... "all of this stuff could have been prevented if you just implemented your own safety plan."
Okaloosa is just like greece. It needs to go ahead and spend all the money it can get with reckless abandon. So do all the gulf states. If uncle sugar won't come in and backstop it, then the rest of the states go under too...
THE BLOB 2010:
http://williambanzai7.blogspot.com/2010/06/blob-2010.html
I have read that Oil has been reported in North Carolina. Does anyone know just how far up the East coast, if it has extended that far at all, has progressed?
Thank You
My sister has a place in Ocean Isle Beach, NC, which is close to the SC border. While she hasn't been there in a while, she keeps close with folks who live there. She reports nothing. What were you reading?
Cheyenne
Sorry, I can't recall exactly where I read the report. But these should help.
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7448978
Oil spill to hit North Carolina's coast?
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2010/06/15/bp-gulf-oil-spill-gulf-strea...
BP Gulf Oil Spill Is Already In Gulf Stream And May Hit North Carolina Beaches Any Day
June 15, 2010
http://www.digtriad.com/news/local_state/article.aspx?storyid=143267
Researcher: Oil Spill Could Reach NC In Two Weeks
Created: 6/4/2010 10:26:45 PM Updated: 6/6/2010 2:36:49 AM
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2010/2010-06-03-02.html
Gulf Oil Spill Likely to Hit U.S. Atlantic Coast This Summer
June 3, 2010
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/bp-oil-spill/19503156/
Thanks, Gully. I hadn't seen any of that.
While I'm glad that no oil has been found in NC yet (just tar balls in Key West, entry point for oil into loop current), stories like these send chills up my spine. The Howdy-Doody delivery of Revelation-5:37-going-on-right-now by the local anchors is fucking priceless.
Aaaaand, it's not whether or not you can see tarballs, but the ppb/ppm toxicity of the water. Just because you can't see/taste/smell it doesn't mean it's a-ok. The MSM isn't explaining that very well if you ask me.
So far we've been in a "60-day hate" for BP and kinda the FedGov. We're focused on the problem: continuous flow, lame-ass klean-up, and threats of arrest for checking it out yourself. What about what must be done? That is, on a personal level what must people do to minimize the effect on their lives. Would they net a higher quality of life if they moved now - er, yesterday despite the cost of packing up and finding a new job?
WaterWings
http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/2010/06/june-19-2010-behind-curtain-of-spin.html
June 19 2010: Behind the Curtain of Spin
Ilargi: There are more examples than one can even try to sum up when it comes to painting the picture of the perversity and ineptitude of the US political system. The so-called grilling of Tony Hayward a few days ago was one prime example. The BP CEO started out with a "so sorry" statement that was an almost exact copy of a recent BP mea culpa TV ad.
When responding to the subsequent questions, Hayward mainly repeated the same line over and over: he wasn’t there when it happened, he had no influence on the decision-making process concerning the Macondo well, it was not his personal fault, and moreover, he was the very man who had announced strict safety measures when he took the job. Absolute habberdash, obviously, all of it, but it didn't matter one iota to Tony Hayward.
The reason why, or at least a major one, became clear the day after the "grilling": Tony Hayward was "relieved of his duties" that same day, to be replaced by some American deputy director at the company. Not replaced as CEO, mind you, but as BP's "face" in the US.
Capitol Hill, therefore, looks like the bunch of ass-clowns they are. Any further or follow-up questions will not be answered by the company's CEO anymore. They can now complain, whine and yell at his servant. Obviously, this was a decision that had been made a while ago; let Tony take the flack, he's leaving anyway.
In the past two weeks, despite Obama's moratorium on offshore drilling, the White House (through The Department of Interior's Minerals (Mis)Management Service has signed off on at least five new offshore drilling projects. That all by itself provides a much clearer idea of where the power lies, and where the truth, than all the made-for-media show trials together.
BP has signed off on a $20 billion escrow fund, but it may well be liable for damages totaling over $100 billion. Judging from Tony Hayward's performance, the fourth-largest company on the planet doesn't seem too worried, or at least its directors don’t. It may be wise not to underestimate BP's political clout, in London, Washington and many other capitals around the world.
Possibly even more perverted, and more telling of how Washington works, is this from the Huffington Post:
Five sources with knowledge of the situation said the White House pushed for the measure to be stripped at the behest of the Business Roundtable. The sources -- congressional aides as well as outside advocates -- requested anonymity for fear of White House reprisal.
The White House move pits the administration against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who told Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to stand strong against the effort. "I met with the Speaker today and she said, 'Don't back down. I'll back you up,'" Frank, the lead House conferee, told HuffPost. "Maxine Waters is very upset, as are CalPERS and others." Advocates said that the corporations fought the issue primarily over executive compensation concerns. Given proxy access, investors could rein in executive salaries. The Business Roundtable is a lobby of corporate CEOs.
Yes, BP would be a natural member of the Business Roundtable. The fishermen and tourist operators on the Gulf Coast would not. If I've said it once, I must have said it a thousand times: there will be no economic recovery in the US, and neither will there be any meaningful reform, whether financial or political, as long as the final say rests with those who have the most money.
They've gotten where they are through, and because of, the system as it is, and they will successfully resist any significant changes that would hurt their interests. That's the light in which to view for instance Obama's bizarrely numb Oval Office speech, and that’s why the White House deems it necessary to intervene on Capitol Hill on behalf of its friends and masters in the Business Roundtable.
It’s not a pretty picture that you get to see when you peer behind the curtain of spin, is it?
something that hasnt become clear to me yet are the relative percentages of the oil coming from the seabed well head that 1)make it to the surface, 2)stays on or near the seabed, and 3)in respect of item #1, gets biodegraded. IF a decent percentage is staying near the seabed-----what happens to that longer term? So much we dont know ( yet funny how everyone expects BP etc to have all the answers.) Maybe a sub-sea landslide could be used to "smother" the leak---at least until relief wells could fix the problem. The blame game doesnt really achieve anything useful at this point.
Is ANYBODY at ZH fact-checking this guy?
George, I got just one word for you: IXTOC. Pemex blew a well in 1979, in a scenario not unlike what has happened to BP. It took ten months to get it under control. It was NOT the end of the world. It did NOT end all life in the Gulf. It did coat a lot of Texas beaches with oil. PEMEX, a Mexican Government controlled entity, paid ZERO in cleanup costs. And anyone visiting the Texas Gulf coast in year 2000, as I did, would never have known there had ever been an oil spill even if he/she hadn't been told.
ZH, you are ruining your reputation by letting GW post this highly detailed but factually challenged stuff on your site. This junk is worthy of (maybe) MSNBC or CNN, but not worth half a kilobyte of your bandwidth.
Scenes of Medieval flagellents parading their bloody backs in the street are coming to mind. The entertainment value has, however, long since worn off, to be replaced by a sense of horror at how the gullible among the ZH commentariat have become utterly detached from reality. This sort of mass hysteria is what leads to wars, people.
The Valdez spilled around 9 million gallons and is still problematic to this day. Just like real estate, it's all about LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!
Now, can we please have a moron moratorium for the rest of the year?
I was a government paid tourist in Manifa Bay, Saudi Arabia in the Spring of 1991, where Saddam had graced the water off the beach with 2 meters deep oil. It is all gone now. Go figure. - Ned
"It's all gone now." As determined by Saudi Aramco sponsored scientists.
It took 19 years for the seventeen fishing villages along that 700 km of coastline to fully recover. Whew. It's safe. You can eat it. We do all the time.
2 meters? LOL.
OK, assuming the IXTOC comparison is valid (which it might not be, since as has been pointed out, IXTOC was a shallow well, so the mechanics of the oil dispersal would have been different), what do you say to all the Gulf Coast residents who's businesses have been shut down by this - 'tough luck, wait it out for 5 years and everything will be fine'? Or maybe they're just faking it, and in fact the Gulf tourism and fishing industries haven't even been affected by this?
Don't know what the future holds but the IXTOC spill was in shallow water (150 ft) and much of the oil was burned off at the surface. This well is at 5,000 ft below the surface and the oil is spreading horizontally along the sea floor. I feel that comparing the two is a comparison of apples to oranges. These are two completely different situations. Maybe the spill will not be as bad as people are forecasting but I don't think any of us know at this point.
@mattco
This is my concern as well. IXTOC and Macondo/Horizon are dissimilar. My neighbors just got back from Orange Beach, AL and they brought back tar ball samples. I'd much rather they have brought back sea shells. In other news, one opportunistic idiot I work with (he thinks this oil spill is no big deal) used this crisis to get a last minute $500 reduction off of his week-long stay at Gulf Shores. His family is splitting a week at a condo there for $1800 with his friend's family. I hope they have fun collecting tar balls.
BTW, how is commercial real estate in NYC?
Commercial real estate in NYC is slow but picking up from last year. I think it heads down again towards the end of the year. The store closings have slowed and a few empty stores have been rented but nothing too crazy. I am not buying anything right now and anything I am sub leasing is at well below market rents. The end of the world has not happened but the recovery will be short lived IMO.
Thanks for the update, mattco. I always enjoy hearing from you. In my little Louisiana town, Circuit City opened its store a month before declaring bankruptcy. Now that shiny new building sits idle, deflecting the high summer sun. Next month, BBY will open its first store here. I have a little joke (gallows humor, really) with my wife that BBY will be bankrupt before year end. :(
That crossed my mind yesterday.
What are the numbers for IXTOC?
They didn't use dispersants, I would imagine. There was no negative effect from petrochemicals on Sea life? How deep is that well and what are the prevailing currants?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ixtoc_I_oil_spill
At the time of the accident Sedco 135F was drilling at a depth of about 3,600 metres (11,800 ft) below the seafloor.[5] The day before Ixtoc suffered the blowout and resulting fire that caused her to sink, the drill bit hit a region of soft strata. Subsequently, the circulation of drilling mud was lost resulting in a loss of Hydrostatic pressure.[6] Rather than returning to the surface, the drilling mud was escaping into fractures that had formed in the rock at the bottom of the hole. Pemex officials decided to remove the bit, run the drill pipe back into the hole and pump materials down this open-ended drill pipe in an effort to seal off the fractures that were causing the loss of circulation.
During the removal of the pipe on Sedco 135F, the drilling mud suddenly began to flow up towards the surface; by removing the drill-string the well was swabbed leading to a kick. Normally, this flow can be stopped by activating shear rams contained in the blowout preventer (BOP). These rams are designed to sever and seal off the well on the ocean floor; however in this case drill collars had been brought in line with the BOP and the BOP rams were not able to sever the thick steel walls of the drill collars leading to a catastrophic blowout.
The drilling mud was followed by a large quantity of oil and gas at an increasing flow rate. The oil and gas fumes exploded on contact with the operating pump motors, starting a fire which led to the collapse of the Sedco 135F drilling tower. The collapse caused damage to underlying well structures. The damage to the well structures led to the release of significant quantities of oil into the Gulf.[5]
In the initial stages of the spill, an estimated 30,000 barrels of oil per day were flowing from the well. In July 1979, the pumping of mud into the well reduced the flow to 20,000 barrels per day, and early in August the pumping of nearly 100,000 steel, iron, and lead balls into the well reduced the flow to 10,000 barrels per day. Pemex claimed that half of the released oil burned when it reached the surface, a third of it evaporated, and the rest was contained or dispersed.[7] Mexican authorities also drilled two relief wells into the main well to lower the pressure of the blowout, however the oil continued to flow for three months following the completion of the first relief well.[8]
Not to mention we aren't seeing any spectral analysis of NASA imagery. Sure, just some high-res photos. "Ooooh. Aaaah. Blue and Green Tragedy."
Anyone that spent any time at all just playing around with satellite imagery knows they are not revealing what they can really see. Take a class at your local CC and you'll realize how stupid they think we are.
Where's da beef!
(ps - why didn't they close Texas beaches and threaten news teams with arrest? Why the cover up?)
finally, a breath of fresh-air. This stuff will go away in due course.Why waste valuable resources cleaning up something mother nature will do largely for free. We ( no, I really mean YOU ! ) have become a nation of short sighted imbeciles