oil spills and oil volcanos

[easwaran]

I was on a long wikipedia jag this evening, reading about oils of all sorts, ranging from petroleum, gasoline, and mineral oil to vegetable oils, trans fats, and triglycerides, as well as some issues about how you get the products we use out of the naturally occurring mixtures of chemicals. But I ran into some interesting stuff about oil spills,

Comments

[cityofgates]

*...it apparently makes a big difference to an oil spill whether it occurs in one place or whether it's already naturally dispersed.*

As my geologist cottagemate used to say, "the solution to pollution is dilution".

[easwaran]

Yup - unless it's something as prevalent as CO2, in which case we've run out of air to dilute it with.

[gustavolacerda]

that's a great line! :-D

[once_a_banana]

Wow that giant wooden box (that failed to control the Lakeview Gusher) looks disturbingly familiar, doncha think? Hmmmm... :-)

Besides being dispersed, it's also helpful when farther from shore. It only takes a few weeks for the sun and the microbeasties to break down thin sheens of oil. With a lot of it in one spot and near the shore, it comes in and gets into everything before most of it can get broken down.

[easwaran]

Yeah - I guess "containment domes" are a bit more high-tech now. At least the onshore one didn't have to worry about methane hydrates forming and clogging it.