Methylobacterium strains were isolated from mangrove samples collected in Bertioga, SP, Brazil, from locations either contaminated or uncontaminated by oil spills. The tolerances of the strains to different heavy metals were assessed by exposing them to different concentrations of cadmium, lead, and arsenic (0.1 mM, 0.5 mM, 1 mM, 2 mM, 4 mM, and 8 mM). Additionally, the genetic diversity of Met...

Oil spill or leakage into waterways and ocean spreads very rapidly due to the action of wind and currents. The study of the behavior and movement of these oil spills in sea had become imperative in describing a suitable management plan for mitigating the adverse impacts arising from such accidents. But the inherent difficulty of discriminating between oil spills and lookalikes is a main challen...

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images from satellite missions provide a significant support to oil spill detection applications. On the other hands recent studies have demonstrated the potentialities of artificial neural networks for discrimination, starting from SAR imagery, between oil spills and objects which resemble oil spills (called “look-alikes”). The oil spill detection algorithm basic...

The routine surveillance of oil spills in major ports is important. However, existing techniques and sensors are unable to trace oil and micron-thin oil films on the surface of seawater. Therefore, we designed and studied a coastal-mounted sensor, using ultraviolet-induced fluorescence and fluorescence-filter systems (FFSs), to monitor oil spills and overcome the disadvantages of traditional su...

The thickness of oil spills on the sea is an important but poorly studied topic. Means to measure slick thickness are reviewed. More than 30 concepts are summarized. Many of these are judged not to be viable for a variety of scientific reasons. Two means are currently available to remotely measure oil thickness, namely, passive microwave radiometry and time of acoustic travel. Microwave radiome...

During the Deepwater Horizon blowout, thick layers of oiled material were deposited on the deep seafloor. This large scale benthic concentration of oil is suggested to have occurred via the process of Marine Oil Snow Sedimentation and Flocculent Accumulation (MOSSFA). This meta-analysis investigates whether MOSSFA occurred in other large oil spills and identifies the main drivers of oil sedimen...

The Adriatic Sea is a semi-enclosed sea of the European side of the Mediterranean, covering 138 595 km2 and containing 35 000 km3 of sea water (LUŠIĆ & KOS, 2006). It exchanges its waters with the greater Mediterranean through the Otranto Strait at an approximate rate of 3.3 years (FRANIĆ, 2005), although turnover time varies from 1-5 years when determined with A set of spaceborne synthetic ape...

Knowledge of the spatial distribution of oil thickness patterns within an on-water spill is of obvious importance for immediate spill response activities as well as for subsequent evaluation of the spill impacts. For long-lasting continuous spills like the 2010 3-month Deepwater Horizon (DWH) event in the Gulf of Mexico, it is also important to identify changes in the dominant oil features thro...

About 25% of U.S. oil production comes from about 3400 active oil platforms in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) areas of the Gulf of Mexico, so estimating the rate of oil spills is important. This article reports on a portion of a study sponsored by the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) that focused on extrapolating from the data on past operations in the Gulf of Mexico to potential futur...