Toxic Oil Found Deep on Gulf Seafloor?

[n2doc]

Oil may be harming base of food web, early results suggest.



Sediment samples taken during an August research cruise in the Gulf glow under UV light.

Photograph courtesy USF

Christine Dell'Amore
National Geographic News
Published August 18, 2010

Weeks after the U.S. government claimed that the "vast majority" of oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill has been taken care of, oil has possibly been found deep on the Gulf seafloor, scientists announced this week.

What's more, tiny deep-sea creatures are showing a "strong toxic response" to hydrocarbons, an ingredient of oil, according to preliminary results released Tuesday by the University of South Florida (USF).

During a ten-day research cruise in August, the USF team sampled water and sediments in DeSoto Canyon—a nutrient-rich gully east of the Deepwater Horizon wellhead that's also the birthplace of many commercial fish species.

By shining ultraviolet light on the samples, the team indirectly detected hydrocarbons in the sample that seem to have the same fluorescent fingerprints as oil from the wellhead, which was capped July 15.

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http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/08/100818-gulf-oil-spill-seafloor-toxic-science-environment/