A Synthesis Review of Emissions and Fates for the Coal Oil Point Marine Hydrocarbon Seep Field and California Marine Seepage

Anthropogenic oil in the ocean is of great concern due to its potential immediate and long-term impacts on the ecosystem, economy, and society, leading to intense societal efforts to mitigate and reduce inputs. Sources of oil in the ocean (in the order of importance) are natural marine seepage, run-...

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Main Author: Ira Leifer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2019-01-01
Series:Geofluids
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/4724587
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author Ira Leifer
author_facet Ira Leifer
author_sort Ira Leifer
collection DOAJ
description Anthropogenic oil in the ocean is of great concern due to its potential immediate and long-term impacts on the ecosystem, economy, and society, leading to intense societal efforts to mitigate and reduce inputs. Sources of oil in the ocean (in the order of importance) are natural marine seepage, run-off from anthropogenic sources, and oil spills, yet uncertainty and variability in these budgets are large, particularly for natural seepage, which exhibits large spatial and temporal heterogeneity on local to regional scales. When source inputs are comparable, discriminating impacts is complicated, because petroleum is both a bioavailable, chemosynthetic energy source to the marine ecosystem and a potential toxic stressor depending on concentration, composition, and period of time. This synthesis review investigates the phenomena underlying this complexity and identifies knowledge gaps. Its focus is on the Coal Oil Point (COP) seep field, arguably the best-studied example, of strong natural marine hydrocarbon seepage, located in the nearshore, shallow waters of the Northern Santa Barbara Channel, Southern California, where coastal processes complicate oceanography and meteorology. Many of our understandings of seep processes globally are based on insights learned from studies of the oil and gas emissions from the COP seep field. As one of the largest seep fields in the world, its impacts spread far as oil drifts on the sea surface and subsurface, yet much remains unknown of its impacts.
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spelling doaj-art-7d7624bdf8ed40b0bdf3c3a260eaf06e2025-08-20T03:35:18ZengWileyGeofluids1468-81151468-81232019-01-01201910.1155/2019/47245874724587A Synthesis Review of Emissions and Fates for the Coal Oil Point Marine Hydrocarbon Seep Field and California Marine SeepageIra Leifer0Bubbleology Research International, Solvang, CA 93463, USAAnthropogenic oil in the ocean is of great concern due to its potential immediate and long-term impacts on the ecosystem, economy, and society, leading to intense societal efforts to mitigate and reduce inputs. Sources of oil in the ocean (in the order of importance) are natural marine seepage, run-off from anthropogenic sources, and oil spills, yet uncertainty and variability in these budgets are large, particularly for natural seepage, which exhibits large spatial and temporal heterogeneity on local to regional scales. When source inputs are comparable, discriminating impacts is complicated, because petroleum is both a bioavailable, chemosynthetic energy source to the marine ecosystem and a potential toxic stressor depending on concentration, composition, and period of time. This synthesis review investigates the phenomena underlying this complexity and identifies knowledge gaps. Its focus is on the Coal Oil Point (COP) seep field, arguably the best-studied example, of strong natural marine hydrocarbon seepage, located in the nearshore, shallow waters of the Northern Santa Barbara Channel, Southern California, where coastal processes complicate oceanography and meteorology. Many of our understandings of seep processes globally are based on insights learned from studies of the oil and gas emissions from the COP seep field. As one of the largest seep fields in the world, its impacts spread far as oil drifts on the sea surface and subsurface, yet much remains unknown of its impacts.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/4724587
spellingShingle Ira Leifer
A Synthesis Review of Emissions and Fates for the Coal Oil Point Marine Hydrocarbon Seep Field and California Marine Seepage
Geofluids
title A Synthesis Review of Emissions and Fates for the Coal Oil Point Marine Hydrocarbon Seep Field and California Marine Seepage
title_full A Synthesis Review of Emissions and Fates for the Coal Oil Point Marine Hydrocarbon Seep Field and California Marine Seepage
title_fullStr A Synthesis Review of Emissions and Fates for the Coal Oil Point Marine Hydrocarbon Seep Field and California Marine Seepage
title_full_unstemmed A Synthesis Review of Emissions and Fates for the Coal Oil Point Marine Hydrocarbon Seep Field and California Marine Seepage
title_short A Synthesis Review of Emissions and Fates for the Coal Oil Point Marine Hydrocarbon Seep Field and California Marine Seepage
title_sort synthesis review of emissions and fates for the coal oil point marine hydrocarbon seep field and california marine seepage
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/4724587
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