Oil Spill Effect on Water Temperature

Given that crude oil is black in color and floats, probably.

I saw a report that the plumes of oil are like pillars that go many feet deep in the water, so it's not just floating on the surface.... the pillars may radiate heat downward into the ocean.

Look at the satellite photo of the oil spill and you'll see it as much more reflective than the surrounding water. The oil spill is not black but a light brown color.

unfortunate to state this fact i did not fully read everything. but if i am repeating something i apologize. best way to put this all standard for tempeture change are based on a material's range of heat capacity. heat capacity baseline is water which is a 1..IN BTU/LB deg.F 1 in a pure sample clean or fresh /drinking water. heat capacity of sea water is around .93 but here is the kicker thermal capacity of petro/oil is .51 ... about 42% less in it's actual capacity now you have to calculate all the corexit that has propylene glycol- antifreeze .68 then just a cocktail of other chems that are not listed on MSDS cause they are proprietary from what i have seen SO FAR in basic way to put it the ocean tempeture will drop drastically where heavy concentrations are.. but ocean tempeture should see a drop if it travels as predicted and i think as i type this that have already dropped but i have yet to complete my research .... i am starting to think the oil issue was the match that lit the fuse hopefully we get a clear bounce back from this issue with out the doom and gloom floating around the net.

IMO it works 2 ways:

More heat collecting and radiating to the higher layers.

In the beginning evaporation of the lighter components, followed by estblishment of an isolating carpet of the crude.

Yes, the water temperature, measured on the surface will increase.

Below sunlight will be missing, affecting many other things, but that is not the question.

Interesting point. Of course, sunlight only penetrates a certain distance in any case, so deep water temperatures would not be so readily affected. But without a doubt oil at the surface would absorb more heat, raising surface temperatures, and it is possible that by blocking sunlight from reaching its normal depth it would cause the heat to be more concentrated near the surface with cooler than normal below.

This could have implications for hydrodynamic mixing, for example (at least, it would in a pond). Mixing cycles in ponds are seasonally produced by temperature differences at surface and below, and are necessary for oxygenation of water at the lower depths, essential to life in a pond. ( I don't know about ocean hydrodynamics, it's rougher so oxygenation may not be so dependent on temperature-related mixing.)

It is important to realise that the earth's ocean temps are increasing because there is a fine layer of oil on the surface worldwide- ranging from crude to micro- this has the effect of slowing evaporation from the surface- this evaporation cools the water- less evap = less rain & warmer water below!. The Sol's rays still penetrate the oil film, imparting heat!.

In as much as the oil will convert a large percentage of deep water penetrating UV to heat at the surface, yes the surface water will heat up quickly, lower evap rate will contribute to the surface heat. There are so many problems to consider but low O2 absorption is likely to be a big problem for marine life as is the obvious toxicity.

Oil is already causing major problems as previously stated. This one is just accelerating the mess oil is making of our environment. Wonder how much polar ice this spill will melt. Enough to quench the Dutch company's thirst for oil when it floods the whole of the Netherlands?

Thanks for the correction. I must have had my head in a box or something silly when I made that rash statement about BP being Dutch owned.

It's a tragic mess and no slant on Holland was ever intended.

Sadly we all will loose out on this one unless collective genius is used to minimise the impact. All way beyond my ability, but certainly not without every scrap of support I can muster to the people tasked with finding the solution.

Study Reveals an Oily Diet for Subsurface Life

UCSB Scientists Document Fate of Huge Oil Slicks
From Seeps at Coal Oil Point

May 13, 2009

http://www.instadv.ucsb.edu/pa/display.aspx?pkey=2010

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/05/15/natural-petroleum-seeps-release-equivalent-of-eight-to-80-exxon-valdez-oil-spills/

bwire

Interesting site for natural discharge seeps of oil. I am in the process of reading a book by Thomas Gold, The Deep Hot Biosphere: The Myth of Fossil Fuels, 2001. It is a good book that tries to debunk the theory of the origins of "fossil" fuel deposits. Thomas Gold is an astronomer/physicist with Cornell University and has had a knack for coming up with controversial science and has more often than naught been proven right after years of research. He was the first to postulate the 90 degree rotation of earth axis occurring over millions of years but in fluctuation. Dismissed in the early 50s as counter to then current ideas; but, indeed this axis flipping is now fact according to earth science researchers since the 70s.

Anyway, Gold's newest postulation is about abiotic oil and coal. He is trying to debunk the theory of oil being formed primarily from the decomposition of organic matter (a theory formed in the nineteenth century before the recognition of hydrocarbons). Further the volumes of oil in the earth's lithosphere is much greater than postulated by current oil companies. His theory is in part based on astronomical observations and the formation of the earth by accretion of space matter. Much of the material found in outer space is hydrocarbons and of course is also part of the material accreted to form our solar system. Methane of course being the most common and simplest of the hydrocarbons and other more exotic hydrocarbons also available. If that is the case I think oil on the ocean surface is also found naturally (abiotic oil will get an organic signature) and it is this oil that may also be blamed as part of any oil spill by an oil drilling company. Natural seeps are likely to prove greater than we know today.

I think the spill by BP from the runaway well is a tragedy for this and the next generation for the Gulf area. The vast ocean surface will always have a little surface of oil likely from natural origins. So I don't think the BP spill will affect world ocean temperatures or evaporation rates but may have a more serious local affect.

Here's an article about the bacterial role in breaking down oil in the gulf.. Fertilizers would help, apparently, to get them going out in the ocean as well as on beaches (where fertilizer is already being used).

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18971-bacteria-help-to-clean-up-deepwater-horizon-spill.html

Alcanivorax needs N and P. Marinobacter spp. (maybe limited by need for iron?) are also important marine oil-eaters. There's oil-eating species diversity around seeps in the Gulf of Mexico, and for contrast, check out this genetically modified Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus.

I think the basic theme though, is that there's no need to introduce any species because they are there already, and will bloom in response to the oil, but might respond quicker with the right extra nutrients.

I use a product called turbo fish to slow down the evaporation of water in my pool at home. The main ingredient is isopropyl alcohol and a surfactant.

Is it possible for the crude oil to act the same way in that it reduces the amount of evaporation helping to increase the temperature?

My question has more to due with the formation of hurricanes in the gulf. Hurricanes feed on warm water (it's already above normal in the gulf this year). Predictions are for an above normal hurricane season. Is it possible that the oil spill might make the gulf even warmer? Anyone know what the temperature of the oil gushing out is when it's released into the water?

The temperature gradient in the earth's crust is anywhere from 15-30 degrees C per kilometer. I am not sure of the actual temperature at the ocean floor in the Gulf of Mexico but I think in one of the threads it was reported to be 7 degrees C at a pressure of about 2300 psi. Since the well is 5000 meters below see level and the sea depth is 1500 meters the geological formation at 3.5 km below the sea floor is 7 + (3.5 x 15 or 30) = 52.5 to 105 degrees C. The oil could be originating below this depth at greater depths than we know. Hydrocarbons have been found at 600 degrees C. The fact that the pressure is so high prevents the disassociation of the hydrocarbons at these high temperatures and also prevents water from boiling. I admit having no knowledge of the temperature in the GOM area.

There is a good book called the Deep Hot Biosphere by Thomas Gold and is worth the effort. The earths ocean is a very large heat sink and I suspect any temperature change in the water would be minimal. Surface temperature changes are different.

There was a show on TV that I saw today, June 6, 2010. It cited a scientific study of the last 60 years or so that studied ocean temperatures and the frequency and intensity of hurricanes. There has been a one degree increase in temperature and a "definite" increase in Level 5 hurricanes. I don't know the rate of increase, but they predict an increase in the intensity of hurricanes for the future. You can only deduce that any increase in surface temps from the oil will increase the power of any storms this season. Not good as I live in New Orleans...

That is exactly the problem: too much SHOW on TV and no reality.

I am living in the hurricane belt too and have seen the worst part of it during 36 hours of permanent beating in 2004.

It is not opportune to frighten the people, but this year the hurricanes will feed easier on the Gulf waters. And telling that there will be no oil in the rain that is about the biggest nonsense I ever heard. The heaviest rain - SALT WATER - I have seen, and been in, is pumped out of the ocean by the vortex of the hurricane and thrown all over. What has evaporated into the clouds is only a part of it. Our swimming pool empty in 3 minutes (80 m3- 80.000 liters) and back to full in 10 minutes after a while. I have seen wooden painted structures like sand blasted (read SALT BLASTED) after the hurricane. It took the trees 2 years to recover from GREY into Green. What color has the oil? Prepare for reception if there is still oil floating by that time. I really hope the best for everyone, but this happened.

Another unknown... if hurricanes move into an oil polluted area, what will the oil do to the storm's structure? Is the oil going to weaken the cloud formation? Lessen condensation? If the storm manages to stay "normal" and begins to toss the oil around with the water, what a mess that will be.

Yes, the immediate concern is the impact the oil spill will have on the potential brewing hurricane, is it not? Everyone is talking in terms of global warming and what will a storm do to the oil spill. Since I live in the Gulf, and a storm is approaching, I want to know which way to go to get out of its way if it comes my way.

Sidestepping any issues about global warning for the moment, the more immediate question is: "Will increased surface water temperatures in the Gulf being caused by the current spill have an impact on the strength or direction of a hurricane now? If so, in what way?

Relatively recent research studies have concluded that hurricane category strength could be increased by one category with as little as 0.5 degree C increase in ocean surface temperature. I learned this when I was mentoring students in a 2007 science project. The students hypothesized that reducing surface temperature by that amount could reduce a hurricane's destructive strength. Then, in early 2008, Microsoft's Bill Gates became co-patent holder for a system designed to decrease surface water temperature over a large area, with the benefit of reducing hurricane strength. Thus, the students seemed to be on the right track even though they had no idea about the costs of such a project.

I was wondering whether or not the large surface area over which this oil is dispersed in the Gulf would be enough to increase the ocean surface temperature by this small amount, and thus increase the strength of an oncoming hurricane? Then the question in my mind is whether the higher surface temperature is enough to affect the steering currents of the hurricane. In other words, will the current oil spill act as a magnet so to speak for the hurricane

I saw where NOAA recently addressed this very question and concluded that this oil spill in the Gulf would probably have little or no impact on the oil spill clean-up. But very few people are asking about the impact that the oil spill is having on hurricane strength and direction.

Can someone pick up on these questions and discuss the possibilities?

I think I think water temp may not influence the direction of a hurricane much because if it did they'd stay on the water in the southern regions, ya think.

That's true, the major drivers of a hurricane are barometric pressure and the steering (wind and ocean) currents, and not so much surface temperature. I thought the magnet notion was out there... So we're really just talking about strength being impacted by water temperature.

Another element in this is point that NOAA made in their article, that the oil slick is not a complete layer of oil, rather broken, amorphous shaped areas of varying thicknesses of oil slick and globs. So, we're not talking about a complete oil blanket, if you will. It implies to me that there is not a sufficient single area of slick large enough in this oil spill yet to impact water temperature and, thus, absorption.

Someone mentioned that some of the oil emulsifies and the dispersant being sprayed on the oil certainly changes its properties. You may want to throw these variables into the pot as you address your question.

the major drivers of a hurricane are barometric pressure and the steering (wind and ocean) currents, and not so much surface temperature.

Though during the past decade we have experienced storms which defy that logic.

It's a crap shoot...

Any idea what happens with barometric pressure above different water temperatures in the ocean?

It may be a little pie in the sky, but, don't "ya think" air temperature, and resultant convection of hot air rising and cold air going down (ergo, wind), has some potential effect on the air (wind) currents helping to drive hurricane's, perhaps some sniping butterfly effect? Convection plays a significant role in where and how these monsters start.

Oil temperature? Not hot, or not significant, for sure. Think about what happened with the early attempt at containment - methane froze and formed clathrate, which stuck to the box and prevented its intended use. The ocean at those depths is near freezing and there is a huge volume there of very cold water.

By the time oil reaches the surface, it's unlikely to be any warmer than the water. There's just too much opportunity for heat to dissipate in the volume of water...

Surface temperature of the water - which should be affected by a big oil slick on the surface that is black therefore increasing solar absorption at the surface - could conceivably affect the intensification pattern of hurricanes, as opposed to their formation. But that would also depend, whether the oiled surface actually obstructs the release of moist warm air from the ocean, or whether it is dispersed enough to have no effect on the release of ocean surface heat as moist warm air.

Methane froze and formed clathrate: This is press talk. Does methane freeze in a clathrate under this condition?.?

The Ice crust around does. Which before was originally sea water. @ 150 - 165 bar.

dvmdsc, I defer to your more exact explanation and knowledge.

Hey, your description of hurricane uptake (swimming pool etc) is really scary. The Bahamas being island and the ocean being warm, there's nothing around you to diminish the intensity of a hurricane - no landfall to make, no cold water to cross.

I guess the full force hurricane is just like a tornado in sucking up stuff in its path.. hope they miss you this year...

Look up the phase diagram and the triple point - yes it does due to the pressure and will much of the way to the surface.

Though there is little CH4 up high in either troposphere and less in stratusphere

You will find this very interesting:

http://www.igac.noaa.gov/newsletter/21/methane_sink.php

Can you explain this a little more please?

I am not sure about it.

Hypothetical: Once out of the pipe the liquid methane detends to the hydrostatic pressure (decreasing fast - more than 40 Mph) and adapts simultaneously to the sea water temperature if conditions are present. (not how they do it now) The critical point is very unpredictable without the process conditions. There is a serious chance the methane is "captured" in the original ICE crust as merely in liquid phase. The ice will melt and RPT starts.

If you subscribe to the abiotic origins of oil then you should realize that oil up-wells from very deep depths of 300 km or sometimes more. Thomas Gold has outlined these issues in his book The Deep Hot Biosphere: The Myth of Fossil Fuels. The abiotic origins of hydrocarbon is in contrast to the biological origins (decomposed organic matter cooked under earth pressure for long times). Gold is convinced and presents convincing evidence that the hydrocarbons are part of the original solar system formation. He has demonstrated that hydrocarbons can be found in igneous as well as sedimentary formations. Interesting book. He also states that hydrocarbons are very stable at very high temperatures in the Earth's crust due to the high pressures. Water nor the hydrocarbons including methane will boil at he pressures of a deep drilled well. The geological formation is hot at 3.5 km beneath the ocean floor. If the hydrocarbons are up-welling from deeper depths then you can expect even higher temperatures. Most of the methane would survive to depths of 300 km (about 100kb of pressure) as long as the temperature was less than 2000 degrees C. So methane can up-well at very hot temperatures. The hydrates are formed as a result of velocity and resultant cooling. Hydrates are quite unstable and may well have lead to the original Horizon disaster and explosions. Hydrate is usually applied to ocean methane trap and where organic matter may form some of the trap it is called clathrate. Essentially the same thing. We expect to see more clathrate in the permafrost and more hydrate in oceans.

Thanks for the clarification on clathrate vs hydrate.

This "abiotic origin of oil" idea is completely new to me - of course I am not a geologist so I only have a lay person's idea, still I see no reason to disbelieve that oil is a fossil fuel. At least some oil is almost certainly of fossil origin - isn't that fairly well established?

Now that you mention it, though, I guess I've been thinking the other way around, when I hear about water, methane, tholins etc. on other planets/moons/KBO's I've always thought it could possibly turn out that life is more widespread than assumed (wishful thinking?). But as you pointed out, the opposite is also true - the existence of organic chemistry in the inhospitable elsewhere, could be pointing to an abiotic origin for some of the methane etc on this planet.

No one is suggesting that HEAT is an inherent property of the oil -- rather how its ABSORPTION of the sun's energy will affect temperature. (vis a vis oil is black, black absorbs larger range of light frequency)

People heat their rooms with oil filled radiators because they transfer heat differently than water does. I imagine that oil would transfer heat deeper than water.

I imagine - That is a new engineering term for me

I use it frequently. Ever heard of the term "imagineering?" Disney continues to make a few bucks employing engineers who imagine.

Sometimes there happen to be pretty open electric heating coils in it that don't like water too much. Sometimes oil is used because it is isolating. Sometimes because it doesn't make the metal rust that much? Normally oil floats on water. I try to find the link.

The majority of the sun's emission is in the infrared and gets absorbed within the first meter of water. Added visible absorption by oil is likely negligible. ~Dan Gareau

http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/topic_subtopic_entry.php?RECORD_KEY(entry_subtopic_topic)=entry_id,subtopic_id,topic_id&entry_id(entry_subtopic_topic)=155&subtopic_id(entry_subtopic_topic)=8&topic_id(entry_subtopic_topic)=1 Dispersant is used on the water, and that makes the oil not gather on the surface but mix deep, within the water in columns. This is why I am concerned that the oil may help to transfer heat further down than just plain water alone. Oil also prevents heat from escaping the surface of the ocean by preventing evaporation.