Methane gas threat to sea life
By Sheila McNulty in Houston
Published: June 28 2010 19:35 | Last updated: June 28 2010 19:35
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Methane gas at concentrations in some cases approaching
1m times [ thats 1 million ]
the normal level have been found around the BP oil spill, raising fears it could create a dead zone where marine
Last year the concentrations of these gases were found at normal levels of between one to two parts per million.
if the high concentration of methane could lead to a feeding frenzy by marine micro-organisms that feed on this hydrocarbon. Such a frenzy could lead to a depletion of oxygen levels in the area and thus the creation of a so-called dead zone.
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Methane gas at concentrations in some cases approaching 1m times the normal level have been found around the BP oil spill, raising fears it could create a dead zone where marine life cannot survive.
The site is in a six-mile radius around the spill, where John Kessler, assistant professor in the Department of Oceanography at Texas A&M University, has just returned from a 10-day research trip.
Methane is one of the key component of natural gas, along with others such as ethane and propane, and methane accounts for 40 per cent of the gases emanating from BP’s leaking well.
Last year the concentrations of these gases were found at normal levels of between one to two parts per million.
This year, the concentration of methane dissolved in the seawater is 100,000 times more and, in some places, approaching 1m times more, Dr Kessler said.
While methane may be toxic to various marine organisms, one of the focuses of Dr Kessler’s research is investigating if the high concentration of methane could lead to a feeding frenzy by marine micro-organisms that feed on this hydrocarbon. Such a frenzy could lead to a depletion of oxygen levels in the area and thus the creation of a so-called dead zone.
“There are some drawdowns in oxygen,’’ Dr Kessler said. “It’s significant; we notice it. It’s there.’’
Whether it will create a dead zone depends on how high the concentrations of methane will get and how long they will remain at these enhanced levels.
With BP increasingly safely siphoning hydrocarbons to the surface, there are hopes that the amount gushing into the Gulf is declining. That said, the spill is expected to continue until the UK-based company can complete at least one of the two relief wells it is drilling to intersect the leaking well and plug it up. BP is hoping that will be in late July or August.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the US Environmental Protection Agency and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy said in a first peer reviewed, analytical summary joint report about subsea monitoring that “dissolved oxygen levels remained above immediate levels of concern’’.
But the report also added: “There is a need to monitor dissolved oxygen levels over time.’’
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