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Beach hazard in Santa Barbara: Tarry feet!

Beach hazard in Santa Barbara: Tarry feet!. Seep: natural spring of oil and gas. USGS. USGS. La Brea tar pits. USGS. Roasting marshmallows over a gas seep in Humboldt County. USGS. asphaltum. seep near Santa Barbara. Most local seeps are underwater, right near campus.

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Beach hazard in Santa Barbara: Tarry feet!

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  1. Beach hazard in Santa Barbara: Tarry feet!

  2. Seep: natural spring of oil and gas USGS

  3. USGS

  4. La Brea tar pits USGS

  5. Roasting marshmallows over a gas seep in Humboldt County USGS

  6. asphaltum seep near Santa Barbara

  7. Most local seeps are underwater, right near campus

  8. UCSB studies of natural gas & oil seeps • Motivation: air pollution • 88% of gas from seeps is methane • rises as bubbles to water surface • contributes to atmospheric ozone • hydrocarbons from seeps: 24 tons/day, • cars & trucks: 22 tons/day (a few years ago) • Ongoing studies: • mapping • measuring emissions • effect of oil production • biology near seeps

  9. Gas bubbles Surface oil slick UCSB Geology

  10. July, 1995 False color sonar image Blue streaks show gas bubbles from seep UCSB Geology

  11. UCSB Large oil slicks from natural seeps: swirled around by eddies

  12. facts about the seeps near Coal Oil Point • Where it is: • region is 18 km2, 3 km offshore • water depths 20-60m • reservoir is 1500 m below sea floor • contains 150 million gallons of oil • What comes out: • 100 barrels oil /day (4100 gallons) • 40 tons methane gas /day • seepage varies with tides and seasons • underwater methane plumes extend 12 km

  13. Seepage is reduced by oil drilling!

  14. Things the oil industry would like you to remember: • Oil seeps put 37,000 barrels of oil into environment each year • Since 1980, industry has spilled only 800 barrels total • Oil drilling reduces pressure on, and flow from, seeps • Gas from seeps causes air pollution • Industry is catching gas from seeps • Things the oil industry would like you to forget: • Oil spill in 1969 was 80,000 barrels • Oil spills are all at once in one place • Seeps are spread out in space and time • Processing oil causes air pollution • Driving cars causes air pollution

  15. How much beach can 80,000 barrels of oil cover? Use dimensional analysis. 80,000 barrels * 41 gal/barrel * 3.8 liters/gal * 1000 cm3/liter = 1.25*1010 cm3 If that oil spreads over 25 km of beach (here to Summerland) In a band 10 m wide, how thick is the layer? 1.25*1010 cm3 / 25*105 cm / 1000 cm = 5 cm

  16. Biology around oil seeps • Patchy distribution • most critters rarely exposed to fresh (toxic) oil • weathered oil is tar • Increased microbial production • more oil-eating bacteria found near bottom • Exposure level studies • different critters like different levels • Adaptation • maybe individuals, but not multi-generation • Chemosynthetic organisms • depend on bacteria for food • species of clams, mussels, snails, tubeworms

  17. Oil Leases (SB Independent 6/13/2002 and SB News Press 6/26/99) 36 undeveloped leases extended thru 2003 Estimated 1 billion (1,000,000,000) barrels oil State wants to review any development of these leases Federal Government buys some leases Florida: $275 million, feds buying, Gov. Jeb Bush happy California: $2,000 million, feds say CA likes oil, Gov. Davis unhappy What should we do?

  18. Where does SB Channel tar come from? • Primarily from natural oil seeps in SB Channel • Special “tents” are placed over some of these to recover oil and gas! • Major source of air pollution here is from these oil seeps!

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