The Government of Canada’s National Aerial Surveillance Program (NASP) is responsible for the monitoring of ship based oil pollution in Canada’s three oceans. In many of these spills, the source of pollution is unknown as there are often no vessels found in the vicinity at the time of detection. In this work, the oil spills found in 2010 on the West Coast of Canada, alongside the collated vessel traffic data captured by the Canadian Coast Guard are investigated to determine the vessels most likely responsible for these spills. In terms of tools and techniques applied, oil spills are firstly hindcasted using the General NOAA Operational Modeling Environment (GNOME) to determine the location of their source. ArcGIS is used to geospatially reference and combine various data sets, and lastly the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to rank possible polluters found in the area of the spill.

Environmental liability cases involving spilled or released petroleum products into ocean ecosystems require oil identification techniques that are unambiguous and conclusive, even in situations where oils have been subjected to secondary environmental processes, such as, evaporation and dissolution. The ability and functionality of the Compound Specific Isotope Correlation (CSIC) technique is tested to determine its reliability to characterize released petroleum using the carbon isotope ratios (13C/12C) of the individual gasoline-range compounds (C5-C9). In particular, this thesis studies the potential of CSIC as a robust diagnostic tool, to identify and correlate marine releases of oil with their sources, especially those having undergone evaporative weathering. Three crude oils (Alberta Sweet Mixed Blend, Lacula and Louisiana) added to synthetic seawater were exposed to mechanically simulated wave energy and controlled evaporative weathering at 10 oC. Time-series sampling of the gasoline-range vapour fractions from the headspace employed Solid Phase Micro Extraction (SPME). SPME-Continuous Flow-Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (SPME-CF-IRMS) determined the molecular abundances and stable carbon isotope ratios (δ13C) of the gasoline-range compounds of the original and weathered oils. Evaporation rates over the maximum 20 hour period varied for the 3 study oils. Most (74%) of the individual compounds measured in the oils display a δ13C enrichment with progressive evaporation with approximately half of the compounds in all 3 oils showing fractionation of the carbon isotopes ≤ 0.5‰ within measurement precision. The magnitude of carbon isotope shift observed in compounds pre-vs. post-weathering ranges from 0 to 2.8 ±0.6‰. There is no clear relationship identified between the degree of 13C enrichment in the oils and groupings such as chemical class, structure or carbon number. The overall weighted average 13C enrichment for all compounds in the 3 oils is approximately 1‰. Toluene was the only compound consistently exhibiting comparatively high 13C enrichment (1.6‰, 1.8‰ and 2.8‰) in all 3 oils after evaporative weathering. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) treatment of the CSIC data set can reliably discriminate between the 3 oils despite evaporative weathering and δ13C changes. HCA is also able to unambiguously relate the three weathered oils back to their respective original unweathered oil. Diagnostic shifts in δ13C of individual compounds in an oil may potentially be used to trace weathered oils back to the source, and possibly give a estimation of time since release. However the typically rapid rate of evaporation for the gasoline-range fractions limits the time that an oil can be successfully identified by CSIC. / Graduate

archives@tulane.edu / 1 / Azeem Farinmade

Remotely sensed MODIS fire detections were used to examine wildfire variability from 2003-2011 in southeast Louisiana, and to determine if the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and hurricanes may have impacted fire frequency and intensity. Despite low wildfire detection rates, around 60% for fires at least 1 km2 or greater, the MODIS fire product provided a consistent and reliable source of wildfire data. As a result of Hurricane Katrina, wildfire detection frequencies doubled their average numbers during the fall of 2005 in inland areas and during the spring of 2006 in inland and coastal marsh areas. Strangely enough, the oil spill may have contributed to lower fire frequencies in the summer of 2010 and spring of 2011 inland. Neither hurricane Katrina nor the oil spill were found to have an effect on fire intensity, and the spatial distribution of wildfires remained relatively constant over the study area after both disasters.

Yes / This paper reviews the recent studies on the identification and cleaning methods, as well as the consequences of oil spill. The future progression on oil spill prevention studies are also projected here.

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To prevent oil and light liquids from causing damage at wastewater treatment facilities and the environment, a functional oil separator is important. The purpose of this study is to examine which vehicle operations have an oil separator installed and how they supervise its functionality in Arvidsjaur municipality. A questionnaire was used at the interview with all the owners with an oil separator. For those not able to participate in the interview, the same questionnaire was sent by email. The study showed that 14 of the total 15 owners had oil separator at their property and the majority of those where older ones of gravimetric type. Only 31 % had a regular self-inspection of the oil separator, which include control frequency of alarms, oil- and sludge level. The majority of the oil separators had been emptied at least once a year. Further the interviews indicated deficiencies in the owners existing knowledge, record-keeping and documentation. None of the oil separators had been inspected in the last 5 years. 46 % said that the oil separator lacked oil- and sludge level alarms. Results from a survey of operators self-inspection of oil separators in other municipalities in north of Sweden showed similar results as this study. Finally, examples of actions in accordance with standards and established guidelines are presented, which the regulatory authority may require from the owners with insufficient oil separators.

Our knowledge of how oil spills affect coastal environments is severely limited by the shortage of research that addresses the impact of these events on phytoplankton, the single most important group of organisms in the marine ecosystem. This scarcity of knowledge is mainly attributed to the absence of baseline data, preventing the comparison of pre- and post-spill populations. This unique study aims to identify how dinoflagellates and diatoms, the two major groups of phytoplankton in coastal marine environments, have been affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska. To do this, sedimentary records of dinoflagellate cysts, produced during a dinoflagellate's life cycle and preserved in the sediment, and biogenic silica, a proxy for diatom abundance, were analyzed prior to, during and after the oil spill. The analysis of two well-dated cores in PWS reveals marked increases during the oil spill in the concentrations of total cysts of the species Operculodinium centrocarpum sensu Wall and Dale, (1966) and Dubridinium spp. Total cyst concentrations doubled in core P-10 from 362 to 749 per g, while in core P-12 the increase was from 1175 to 1771 cysts g-1. During this peak in cyst concentrations, total concentrations were 3 and 2 standard deviations greater than the mean in cores P-10 and P-12, respectively. Dubridinium spp. showed a five and sevenfold increase in concentrations in cores P-10 (4 to 20 cysts g-1) and P-12 (16 to 110 cysts g-1), respectively, while O. centrocarpum sensu Wall and Dale, (1966) doubled in concentrations in the two cores (P-10: 117 to 276 cysts g-1; P-12: 268 to 495 cysts g-1). Biogenic silica values did not show significant changes throughout the cores, with values varying between 8% and 9% in core P-10 and 9.0% to 10.9% in core P-12. These changes lie within or very close to the standard deviation of the analyzed standards, suggesting that much of the changes could be analytical noise. The dinoflagellate cyst signals seen in this study are comparable to those seen as a result of nutrient enrichment in estuarine systems, suggesting that the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and its remediation had a stimulatory effect on some taxa of cyst- producing dinoflagellates. This impact appears to be short-lived, with cyst concentrations returning to pre-spill levels within two years of the event. The lack of change in diatom abundance, on the other hand, suggest that diatom abundance remained relatively constant during the entirety of the sample period. / Graduate / 2020-07-10

The ice melting and lateral cavity formation caused by in situ burning (ISB) of liquid fuels in ice-infested waters was studied in order to improve predictions on the removal efficiency of this oil spill mitigation method. For this purpose, several experimental studies were conducted to increase the fundamental understanding of the mechanisms that lead to ice melting and lateral cavity formation. The findings of the experimental studies provided the required knowledge to mathematically formulate the ice melting problem. Mathematical scaling analysis of ice melting during burning of oils in the vicinity of ice was performed to create a tool to estimate the extent of melting that occurs during ISB in ice-infested waters. A series of lab-scale experiments were designed to systematically investigate the ice melting problem. The first set of experiments were conducted in cylindrical shaped ice cavities with a 5.7 cm diameter. Burning of n-octane from ignition to natural extinction and the subsequent geometry change of the ice, fuel thickness, and fuel temperature were measured. The preliminary experimental observations showed that the melting of the ice walls was higher in areas where the fuel layer was in contact with ice compared with places of flame exposure. Based on these observations, a hypothesis that suggested the convective flows in the liquid fuel (driven mainly by surface tension and buoyancy) were contributing in melting of the ice was proposed to explain the origins of the lateral cavity. To evaluate this hypothesis, two dimensionless numbers (Marangoni and Rayleigh) were calculated as the indicators of the mechanisms of convection in the fuel layer. The comparison between the melting speed and these dimensionless numbers indicated surface tension driven flow was dominant while the role of buoyancy was negligible. In another set of experiments, Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was used to study the flow structure within the liquid-phase of n-octane pool fire bound on one side by an ice wall. Experiments were conducted in a square glass tray (9.6 cm × 9.6 cm × 5 cm) with a 3 cm thick ice wall placed on one side of the tray. Burning rate, flame height, and melting front velocity were measured to analyze the effect of heat feedback on melting of the ice. The melting rate of the ice increased from 0.6 cm/min for the first 50 seconds after ignition to 1 cm/min for the rest of burning period. Meanwhile, the measurement of the burning rates and flame heights showed two distinctive behaviors; a growth period from self-sustained ignition to the peak mass loss rate (first 50 seconds after ignition) followed by a steady phase from the peak of mass loss rate until the manual extinguishment. Similarly, the flow field measurements by a 2-dimensional PIV system indicated the existence of two different flow regimes. In the moments before ignition of the fuel, coupling of surface tension and buoyancy forces led to a combined one roll structure in the fuel. This was when a single large vortex was observed in the flow field. After ignition the flow field began transitioning toward an unstable flow regime (separated) with an increase in number of vortices around the ice wall. As the burning rate/flame height increased the velocity and evolving flow patterns enhanced the melting rate of the ice wall. Experimentally determined temperature contours showed that a hot zone with thickness of approximately 3 mm was present below the free surface, corresponding to the multi-roll location. The change in the flow field behavior was found to relate to the melting front velocity of ice. To further study the lateral cavity phenomena, a parametric experimental study on melting of ice adjacent to liquids exposed from above to various heat fluxes was conducted in order to understand the role of liquid properties in formation of cavities in ice. Multiple liquids with wide variety and range of thermophysical properties were used in order to identify the key influential properties on melting. The melting rate of the ice and penetration speed of the liquid in a transparent glass tray (70 mm × 70 mm × 45 mm) with a 20 mm thick ice wall (70 mm × 50 mm × 20 mm) was measured. The melting front velocities obtained from experiments were then compared to surface flow velocities of liquids obtained through a scaling analysis of the surface flow to elucidate the influence of the various thermophysical properties of the liquids on ice melting. The surface velocity of the liquids correlated well to the melting front velocities of the ice which showed a clear relationship between the flow velocity and melting front velocity. As the final step of this work, to extend the findings of the experimental studies conducted herein to larger sizes comparable to realistic situations in the Arctic, an order of magnitude scaling analysis was performed to obtain the extent of ice melting. The scaling considered the heat feedback from the flame to fuel surface, the convective heat transfers toward the ice, and the melting energy continuity of ice. The existing experimental data on the size of lateral cavity were also collected and were correlated to the results of the scaling analysis using a nonlinear regression fitting technique. The mathematical correlation that was obtained by the scaling analysis can be used to predict the size of the lateral cavity for a given fuel, pool fire diameter, and burning time. This correlation will provide a predictive tool to estimate the size of a potential lateral cavity formed during ISB of a given spill scenario. In general, the ability to predict the ice melting caused by burning of spilled oil in ice-infested waters is of great practical importance for assessment of the response outcome. This would assist with quantifying the geometry change of the burning medium which in turn will define oil burning rate and extinction condition. Knowledge of burning behavior and extinction condition indicate the burned volume which can directly be used to define the removal effectiveness of ISB. Nevertheless, this analysis was conducted on a generic interaction of oil and ice and the specific details that are observed in actual application of ISB in ice-infested waters were neglected for simplicity. Extending the outcome of this study to more specific (scenario-based) oil-in-ice situation and improving the predictability of the melting correlation with large-scale experiments are the next steps to develop this work.

Resumo: Este estudo propõe-se realizar o mapeamento de sensibilidade ambiental a derramamentos de óleo - Cartas SAO - do Parque Estadual da Ilha do Cardoso e áreas do entorno - SP. Para tanto, foi aplicada a metodologia indicada pelo MMA atualmente utilizada no Brasil. Para o melhor detalhamento da avaliação da sensibilidade das praias arenosas, foi elaborada uma subclassificação do índice de sensibilidade do litoral (ISL) das praias em áreas de erosão, transporte e deposição de sedimentos. Devido a características importantes atualmente não avaliadas para os litorais rochosos, propõe-se um refinamento da classificação da sensibilidade destes destes em função dos parâmetros geomorfológicos (textura da rocha, hidrodinamismo e localização). Elaborou-se uma proposta de integração dos índices de sensibilidade dos ambientes costeiros, estuarinos e fluviais da área estudada, levando-se em consideração os mesmos parâmetros atualmente utilizados para a classificação destes ambientes quanto a sensibilidade a derramamentos de óleo. Foram elaboradas áreas de proteção (áreas onde os esforços de combate e limpeza devem ser priorizados)e áreas de sacrifício (setores onde os esforços podem ser secundarizados ou utilizados para atividades de remoção do óleo). Devido a grande sensibilidade da região a derramamentos de óleo sugere-se a instalação de um Centro de Emergência Ambiental e de um plano de emergência para o combate a acidentes na área. / Abstract: This study purpose is to draw the oil spill environmental sensitivity mapping of Cardoso Island's State park and surrounding regions - SP. Thus, the suggested methodology for MMA, usually used in Brazil, was applied. For a better evaluation of the sensitivity of sandy beaches, a subclassification of the shoreline sensitivity index of beaches in erosion, transport and deposition zones of sediments was formulated. Due to important characteristics, so far not evaluated yet, found in rocky shores, it has been suggested a refined classification of sensitivity of those rocky shores according to geomorphologic parameters (rock grain, wave energy and localization). A suggestion of coastal, estuarine e riverine integration of environmental sensitivity index for the study area proposal was elaborated, taking into account the same parameters currently used to the classification of these environments related to the oil spill sensitivity. Priority zones of protection (sectors where the aactions and clean up must be priorities) and sacrifice zones (sectors where the actions must be retard or used to actions of removal oil) were formulated. Due to the great oil spill sensitivity in this region, the installation of an Environmental Emergency Central and a emergency plan to combat oil spill accidents in the region, is higly suggested. / Orientador: Dimas Dias Brito / Coorientador: João Carlos Carvalho Milanelli / Banca: Paulina Setti Riedel / Banca: Gabriel Henrique da Silva / O Atlas foi elaborado junto ao Grupo de Trabalho de Sensibilidade Costeira no Âmbito do Programa de Formação de Recursos Humanos - PRH 05 da UNESP, Rio Claro / Mestre