COLLEGE STATION, Sept. 13, 2010 John Kessler, a Texas A&M University oceanographer who reported in June elevated levels of methane from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, returned to the area aboard the NOAA ship Pisces Sept. 9. The mission is part of the Unified Area Command's ongoing efforts to monitor and study the location, concentration and impacts of subsurface hydrocarbons near the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Kessler, an assistant professor in the College of Geosciences' oceanography department, was one of the first to sample and evaluate the amount of methane around the blow-out site.
On the first research expedition, Kessler and his crew found plumes of highly concentrated methane dissolved in the deep gulf waters resulting from the disaster. As chief scientist of this 10-day expedition, funded by NOAA, he is following up on his earlier findings and collecting additional information about the impact of hydrocarbons in the water column. Also on the cruise are fellow scientists, students and technicians from Texas A&M, the University of California at Santa Barbara and NOAA.
Kessler is a chemical oceanographer who specializes in the study of methane in oceans and its role in the global carbon cycle. He first went to the Gulf in June on a mission, funded primarily by the National Science Foundation with additional support from the Department of Energy, to investigate how natural gas and oil might contribute to the emission of greenhouse gases and the depletion of oxygen in the region.
"It is really great to have Dr. Kessler and his colleagues on board helping to lead this continued effort. Strong partnerships with universities such as Texas A&M have been invaluable since the early days of the response and we continue to rely on the expertise and knowledge these researchers bring to the team," said NOAA's Sam Walker, chief science advisor for the Subsurface Monitoring Unit at the Unified Area Command in New Orleans. "Ongoing collaboration with academic and independent scientists is critical to our success as we work to better understand the fate of the oil and its impacts on the gulf ecosystem."
The mission plan includes measuring concentrations of a variety of natural gases, dissolved oxygen and organic matter in the water column as well as studying microbial activity and rates of hydrocarbon degradation in the water column. Researchers will also be measuring methane in the atmosphere to add to their understanding of what is happening to the hydrocarbons.
"In addition to the oil seen on the sea surface, a significant quantity of oil and almost all of the natural gas emitted formed plumes of hydrocarbons in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The various components of oil and natural gas in these deep plumes seem to be biodegrading at different rates, some fast and some slow," Kessler said.
Kessler will specifically measure the size and degradation rate of the concurrent methane plume. "From our testing earlier this summer, we found methane to be the most abundant molecule emitted during the spill and it appears to be biodegrading rather slowly, which indicates that it will be around for quite some time," he said.
He also notes that while natural biodegradation removes oil and gas from the ocean, the process could still present problems because it also tends to remove oxygen. If enough oxygen is removed, he explained, the waters could become hypoxic (or oxygen depleted), creating "dead zones" that can be harmful to marine life.
"The large underwater methane plumes appear to have a long lifetime as well as the potential to remove dissolved oxygen from the water," he said. "It's a complex problem and a unique event that will require months or years of evaluation to fully understand its meaning and impact on the Gulf's ocean and marine life systems."
Read the expedition's mission log with daily reports, produced by NOAA.
TAMU Participants
Dr. John Kessler (Chief Scientist)
Erik Quiroz (Technician)
Eric Chan (Ph.D. Student)
UCSB Participants
Dr. David Valentine (Senior Scientist)
Dr. Molly Redmond (Post Doc)
Stephanie Mendes (Ph.D. Student)
Stephani Shusta (Ph.D. Student)
Lindsay M. Werra (Undergraduate)
Christie Villanueva (Undergraduate)
For information, contact Karen Riedel, College of Geosciences, at (979) 845-0910 or cell: (830) 822-2439or kriedel@tamu.edu; or Keith Randall, News & Information Services, at (979) 845-4644 or keith-randall@tamu.edu.