Image

A Line of Oil

July 3, 2018

An airplane sprays chemical dispersants on an oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Dispersants are often used to break oil into small droplets that can disperse in the ocean and reduce the amount of oil that reaches coastlines. But a recent study by WHOI scientists Collin Ward and Chris Reddy showed that sunlight plays a critical and previously overlooked role in oil spills. Light energy rapidly alters the chemistry of oil floating atop the ocean—which could dramatically change how responders use dispersants to clean up spills. (Photo courtesy of Stephen Lehmann, United States Coast Guard)