It's a Gas: Light Hydrocarbons Drove Microbial Blooms Cleaning Up the Gulf Oil Spill

Natural gases, not oil, helped jump-start the growth of microbial blooms that are consuming the various hydrocarbons spilled into the Gulf of Mexico during the Deepwater Horizon disaster, according to new research. Biogeochemist David Valentine of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his colleagues tracked at least four distinct plumes of these gaseous hydrocarbons during a June research cruise --not just the one plume reported previously by a separate team of scientists. [More] Gulf of Mexico - Deepwater Horizon - Oil spill - University of California - Energy

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