Methane in water of Gulf 'astonishingly high'-US scientist

[LaMenchos]

Re: Methane in water of Gulf 'astonishingly high'-US scientist

But Methane is not even mentioned in the "All Workplace Safety & Health Topics" in CDC's list!

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Methane in water of Gulf 'astonishingly high'-US scientist

There seem to be three issues in play here;

-Methane by itself is not toxic except perhaps in atmospheres of very low oxygen content, 5% or less, and very high methane content, 50% or more.

-As a dissolved gas in water, it can serve as an energy source for unusual, short food chains. Methane metabolizing bacteria deplete the dissolved oxygen in the water environment creating a dead zone. This is analogous to algal blooms feeding on nitrates due to fertilizer runoff.

-Natural gas also contains other gases such as H2S, hydrogen sulfide, which are toxic all by themselves.

"Mortality/Morbidity
Low-level exposures of hydrogen sulfide usually produce local eye and mucous membrane irritation, while high-level exposures rapidly produce fatal systemic toxicity.
Exposures of 700-800 ppm or greater can cause loss of consciousness and cardiopulmonary arrest.

...

Physical
Low-level exposure of hydrogen sulfide most often affects the mucous membranes and may show the following few physical signs:
Conjunctivitis (even at levels of only 4 ppm)
Pharyngitis
Green-gray line on gingiva
Wheezing
High-level exposure of hydrogen sulfide may elicit the following signs:
Bradycardia
Tremulousness
Agitation
Cyanosis
Acute lung injury (may present with acute respiratory distress syndrome [ARDS])"

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/815139-overview

Gas pockets released by volcanoes have caused fatalities. Such was the case in Cameroon in 1986 where a gas pocket composed mostly of CO2 rose through a lake, and killed 1700 locals.

http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Nyos.html

There are some significant differences here though. The distances involved are much greater, meaning more likelihood of cloud dispersal. The predominant gas being released is methane, which is lighter than air as opposed to CO2 which is more dense. The depth involved here means that most gases are dissolving into the water rather than being released as a cloud.

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Methane in water of Gulf 'astonishingly high'-US scientist

Significant Gas Resource Discovered In Gulf Of Mexico

ScienceDaily (June 1, 2009) — The Gulf of Mexico contains very thick and concentrated gas-hydrate-bearing reservoir rocks which have the potential to produce gas using current technology.

Recent drilling by a government and industry consortium confirm that the Gulf of Mexico is the first offshore area in the United States with enough information to identify gas hydrate energy resource targets with potential for gas production.
Gas hydrate, a substance comprised of natural gas and water, is thought to exist in great abundance in nature and has the potential to be a significant new energy source to meet future energy needs. However, prior to this expedition, there was little documentation that gas hydrate occurred in resource-quality accumulations in the marine environment.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090531100819.htm

[LaMenchos]

Re: Methane in water of Gulf 'astonishingly high'-US scientist

Methane levels rising in the gulf could create a dead zone
June 25, 3:05 PM Environmental News Examiner Niki Fears

Full text http://www.examiner.com/x-18564-Envi...te-a-dead-zone

A team of researchers have tested the waters around the oil well that is gushing crude into the Gulf of Mexico and have discovered that enormous amounts of methane are present in the water. Some of the samples showed methane levels 1 million times greater than normal so far.

As methane levels continue to rise it provides an environment for microbes to spread that deplete the water's oxygen level, creating entire patches where life can not be supported resulting in massive dead zones. In some of the tested areas they have already detected a 30% loss of oxygen and these numbers are expected to rise. The team, which was lead by John Kessler, a professor in Oceanography from Texas A & M University, has ran more tests and expect the results in the coming a week and think that they will give us more information on the damage so far.

It is also important to note that ...


More About: Endangered Species ? Endangered Turtles ? Global Warming ? oil ? energy ? pollution ? oil spills ? environmental crime ? whales ? alternative energy ? marine life ? oceans ? water contamination ? CO2 ? Dolphins ? fishing ? animals ? wild life ? wildlife ? Great Barrier Reef ? gulf oil spill

[LaMenchos]

Re: Methane in water of Gulf 'astonishingly high'-US scientist

Jun 16, 2010 02:45 PM in Energy & Sustainability | 3 comments

Deepwater spill survey: Sampling water columns under a night sky lit up by a large jet of burning methane

By David Valentine

Full text: http://www.scientificamerican.com/bl...wat-2010-06-16

Texas A&M, Deepwater, BP,ValentineEditor's Note: A team of researchers led by John Kessler, Texas A&M College of Geosciences chief scientist and assistant oceanography professor, has traveled to the Deepwater Horizon disaster area to study the methane leaking into the Gulf of Mexico (along with tens thousands of barrels of crude oil) daily at the site of the damaged Macondo 252 well. Kessler, along with David Valentine (a professor of marine sediment geochemistry, biogeochemistry and geomicrobiology at the University of California, Santa Barbara) and the rest of his colleagues are hoping to come away with a rough estimate of the spill's size ...
Other objectives of the expedition onboard the RV Cape Hatteras include trying to determine how the methane might be removed from the water (whether eaten by waterborne microorganisms or released into the atmosphere) and how methane concentrations will change over time. Valentine filed the following dispatch. This is the team's third blog post for Scientific American.


...

Image of burning methane at the Deepwater site courtesy of David Valentine
Read More About: BP, oil, Deepwater, Texas A&M, natural gas

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Methane in water of Gulf 'astonishingly high'-US scientist

From earlier post by David Valentine (June 18);

-snip-

Disregarding the oily surface for now, the natural gas component of this spill is rather uninteresting in the surface waters. Concentrations are near background and at the most a factor of two high. However, the true complexity of this system is revealed down deep. Below approximately 1,000 meters, the concentration of natural gas and methane in the ocean waters jumps by a factor of one million. That's right, one million. The ramifications of this are the topics of our current studies. The oxygen depletion due to this methane is variable, with some sites displaying 20 percent to 30 percent reductions in oxygen and some having oxygen contents that are seemingly uninfluenced. Our measured rates of methane oxidation by microbiology seem low, but more measurements and calibrations are necessary to confirm this perplexing finding. Each new analysis of this deep water signal reveals a new layer of information that was previously hidden. While this environment is an oily mess, the hidden complexity of the natural gas and methane issue can only be described as beautiful.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=deepwater-spill-survey-perplexing-m-2010-06-18

[Pathfinder]

Re: Methane in water of Gulf 'astonishingly high'-US scientist

Biologists find 'dead zones' around BP oil spill in Gulf

Methane at 100,000 times normal levels have been creating oxygen-depleted areas devoid of life near BP's Deepwater Horizon spill, according to two independent scientists

<figure sizset="5" sizcache="4"><figcaption>Poggy, or menhaden, fish lie dead and stuck in oil from the BP spill in Bay Jimmy, Louisiana. Fish are fleeing the area of the Deepwater Horizon spill, biologists say. Photograph: Sean Gardner/Reuters</figcaption> </figure>

Scientists are confronting growing evidence that BP's ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico is creating oxygen-depleted "dead zones" where fish and other marine life cannot survive.

In two separate research voyages, independent scientists have detected what were described as "astonishingly high" levels of methane, or natural gas, bubbling from the well site, setting off a chain of reactions that suck the oxygen out of the water. In some cases, methane concentrations are 100,000 times normal levels.


snip

In a conference call with reporters, Samantha Joye, a scientist at the University of Georgia who has been studying the effects of the spill at depth, said the ruptured well was producing up to 50&#37; as much methane and other gases as oil.

The finding presents a new challenge to scientists who so far have been focused on studying the effects on the Gulf of crude oil, and the 5.7m litres of chemical dispersants used to break up the slick.

Joye said her preliminary findings suggested the high volume of methane coming out of the well could upset the ocean food chain. Such high concentrations, it is feared, would trigger the growth of microbes, which break up the methane, but also gobble up oxygen needed by marine life to survive, driving out other living things.

snip

A Texas A&M University oceanographer issued a similar warning last week on his return from a 10-day research voyage in the Gulf. John Kessler recorded "astonishingly high" methane levels in surface and deep water within a five-mile radius of the ruptured well. His team also recorded 30% depletion of oxygen in some locations.

Even without the gusher, the Gulf was afflicted by 6,000 to 7,000 square miles of dead zone at the mouth of the Mississippi river, caused by run-off from animal waste and farm fertiliser.

The run-off sets off a chain reaction. Algae bloom and quickly die, and are eaten up by microbes that also consume oxygen needed by marine life.

But the huge quantities of methane, or natural gas, being released from the well in addition to crude presents an entirely new danger to marine life and to the Gulf's lucrative fishing and shrimping industry.

"Things are changing, and what impacts there are on the food web are not going to be clear until we go out and measure that," said Joye.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/30/biologists-find-oil-spill-deadzones