Chemical and biological assessment of two offshore drilling sites in the Alaskan Arctic |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Department of Marine & Environmental Systems, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 West University Boulevard, Melbourne, FL 32901, USA;2. Marine Science Institute, 750 Channel View Drive, The University of Texas at Austin, Port Aransas, TX 78373, USA;3. Center for Research in Water Resources, The University of Texas at Austin, Pickle Research Campus, Building 119, MC R8000, Austin, TX 78712, USA;4. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M Health Science Center, University Drive and Adriance Lab Road, MS 1266, College Station, TX 77843, USA;1. Oil & Gas Survey, China Geological Survey, Beijing 100029, China;2. Institute of Mineral Resources, CAGS, Beijing 100037, China;3. National Research Center for Geo-analysis, Beijing 100037, China;4. Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, CAS, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510640, China;5. Institute of Exploration Techniques, CAGS, Langfang, Hebei 065000, China;1. TomskNIPIneft, JSC, 72 Mira Avenue, Tomsk 634027, Russia;2. National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, 30 Lenin Avenue, Tomsk 634050, Russia;1. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Biology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway;2. BioTrix, N-7022 Trondheim, Norway;3. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Chemistry, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway;4. Norwegian Polar Institute, N-9296 Tromsø, Norway;5. SINTEF Materials and Chemistry, Environmental Technology, N-7465 Trondheim, Norway |
| |
| Abstract: | A retrospective chemical and biological study was carried out in Camden Bay, Alaskan Beaufort Sea, where single exploratory oil wells were drilled at two sites more than two decades ago. Barium from discharged drilling mud was present in sediments at concentrations as high as 14%, ～200 times above background, with significantly higher concentrations of Ba, but not other metals, within 250 m of the drilling site versus reference stations. Elevated concentrations of Cr, Cu, Hg and Pb were found only at two stations within 25 m of one drilling site. Concentrations of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (TPAH) were not significantly different at reference versus drilling-site stations; however, TPAH were elevated in Ba-rich layers from naturally occurring perylene in ancient formation cuttings. Infaunal biomass and species abundance were not significantly different at reference versus drilling-site stations; infauna were less diverse at drilling-site stations. Our assessment showed that discharges from single wells within large areas caused minimal long-term, adverse impacts to the benthic ecosystem. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
