Peer-reviewed articles 17,970 +



Title: LONG-TERM WEATHERING OF FUEL OIL SPILLED FROM THE TANKER "ERIKA" ON THE ATLANTIC COAST OF FRANCE

LONG-TERM WEATHERING OF FUEL OIL SPILLED FROM THE TANKER "ERIKA" ON THE ATLANTIC COAST OF FRANCE
A. Kuznetsov;Y. Fedorov;P. Fattal
1314-2704
English
19
5.1
The paper examines the results of a series of field observations carried out on the Atlantic coasts of France polluted by heavy fuel oil spilled due the accident of the tanker ?Erika? in December 1999. The aim of these observations is to determine the rates of the spilled fuel oil natural degradation and to consider their relationship with principal environmental factors. It is a part of a larger-scale research being performed on geographically different oiled seacoasts in France, Spain, and Russia. In France, eight campaigns of field research were undertaken in the period from 2004 to 2017. Special attention was paid to the most severely affected Cape Croisic and Noirmoutier Island (Pays de la Loire Region). On the studied coasts 74 samples of weathered fuel oil traces were taken and analyzed with the use of thin-layer and column chromatography coupled with infrared and ultraviolet photometry, luminescent and gravimetric methods. The results show that even in March 2017, i.e. 17 years after the spill, its traces were still present in the coastal zone. Over time the oil slicks demonstrate a steady diminution in their size, number and in the ratio of labile hydrocarbons content to conservative asphaltic components content as a result of weathering process. The half-period of this diminution calculated on the basis of n-order kinetic equation (with n = 2.72) varies from 274 to 395 days depending on geographical conditions as well as quantities and forms of fuel oil accumulations.
conference
19th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference SGEM 2019
19th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference SGEM 2019, 30 June - 6 July, 2019
Proceedings Paper
STEF92 Technology
International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference-SGEM
Bulgarian Acad Sci; Acad Sci Czech Republ; Latvian Acad Sci; Polish Acad Sci; Russian Acad Sci; Serbian Acad Sci & Arts; Slovak Acad Sci; Natl Acad Sci Ukraine; Natl Acad Sci Armenia; Sci Council Japan; World Acad Sci; European Acad Sci, Arts & Letters; Ac
445-452
30 June - 6 July, 2019
website
cdrom
6006
Oil spill; Bay of Biscay; Shoreline; Natural degradation; Weathering.