June 19, 2010
Plumes Showing Methane Concentrations 10,000 Times Higher Than Normal!!
What will be the consequence of this; 9 billion c/f of gas so far... this is not an oil spill... it's a methane eruption... ----------------
--"...It's estimated that the oil emanating from the seafloor contains about 40 percent methane, compared with about 5 percent found in typical oil deposits, John Kessler, a Texas A&M University oceanographer says..."
--"..."This is the most vigorous methane eruption in modern human history," said John Kessler, a Texas A&M University oceanographer.
Scientists, including those working with the flow team, estimate that methane makes up between 40 percent and 70 percent of what is spilling into the Gulf..."
--"...In early June, a research team led by Samantha Joye of the Institute of Undersea Research and Technology at the University of Georgia investigated a 15-mile-long plume drifting southwest from the leak site. They said they found methane concentrations up to 10,000 times higher than normal, and oxygen levels depleted by 40 percent or more..."
--"...Kessler has encountered similar findings. Since he began his on-site research on Saturday, he said he has already found oxygen depletions of between 2 percent and 30 percent in waters 1,000 feet deep.
Shallow waters are normally more susceptible to oxygen depletion. Because it is being found in such deep waters, both Kessler and Joye do not know what is causing the depletion and what the impact could be in the long- or short-term.
In an e-mail, Joye called her findings "the most bizarre looking oxygen profiles I have ever seen anywhere."...
