IS 3/4 of the oil really gone???

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

re the Maconda (Gulf of Mexico) Oil Spill...

washingtonpost.com

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

no, that is just ridiculous and I KNOW you don't think it is true

DARISC · 08-19-2010, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tobra

no, that is just ridiculous and I KNOW you don't think it is true

Hey shrill boy! How about you take your bitschey man-crush comments to your gay bar if you're not going to comment on the article?

Zeke · 08-19-2010, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DARISC

Hey shrill boy! How about you take your bitschey man-crush comments to your gay bar if you're not going to comment on the article?

wtf?

VINMAN · 08-19-2010, 05:40 PM

Yeah, seriously, WTF was that all about??

ODDJOB UNO · ODDJOB UNO's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by milt

wtf?

kind of a "RACIST" statement wouldnt ya say there spilt??????????? hmmmm

MRM · 08-19-2010, 06:43 PM

I will beg the indulgence of the entire board for responding seriously to the question posed by an original poster without resorting to a single gay-related insult. Not that there's anything wrong with gay themed insults. . .

The serious answer is that it depends on the vagaries of the English language. Is 3/4 of the oil "gone"? The use of the term "gone" suggests that something happened to all that oil and the problems associated with 3/4 of all the oil that poor innocent (I bought some BP shares, so I have to be completely neutral in expressing my opinions) BP is accused of pumping into the Gulf is gone. We don't know where it is, and it isn't where we expect it to be, so in one sense of the word the oil is "gone".

But a more precise word for the oil is probably "missing". We don't know where it is and we don't know what happened to it and we don't know how much of it is lurking somewhere where we don't see it. So it is "gone" in the sense of the word that it's not where we think it should be or anywhere we've looked for it. But it's not gone in the sense of the word that it's gone away and we don't have to worry about it any more. It's just gone from where we expected it to be. So it's more missing than anything else, although the two words have similar connotations.

No one really knows where the oil is. Did less oil than thought really get discharged? Did more evaporate that expected? Did Mel Gibson' magical centrifuge invention clean ten times the oil we expected? Or did it just form plumes a thousand feet below the surface and travel out to sea? Only time will tell whether the oil is truly gone or just missing temporarily.

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

BTW, they are using reflecktance mrasurements to indicate the presence of the oil.

Google reflecktance mrasurements Maconda and I'm sure you'll find something interesting -- perhaps gay penguins.

DARISC · 08-19-2010, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWebb

-- perhaps gay penguins.

WTF?

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

hence the reflecktance

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

The oil maybe has gone missing, but it went somewhere.

Some of it was volatile and burned or evaporated off, some they got with the booms and sucker boats, some hit the beach, or the manatees, whatever; some sank, the Fixit(whatever the dispersant is called) does not turn it into pixie dust.

I read they found a plume of hydrocarbon below the surface of the Gulf, wonder where that came from...

DARISC · 08-19-2010, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWebb

hence the reflecktance

You persist in adding a "k" to the word "reflectance", which may indicate to some (I am currently pondering my own thoughts on this) that you are 1/3 "k"lansman (and, however outrageously anomalously, probably identify strongly with homosexual penguins - who YOU no doubt believe have the right to marry!!!).

I am soooo disappointed in you! But that's jumping the gun - I'm still pondering.

So, yes, the question remains; where'd the oil go? Had the admin. declared "Whoa! The oil do be there someplace!" it would have been criticized for furthering the despair of those in the gulf states who are suffering so grievously.

Bottom line: damned if ya do, damned if ya don't = ya can't win for losing.

The Gaijin · 08-20-2010, 05:26 AM

Got to figure 1/2 of what was spewing was gas - so that just floated up and evaporated off. Then you got to figure 1/2 of the remaining crude is lighter components that makes up paint thinner, gasoline, Jet A and etc. As that floated to the surface, with warmer waters and Gulf sun - you got to think that evaporated too.. Thats about 3/4ths right there..

Moses · 08-20-2010, 07:15 AM

Hydrocarbon rich oil is a near perfect energy source for naturally occurring marine bacteria. And the warm water of the Gulf provides an ideal environment for them to grow in.

The spill will indeed disappear on it's own. Nature abides.

Pazuzu · 08-20-2010, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tobra

I read they found a plume of hydrocarbon below the surface of the Gulf, wonder where that came from...

I heard first hand reports that it's been there since day 2 at least. The first ROVs that went down saw it. The oil was accumulating in an inversion layer 1000 feet down. What was seen on the surface was a fraction of what had already spilled.

The underwater plume wasn't made public for something like 45 days.

DARISC · 08-20-2010, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moses

Hydrocarbon rich oil is a near perfect energy source for naturally occurring marine bacteria. And the warm water of the Gulf provides an ideal environment for them to grow in.

The spill will indeed disappear on it's own. Nature abides.

Consider that the natural balance might be seriously adversely affected by an extreme proliferation of that bacteria. As far as nature abiding, I'm not convinced that man can't exceed its tolerance - or that, in some cases, we already haven't.

Just an aside and dunno if it's true, but I heard someplace that one can drink too much water and die.

The Gaijin · 08-20-2010, 09:54 AM

Well, considering it is late in August and supposed to be knee deep in oil on East Coast beaches - with more goop heading to Europe (they have their own problems with hog ****: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/21/business/energy-environment/21toxic.html?_r=1&ref=europe ) - things are looking better..

DARISC · 08-20-2010, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Gaijin

- things are looking better..

Agreed. But there is justifiable (deep

) concern about what we may not be seeing - just yet. Is all that much known about the dispersant used and how it figures into the overall equation?

Moses · 08-20-2010, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DARISC

Consider that the natural balance might be seriously adversely affected by an extreme proliferation of that bacteria. As far as nature abiding, I'm not convinced that man can't exceed its tolerance - or that, in some cases, we already haven't.

Just an aside and dunno if it's true, but I heard someplace that one can drink too much water and die.

Bacterial bloom begets phytoplankton bloom begets zooplankton bloom begets whale food.

Humanity will destroy itself long before it can irreversibly damage the planet. Ultimately the earth will shake us off like a bad case of fleas. And the planet will heal. Rapidly. Of this I'm pretty certain.

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

Remember the old saying, "the solution to pollution is dilution"? I don't think there's enough water in the Gulf to dilute or hide the oil that is inevitably lurking beneath the surface. In time, it will show itself... some how...