Questions and CORRECT Answers
Pollution - CORRECT ANSWER - broadly defined as any harmful substance
Harmful - CORRECT ANSWER - -Concentration of pollutant that causes 50% mortality
among test organisms
-Doesn't consider long term effects.
-Time consuming and costly
-Hindrance to marine activities
-Reduction in quality of seawater
Environmental Bioassay - CORRECT ANSWER - -widely used technique for determining
how particular affects marine organisms
-pollutant concentration limits established
Drawbacks of environmental bioassay - CORRECT ANSWER - -Does not predict long
term effects
-Does not affect pollutants combining with other substances
-Time consuming and organism specific
Why is the ocean used for disposal - CORRECT ANSWER - -concentration
- Used to dilute pollutants with the huge volume of the ocean
-long term affect unknown
-Some day its ok others say none at all
Types of marine pollutants - CORRECT ANSWER - -Petroleum
-Sewage and sludge
-DDT and PCBs
,-Mercury
-Non point source pollution and trash
-Sound
Petroleum - CORRECT ANSWER - -Commonly called "oil"
-Naturally occurring liquid made of hydrocarbons
-Considered one of the less damaging pollutants....Biodegradable...Ocean can recover on its own
over time
-Ex is oil spills, oil spills, runoff
Exxon valdez oil spill - CORRECT ANSWER - -Large oil spills accident in Alaska
-March 29, 1989
-44 million liters
-Many animals, including birds and otters killed
Persian Gulf war - CORRECT ANSWER - - the largest oil spill disaster
-Kuwait = intentional dumping of oil into Persian Gulf in 1991
-Deliberate sabotage
-908 million liters of oil
Ixtoc oil well - CORRECT ANSWER - -#1 mexico spill
-worlds largest spill from well until 2010
-Took 10 months to clean
-530 millions liters
-Texas beaches affected
Deepwater horizon - CORRECT ANSWER - -world largest accidental oil spill
-780 million liters
, -11 ppl killed
Why is petroleum considered pollution - CORRECT ANSWER - -contains polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons
-Toxic compounds = capable of causing injury or death by chemical means
-can sicken humans, animals, and plants
-long term effects (gene expression, developmental abnormalities, decreased embryo survival)
Oil spills and natural and human sourced - CORRECT ANSWER - -Petroleum seeps
-47% natural seeps
-53% human sources
How does oil distribute in the ocean - CORRECT ANSWER - -oil initially floats
-oil and water mix to form mousse
-Can disperse
-can be skimmed or absorbed
-Burning
-Bioremediation
Preventing/Cleaning oil spills with burning - CORRECT ANSWER - -Japanese-owned
freighter New Carissa ran aground near Oregon in 1999
-Intentionally burned to prevent larger oil spill
Bioremediation - CORRECT ANSWER - -Use of bacteria and fungi to help clean oil spills
-releasing bacteria directly into marine environment
-Creating conditions to stimulate growth of naturally occurring oil-degrading bacteria
-Has improved rates of clean up