TUBULAR AGGLUTINATED FORAMINIFERA AS POTENTIAL INDICATORS OF OIL SPILLS

The largest known marine oil spill occurred in 2010 and is referred to as the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. The source of the spill, the Macondo well, was located in the Gulf of Mexico’s De Soto Canyon. Approximately 210 million gallons of unrefined oil were discharged at a depth of 1,544 m over the course of five months before the wellhead was capped. In this study we analyze foraminifera from core WB-1110-DSH10-ISO collected near the Macondo well head to postulate that their response to the presence of oil can be used to indicate deep-sea oil spills.

Foraminifera are often utilized as bioindicators of pollution and other environmental stressors. Their capacity to act as indicators of environmental shifts makes the study of their response to this well-documented oil spill integral. Two months after the spill ended, four sediment cores were collected and assemblages from 26 samples from below, within, and above the oiled interval were analyzed for wall type. Upon initial observation, a correlation between tubular agglutinated species (Rhizammina, Hyperammina, Rhabdammina, and Saccorhiza) and the sediments at the core top, discolored by oil and presumed oil dispersants, was noted. This study compares the observed pattern of tubular agglutinated taxa associated with the BP Deepwater Horizon Spill and the occurrence of the oiled sediments to assess the potential of tubular agglutinated foraminifera as oil spill indicators. Ultimately, this work will explore the growing understanding of the role tubular agglutinated foraminifera play in the deep-sea benthic foraminiferal response to changes in environmental conditions.