McFarlin Kelly M, Prince Roger C, Perkins Robert, Leigh Mary Beth
Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, United States of America.
ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc., Annandale, New Jersey, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2014 Jan 8;9(1):e84297. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0084297. eCollection 2014.
As offshore oil and gas exploration expands in the Arctic, it is important to expand the scientific understanding of arctic ecology and environmental impact to mitigate operational risks. Understanding the fate of oil in arctic seawater is a key factor for consideration. Here we report the chemical loss due to the biodegradation of Alaska North Slope (ANS) crude oil that would occur in the water column following the successful dispersion of a surface oil slick. Primary biodegradation and mineralization were measured in mesocosms containing Arctic seawater collected from the Chukchi Sea, Alaska, incubated at -1°C. Indigenous microorganisms degraded both fresh and weathered oil, in both the presence and absence of Corexit 9500, with oil losses ranging from 46-61% and up to 11% mineralization over 60 days. When tested alone, 14% of 50 ppm Corexit 9500 was mineralized within 60 days. Our study reveals that microorganisms indigenous to Arctic seawater are capable of performing extensive biodegradation of chemically and physically dispersed oil at an environmentally relevant temperature (-1°C) without any additional nutrients.
随着北极地区海上油气勘探的扩大，扩大对北极生态和环境影响的科学认识以降低运营风险至关重要。了解北极海水中石油的归宿是一个关键的考虑因素。在此，我们报告了阿拉斯加北坡（ANS）原油在水面油膜成功分散后在水柱中因生物降解而导致的化学损失。在含有从阿拉斯加楚科奇海采集的北极海水的中宇宙中，于-1°C下培养，测量了初级生物降解和矿化情况。本地微生物在有和没有Corexit 9500的情况下，都能降解新鲜和风化的油，在60天内油损失率为46%-61%，矿化率高达11%。单独测试时，50 ppm的Corexit 9500在60天内有14%被矿化。我们的研究表明，北极海水的本地微生物能够在环境相关温度（-1°C）下对化学和物理分散的油进行广泛的生物降解，无需任何额外的营养物质。
