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by SitasMom on 25 August 2010 - 17:08

Hazen said he hoped to use the bacteria as a sort of tracking device for hard-to-spot or sporadically dripping oil leaks. But it's not that simple: Even after the oil is consumed, oil-eating bacteria will continue to grow in the spot, feeding on the carbon-rich carcasses of fellow bacteria that lived, ate and died before them.

Understanding how long it takes for the population to settle back to a normal level would let scientists figure out when a leak last appeared in a location.

Furthermore, identifying the enzymes that these bacteria use to chew up oil could lead to cleanup applications, Hazen added, possibly even in future oil refinement. When it comes to processing oil, he said, "we've never seen anything that can do better than the indigenous bugs that are there."

amina.khan@latimes.com

Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times

by beetree on 25 August 2010 - 17:08

And now, for the rest of the story......

Giant Oil Plume Found Below Surface Of Gulf

by DAN CHARLES

www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php

by SitasMom on 25 August 2010 - 17:08

the bacteria will eat it, just wait and see. it will be gone well before the world ends.

by beetree on 25 August 2010 - 17:08

"..... For instance, he says, “what Hazen was measuring was a component of the entire hydrocarbon matrix,” which is a complex mix of literally thousands of different molecules. Although the few molecules described in the new paper inScience may well have degraded within weeks, Kessler says, “there are others that have much longer half-lives—on the order of years, sometimes even decades.”

Moreover, he points out, many of the tools traditionally used to gauge biodegradation don’t work well in the field. A few teams have lately begun transitioning to use of more sensitive probes, he says.

And data from those more sensitive tools are fueling his skepticism of Hazen’s report that microbes have been erasing deep-sea plumes. As recently as August 22, Kessler says, “I spoke to some of those researchers out there [in the Gulf], and they told me they were still seeing plumes.

....... "

www.usnews.com/science/articles/2010/08/25/deep-sea-oil-plume-goes-missing.html

by Two Moons on 25 August 2010 - 19:08

Only time will tell.

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Giant Oil Plume Found Below Surface Of Gulf