An oil spill is the release of oil (generally, petroleum) into the natural environment, usually the ocean. Oil means oil of any kind or in any form and includes crude oil, oil refuse, petroleum-related products or by-products, oil mixed in waste, oily ballast, and oily bilge water.
Studies of the effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill have shown that the environmental damage caused by oil spills is greater than was previously thought. It is now thought that the impact on marine life can be serious at less than one part per billion of pollution.
Oil can also be washed up on beaches, requiring a large amount of work to be cleaned up. Birds can also get oil stuck in their feathers, which can render them flightless unless washed. The oil can also poison them if they attempt to prean their feathers.
Heavier components of crude oil, such as polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) appear to cause the most damage; while they are relatively unreactive they persist in the water much longer than volatile components such as toluene.
Petroleum's worth as a portable, dense energy source (powering the vast majority of vehicles (automobile s, truck s, train s, ship s, aircraft) and as the base of many industrial chemicals makes it one of the world's most important commodities.
The petroleum industry was initialized by Edwin Drake in the 1850s, near Titusville, Pennsylvania.
Petroleum Studies in Geology and Geophysics at Texas AandM University - Facilities, education, and research activities in applications of tectonophysics, stratigraphy, geochemistry, and seismic data processing.
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