API Publ 4706-2001 pdf free download
API Publ 4706-2001 pdf free download.Environmental Considerations for Marine Oil Spill Response.
Intertidal mud- and sand-flats contain high densities of clams, oysters, crabs, urchins, and other shellfish; during low tide, a kilometer of beach can daily provide several tons of food to migrating and resident shorebirds; Several hundred species of seaweed, including kelp, grow on intertidal bedrock and rocky outcrops; during their brief lives (annuals and some perennials), they provide spawning habitat for some fish (herring) and refuge for the young of many nearshore and offshore fish and shellfish. In their senescence and death, seaweeds provide nutrients for complex detrital food chains nearshore and offshore; Mangrove forests extend seaward, protecting inshore, quiet waters that can include dense stands of marsh plants; and Intertidal shores are home to hundreds of species of shore and wading birds; beaches, mudflats, and marshes are areas of intense feeding and reproduction for many migratory species. 0 0 0 Connections Between Them Marine ecosystems are not isolated from one another, and most species depend on several ecosystems for survival, feeding, and reproduction; Some seaweeds, intertidal shellfish, or eggs of deepwater fish can briefly appear at the sea surface or offshore in the water column; and Many bottom-dwelling fish, shrimp, and crab make round-trips into the intertidal zone to feed or reproduce. Marine Ecological Processes: Economy of Llfe in the Sea It is important that response activities are planned with due regard for the dynamics of life in marine environments since the public expects that affected areas will return to some norm following a spill and response. Volumes have been written about marine life processes, but only a few examples need be presented here to underscore the kinds of changes that take place. Life in the water, on the seafloor, and on the shoreline is constantly changing as food supplies, reproductive products, and predators rise and fall with the tides, currents, and seasons.
The initial input of food in the sea, in the form of microscopic dispersed particles (detritus, phytoplankton), restricts the nature of marine life: except for terrestrial expatriates – marine mammals and birds – all marine life begins and ends with microscopic forms; Runoff disgorges tons of silt, soil, and sand that create and build beaches, shorelines, and marshes. Delta ecosystems and wetlands are constantly changing and evolving, especially where river flow is relatively uncontrolled and subject to major year-to-year variations in flooding and drought; 0 Organic compounds and inorganic nutrients seep from decaying vegetation and dead animals, as well as from nonbiological sources such as eroding land; and Phytoplankton, zooplankton, eggs, mucus, urine, feces, and detritus from decaying shoreline plant and animal material provide the bulk of dissolved and particulate organic material input to the sea. 0 Primarv Production: Bacteria and Plants With a notable exception (hydrothermal vents), marine life starts and ends with plants – mainly single-celled phytoplankton and bacteria; Plants require sunlight, oxygen, major nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium), and some minor trace elements (e.g., iron) to convert carbon dioxide to organic compounds (including hydrocarbons) and their own tissues; Production of marine life requires chemical building blocks (hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous), adequate oxygen and temperatures, and a variety of trace substances. If even one of these is limited, production will be limited, even when all the others are abundant or in excess. Thus, except in nearshore areas exposed to high inputs of nutrients, production in most areas is limited. Therefore, it would be unproductive to artificially enhance a building block that is not itself the limiting factor. In some situations, this is potentially the case for bioremediation; and There are many functional kinds of marine bacteria.
