The 2019 northeast Brazil oil spill: scenarios.

During the last quarter of 2019, the beaches, mangroves, and estuaries of Northeast Brazil received an unprecedented volume of crude oil from the sea, which became the worst environmental disaster ever to reach the Brazilian coast. The oil, having reached the shores completely unnoticed, left both society and government agents completely clueless on (i) where the oil was coming from; (ii) how much oil was still in the ocean to reach the shorelines; and (iii) which beaches were going to be affected next! By exploring remote sensing data and ocean numerical modeling, along with oil dispersion chemistry on sea water, this study investigates the possible origin and path of the spill and whether it could have been detected from space. The oil dispersion modeling simulations performed for this investigation revealed a possible region and timing of the oil spill, also indicating the likelihood of it being advected toward the shoreline under the ocean surface.

Chronic oil spills revealed by the most important set of samples from the incident in northeastern Brazil, 2019.

In 2019, an oil spill of unprecedented dimensions and unknown source reached the Brazilian coast. Such incident, which occurred somewhere in the ocean and was detected only when the first oil patches reached the beaches in the northeastern region, is recognized as one of the most serious oil spills in the country. From the chromatographic analysis of the oily residues using n-alkanes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and oil biomarkers, it was possible to characterize their coverage. The results confirmed that an oil of the same specification reached a length of coastline higher than 3,000 kilometers. However, were also found oily residues that did not match with the product involved in that incident, evidencing the occurrence of different discharges. This study documents the extension of the affected coastline during the incident and assesses the possible origin of such different oils from their geochemical characteristics by selecting 21 samples from more than 300 samples previously collected and analyzed during the response actions. The unexpected occurrence of these residues suggest chronic events. The results highlighted that unrelated oily residues were found even in a region far from the coast, indicating that discharges of oil in the open sea occur more regularly than initially expected.

Identification of source of a marine oil-spill using geochemical and chemometric techniques.

The current work aimed to identify the source of an oil spill off the coast of Maranhão, Brazil, in September 2005 and effect a preliminary geochemical survey of this environment. A combination of bulk analytical parameters, such as carbon isotope (δ(13)C) and Ni/V ratios, and conventional fingerprinting methods (High Resolution Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry) were used. The use of bulk methods greatly speeded source identification for this relatively unaltered spill: identification of the likely source was possible at this stage. Subsequent fingerprinting of biomarker distributions supported source assignment, pointing to a non-Brazilian oil. Steranes proved the most useful biomarkers for sample correlation in this work. Distribution patterns of environmentally more resilient compound types, such as certain aromatic structures, proved inconclusive for correlation, probably in view of their presence in the background.