Tar pollution event (2021) at the Southeastern Levantine oligotrophic basin, short-term impacts and operational oceanography perspectives

B. Herut; R. Goldman; T. Ozer; A. Lazar; E. Biton; I. Gertman; J. Silverman; Y. Segal; G. Sisma-Ventura; Y. Gertner; M. Rubin-Blum; N. Belkin; E. Rahav

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115892

Tar pollution event (2021) at the Southeastern Levantine oligotrophic basin, short-term impacts and operational oceanography perspectives

B. Herut
, R. Goldman
, T. Ozer
, A. Lazar
, E. Biton
, I. Gertman
, J. Silverman
, Y. Segal
, G. Sisma-Ventura
, Y. Gertner
, M. Rubin-Blum
, N. Belkin
, E. Rahav

Israel Oceanographic & Limnological Research Ltd.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Levantine basin (LB) in the Southeastern Mediterranean Sea is a high-risk oil pollution hot spot owing to its dense maritime traffic and intense oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities. In February 2021 the Israeli LB shorelines were impacted by an exceptional tar pollution event (~550 tons; average distribution: ~3 kg tar m⁻¹ front beach) of an unknown oil spill source. Here we report on the immediate numerical modelling assessment of the oil spill propagation and tar distribution; operational use of underwater gliders for tracking water column anomalies of dissolved polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and turbidity signals; the beached tar composition and amounts and the short-term response of the microbial population along the ~180 km shoreline. This pollution event emphasizes the need for improving the early warning systems for oil spills and implementing continuous operational monitoring at high-risk, ecologically sensitive and valuable resource areas like the Israeli LB waters.

Original language	English
Article number	115892
Journal	Marine Pollution Bulletin
Volume	198
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115892
State	Published - Jan 2024
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier Ltd

Funding

This work was supported by the Israeli Ministries of Environmental Protection and Energy and partly by the National Monitoring Program of Israel's Mediterranean waters . Additional partial support was provided by the Israel Ministry of Energy grant 219-17-015 and the Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection grant 195-5-1 to MR-B and ER.

Funders	Funder number
Israeli Ministries of Environmental Protection and Energy
Ministry of Environmental Protection	195-5-1
Ministry of Energy, Israel	219-17-015

Keywords

Glider
Mediterranean Sea
Oil spill
PAHs
Pollution
Tar balls

Access to Document

10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115892

Cite this

Herut, B., Goldman, R., Ozer, T., Lazar, A., Biton, E., Gertman, I., Silverman, J., Segal, Y., Sisma-Ventura, G., Gertner, Y., Rubin-Blum, M., Belkin, N., & Rahav, E. (2024). Tar pollution event (2021) at the Southeastern Levantine oligotrophic basin, short-term impacts and operational oceanography perspectives. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 198, Article 115892. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115892

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abstract = "The Levantine basin (LB) in the Southeastern Mediterranean Sea is a high-risk oil pollution hot spot owing to its dense maritime traffic and intense oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities. In February 2021 the Israeli LB shorelines were impacted by an exceptional tar pollution event (\textasciitilde{}550 tons; average distribution: \textasciitilde{}3 kg tar m−1 front beach) of an unknown oil spill source. Here we report on the immediate numerical modelling assessment of the oil spill propagation and tar distribution; operational use of underwater gliders for tracking water column anomalies of dissolved polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and turbidity signals; the beached tar composition and amounts and the short-term response of the microbial population along the \textasciitilde{}180 km shoreline. This pollution event emphasizes the need for improving the early warning systems for oil spills and implementing continuous operational monitoring at high-risk, ecologically sensitive and valuable resource areas like the Israeli LB waters.",

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Herut, B, Goldman, R, Ozer, T, Lazar, A, Biton, E, Gertman, I, Silverman, J, Segal, Y, Sisma-Ventura, G, Gertner, Y, Rubin-Blum, M, Belkin, N & Rahav, E 2024, 'Tar pollution event (2021) at the Southeastern Levantine oligotrophic basin, short-term impacts and operational oceanography perspectives', Marine Pollution Bulletin, vol. 198, 115892. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115892

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AU - Herut, B.

AU - Goldman, R.

AU - Ozer, T.

AU - Lazar, A.

AU - Biton, E.

AU - Gertman, I.

AU - Silverman, J.

AU - Segal, Y.

AU - Sisma-Ventura, G.

AU - Gertner, Y.

AU - Rubin-Blum, M.

AU - Belkin, N.

AU - Rahav, E.

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N2 - The Levantine basin (LB) in the Southeastern Mediterranean Sea is a high-risk oil pollution hot spot owing to its dense maritime traffic and intense oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities. In February 2021 the Israeli LB shorelines were impacted by an exceptional tar pollution event (~550 tons; average distribution: ~3 kg tar m−1 front beach) of an unknown oil spill source. Here we report on the immediate numerical modelling assessment of the oil spill propagation and tar distribution; operational use of underwater gliders for tracking water column anomalies of dissolved polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and turbidity signals; the beached tar composition and amounts and the short-term response of the microbial population along the ~180 km shoreline. This pollution event emphasizes the need for improving the early warning systems for oil spills and implementing continuous operational monitoring at high-risk, ecologically sensitive and valuable resource areas like the Israeli LB waters.

AB - The Levantine basin (LB) in the Southeastern Mediterranean Sea is a high-risk oil pollution hot spot owing to its dense maritime traffic and intense oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities. In February 2021 the Israeli LB shorelines were impacted by an exceptional tar pollution event (~550 tons; average distribution: ~3 kg tar m−1 front beach) of an unknown oil spill source. Here we report on the immediate numerical modelling assessment of the oil spill propagation and tar distribution; operational use of underwater gliders for tracking water column anomalies of dissolved polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and turbidity signals; the beached tar composition and amounts and the short-term response of the microbial population along the ~180 km shoreline. This pollution event emphasizes the need for improving the early warning systems for oil spills and implementing continuous operational monitoring at high-risk, ecologically sensitive and valuable resource areas like the Israeli LB waters.

KW - Glider

KW - Mediterranean Sea

KW - Oil spill

KW - PAHs

KW - Pollution

KW - Tar balls

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Tar pollution event (2021) at the Southeastern Levantine oligotrophic basin, short-term impacts and operational oceanography perspectives

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

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