Dispersant Application to an Experimental Slick (after)

The photo below shows the remains of the dispersant-treated slick as seen 1 hour later. A subsurface plume of dispersed oil is visible as light-brown patches below the water surface. In this experiment, the area of the treated slick was greater than the area of the control slick. This difference is in accord with the results of other experiments, which have indicated that dispersants appear to modify the spreading rates of oils, and that within a few hours, treated slicks cover much larger areas than control slicks.

(09.01.79, Unknown)