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The Origin of Crude Oil Deposit in the Ocean

Crude oil enters the ocean by two major processes. It comes either from natural seafloor seepage or human activities i.e. the extraction processes, transportation (through underwater pipelines, flow-lines and tankers), during refining and storage or utilization crude oil and natural gas. Oil wastes entering the ocean originates from different accidental oil leaks or spills or a result of careless and chronic behavior of oil and oil products use. Oil storm-water drainage from farms and cities, untreated industrial and factory waste disposals, as well as motor boats are the major contributors of oil pollution in the ocean.

Approximately, annually 706 million gallons of oil enters the ocean water from waste disposal and land drainage. Irresponsible disposal of used engine oil, production operations, offshore drilling as well as spills and leakages during transportation contributes to less than 10% of the total. Nearly 20% comes from routine management and maintenance of ships, 13% from the hydrocarbon particles from air pollution and more than 8% from natural seafloor seepage (Urakawa, Garcia, Barreto, Molina, & Barreto, 2012).

 

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The Deepwater BP Oil Spill resulted from the explosion of the rig on April, 20, 2010 at the Gulf of Mexico. It was recorded as the largest case of crude oil deposition into the ocean causing an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil spreading in the photic and aphotic zones. This was found to have spread from the well site over a thousand square miles from rig location at the New Orleans to the western coast of Florida (Urakawa et al., 2012). 

Autotrophs and Heterotrophs

Autotrophs, also known as producers, are organisms that can combine complex inorganic compounds (proteins, starch and lipids) with simple inorganic molecules like carbon dioxide, minerals and into their organic food materials. They can be chemosynthetic or photosynthetic autotrophs and have autotrophic mode of nutrition mostly by plants. On the other hand, heterotrophs (consumers) are living organisms that utilize organic food materials that have been manufactured by other living organisms. Their mode of nutrition is hence described as heterotrophic and is practiced by fungi and animals (Urakawa et al., 2012).

Relationship between Photosynthetic and Chemotrophic Autotrophs

Photosynthetic autotrophs contain chlorophyll pigment that absorbs the light energy from sun and combines it with water and carbon dioxide to give glucose molecule, a process called photosynthesis. Animals, in turn, take up the oxygen for their respiratory processes. Chemotrophic autotrophs, on the other hand, obtain their energy from a series of chemicals reactions of inorganic substances such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide and converting them to energy. They are, therefore, able to thrive in very harsh environments since they use carbon dioxide as the only source of carbon (Urakawa et al., 2012).

Nitrification and Ammonium Fixation

Nitrification is the act of converting ammonia (NH3) to nitrate (NO3) form. It involves two-step processes with the help of oxygen and two nitrifying bacterial types; Nitrobacter and Nitrosomonas.

(NH3) + (O2) + Alkalinity + Nitrosomonas = (NO2)

           (NO2) + (O2) + Alkalinity + Nitrobacter = (NO3)

Nitrification is a significant process in the elimination of biochemical oxygen demand from wastes by the heterotrophic bacteria, allowing the proliferation of nitrifying bacteria. It is a significant step in the nitrogen cycle in the soil environment. It is a function of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (nirtobactar) that inhabits both soil and the marine ecosystem and ammonia oxidizing bacteria (Nitrosococcus and Nitrosomonas). The utilization of ammonium ions during the net synthesis of molecules containing nitrogen e.g. glutamine synthetase is finally called nitrogen fixation.

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Importance of Nitrogen to Living Systems

Nitrogen is a major component of plants and animal proteins hence essential for repair and maintenance of cells and tissues of living organisms. It enables cell-to-cell communication by the help of nitric oxide that is a component of nitrogen. In animals, it enables the elimination of waste materials, which would otherwise be toxic to the cells if not eliminated. Nitrogen also helps in the catalysis of metabolic enzymatic reactions in the cells of living organisms. It is also required by plants inform of nitrates for their growth and maturity as plants are the primary foundation of complex food chains and food webs. Failure of plant growth, therefore, results to failure in production processes of living organisms (Urakawa et al., 2012).

Bioassay is a test method that is used to measure how living organisms like animals or plant tissues respond to toxins from chemical contaminants. It involves the use of sensitive species of particular organisms that are exposed to a specific concentration of the contaminant in question. The organisms are monitored within a period of time to examine the toxic effect of the contaminant.

Urakawa et al. (2012), in their study, employed this test method to help in investigating the temporal impact of the DH spill oil contamination to the indigenous microbial communities. They used hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria to monitor their response to the oil contamination. This was because the removal of oil hydrocarbon from an ecosystem is known to depend highly on microbial biodegradation (Urakawa et al., 2012). Three species, Acinetobacter sp., Alcanivorax dieselolei, and Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus, were used in experimenting the degradation process of the crude oil. Some ecologically related bacteria were also isolated to oiled beach sandy areas and tested for further extermination of the pathways that microbes remediate contamination from the oil.