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Science 6 March 1987:
Vol. 235. no. 4793, pp. 1198 - 1200
DOI: 10.1126/science.235.4793.1198
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Articles

The Onshore Transport of an Oil Spill by Internal Waves

ALAN L. SHANKS 1

1 Institute of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Morehead City, NC 28557.

Internal waves generated by tidal currents concentrated and transported an oil spill (liquid asphalt) onshore. Plankton net samples were collected in front of and behind a set of internal waves as well as in the convergence and divergence zones over the waves. Tar "balls" were most abundant (greater than 30-fold) in the samples from the convergence zone. Comparison of the abundance of tar balls in front of and behind the set of waves suggests that the internal waves "caught" about 68% of the asphalt encountered and concentrated and swept shoreward tar balls from almost 8 kilometers of ocean.

Submitted on August 28, 1986
Accepted on December 23, 1986

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)