High Seas Oil Pollution: Particulate Petroleum Residues in the North Atlantic

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Abstract
Results of a continuing investigation into the occurrence and distribution of particulate petroleum residues on the surface of the North Atlantic are presented. From 1971-1974 more than 850 samples were collected from the North Atlantic on transects between the east coast of Canada and South America, the Caribbean, Baffin Bay and surrounding waters, the Labrador Sea and the Azores. Repeated sampling was carried out in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the region between Nova Scotia and Bermuda. The waters north of the Gulf Stream-North Atlantic Current system were apparently virtually free from floating petroleum residues, while waters of the Gulf Stream, Sargasso Sea and Caribbean Sea were much more heavily polluted. Although concentrations as high as 91.8 mg/m2 were encountered, the general level of pollution was much less with tar contents in southern waters following a lognormal distribution with a geometric mean of 0.16 mg/m2. Geographical distribution of tar is interpreted in terms of inputs from shipping and tanker traffic and surface circulation patterns.

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