An oceanographer from Texas A + M University says that the oil field that BP punctured and that is leaking into the ocean contains forty per cent methane, instead of the typical five per cent, according to
an article on MSNBC.com. This methane may explain a lot, since a bubble of methane is what is believed to have caused the explosion of the oil rig that started this catastrophe, it was methane crystals that clogged up the containment vessel that BP initially used to contain the leak, and it may be methane that is causing the unusual situation in which large plumes of oil are staying beneath the surface where they can not be captured by skimming. Also, microorganisms feed on methane in the water, depleting oxygen, creating dead zones that kill nearly all life, including the organisms that biodegrade oil. For a dramatic account of the the ill-behaved well, it's enormous methane gas pockets, and the explosive result, see
this article on cnn.com. Drilling for oil at an extraordinary depth at which no proven plans exist for containing a leak in an unusually poisonous oil field,
in the ocean, is something that I hope we never repeat.
Tom
