Dirty Water

Another MODIS image from last Saturday, this time from NASA's Terra satellite.

The Gulf's loop current is due east of the destroyed well. The complicated eddies and whorls in the image are the result of those counterclockwise ocean currents grabbing the leading edges of the oil slicks, endlessly folding oil in with seawater. If it looks complicated from space, imagine what the maze must be like on the surface, alternating bands of oil slicks and seemingly unpolluted seawater for hundreds of miles without end. Reminds me of adding chocolate syrup to a milkshake in a blender.




More information and image archives at NASA: Earth Observatory: Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico

ThP