| Introduction. The amount of hydrocarbons dumped into the sea is currently estimated at 6 to 16 million tons per year. This pollution comes from various sources: Chronic discharges associated with human activity such as oil tanker deballasting or discharges from coastal petroleum processing facilities; natural chronic discharges; accidental discharges like leaks coming from drilling well heads or oil tanker accidents. Natural spills happen, in general, in a relatively unobtrusive way and their effects are quickly diminished by significant dilution and rapid degradation of the various components. Oil spills, however, are characterised by a massive and occasional supply of hydrocarbons. The "Amoco Cadiz" shipwreck fits in with this last case and has seemed... |
