USGS finds 2,000-year-old coral near BP Gulf well

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

USGS finds 2,000-year-old coral near BP Gulf well
(March 31st, 2011 @ 1:19am)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Federal scientists say they've found 2,000-year-old coral about 20 miles from the busted BP well that leaked millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico last year.

The U.S. Geological Survey said Wednesday that it was the first time the age of the black coral had been validated.

The ancient slow-growing corals were found about 21 miles northeast of the BP well about 1,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf.

USGS scientist Nancy Prouty says the coral is extremely old and slow-growing. She says scientists are looking at whether the ancient coral had been damaged by the oil spill that began after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in the Gulf, killing 11 workers.




Read more: http://www.620ktar.com/category/us-news-articles/20110331/USGS-finds-2,000~year~old-coral-near-BP-Gulf-well/

[aquart]

1. Did BP kill the coral?

And we have yet to hang one of them.

[Duende azul]

4. Patience. They are working on it.

[indimuse]

2. I have read there are Volcanoes down there as well.. n/t

[localroger]

5. There is a volcanic cycle in southern Louisiana

Every 20,000 years or so the sediment deposited by the Mississippi River gets deep enough to punch through to the Earth's mantle, and there is a cycle of volcanism in these parts. The volcanoes blow until the pressure is eased, and then the sediment gradually buries them. My wife, who used to be a geophysicist, tells me you can easily see the buried volcanic cones in the soundings that are used to search for oil.

Fortunately, right now we are about mid-cycle so we don't have to worry about it for another ten thousand years or so.

[indimuse]

6. Thank God!

thanks. ;)

[xchrom]

3. recommend

[eowyn_of_rohan]

7. Watch them harvest it now - it is considered endangered and worth a fortune

there is a huge black market for black coral jewelry.

[Uncle Joe]

8. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Judi Lynn.

[Red1]

9. A Good Thing

Continuing investigations into the impact of the oil...it just didn't dissolve and go back into the ocean floor.