Oceanographic Research and

Deepwater Oil and Gas Operations

at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

T he offshore oil and gas industry operates in deep water and harsh environments. Many production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico,
West Africa and Brazil currently operate in water depths exceeding 2,000 meters, with more being developed or deployed around the
world, including in high latitudes. Traditionally, oceanographic research activities help such developments meet permit requirements and
support infrastructure design, construction, and operations. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill demonstrates the need for basic oceanographic
research to fulfill an expanded role, with objectives that include:
WHOI’s deep submergence program includes an untethered remotely
• Establish a baseline of knowledge specific to individual operated vehicle (UTROV) that will open new frontiers of oceanogra-
sites and potential impact areas phy, exploration and intervention.

• Proactively characterize physical, chemical, and

biological settings
• Provide data to support analyses and modeling of
potential events
• Support the development and maintenance of relevant
expertise, tools, and processes
• Support ongoing training of industry personnel and
first responders
• Establish protocols for handling physical samples and data
• React to an event in a manner that is timely, comprehensive
and meets the requirements of the various stakeholders

The scientists and engineers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic

Institution (WHOI) have made many of the discoveries that
underlie what is currently known about the ocean and its interac-
tion with the planet’s atmospheric, terrestrial, biological, and hu-
man systems. This basic capability has been applied for over four
decades to hydrocarbons in seawater, whether naturally occurring
in seeps, hydrothermal vents, or mud volcanoes, or as a result of
human activity. WHOI is also a leader in research in the deep
ocean and the high latitudes and has both the expertise and the
tools to conduct oceanography in the harshest environments.
WHOI has developed ocean observing networks that provide contin-
uous baseline monitoring and real time data communication which
can be autonomous or incorporated into existing infrastructure.
Jack Cook, WHOI

E. Paul Oberlander, WHOI

 About WHOI

T he Woods Hole Oceanographic

Institution (WHOI) is a private,
non-profit institution dedicated to
most pressing and complex questions
about the relationship between humans
and the oceans, innovative engineers who
research and education in the ocean sci- invent and deploy leading-edge tools
ences and engineering. Founded in 1930, and technology, and research vessels and
WHOI has grown to a staff of 1,000 deep-submergence vehicles that provide
and an operating budget of $200 mil- unparalleled access to the sea.
lion. Operations are funded by the U.S. WHOI’s preeminence in ocean re-
Government, foundations, industry, and search spans all areas of marine science
private donations. and engineering through five principal
WHOI is distinguished by its singular departments: Applied Ocean Physics
focus on ocean science and by the inde- and Engineering, Biology, Geology
pendence with which its scientists and and Geophysics, Marine Chemistry
engineers pursue their research. This focus and Geochemistry, and Physical
allows WHOI to maintain an unparal- Oceanography. The Institution also oper-
leled depth and breadth of scientific and ates four interdisciplinary institutes—

Ken Kostel, WHOI

technical talent in oceanographic research Ocean and Climate Change, Coastal
and education as well as a reputation for Ocean, Ocean Life, and Deep Ocean
objective, unbiased scientific research. Exploration, as well as the Marine Policy
The Institution combines a unique Center and the Woods Hole Center for
complement of assets including world- Oceans and Human Health. Sentry, a fully autonomous underwater
leading scientists who study many of the WHOI’s engineering and seagoing vehicle capable of exploring the ocean down
capabilities have historically presented to 4,500 meters (14,764 feet), carries the
Tethys mass spectrometer and has been
unmatched tools and methods facilitat- used to locate and quantify hydrocarbon
ing ocean science research. Today, the seeps and the Deepwater Horizon plume.
Institution operates two ocean-going
research vessels, the R/V Atlantis and R/V
Knorr, as part of the University-National Mass Spectrometry Facility, the Northeast
Oceanographic Laboratory System National Ion Microprobe Facility, a dedi-
(UNOLS) and the coastal research vessel cated computed tomography (CT) scan-
R/V Tioga. WHOI is also home to the ning facility for marine mammal research,
National Deep Submergence Facility and a deep-sea sediment core reposi-
(NDSF), which operates deep-sea ex- tory. WHOI also hosts extensive on-site
ploration vehicles for the benefit of the capability for the design, fabrication, and
entire U.S. oceanographic community testing of oceanographic instrumentation.
and includes the U.S. Navy-owned hu- As part of its educational mission,
man occupied vehicle (HOV) Alvin, the WHOI conducts a joint graduate pro-
remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Jason gram with the Massachusetts Institute
and the autonomous underwater vehicle of Technology, conferring degrees in
(AUV) Sentry. In addition, WHOI has oceanography and applied ocean science
developed and operates a wide range and engineering. Alumni of WHOI have
of next-generation vehicles such as the gone on to become international leaders
REMUS-class AUVs. in oceanography and regularly return to
WHOI occupies more than 50 build- campus as visiting scholars or for interna-
Ken Kostel, WHOI

ings on two campuses in the Woods Hole tional symposia and colloquia.
village of Falmouth, Massachusetts. The
Village Campus houses laboratories,
shops and marine facilities, including
nearly 700 feet of deep-water berthing.
WHOI’s deep-submergence capability The Quissett Campus is a major complex
includes autonomous, remotely operated
and human-occupied vehicles, all of which
of laboratories and administrative offices
were deployed to the Gulf of Mexico in that house such world-leading assets as
response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. the National Ocean Sciences Accelerator

WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION

Hydrocarbons in the Ocean

W HOI scientists and engineers

have developed a suite of tools
and methods to detect, measure, sample,
oil and gas flowing from the Deepwater
Horizon (DWH). Our analytical capabili-
ties include the Fourier Transform Mass
of spills in diverse environments and
conditions, including those from the
Exxon Valdez, Prestige, Cosco Busan and
map, and analyze oil and gas compounds Spectrometer Facility, which enables Hebei Spirit. This enabled WHOI to make
that naturally occur in the ocean. These ultra-high resolution measurements of the significant contributions to the National
have enabled re­search­ers to characterize water-soluble components of oil, and a Research Council’s report Oil in the Sea III
oil and gas seeps off Southern California two-dimensional gas chromatography lab and to play a leadership role in developing
and in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as devoted to studying the long-term fate of industry and academic best practices in
methane from mud volcanoes and hydrocarbons in the environment. responding to oil spills.
hydrothermal vents. Since 1969, WHOI has been the lead WHOI provided a significant response
One of these instruments, the organization studying the effects of oil to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, leverag-
TETHYS mass spectrometer can be spilled from the barge Florida in Buzzards ing expertise from every department,
deployed on an AUV and enables real- Bay. The assessment and monitoring including numerous deployments to the
time mapping and analysis of oil-contam- effort developed in response to this event Gulf of Mexico and considerable labora-
inated water. WHOI researchers have also is considered a model for studying the tory analysis in Woods Hole. The National
developed a device that retains the ambi- long-term fate and impacts of oil in the Incident Command repeatedly drew upon
ent pressure of fluid samples for labora- marine and coastal environments. Since WHOI’s unique deep submergence assets
tory analysis, and have devised sensors then, WHOI scientists have been called and capabilities during Deepwater Horizon
to measure the flow rate at hydrothermal upon to study and monitor physical, assessment and containment operations.
vents that provided precise estimates of chemical, and biological characteristics

WHOI 2010 RESPONSE TO DEEPWATER HORIZON

Project Sponsor Objective

Collected hydrographic samples to map oil in the water column from the NOAA research
Hydrography NOAA
vessel R/V Thomas Jefferson.
Made precision flow-rate measurements from the DWH leak sites—measurements cur-
Flow-Rate Measurements USCG
rently being used by the U.S. government in official oil spill estimates.
Conducted long-term mapping and monitoring of the Gulf Loop Current and eddies us-
Current Measurements NSF-RAPID
ing the Spray glider.
Using an instrument developed to collect fluids from hydrothermal vents, obtained and
Sample Collection USCG analyzed the only existing end-member fluid (oil and gas) samples retrieved from the
DWH blowout preventer and riser pipe.
Mapped the DWH plume using AUV Sentry equipped with Tethys mass spectrometer.
Plume Mapping NSF-RAPID Augmented the Tethys data with traditional oceanographic sampling to study plume
composition and potential toxicity.
Using a holographic imaging system developed to study plankton, photographed oil
Oil Droplet Imaging NSF-RAPID
droplets suspended in the water column to help refine oil plume transport models.
Gathered 100,000 images of the seafloor using the towed vehicle Seasled to study deep-
Seabed Imaging IEC
water benthic habitats.
Analyzed seawater samples from various cruises for soluble components of crude oil dis-
Laboratory Analysis NSF persant using an ultra-high resolution mass spectrometer tuned specifically for environ-
mental sample analysis.
Expanded an existing, long-term study of particulates settling to the ocean bottom by
Sediment Flux Analysis NSF-RAPID
quickly deploying additional instruments to the seafloor in the vicinity of the DWH.
Operated the R/V Oceanus and deployed a suite of traditional oceanographic tools and
Oceanography NSF
sensors in the vicinity of the DWH.
Deployed the ROV Jason from the NOAA vessel R/V Ron Brown to collect high-resolu-
Seafloor Imaging and Sampling NOAA
tion images and to sample deepwater benthic environments in the vicinity of the DWH.
Operated the R/V Atlantis near the DWH to deploy HOV Alvin to map and photograph
Seafloor Imaging and Sampling NSF
the seafloor and sample deepwater benthic environments.

WWW.WHOI.EDU
specialized tools and techniques
vehicles sampling and collecting

AUV Sentry Isobaric Gas-Tight Sampler

An autonomous underwater Originally designed to sample fluids
vehicle (AUV) developed at issuing from hydrothermal vents—
WHOI and used to study the and to keep those fluids at their
composition of oil in seawater. native pressure—this device was used
to make the only original samples
of oil and gas flowing from the rup-
tured Deepwater Horizon well.

Spray Glider Sediment Trap

An autonomous ocean developed Sediment traps are containers that
at WHOI that moves through scientists place on the seafloor or in
the water without external propul- the water column to collect particles
sion and used to track currents in falling down from above.
the Gulf.

measurement and analysis imaging

Tethys Mass Spectrometer Holographic Imaging System

A compact mass spectrometer de- (HoloPOD)
veloped at WHOI used to do in-situ A tool used to photograph and
chemical analysis of oil in seawater. study microscopic and macroscopic
life in the ocean and adapted to
capture images of oil droplets and
marine plankton in the Gulf plume.

Two-Dimensional Gas Video Plankton Recorder (VPR)

Chromatography (GCxGC) An underwater video microscope
A relatively new analytical system that takes images of plank­
technique, GCxGC is able to ton and particulate matter as small
provide high resolution data of as 50 microns and up to a few
complex samples or of materials centimeters in size.
in complex mixtures.

Fourier-Transform Ion Contacts

Cyclotron Resonance Mass
Spectrometer (FT-ICR-MS) Offshore Oil & Director of
An ultra-high sensitivity mass spec- Gas Program Research
trometer capable of detecting small Mr. Rob Munier Dr. Larry Madin
quantities of a substance in complex Vice President Executive Vice President
samples and used to measure the Marine Facilities and Operations lmadin@whoi.edu
fate of dispersants in Gulf waters.
rmunier@whoi.edu 508 289 2515
508 289 3335

266 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA 02543

www.whoi.edu