Does spilled oil affect the salt in seawater?
A. That’s a new question for us! As spill responders, we’re usually concerned about how salt in the water affects oil, not vice-versa. Water salinity is a very important determinant of how oil physically behaves once it is released, because it influences whether the oil floats or sinks (oil floats more readily in salt water). It also affects the effectiveness of some of the chemicals that might be used to treat a slick (like chemical dispersants). For these reasons, water salinity is one of the physical parameters our oceanographers and computer modelers take into account as we gather information during a spill response. Until recently, no one much cared how oil affected salt.
