Around two million barrels of oil from the BP spill off the US Gulf Coast in 2010 are believed to have settled on the ocean floor, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed US journal.
Researchers analyzed samples collected at more than 500 locations around the Macondo Well, where the leaked oil emerged, and found it had spread widely, settling down like dirt in a bathtub.
The oil was found to have spread as far as 3,200 square kilometers (1,235 square miles) from the site, and may have gone even further, the report said.
Researchers came to this conclusion by studying seafloor sediment cores for residual hopane, a hydrocarbon that comes from crude oil.
BP took issue with the findings and the method researchers used, saying the impacted area was overestimated.
"The authors failed to identify the source of the oil, leading them to grossly overstate the amount of residual Macondo oil on the sea floor and the geographic area in which it is found," said a statement from BP spokesman Jason Ryan.
According to the National Science Foundation, which funded the study, "hopane was concentrated in a thin layer at the sea floor within 25 miles of the ruptured well, clearly implicating Deepwater Horizon as the source."
Study author David Valentine, a bio of the University of California, Santa Barbara, said the process likely led to the damage of deep sea corals.
The National Wildlife Federation said earlier this year that scientific studies on 14 different types of creatures affected by the spill show that long lasting harm was done to dolphins, sea turtles, tuna, loons and other animals in the region.
PHOTO: Oil from the BP spill in 2010 was found to have spread into the ocean as far as 3,200 square kilometers (1,235 square miles) from the original site, and may have gone even further, a new study found.
CREDIT: AFP Photo/Mario Tama.