Oilspill Detection, Identification and Tracing - Chapter 8 - Oil Spill Tracing Technology

The frequent occurrence of oil spills has caused great harm to marine ecology and human health. Marine microalgae are the primary producer in the marine ecosystem. Petroleum hydrocarbon pollution will affect the synthesis rate of fatty acids and other biological macromolecules in marine microalgae, thus threatening the metabolic process and growth status of organisms. Stable isotope analysis is an important method to study the changes in marine ecosystem and can reveal the transfer law of material and energy in the food chain network. When oil enters the seawater environment, a series of physical, chemical, and biological degradation actions will occur, which will change its components, reduce the timeliness of oil spill tracing, increase the difficulty of oil spill tracing, and bring difficulties to the proof and identification of marine oil spill pollution litigation. The stable carbon isotope ratios of total hydrocarbon, group component, and individual hydrocarbon in oil can reflect the characteristic information of oil source, with specificity and difference, which is of great significance in the tracing of offshore oil spills.