State of oil pollution in the northern Arabian Sea after the 1991 Gulf oil spill

Abstract

Following the enormous oil spills resulting from the 1990-91 military conflict in the Gulf, fears were expressed concerning dissipation of oil from the Gulf into the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. To investigate contamination of the northern Arabian Sea, two sampling cruises were undertaken during 1991. The sampling strategy was designed to investigate the most likely path of outflowing water from the Gulf. Floating tar balls were enumerated and analyses were performed to measure petroleum residues in water, sediment and biota samples. Concentrations were within the ranges reported for comparable pre-war surveys and collectively the results indicate that in the areas investigated, negligible contamination has occurred due to the Gulf oil spills. It is considered probable that the prevailing physical oceanographic conditions within the Gulf favoured containment of the spilled oil