Backtrack modeling to locate the origin of tar balls depositing along the west coast of India

Abstract

Tar ball (TB) deposition along the West Coast of India (WCI) is a common phenomenon during the southwest monsoon season, particularly along the coast of Goa and Gujarat, and it is a major concern to the stake holders. Our earlier studies showed that the source oil for the TBs deposited on the Goa coast in August 2010 is the tanker wash, and the source for subsequent TBs deposited on the Gujarat coast during July 2012 and June 2013 and Goa coast in May 2013 is from Bombay High (BH) oil fields. In the present study, the TBs that were deposited during May 2013 and May 2014 on the Goa coast were backtracked through a trajectory model, primarily to simulate their pathways and identify the reason for the occurrence of TBs only in May, and eventually to identify the origin and the source. The backtracking results re-confirmed that the TBs deposited in 2010 were originated from the tanker routes and that of both 2013 and 2014 TBs from the BH oil fields. The climatology of wind and surface circulation showed that the TBs deposited on the Goa coast during May/June only are from the oil fields and those during August from the tanker route. The results of backtracking simulations showed that the residence time of the oil residues/TBs is approximately 22 days for August 2010 TBs, approximately equal to 30 days for May 2013 TBs and 65 days for May 2014 TBs. The residence time (in water) of TBs that deposit (on the coast) in the month of May could be as much as 7 months, and could be around one month if deposit in August, primarily because of winds and hydrodynamic conditions of the Arabian Sea