Densely Populated Water Droplets in Heavy-Oil Seeps
Mark Pannekens, Lisa Voskuhl, Arne Meier, Hubert Müller, Shirin Haque, Jan Frösler, Verena S. Brauer, Rainer U. Meckenstock
Abstract
Our results confirmed that small water droplets in oil are densely populated microhabitats containing active microbial communities. Since these microhabitats occurred in three tested oil seeps which are located thousands of kilometers away from each other, such populated water droplets might be a generic trait of biodegraded oil reservoirs and might be involved in the overall oil degradation process. Microbial degradation might thus also take place in water pockets in the oil-bearing oil legs of the reservoir rock rather than only at the oil-water transition zone.
Topics & Concepts
Oil dropletEnvironmental scienceDegradation (telecommunications)Microbial biodegradationOil sandsFossil fuelOil spillPetroleumGeologyPetroleum engineeringEnvironmental engineeringEcologyChemistryMicroorganismBiologyMaterials sciencePaleontologyBacteriaComposite materialTelecommunicationsComputer scienceBiochemistryEmulsionAsphaltMicrobial Community Ecology and PhysiologyHydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysisMicrobial bioremediation and biosurfactants