Science Sees Sea Snot Seeping on the Seafloor

ENVIRONMENT

Discussion Ideas

The Nat Geo News article details a newly discovered phenomenon called MOSSFA—marine oil snow sedimentation and flocculent accumulation. (Just looking at the vocabulary gives you a good idea about what this phenomenon is.) MOSSFA is a type of marine snow or sea snot. What is marine snow? What is sea snot? Watch this video to let it snot, let it snot, let it snot.
- Marine snow is the continuous fall of organic and inorganic particles (including the remains of marine organisms, fecal matter, shells, and sand) from the upper layers of the water column to the seafloor.
- Sea snot is a sticky mucus excreted by plankton that glues together algae, feces, and other random bits into clumps that fall as marine snow.
- Learn more about marine snow, sea snot, and their importance to life on Earth with this terrific video.

What does the MOSSFA phenomenon have to do with oil spills?
- According to Nat Geo News, the cleanup effort introduced foreign particles to the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. These particles mixed with sea snot to form a “dirty blizzard.” “Heavy, oil-rich particles [from the blizzard] plummeted to the bottom of the Gulf like stones.”

What particles contributed to the “dirty blizzard” of marine snow?
- Clay particles from the Mississippi River probably had the biggest impact—clay readily sticks to oil, creating dense particles that sink quickly.
  - Clay entered the Gulf in huge quantities when the Mississippi was diverted to clean out oil-clogged marshes.
- “Burning oil released PAHs that adhere easily to sea snot and enhanced the dirty blizzard.” (Let the good folks at the EPA tell you more about polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.)
- Dispersants also broke the oil into tiny parts that more easily lumped together. Learn more about the role of dispersants in oil spill cleanups with this activity.

What marine communities may be impacted by the MOSSFA phenomenon?
- Tiny benthic creatures (such as bacteria and plankton) are most impacted by oil-rich marine snow. These microorganisms are the basis of marine food webs. Use this activity to learn more about marine food webs.
- According to Nat Geo News, scientists “compared single-cell creatures known as foraminifera in surface sediment collected at three sites in the Gulf of Mexico. Foraminifera, which make up the base of the Gulf’s food web, are often eaten by larger bottom dwellers such as bristle worms, amphipods, and small fish . . . The density of foraminifera was 80 to 93 percent lower at the two oiled sites than at an unoiled site, according to the study.” Learn more about fabulous forams with this media spotlight.

How might MOSSFA help scientists develop better cleanup strategies for future oil spills?
- Now that responders know about the MOSSFA process, they could control how much clay flows into the Gulf when flushing marshes.
  - The role of clay is another factor responders will incorporate into their assessment of the next ocean oil spill: “‘What you are trying to do as a responder is to make the least bad thing happen,’ says Nancy Kinner, director of the Coastal Research Response Center at the University of New Hampshire. That may mean choosing between damage to beaches, birds, and bottom dwellers.”