ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book provides an overview of literature review on water-in-oil emulsification processes and tar ball formation. In several instances where these primary stabilizing components were not present, stable mousse could only be formed with photochemically or microbially weathered oils; notably this occurred with Brega, Nigerian, Zarzatine, and Lt. Arabian crudes. In some laboratory studies bacterial utilization of the mousse only occurred after treatment with dispersants, which resulted in break-up of the material with concomitant increases in surface-to-volume ratios. In the case histories of major open-ocean and nearshore spills and blowouts, the formation and subsequent fates of the mousse were directly dependent upon the type of oil released. The mousse resulting from these processes was extremely stable, and extensive areas of much of the Gulf of Mexico and its adjacent shorelines subsequently were covered and contaminated with mousse and tar.
