1 shelf, the canyon environment was more likely to have transport to the 



2 bottom of those various factors. 



3 DR. MACIOLEK: Jerry Neff kept making a point that he did not know 



4 about a mechanism to-- 



5 DR. KRAEUTER: It is right up here. "No mechanism transports oil 



6 to the bottom in any quantity." That does not mean that it does not 



7 occur--it is just that we do not have any mechanism to do it. 



8 MR. VILD: Now, what does that statement mean? I could think of a 



9 couple of things right away. 



10 DR. MACIOLEK: I think he means that he does not expect the oil to 



11 settle in big glops to the bottom. 



12 DR. KRAEUTER: This was for an oil spill. We were talking 



13 particularly about--I have talked to Jerry a lot about this. 



14 In all the models and things that are used there are no mechanisms 



15 in any of the models that really transport the oil to the bottom after 



16 an oil spill that we have any substantial documentation for, although 



17 oil does get down there. 



18 The observation that it does, particularly in shallow water, is 



19 very real. We cannot explain it. I do not know about deep ones. 



20 MR. VILD: What about just the forming of emulsions that are 



21 heavier than the water and just sink? I am guessing. I am not a 



22 chemist by any means. 



23 DR. COOPER: The oil tanker that split up on Nantucket shoals ten 



24 years ago, the Argo Merchant, weren't there documentations of lots of 



25 oil on the bottom? Admittedly, this was at shallow depths, and I am not 



26 too sure about what depth they are talking about. 



27 DR. KRAEUTER: Yes, you are right. We have it documented but we 



28 do not know the mechanism. 



29 DR. AURAND: It was not as much as you get on the surface. 



30 DR. KRAEUTER: Right. 



31 DR. COOPER: It seems to me that at this point it is almost 



32 academic. If, in fact, there is documentation of oil from the spill 



33 reaching the ocean floor, we need to address that. 



405 



