Oil pollution of beaches

Oil contamination of beaches causes significant damage as these ecosystems are unique habitats that provide foraging and nesting grounds for a variety of animals including endangered species, and play pivotal roles in shore line protection and coastal economies. Even small oil spills in the ocean result in sizable slicks that currents transport to sandy beaches that line a third of the global shoreline. Weathering during transit reduces the degradability, viscosity and density of the oil, influencing its fate at the shore. While photolysis, biodegradation, tidal pumping, and seasonal sediment movement facilitate relatively rapid removal of stranded oil from sandy beaches of temperate and warm climes, thick buried oil layers persist for decades in armored gravel beaches of cold shores, emphasizing the controls of beach morphodynamics, biodegradation, and climate in the recovery from beach oil pollution.