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Review of flow rate estimates of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Overview of attention for article published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, December 2011
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  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (98th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (89th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
3 news outlets
blogs
3 blogs
policy
2 policy sources
twitter
2 X users
wikipedia
2 Wikipedia pages

Citations

dimensions_citation
449 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
373 Mendeley
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Title
Review of flow rate estimates of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Published in
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, December 2011
DOI 10.1073/pnas.1112139108
Pubmed ID
Authors

Marcia K. McNutt, Rich Camilli, Timothy J. Crone, George D. Guthrie, Paul A. Hsieh, Thomas B. Ryerson, Omer Savas, Frank Shaffer

Abstract

The unprecedented nature of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill required the application of research methods to estimate the rate at which oil was escaping from the well in the deep sea, its disposition after it entered the ocean, and total reservoir depletion. Here, we review what advances were made in scientific understanding of quantification of flow rates during deep sea oil well blowouts. We assess the degree to which a consensus was reached on the flow rate of the well by comparing in situ observations of the leaking well with a time-dependent flow rate model derived from pressure readings taken after the Macondo well was shut in for the well integrity test. Model simulations also proved valuable for predicting the effect of partial deployment of the blowout preventer rams on flow rate. Taken together, the scientific analyses support flow rates in the range of ∼50,000-70,000 barrels/d, perhaps modestly decreasing over the duration of the oil spill, for a total release of ∼5.0 million barrels of oil, not accounting for BP's collection effort. By quantifying the amount of oil at different locations (wellhead, ocean surface, and atmosphere), we conclude that just over 2 million barrels of oil (after accounting for containment) and all of the released methane remained in the deep sea. By better understanding the fate of the hydrocarbons, the total discharge can be partitioned into separate components that pose threats to deep sea vs. coastal ecosystems, allowing responders in future events to scale their actions accordingly.

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X Demographics

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 373 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United States 6 2%
United Kingdom 2 <1%
Switzerland 1 <1%
Brazil 1 <1%
Estonia 1 <1%
Canada 1 <1%
Unknown 361 97%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 71 19%
Student > Ph. D. Student 59 16%
Student > Master 59 16%
Student > Bachelor 41 11%
Student > Doctoral Student 18 5%
Other 55 15%
Unknown 70 19%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Environmental Science 63 17%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 55 15%
Engineering 51 14%
Earth and Planetary Sciences 43 12%
Chemistry 15 4%
Other 56 15%
Unknown 90 24%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 49. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 25 March 2020.
All research outputs
#919,520
of 26,533,218 outputs
Outputs from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
#14,303
of 105,316 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#5,023
of 252,491 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
#83
of 829 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 26,533,218 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 96th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 105,316 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 40.3. This one has done well, scoring higher than 86% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 252,491 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 829 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 89% of its contemporaries.