NOAA Underwater Joint Analysis Group Study

NOAA (National Oceanographic and Aeronautical Administration) has now released their underwater study, the Joint Analysis Group (JAG) Review, which examined subsurface oil in and around the BP Deepwater Horizon well #1 - located in Mississippi Canyon block 252 - from May 19 to June 19, 2010.

Their report presented data collected by five research vessels; the R/V Brooks McCall, R/V Ocean Veritas, R/V Walton Smith, R/V Thomas Jefferson, and R/V Gordon Gunter.

They used a scientific method called Fluorometry to measure for underwater oil. Fluorescence Spectroscopy - a/k/a Fluorometry or Spectrofluorometry - is a type of electromagnetic spectroscopy which analyzes fluorescence. It usually utilizes a beam of ultraviolet light that excites the electrons in molecules of certain compounds and causes them to emit light of a lower energy, such as visible light. For more information on how this works, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescence_spectroscopy.

Conclusions made from their report stated that their Fluorometry measurements showed the presence of oil at a depth between 1000 and 1300 meters. They also concluded that active oil seeps were mapped at about 12 kilometers southwest of the BP Deepwater Horizon wellhead.

As I stated above, the Biloxi Dome is located approximately 12 kilometers southwest of the BP Deepwater Horizon well. This means that NOAA and the Joint Analysis Group positively identified the Biloxi Dome to be the source of the active oil leaks.