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Surface Oiling Descriptors - Type

Photo: Person dipping a stick into a pool of black oil.
Photo: Large rocks thickly coated with brown oil.
Photo: Round tarballs on sand.
Photo: A flat pancake of oil on sand.
Photo: A strand of twisted tar on fine sand.
Photo: Thick, sanded oil.
Photo: Thick and pooled oil on gravel.
Photo: Person dipping a stick into a pool of black oil.
FR - Fresh Oil

Unweathered, liquid oil.

Credit: Miles O. Hayes and Jacqueline Michel of Research Planning, Inc.
Photo: Large rocks thickly coated with brown oil.
MS - Mousse

Emulsified oil. An example of mousse is seen here as orange-brown oil coating cobbles.

Credit: Miles O. Hayes and Jacqueline Michel of Research Planning, Inc.
Photo: Round tarballs on sand.
TB - Tarballs

Discrete accumulations of oil less than 10 centimeters in diameter. Shown are tarballs scattered on a sand beach.

Credit: Miles O. Hayes and Jacqueline Michel of Research Planning, Inc.
Photo: A flat pancake of oil on sand.
PT - Patties

Discrete accumulations of oil more than 10 centimeters in diameter. Here is a single black patty on a sand beach.

Credit: Miles O. Hayes and Jacqueline Michel of Research Planning, Inc.
Photo: A strand of twisted tar on fine sand.
TC - Tar

Highly weathered oil of nearly solid consistency. Here is an example of tar on a sand beach.

Credit: Miles O. Hayes and Jacqueline Michel of Research Planning, Inc.
Photo: Thick, sanded oil.
SR - Surface Oil Residue

Non-cohesive, heavily oiled surface sediments, characterized as soft incipient asphalt pavements.

Credit: Miles O. Hayes and Jacqueline Michel of Research Planning, Inc.
Photo: Thick and pooled oil on gravel.
AP - Asphalt Pavements

Cohesive, heavily oiled surface sediments. An example of asphalt pavement is seen here as a thick black deposit on a beach face.

Credit: Miles O. Hayes and Jacqueline Michel of Research Planning, Inc.