Ocean Star has clear defined values at the core of its operations. They aim to provide higher quality goods at the most competitive prices. Since 2007, Ocean Star has been a dedicated partner in leading perfume and delivering quality fragrance chemical products, personal and body care products to customers globally.
How is Beach tar made from oil?
The journey from oil to beach tar begins at the seep (or upon being spilled – the processes are the same). As liquid hydrocarbons are released from the seep (commonly referred to as oil or petroleum), they undergo weathering processes that break down and remove volatile compounds.
Where do tar balls come from?
Tar balls, the little, dark-colored pieces of oil that can sometimes stick to your feet when you go to the beach, are often remnants of oil spills but can also be produced from natural seeps, places where oil slowly escapes from the earth surface above some petroleum reservoirs.
How many tar balls are found on a beach?
The number of tar balls found on a beach depends on several factors: tanker traffic, wind patterns, sea currents, whether an oil spill occurred recently, natural seeps, and how often the beach is cleaned.
What is tar used for on a boat?
Tar can be used to seal roofing shingles and tar paper as well as seal the hulls of ships and boats. For many years, wood tar was used in waterproofing sails and boats, but in the modern world, sails made from inherently waterproof material substances have reduced the demand for tar over time.
Where do tar balls come from?
Is there an oil rig off the coast of California?
About this website
Is beach tar toxic?
Are tar balls hazardous to your health? For most people, an occasional brief contact with a small amount of oil, while not recommended, will do no harm. However, some people are especially sensitive to chemicals, including the hydrocarbons found in crude oil and petroleum products.
What is tar in sea?
A tarball is a blob of petroleum which has been weathered after floating in the ocean. Tarballs are an aquatic pollutant in most environments, although they can occur naturally and as such are not always associated with oil spills.
Why do Santa Barbara beaches have tar?
Many beaches in southern California are dotted with black tar balls – sticky remnants of oil washed up onto the sand. These tarballs are amongst the most plentiful on the beaches around and to the west of Santa Barbara due to proximity to the prolific Coal Oil Point (COP) seep field.
What is the black sticky stuff at the beach?
TarballsTarballs, those sticky black globs, are often leftover from an oil spill. When crude oil (or a heavier refined product) hits the ocean's surface, it undergoes physical change. The change process is called “weathering.” As the wind and waves stretch and tear the oil patches into smaller pieces, tarballs are formed.
How do you get beach tar off your skin?
Mix a baking soda paste or select a commercial exfoliant. Gently scrub your skin with the exfoliant, adding more product as needed until all traces of the tar are gone. Thoroughly wash the affected area with soap and water. Apply a bandage if needed to any raw or tender spots.
What is tar made of?
Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat.
Is tar on the beach natural?
What is beach tar? The black, thick deposits that we often see on the beach and floating on the ocean is a natural seepage from the ocean bottom called "tar". Tar, or "rock oil," is a type of petroleum. It has been around for thousands of years and has many uses.
How do I remove tar from my feet?
Oil works brilliantly for taking tar off. And you can use literally ANY oil imaginable—canola, corn, olive, coconut, baby oil, they all work great.
What do tar balls look like?
What are tar balls? Tar balls are dark-colored, sticky blobs of oil that occur when crude oil floats on the ocean surface, changing its physical composition in a process called “weathering,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
What is the black stuff under sand?
Most of the black streaks in the sand today are simply a mineral that is not only harmless, but even has some useful properties - especially if you have children that may need something to keep them occupied. The black streaks are magnetite, a magnetic mineral that erodes from our local rocks.
What are the black balls on the beach?
A blackball is a flag on a lifeguard tower or other highly visible area to show surfers that they must clear the water.
What are the black things in the ocean?
Viperfish and creatures like it have evolved ever blacker—we're talking blacker than black—so they can hide in plain sight. "When you look at them, especially in the water, it's just like a hole in the universe," says Sönke Johnsen, a marine biologist at Duke University who studies the denizens of the deep.
What is tar used for?
It is used as a base for coatings and paint, in roofing and paving, and as a binder in asphalt products. Both coal tar and coal-tar pitch contain many chemical compounds, including carcinogens such as benzene.
Where does tar on beach come from?
The black, thick deposits that we often see on the beach and floating on the ocean is a natural seepage from the ocean bottom called "tar". Tar, or "rock oil," is a type of petroleum. It has been around for thousands of years and has many uses.
Is tar an oil?
Tar is a sticky black liquid made of thick oil. It is a natural substance, oozing out of the ground in places like the La Brea tar pits. Usually it is made by heating coal inside a chemical apparatus.
Is tar a fossil fuel?
Fossil fuels include coal, petroleum, natural gas, oil shales, bitumens, tar sands, and heavy oils.
Which beach has the most tar?
The details of the marine layer vary greatly by location, season, and from year to year. At the Coal Oil Point seep field, the two beaches in closest proximity have the highest tar accumulation: Sands Beach, to the west of COP and Devereaux Beach, to the east of COP. Devereaux Beach accumulates more tar on its shore than Sands Beach.
What happens to tar on beaches in summer?
Afternoon winds are stronger in summer, leading to increasing wave breaking which increases transport of tar to the beach, but also injects the oil into the water column. The amount of swell also affects tar deposition on area beaches. When swell is high, sand accumulates on the beach – and the tar is fragmented into small pieces.
What is the cause of tarballs on Santa Barbara beaches?
Although tarballs can indicate an oil spill, Santa Barbara’s persistent and significant beach tar accumulation arises almost entirely from natural sources – the COP marine hydrocarbon seep field which has been active for at least half a million years. Tarball on the sand.
How does tarball work?
Tarball on the sand. The journey from oil to beach tar begins at the seep (or upon being spilled – the processes are the same). As liquid hydrocarbons are released from the seep (commonly referred to as oil or petroleum), they undergo weather ing processes that break down and remove volatile compounds. This changes the oil’s physical and chemical ...
Why is tar more prevalent in summer?
Also, tar weathering occurs more rapidly in the summertime as the heat leads to faster evaporation and the longer days and stronger sun increases photolysis which breaks down volatile hydrocarbon compounds. Afternoon winds are stronger in summer, leading ...
How does the source strength of a seep affect the rate of oil release?
The basic principle is that changes in pressure difference between the ocean and the subsurface reservoir cause changes in the rate of oil release. Seeps are not always active, sometimes releasing a large amount of oil and/or gas and then falling quiescent until the next eruption.
Why does oil drift?
This is similar to shaking a bottle of salad dressing containing oil and vinegar. As the oil loses volatile components, it becomes denser. Meanwhile, winds and currents cause the oil to drift, eventually transporting oil to area beaches (other oil can drift out to sea or be buried in marine sediments).
What is the most common term for tar?
Of the three, tar is the most common and generic term, because tars can occur naturally or by distillation or chemical reaction. There is coal tar, tar pine tar (sap), and tobacco.
What is tar made of?
Tar is a black or dark brown viscous fluid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, extracted from a wide variety of organic matter through a destructive distillation process. Tar can be extracted from coal, petroleum, wood, or peat. Mineral products resembling tar can be produced from fossil hydrocarbon s, such as petroleum.
What is tar in asphalt?
And a Tar is a thick, dark, flammable liquid distilled from coal, wood consisting of a mixture of hydrocarbons, resins, alcohols, and other compounds.
Why is wood tar used in Finnish medicine?
Wood tar is used in traditional Finnish medicine because of its microbicidal properties. Wood tar is also available diluted as tar water, which has numerous uses: As a spice for food, like meat. As a scent for saunas.
What is road tar?
Road tar is a black fluid substance and is a blend of liquid asphalt and water. It is used in the construction of roadways, also to seal small cracks, and usually appears on the lower parts of a vehicle or in the wheel well.
What is tar resin?
Tar is a resinous substance typically blackish or brown materials.
What is pine tar oil used for?
Tar is also a natural disinfectant and pine tar oil, or wood tar oil is used for the surface treatment of wooden shingle roofs, boats, buckets, and tubs and in the medicine, soap, and rubber industries. Pine tar has excellent penetration on the rough wood. An old wood tar oil recipe for the treatment of wood is one-third each genuine wood tar, ...
When was beach tar common in Florida?
When I lived in the Florida Keys in the mid ’70s, beach tar was very common. Last time I was there in the 90s, much less so. I agree with the other posts suggesting baby oil or oil-based tanning “lotion” (if anybody still uses that stuff).
What Indians used tar to caulk their canoes?
Fun fact. The Chumash Indians in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties used the tar to caulk their canoes.
How did Carpinteria get its name?
Not surprising: the area got the name “Carpinteria” from the Spanish–the carpenter’s shop–who observed tar seeping out of the ground (it still does) and the native Chumash people making their long “tomol” watercraft binding wood planks together with it.
Can you remove black tar from your feet?
And inevitably, despite your best efforts to avoid it, you end up stepping on some and finding patches of black tar on the soles of your feet that are almost impossible to remove. Most people don’t notice it until they pack up to leave the beach and either rinse or rub the sand off of their feet.
Is it safe to use baby oil on the ocean floor?
Just completed my 34th summer as an ocean lifeguard in L.A. County and yes tar can be problematic. According to the experts it’s naturally occurring from the ocean floor. Any petroleum product will remove it but my favorite is baby oil. Small bottles can be purchased at drug stores for convenience and a cloth or gauze to do the rest of the clean up. Smells pretty good and is safe.
Can you take tar off of a carpinteria beach?
You can scrape off excess, but really can’t take it all off until you reach soap and hot water.
What factors affect the stickiness of tar balls?
Another factor influencing stickiness is the amount of particulates and sediments present in the water or on the shoreline, which can adhere to tar balls. The more sand and debris attached to a tarball, the more difficult it is to break the tarball open. These factors make it extremely difficult to predict how long a tarball will remain sticky.
What are the little balls of oil?
Tar balls, the little, dark-colored pieces of oil that can sometimes stick to your feet when you go to the beach, are often remnants of oil spills but can also be produced from natural seeps, places where oil slowly escapes from the earth surface above some petroleum reservoirs. Tar balls that appear on central California shores during ...
What does tare weight mean?
You’ve probably wondered what tare weight means if you’ve ever sent a package internationally or tried to pack for a plane trip. For instance, if you’re loading up your luggage with the preconception that you need to keep it under 20lb, then you know that the items you’re hauling cannot account for all 20lbs.
Why is tare weight included in the bill of lading?
This is because the bill of lading includes the tare weight. When making purchases of steel in such large amounts, the three tons of tare weight would cost the buyer thousands of dollars. This arrangement ultimately benefits the seller as the containers aren’t included in the sale.
How Are Tare Weight and Gross Weight Calculated?
Now that we know what tare weight and gross weight are, how are they calculated?
Where do tar balls come from?
Tar balls, anywhere from an inch or two in diameter, come from oil-rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and are carried by the Gulf stream to beaches. It generally congregates on the Atlantic beaches, I don't know exactly why but it is more prevalent there than on the Gulf coasts. I don't know if I've ever seen the tar scrubs on the Gulf. Perhaps the Atlantic Ocean currents, fueled by easterlies, wash it ashore.#N#Although you end up with it on your feet, pity the poor sea turtles that end up with it occluding their nostrils and beaks. It kills them.
Is there an oil rig off the coast of California?
"There are no oil rigs off the coast of California." Maybe in some perfect alternate universe there aren't.#N#Drilling new offshore wells has been banned, but existing wells are still there and operating. The last new ones are only about 10 years old.
