Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
on the other hand are mixed-up or ignored by authors not caring of the
clear and internationally obligatory nomenclature.
This situation forms the background of the present paper that aims at
summarising the main physicochemical principles of sea slicks and oil
spills, including the chemical structures of film-forming compounds, their
interaction with the adjacent water layer, their spontaneous distribution at
the water surface and their potential influences on air-sea interaction proc-
esses, thus forming a link to the subsequent reports of this monograph that
describe detailed research on the modification of air-sea interaction proc-
esses and remote sensing signals by sea slicks and oil spills.
2. The chemical structure of slick- and spill-forming chemical
substances
Sea slicks are being formed by surface-active organic compounds the
chemical structure of which consists of a hydrophobic part (
hydor = Greek
word for water; phobos = Greek for fear
) and a hydrophilic part (
philos =
Greek word for love/strong preference
). This ambiphilic structure, i.e.,
strong tendency both towards and against water, leads to the consequence
that surface-active molecules are spontaneously arranged at the air/water
interface such that the hydrophobic part is directed into the air, while the
hydrophilic head group dips into the interfacial water layer (Figure 1).
Fig. 1.
Schematic sketch of a monomolecular surface film being formed by sur-
face-active compounds that consist of a hydrophobic and a hydrophilic part
Specific surface-active substances that have often been used for the gen-
eration of slicks at the sea surface, in order to simulate biogenic sea slicks
and their potential influence on air sea interaction processes and on remote
sensing signals, include oleyl alcohol (
Z
-9-octadecen-1-ol; OLA), oleic
