Skip to content

Coral reefs in Saudi Arabia: 3.5 years after the Gulf War oil spill

  • I. P. Vogt

Abstract

As a consequence of the 1991 Gulf War, 6–8 million barrels of oil were released into the marine environment and a total of 1.12 billion barrels were burned in the Kuwaiti oil fields. In order to detect delayed effects of the Gulf War pollution, six permanent transect lines were placed on Saudi Arabian offshore and inshore reefs. A comparison of three sets of video recordings taken between 1992 and 1994 indicated a significant increase in live coral cover. Therefore, it has been concluded that corals in Saudi Arabia survived the largest oil spill on record remarkably unscathed, with no visible signs of immediate or late effects up to 3.5 years after the Gulf War.

Cite this activity

Vogt I.P. (1995) Coral reefs in Saudi Arabia: 3.5 years after the Gulf War oil spill. Coral Reefs 14(4): 271-273. 10.1007/BF00334351

Details

Title Coral reefs in Saudi Arabia: 3.5 years after the Gulf War oil spill
Date 01.01.1995
Journal Coral Reefs
Issue 4
Volume 14
Pages 271-273
DOI 10.1007/BF00334351
Open Access Status Closed Access

Research Spectrum

The content on this page is maintained by the authors.