# Natural oil leaks?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-oil-leaks/542387>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 8, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-oil-leaks/542387 "2010-06-08T03:36:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-oil-leaks/542387/1 "2010-06-08T03:36:38Z")

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Has there ever been a significant release of oil due to a natural event? Or does it all stay bottled up nice and tight until Man comes and lets it out?

(Maybe the MIB on The Island is The Big Oil Spill Waiting to Happen ;))

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**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-oil-leaks/542387/2 "2010-06-08T03:38:56Z")

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Natural seeps do occur but nothing on the magnitude of the recent accident. I read a good article recently, I’ll see if I can find it.

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**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-oil-leaks/542387/3 "2010-06-08T03:42:34Z")

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Ah. [here](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/01/000127082228.htm).

> [@](#):
>
> Using a technique they developed in the early 1990s to help explore for oil in the deep ocean, Earth Satellite Corporation scientists found that there are over 600 different areas where oil oozes from rocks underlying the Gulf of Mexico.

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**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-oil-leaks/542387/4 "2010-06-08T03:46:27Z")

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A dirty little secret. Before the oil leak in the Santa Barbara channel, the seafloor leaked oil. Always. When I was a child camping with my parents at the state beach parks north of Santa Barbara, my father would have to clean the tar off of my feet with gasoline, or paint thinner.  
After the 1969 oil leak, the oil level went down enough that there is no more tar on those beaches.

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**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-oil-leaks/542387/5 "2010-06-08T04:15:40Z")

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Former thread:

[Does oil ever naturally come up from the ocean floor?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=564759&highlight=Barbara)