Following the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico an unprecedented quantity of oil irrupted into the ocean at a depth of 1.5 km. The novelty of this event makes the oil’s subsequent fate in the deep ocean difficult to predict. This work identifies a fallout plume of hydrocarbons from the Macondo Well contaminating the ocean floor over an area of 3,200 km2. Our analysis suggests the oil initially was suspended in deep waters and then settled to the underlying sea floor. The spatial distribution of contamination implicates accelerated settling as an important fate for suspended oil, supports a patchwork mosaic model of oil deposition, and frames ongoing attempts to determine the event’s impact on deep-ocean ecology.

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