Offshoredrillingandproductionoperationscanresultinspillsorleaksofhydrocarbonsintoseabedsediments,whichcanpotentiallycontaminatethesesedimentswithoil.Ifthisoillatermigratestothewatersurfaceithasthepotentialfornegativeenvironmentalimpacts.Forpropercontingencyplanningandtoavoidlargerconsequencesintheenvironment,itisessentialtounderstandmechanismsandratesforhydrocarbonmigrationfromoilcontainingsedimentstothewatersurfaceaswellashowmuchwillremaintrappedinthesediments.Itisbelievedthattheamountofoiltransportedoutofthesedimentcanbeaffectedbytidalpumping,acommonformofsubterraneangroundwaterdischarge(SGD).However,wecouldfindnostudyexperimentallyinvestigatingthephenomenonoffluidflowinsubseasedimentscontainingoilandtheeffectsoftidalpumping.Thisstudypresentsanexperimentalinvestigationoftidalpumpingtodetermineifitisapossiblemechanismthatmaycontributetotheappearanceofanoilsheenontheoceansurfaceaboveasedimentbedcontainingoil.AnexperimentalapparatuswasconstructedofclearPVCpipeallowingforoilmigrationtobemonitoredasitflowedoutofasandpackcontainingoil,whiletidalpressureoscillationswereappliedinthreedifferentmanners.Theeffectoftidalpumpingwassimulatedviacompressionofairabovethewater(whichsimulatedtheincreasingstaticheadfromtidalexchange).Experimentalresultsshowthatsustainedoilreleaseoccurredfromalltests,andtestswithoscillatingpressureproducedforlongerperiodsoftime.Furthermore,theexperimentalresultsshowedthattheoilmigrationratewasaffectedbygrainsize,oilsaturation,andoscillationwavetype.Inalloscillatingexperimentstherateandultimaterecoverywaslessthanthecomparablestaticexperiments.Fortheconditionsstudied,theexperimentalresultsindicatethatwithanoscillatingpressureontopofasandpack,movementofanon-replenishingsourceofoilissuppressed
