Abstract
The initial stage of oil spreading on calm water was investigated for one-dimensional flow. Two kinds of experimental methods, instantaneous and constant rate of oil release, were used to investigate the rate of spreading and its dependence on surface contamination. Experimental and theoretical results were compared and some apparent discrepancies, hitherto unreported, are reported here. Also, a modified empirical correlation was obtained to express the spreading rate of oil slicks in the case of instantaneous oil release.
