Abstract:

Roller table experiments, which were conducted between 2011 and 2013, investigated conditions resulting in the formation of different types of oil-associated marine snow. Six marine snow formation experiments with 9-10 treatments each tested the formation of marine snow in the presence or absence of different oils, Corexit, phytoplankton under different conditions. Marine oil snow formation was monitored for 66 days in cases where no marine oil snow formed.

Suggested Citation:

Uta Passow. 2016. Dataset for: Formation of rapidly sinking, oil associated marine snow. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/N71R6NJM

Publications:

Passow, U. (2014). Formation of rapidly-sinking, oil-associated marine snow. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2014.10.001

Ziervogel, K., D’Souza, N., Sweet, J., Yan, B., & Passow, U. (2014). Natural oil slicks fuel surface water microbial activities in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Frontiers in Microbiology, 5. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2014.00188

Place, B. J., Perkins, M. J., Sinclair, E., Barsamian, A. L., Blakemore, P. R., & Field, J. A. (2014). Trace analysis of surfactants in Corexit oil dispersant formulations and seawater. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2014.01.015

Purpose:

Experimentally investigate the possible inclusion of oil in different types of sinking marine snow, testing different types of oil and the presence or absence of Corexit as well as the impact of weathering in sunlight.

Data Parameters and Units:

First row column numbers, second row headers: 1. #: specific identifier, consisting of experiment and treatment id 2. Exp.: experiment number 3. Treat.: treatment number 4. Oil: addition of oil type (GoM-spill oil: oil Collected from the surface after the spill, LA-oil: Louisiana light oil (from Fisher), Prist.GoM Oil: Macondo well oil: LSU ID # 2010158-12 MC-252 Source oil, or CS-GoM oil: collected from the surface above seeps at GC600) 5. Corexit (uL): Corexit addition in microliter 6. SW: seawater addition (Gol-Seep: Seawater from above a natural seep off Santa Barbara, California (34.22.481N, 119.51.197W), Art.SW: Artificial seawater, or GoM-SW: seawater from and from above a natural seep in the GoM (GC600: 27⁰21.311’N, 90⁰33.196’W)) 7. Filt. (Unfilt.: sea water was used unfiltered, 0.2PC: sweater was filtered through 0.2 µm PC filter, or GFF: sweater was filtered through GF/F filter) 8. Turb: Turbulence (Yes: turbulence present, No: no turbulence/ solid body rotation, or Light: treatment conducted in the light or dark) 10. Addition: beads or diatoms were added to some treatments (Beads, Tw: Thalassiosira weissflogii, or D.fag: Dactyliosolen fragilissimus) 11. Killed: was the treatment killed/ sterilized? (Form: formalin addition or Autocl.: autoclaved) 12. Oil aged: was the oil aged before the experiment? (No, UV + PAR: ultra violet radiation & photosynthetically active radiation, or PAR : photosynthetically active radiation) 13. Age time: how long was oil aged, time is given in weeks 14. Roll time: number of days that marine snow formation on rolling tanks were monitored 15. Agg #: number of aggs per tank after rolling time in column 14 (rolling time) 16. Tot vol: total aggregate volume in mm cubed per tank N/A = no data, not applicable PO13C: the 13C signal of the organic carbon Agg.: aggregate DW: dry weight mg/tank TEP: transparent exopolymer particles ugGXeq/tank Avg: average Std: standard deviation ugGXeq: µg Gum Xanthan equivalent

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