Abstract:

Surface residual oil balls (SRBs) from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill were collected from beaches along the impacted coastline of the United States over a 3-year period from 2012 to 2014. GC-FID, FT-IR, and TLC-FID reveal compositional variability despite significant weathering in all samples.

Suggested Citation:

Helen K White. 2016. Examining Weathered Oil In Surface Residual Oil Balls From 2012-2014. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/N7FX77GK

Publications:

White, H. K., Wang, C. H., Williams, P. L., Findley, D. M., Thurston, A. M., Simister, R. L., … Reddy, C. M. (2016). Long-term weathering and continued oxidation of oil residues from the Deepwater Horizon spill. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 113(1-2), 380–386. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.10.029

Ward, C. P., Sharpless, C. M., Valentine, D. L., French-McCay, D. P., Aeppli, C., White, H. K., … Reddy, C. M. (2018). Partial Photochemical Oxidation Was a Dominant Fate of Deepwater Horizon Surface Oil. Environmental Science & Technology, 52(4), 1797–1805. doi:10.1021/acs.est.7b05948

Purpose:

Examine how the chemical composition of oil changes over time in surface residual oil balls.

Data Parameters and Units:

There are two tables in the dataset. Table 1 describes where the samples were collected and their percent water and oil contents. Table 2 details their composition as determined by gas chromatography, TLC-FID and FT-IR. GC-FID (n-alkane equivalent GC-elution range [C-range], resolved/unresolved complex mixture ratio [res/UCM], pristane/phytane ratios [pris/phy], n-heptadecane/pristane ratios [n-C17/pris], n-octadecane/phytane ratios [n-C18/phyt]), TLC-FID (FSat, FAro, FOxy1 and FOxy2) and FT-IR absorbance areas (cm-1).

Instruments:

GC-FID, TLC-FID, FT-IR

Individual Files: