Abstract:

Marsh and subtidal sediment for pigment analysis were collected in the vicinities of Terrebonne Bay, Grand Isle, and Port Sulphur, Louisiana in spring, summer, and fall of 2015, 2016, and 2017.

Suggested Citation:

Price, Andrea, Rabalais, Nancy N., Shivarudrappa, Shivakumar. 2019. Marsh and subtidal sediment microphytobenthos from three regions of coastal Louisiana: High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) data from 2015-05-12 to 2017-10-13. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/n7-azp1-3v63

Purpose:

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) data were collected to determine the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on benthic microplankton in Louisiana marshes.

Data Parameters and Units:

Data contained on the two Worksheets. Marsh and Subtidal worksheets have the same variables: Date: Date samples were collected in the field (MM/DD/YY); Station: User-defined identifier assigned to each sampling location; LAT (decimal degrees): Latitude of sampling location in decimal degrees; LONG (decimal degrees): Longitude of sampling location in decimal degrees; Sample Weight (g): Weight of the sample in grams; Concentrations (microgram pigment per gram of dry sediment) of 23 pigments; Total Chl a: Total of Chl a, Divinyl Chl a, and Chlide a; ALL Chl a: Total Chl a and Chl a isomers. Worksheet "Pigment Abbreviation Key": Full names of the pigment abbreviations contained on the data worksheets.

Methods:

Marsh samples were collected using modified 60ml plastic syringes (tip cut off). Prior to sampling, syringe plungers were removed and the syringe cores were placed on the marsh surface and pushed to a depth of approximately 2-3 cm. Plungers were placed back into the syringes to create vacuum pressure so that the sediment plug could be removed. Excess sediment was extruded from the core and approximately the top 1cm was placed into a plastic sample bag and placed in an ice chest for transport back to the lab. Subtidal sediments were collected by attaching a 7.62 cm diameter core tube to a homemade PVC coring device designed to collect cores underwater. Samples were collected at an approximate water depth of one meter, with approximately the top 5 cm of subtidal sediment collected. Intact cores were placed in the boat and the supernatant was siphoned off using a glass tube attached to plastic tubing. Sediment was then extruded upward to just below the edge of the core tube, syringe cores were placed in the sediment and sample was removed, according to the same method as the marsh cores. At the lab, subtidal and marsh samples were transferred to a minus 80 freezer until shipment to contract lab (https://phytoninja.com) for pigment analysis.

Individual Files: