Abstract:

Oil/sand aggregates ("sand patties"; surface residual balls; tarballs) originating from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and non-oiled sand samples were collected from beaches in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida in 2015 to determine on-going biodegradation in oil residues, Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis was performed to characterize the microbial communities. Radiocarbon analysis of the PLFA fraction was conducted to determine the presence of petroleum-derived carbon in the microbial biomass. This dataset supports the publication: Bostic, J.T., Aeppli, C., Swarthout, R.F., Reddy, C.M., & Ziolkowski, L.A. (2018). Ongoing biodegradation of Deepwater Horizon oil in beach sands: Insights from tracing petroleum carbon into microbial biomass. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 126: 130–136. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.10.058

Suggested Citation:

Bostic, Joel T.; Aeppli, Christoph; Swarthout, Robert F.; Reddy, Christopher M.; Ziolkowski, Lori A.. 2018. Composition and radiocarbon content of phospholipid fatty acids extracted from Deepwater Horizon oil/sand aggregates in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, 2015. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/N7VQ3173

Publications:

Bostic, J. T., Aeppli, C., Swarthout, R. F., Reddy, C. M., & Ziolkowski, L. A. (2018). Ongoing biodegradation of Deepwater Horizon oil in beach sands: Insights from tracing petroleum carbon into microbial biomass. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 126, 130–136. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.10.058

Purpose:

To determine if microbes degraded weathered Macondo well oil residues on Gulf of Mexico beaches.

Data Parameters and Units:

Sample_identifier: Sample name, Location, Setting (IT=Intertidal, ST=Supratidal), Identifier (SI=Ship Island, FM=Fort Morgan, FP=Fort Pickens, IT=Intertidal, ST=Supratidal, +=sample underwent additional purification steps), Oil/No oil, Latitude (decimal degrees), Longitude (decimal degrees) Intertidal=area between low and high tide, Supratidal=area between high tide and dune line PLFA Mole %: Amount of individual phospholipid fatty acids in oil/sand aggregates (PLFA, mole %), Structure, Retention time (min), Oiled SI ST, Oiled SI ST+, Oiled FM ST, Oiled FM ST+, Oiled FP IT, Oiled FM IT+, No Oil FM IT, No Oil FP IT OilFingerprint Biomarker Ratios: Biomarkers, Macondo Well Oil, SI ST, FM ST, FM IT, FP IT, Ratios of oil from oil/sand aggregates (ratio of peak areas), Peak area, Peak height, Abbreviation, Name, Chemical formula PLFA Radiocarbon Data: Radiocarbon content in oil fractions from oil/sand aggregates (D14C, /mL) TLC-FID Data: Thin layer chromatography - flame ionization peak areas of saturated, aromatic, and oxygenated fraction (TLC-FID, % of total peak area) PLFA Abundance: Total abundance of PLFAs in oil/sand aggregates (ug PLFAs/g sand, cells/g x 10^8)

Methods:

Samples were collected from Ship Island, Mississippi, Fort Morgan Alabama, and Fort Pickens, Florida. Samples were extracted with dichloromethane/methane (9:1 volume:volume ratio) and analyzed using GS-MS, GCxGC-FID, and TLC-FID.

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