Abstract:

This dataset contains high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) data from phytoplankton obtained aboard the R/V Weatherbird II and R/V Bellows research cruises in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico and west Florida shelf from 2010-07-10 to 2014-08-11. Phytoplankton HPLC pigment data were collected between July 2010 and August 2014 in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico and on the west Florida shelf to assess the spatial, seasonal, and interannual variability of phytoplankton pigments in relation to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Phytoplankton were sampled for HPLC pigments from July 2010 to August 2014 at 2 – 4 depths at each station, ranging from the upper mixed layer, the chlorophyll maximum, and deeper water. Depths of samples ranged from 1.2 - 399 meters. 2000 mL of seawater were filtered through 47 mm GF/F filters under low vacuum and then placed in cryovials, and frozen at -80° Celsius in the dark. HPLC analyses was performed. The dataset contains the date, latitudes and longitudes of the sampling locations.

Suggested Citation:

Daly, Kendra and Jack DiTullio. 2021. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) data from phytoplankton collected aboard R/V Weatherbird II and R/V Bellows cruises in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico and west Florida shelf from 2010-07-10 to 2014-08-11. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/W5860EJS

Publications:

Quigg, A., Parsons, M., Bargu, S., Ozhan, K., Daly, K. L., Chakraborty, S., … Buskey, E. J. (2021). Marine phytoplankton responses to oil and dispersant exposures: Knowledge gained since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 164, 112074. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112074

Purpose:

To characterize the spatial, seasonal, and interannual variability of phytoplankton pigments in relation to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Data Parameters and Units:

Cruise (R/V Bellows and R/V Weatherbird II cruise IDs), Local Date (mm/dd/yyyy), Local Time, GMT Date (mm/dd/yyyy), GMT Time, Latitude N and Longitude W (decimal degrees), Station ID, Depth (m), filtered (L), Phytoplankton pigments (ng/L). Please note that the location coordinates (Column F and G) from rows 289 to 367 and rows 462-491 are provided in degree minutes, and for phytoplankton pigments, negative values were changed to 0.0001. HPLC Abbreviation Phytoplankton pigment ChlC3 Chlorophyll c3 MgDVP Mg-2,4-divinylpheoporphyrin a5 monomethyl ester Chl c2 Chlorophyll c2 Peridinin Peridinin 19-But 19'-butanoyloxyfucoxanthin Fuco Fucoxanthin Neo Neoxanthin Prasino Prasinoxanthin Viola Violaxanthin 19-Hex 19′-hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin DD Diadinoxanthin Allo Alloxanthin Cis-Fuco cis-Fucoxanthin Diato Diatoxanthin Monad Monadoxanthin Lutein Lutein Zeax Zeaxanthin Croco Crocoxanthin Chl b Chlorophyll b DV Chl a Divinyl-Chlorophyll a Chl a Chlorophyll a Ph-tin Phaeophytin a-Car α-Carotene b-Car β-Carotene The dataset also includes the cruise documentation with the cruise information for the R/V Weatherbird II and R/V Bellows cruises: BE0710 (20100710 to 20100716), WB0810 (20100806 to 20100816), WB1210 (20101202 to 20101210), WB0111 (20110104 to 20110111), WB0211 (20110217 to 20110222), WB0511 (20110503 to 20110509), WB0611 (20110625 to 20110630), WB0911 (20110920 to 20110928), WB1111 (20111102 to 20111105), WB0212 (20120215 to 20120224), BE0412 (20120425 to 20120429), WB0512 (20120507 to 20120515), BE0612 (20120629 to 20120701), WB0812 (20120801 to 20120810), BE1112 (20121113 to 20121115), WB0213 (20130204 to 20130211), BE0413 (20130415 to 20130419), WB0513 (20130514 to 20130522), BE0713 (20130705 to 20130712), WB0813 (20130805 to 20130811), WB0814 (20140806 - 20140812), led by chief scientists Brian Donahue, Dave Hollander, Sue Murasko, Rebecca Larson, Charles Kovach, Leslie Schwierzke-Wade and Heather Broadbent respectively.

Methods:

Phytoplankton were sampled for high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) pigments from July 2010 to August 2014 at 2 – 4 depths at each station, ranging from the upper mixed layer, the chlorophyll maximum, and deeper water. Sampling depths were selected during the CTD downcast by observing chlorophyll fluorescence profiles. Depths of samples ranged from 1.2 - 399 m. 2000 mL of seawater were filtered through 47 mm GF/F filters under low vacuum and then placed in cryovials, and frozen at -80° Celsius in the dark. HPLC analyses followed the methods of DiTullio et al. (2003). Briefly, pigments were separated on a Hewlett Packard 1050 HPLC with a MOS Hypersil reverse phase C-8 column, using a ternary gradient with ammonium acetate as the ion pairing reagent. A diode array detector documented pigment spectra at 5 second intervals, between 350 and 600 nm wavelengths. An HP 1046A fluorescence detector was optimized to quantify chl a and c, plus chl degradation products. The system was calibrated by frequent injections of pigment standards that were isolated from unialgal cultures maintained in the laboratory.

Provenance and Historical References:

DiTullio, Giacomo R., Mark E. Geesey, D.R. Jones, Kendra L. Daly, Lisa Campbell, and Walker O. Smith Jr. 2003. Phytoplankton assemblage structure and primary productivity along 170º W in the South Pacific Ocean. Marine Ecology Progress Series 255: 55-80. DOI: 10.3354/meps255055

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