Abstract:

Sediment samples for total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) were collected 2019-06-17 to 2019-11-18 from a twelve tank experimental mesocosm system performed at Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) in Cocodrie, Louisiana. Mesocosm tanks were treated with various concentrations of oil (characterized as high, medium, low, and no) on 2019-07-08. Sediment samples were collected at one time point before oiling and at seven intervals post-oiling to determine the impacts on marsh sediments.

Suggested Citation:

Overton, Edward B. and D. Goettert. 2021. Total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) data for mesocosm sediment samples. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/HE45JAGC

Purpose:

To collect pre- and post-oiling sediment generated from experiments examining the impacts of controlled oil dosed exposures on marsh ecosystems.

Data Parameters and Units:

Tank (Internal sample identifier assigned by the analytical lab), Oiling Level (Oil Treatment Characterization-No, Low, Med, High), Week (number assigned to each experimental week- 0=before oiling; 2,3,5,7,10,15, 20=after oiling), Date Sample Collected (DD-MMM-YY), Concentrations of TPH in mg/g, avg (averages for each oil treatment characterization by date).

Methods:

Mesocosm sediment samples were analyzed by a modified EPA method 8015. Ten grams of wet sediment were dried. The dried sediment was extracted three times with methylene chloride. The extracted solvents were combined, evaporated to one ml, augmented with internal standards, and one microliter injected into a gas chromatography. The total area of peaks eluting between C10 and C40 including the unresolved complex mixture were measured against a standard weathered crude oil of known quantity, and quantified as TPH on a dry weight basis.

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