Abstract:

Samples of surf zone beach sand were collected to track the occurrence and degradation of alkane hydrocarbons on beaches of the West Florida Panhandle. Composite samples were air dried and extracted by standard procedures for analysis of alkanes found in the BP MC 252 well oil by GC. Alkanes in seawater were only detected during beach oiling events when mats of oil were present in the water and rapidly decreased to background levels.

Suggested Citation:

Snyder, Richard A. 2014. Crude Petroleum in Northwest Florida Surf Waters, Santa Rosa and Escambia Counties in Florida, 5-24-2010 to 4-4-2011. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/N7HM56D1

Purpose:

Monitoring crude petroleum concentrations via alkane fingerprinting for surf waters at beaches in Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, and Escambia Counties in Florida following the BP MC 252 well failure.

Data Parameters and Units:

4MetadataSeavaterOilTableF.xlsx-- MetaD: Metadata Identifier Sheet for Crude Petroleum in Northwest Florida Surf Waters, Purpose, Dates, Location, Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees), Methods, List of Abbreviations, Responsible Party. Seawater PAHs [02 Pensacola Fishing Pier, 04 Navarre Fishing Pier, 05 River Road, 07 Intercoastal Waterway, 0C01 Wayside Park, 0C02 East Pass, 0C03 Henderson Park Beach, James Lee Park OC04]: Site ID, Date (MM/DD/YY), Sample ID, Water Location (Surf, Ground water), PPM (mg crude petroleum/kg dry wt). Alkanes- Alakanes are chemical compounds that consist only of hydrogen and carbon atoms. Date- The date that the sample was taken. Media- Material sampled. Rpl- Indicates replicate sample. Sample ID- Unique number given to each sample includes month, day year, and location. Site- Location of sample’s origin. Site ID- Unique number given to each site. Surf- Collected in region just in front of the beach front with a depth range of 45 to 90 cm. Water location: Region where the water sample was taken. PPM- Parts per million: mg crude petroleum/kg dry wt. Ground water- Water collected after sand was excavated near the high tide mark and a ground water grab was collected for analysis.

Methods:

Collection: Chain of Custody Sheets were filled out for samples. Water grab samples from the surf zone were taken in precleaned amber glass one liter containers and placed on ice. Analysis was generally within a few hours of sampling. On one date only a ground water grab was collected after sand was excavated near the high tide mark and ground water was collected. Extraction: Extractions were performed by extracting the 1 liter aqueous sample with dichloromethane three times in a separatory funnel. The dichloromethane extract was dried down at 38 C to 1ml for analysis. GC-FID Analysis: Alkanes were analyzed by GC-FID (Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detection) and specific alkane patterns characteristic of crude petroleum were evaluated and other alkane patterns showing a non-petroleum origin were recorded as non-detects. An Internal Standard of n-Docosane (C-22) and crude petroleum standards were used for quantification expressed in PPM of crude petroleum.

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