Petroleum hydrocarbons in sediment from the northern Gulf of Mexico shoreline, Texas to Florida

Rosenbauer, Robert J.; Campbell, Pamela L.; Lam, Angela; Lorenson, Thomas D.; Hostettler, Frances D.; Thomas, Burt; Wong, Florence L.

Abstract:

Petroleum hydrocarbons were extracted and analyzed from shoreline sediment collected from the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM) coastline that could potentially be impacted by Macondo-1 (M-1) well oil. Sediment was collected before M-1 well oil made significant local landfall and analyzed for baseline conditions by a suite of diagnostic petroleum biomarkers. Oil residue in trace quantities was detected in 45 of 69 samples. With the aid of multivariate statistical analysis, three different oil groups, based on biomarker similarity, were identified that were distributed geographically along the nGOM from Texas to Florida. None of the sediment hydrocarbon extracts correlated with the M-1 well oil extract, however, the similarity of tarballs collected at one site (FL-18) with the M-1 well oil suggests that some oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill may have been transported to this site in the Florida Keys, perhaps by a loop current, before that site was sampled.

Genre:

USGS Numbered Series

ProdID:

9000627

Citation Author:

Rosenbauer, Robert J.; Campbell, Pamela L.; Lam, Angela; Lorenson, Thomas D.; Hostettler, Frances D.; Thomas, Burt; Wong, Florence L.

Citation Contributing Office:

Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Citation Datum:

Citation Day:

Citation Edition:

Citation Editor:

Citation End Page:

Citation Issue:

Citation Keywords:

Citation Language:

English

Citation Larger Work Title:

Citation LatN:

0310000

Citation LatS:

0240000

Citation LonE:

-0800000

Citation LonW:

-0960000

Citation Month:

Citation No Pagination:

Citation Number Of Pages:

Citation Online Only Flag:

Citation Phsyical Description:

iii, 17 p.; Appendices

Citation Projection:

Citation Public Comments:

A Preliminary Report to the U.S. Coast Guard, Part 2

Citation Publisher:

U.S. Geological Survey

Citation Series:

Open-File Report

Citation Series Code:

OFR

Citation Series Number:

2011-1014

Citation Search Results Text:

Petroleum hydrocarbons in sediment from the northern Gulf of Mexico shoreline, Texas to Florida; 2011; OFR; 2011-1014; Rosenbauer, Robert J.; Campbell, Pamela L.; Lam, Angela; Lorenson, Thomas D.; Hostettler, Frances D.; Thomas, Burt; Wong, Florence L.