| Title: | Varying relative degradation rates of oil in different forms and environments revealed by ramped pyrolysis |
| Author(s): | Pendergraft MA; Rosenheim BE; |
| Address: | "Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Tulane University , New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, United States" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1520-5851 (Electronic) 0013-936X (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Degradation of oil contamination yields stabilized products by removing and transforming reactive and volatile compounds. In contaminated coastal environments, the processes of degradation are influenced by shoreline energy, which increases the surface area of the oil as well as exchange between oil, water, sediments, microbes, oxygen, and nutrients. Here, a ramped pyrolysis carbon isotope technique is employed to investigate thermochemical and isotopic changes in organic material from coastal environments contaminated with oil from the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Oiled beach sediment, tar ball, and marsh samples were collected from a barrier island and a brackish marsh in southeast Louisiana over a period of 881 days. Stable carbon ((13)C) and radiocarbon ((14)C) isotopic data demonstrate a predominance of oil-derived carbon in the organic material. Ramped pyrolysis profiles indicate that the organic material was transformed into more stable forms. Our data indicate relative rates of stabilization in the following order, from fastest to slowest: high energy beach sediments > low energy beach sediments > marsh > tar balls. Oil was transformed most rapidly where shoreline energy and the rates of oil dispersion and exchange with water, sediments, microbes, oxygen, and nutrients were greatest. Still, isotope data reveal persistence of oil" |
| Keywords: | "Biodegradation, Environmental Carbon Isotopes/analysis Carbon Radioisotopes/analysis Environmental Monitoring/methods/*statistics & numerical data *Hot Temperature Louisiana Petroleum/*analysis/metabolism Petroleum Pollution/*analysis Water Movements Wate;" |
| Notes: | "MedlinePendergraft, Matthew A Rosenheim, Brad E eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. 2014/08/12 Environ Sci Technol. 2014 Sep 16; 48(18):10966-74. doi: 10.1021/es501354c. Epub 2014 Aug 22" |
