Collaborative Research: Geochemical and isotopic time-series of marine and terrestrial degradation of petroleum in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill

这项拟议的研究旨在记录2010年4月20日墨西哥湾漏油事件后一段时间内石油的有机地球化学和同位素变化。这项研究的目的是利用有机地球化学的分析库，特别是通过使用质谱学鉴定和量化以及同位素表征，记录海洋石油泄漏后石油的地球化学命运。这些技术记录了随着时间的推移漏油的化学变化的历史，还在法医上区分了英国石油公司漏油的残油和原本不会被发现的无关的碳氢化合物污染物。当石油被冲上岸并在不同的沿海和陆地环境中降解时，PI将表征残留有机化合物随暴露时间的变化，以测试已公布的油层原油厌氧生物降解模型是否符合每个采样点记录的好氧生物降解趋势。他们的成分和同位素数据来自代表不同生态环境的各种反复访问的采样点，将评估环境因素可能加速或减缓石油退化的情况。一名博士生和几名本科生将参与实地考察、随后的样品制备和分析，教育学生跨越有机、稳定同位素和环境地球化学的界限。这项研究的结果将通过出版物和在会议上的陈述传达给科学界，并将作为洛杉矶大岛州立公园的一个公共宣传项目。他们的数据和解释将被用来帮助建造一个展示或信息小册子，以教育普通公众和K-12学生。了解哪些沿海环境具有优越的地球化学自清洁能力，将有助于在未来的清理工作中优化有限资源的部署。

The proposed research aims to document organic geochemical and isotopic changes of petroleum over time following the April 20, 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The objectives of this study are to document the geochemical fate of petroleum in the wake of the marine oil spill using the analytical arsenal of organic geochemistry, in particular by using mass-spectrometric identification and quantification, and isotopic characterization. These techniques record the history of chemical change of spilled oil through time, and also forensically discriminate between residual oil from the BP spill and unrelated hydrocarbon pollutants that would otherwise go undetected. As oil washes ashore and is degraded in different littoral and terrestrial environments, the PIs will characterize the residual organic compounds as a function of exposure time to test whether published models for anaerobic biodegradation of crude oils in oil reservoirs fit the recorded trends of aerobic biodegradation from each sampling site. Their compositional and isotopic data from a variety of repeatedly visited sampling sites representing ecologically different environments will evaluate possible acceleration or retardation of oil degradation that result from environmental factors. One doctoral and several undergraduate students will participate in fieldwork, subsequent sample preparations, and analyses, educating students that across boundaries of organic, stable isotope and environmental geochemistry. Results of this study will be communicated to the scientific community through publications and presentations at conferences and will serve as a public outreach project at Grand Isle State Park, LA. Their data and interpretations will be used to help construct either a display or an informational pamphlet to educate the general public and K-12 students. Knowing which coastal environments have superior geochemical self-cleaning capability will help optimize the deployment of limited resources during future cleanup efforts.