RAPID: Mass Spectral Characterization of the Water-Soluble Component of Crude Oil Released During Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

深水地平线钻井平台爆炸造成的石油泄漏已经向墨西哥湾释放了前所未有的原油量。石油从海底进入海洋，要么沉降到中性浮力的地下层，要么转移到表面。在从主要泄漏、运输和风化中排出的过程中，原油的水溶性成分慢慢溶解到海水中。这些成分的组成和反应性受到很大的限制，但对于预测墨西哥湾海洋生物和生态系统动态的可能影响至关重要。在这项快速反应研究赠款（RAPID）的资助下，伍兹霍尔海洋研究所的一个研究小组将使用超高分辨率质谱法评估泄漏原油中水溶成分的组成。 这项研究将提供一个初步评估的成分变化沿着时间和空间梯度附近的积极溢出。 伍兹霍尔小组的分析能力补充了其他计划的分析，其结果将与其他化学和生物数据相结合，以提供对这次漏油的风化和降解的更完整分析。更广泛的影响：一个本科生的夏天将在这个项目的工作团队的一部分，让学生有机会参与及时研究环境灾难。此外，它将为学生提供尖端分析化学技术的经验，以及通过与其他科学家合作获得的其他物理，化学和生物数据的合成，这些科学家已经获得资助，对石油泄漏的环境方面进行研究。

The oil spill resulting from the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig has released an unprecedented amount of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The oil is entering the sea from the bottom and either settles into a neutrally-buoyant subsurface layer or transits to the surface. During expulsion from the primary leak, transport and weathering, water-soluble components of the crude oil are slowly dissolving into the seawater. The composition and reactivity of these components are poorly constrained but are critically important to predicting the possible impact of this spill on marine life and ecosystem dynamics in the Gulf of Mexico. With funding from this Grant for Rapid Response Research (RAPID), a research team at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will use ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry to assess the composition of the water-soluble component of the leaking crude oil. The study will provide an initial assessment of compositional variability along temporal and spatial gradients near the active spill. The analytical capabilities of the Woods Hole team complement other planned analyses, and the results will be integrated with other chemical and biological data to provide a more complete analysis of the weathering and degradation of this oil spill. Broader Impacts: An undergraduate summer will be part of the team working on this project, affording the student an opportunity to be involved in timely research on an environmental disaster. In addition, it will provide the student with experience with cutting-edge analytical chemical techniques and their synthesis with other physical, chemical and biological data available through collaboration with other scientists who are already funded to conduct research on the environmental aspects of the oil spill.