Long-Term Preservation of Oil Spill Events in Sediments: The Case for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

Romero, Isabel C.; Chanton, Jeffrey P.; Roseheim, Brad E.; Radović, Jagoš R.; Schwing, Patrick; Hollander, David J.; Larter, Stephen R.; Oldenburg, Thomas B. P.

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-11605-7_17

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 67 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Deposited hydrocarbons consisted of decayed, high molecular weight compounds n-alkanes (67%), low molecular weight n-alkanes (9%) and low weight PAHs (6%). This composition remained relatively unchanged for 3 years though large reductions in concentrations did occur for homohopanes (~67%) and low weight compounds (n-alkanes and PAHs, ~65% and ~66% respectively) and to a lesser degree high molecular weight n-alkanes (~43%) and PAHs (~12%)(Romero et al 2020). Perturbations to phytoplankton productivity largely abated by 2014 and 2015(Li et al 2019) over the canyon and sedimentary bacterial communities likely returned to baseline conditions (Yang et al 2016, Liu et al 2017).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Macrofaunal diversity and community structure of the DeSoto Canyon and adjacent slope

Shantharam

Wei

Silva

et al. 2021

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Northern Gulf of Mexico canyons are centers of organic matter accumulation and biodiversity, but studies of their finer-scale (sub-100 km) ecological patterns are scarce. Detailed sampling of macrofauna within the DeSoto Canyon was undertaken along 3 depth transects on the canyon wall, axis, and adjacent slope. Sediment, terrain, and water mass parameters were also compiled for the same stations. Within the canyon, macrofaunal abundance decreased, evenness increased, and richness followed the expected parabolic curve with depth, peaking at 1100 m. Cluster analysis identified 3 canyon depth groups that conformed to established bathymetric boundaries for the non-canyon Gulf of Mexico slope: Group I at <500 m, Group II at 669-1834 m, and Group III at >2000 m. Explanatory environmental models indicate that canyon community structure was strongly correlated with oxygen concentration and fluorescence, with a weaker potential influence from any of salinity, particulate organic carbon, sediment organic carbon, or slope. Comparisons of the habitats indicated that abundances were highest on the canyon wall. Slope community structure differed from that of either of the canyon habitats. Environmental models consisted of single variables including oxygen concentration, sediment organic carbon, slope, and temperature with similar explanatory values. Community differences within the canyon and between the canyon and adjoining slope contradict previous findings of a single faunal zone for the whole study area. Factors that may contribute to inter-habitat heterogeneity include potential hydrocarbon seepage, organically enriched sediment deposits along channels, or remnant influence from the Deepwater Horizon spill, warranting more research into this dynamic ecosystem.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%