Environmental fate of petroleum biomarkers in Deepwater Horizon oil spill residues over the past 10 years

Forensic Geochemistry Reveals International Ship Dumping as a Source of New Oil Spill in Brazil’s Coastline (Bahia) in Late 2023

“…In addition, we investigated possible similarities between the 2023 oil spill and previous spills on the northeastern Brazilian coast using petroleum molecular biomarkers resistant to weathering processes. − These biomarkers were analyzed by GC–MS and included the tricyclic and pentacyclic terpanes (monitoring m / z 191; selected ion chromatograms are shown in Figure S2), steranes (monitoring m / z 217; see Figure S3), triaromatic steroids (TAS; monitoring m / z 231; see Figure S4), and tetracyclic polyprenoids (TPPs; monitoring m / z 259; see Figure S5). We found some dissimilarities in the distribution of these biomarkers (Figure S2) when comparing the 2023 samples with those from 2019, early 2022 (2022.1), and late 2022 (2022.2), including a higher abundance of the C30 hopane (H30) in comparison with the C29 hopane (H29).…”

“…We found some dissimilarities in the distribution of these biomarkers (Figure S2) when comparing the 2023 samples with those from 2019, early 2022 (2022.1), and late 2022 (2022.2), including a higher abundance of the C30 hopane (H30) in comparison with the C29 hopane (H29). The terpanes could be altered only under severe weathering conditions and over a long time of exposure, , which is not the case for the 2023 samples that still have the most susceptible to biodegradation n -alkanes in high abundance. Additionally, their relative proportion, including H29 and H30, was shown not to change one and a half years after the 2019 oil spill in Brazil …”

“…49−51 Kuwait is also the seventh-largest oil-exporting country worldwide. 47 To confirm the probable origin of the 2023 samples, their m/z 191 and 217 mass chromatograms (Figure 4a,b) were compared with the Kuwaiti oil profiles reported by Arekhi, 52 Wang et al, 53 Hauser et al, 54 Abdullah and Connan, 55 Kruge et al, 56 and Peters et al 46 They all had a similar terpane distribution, with a maximum at H29, elevated H35/H34 ratio (H35 S and R over H34 S and R; varying from 0.9 to 1.0, Table S2), and a higher Tet24 abundance than the tricyclic terpanes, Tr19/Tr29 (Figure 4a). The one exception is the 18α-22,29,30-trisnorneohopane (Ts), which has a higher abundance than the 17α-22,29,30-trisnorhopane (Tm) in the 2023 samples, compared with the Kuwaiti oils reported in the studies cited above.…”

A Response Guide for Sunken Oil Mats (SOMs): Formation, Behavior, Detection, and Recovery

“…The biggest concern is that chronic re-oiling of the adjacent shoreline can continue for months to years, depending on the storm frequency, intensity, and location and amount of SOMs in the area. SRBs from broken-up SOMs associated with the Deepwater Horizon spill continued to come ashore in Alabama for at least a decade after cleanup operations were terminated [43].…”

Photochemistry of oil in marine systems: developments since the Deepwater Horizon spill

“…Arekhi et al 142 employed the highly recalcitrant C30 αβ-hopane as an internal biomarker to gauge the degradation degrees of various biomarker compounds and make assessments about the overall extent of weathering in the oil spill residues. The authors also assessed the stability of the relative diagnostic ratios of the biomarkers over a decade.…”