21Response actions to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill included the injection of ~771,000 gallons 22 (2,900,000 L) of chemical dispersant into the flow of oil near the seafloor. Prior to this incident, 23 no deepwater applications of dispersant had been conducted and thus no data exists on the 24 environmental fate of dispersants in deepwater. We used ultrahigh resolution mass 25 spectrometry and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) to 26 identify and quantify one key ingredient of the dispersant, the anionic surfactant DOSS (dioctyl 27 sodium sulfosuccinate), in the Gulf of Mexico deepwater during active flow and again after 28 flow had ceased. Here we show that DOSS was sequestered in deepwater hydrocarbon plumes 29 at 1000-1200m water depth and did not intermingle with surface dispersant applications. 30Further, its concentration distribution was consistent with conservative transport and dilution 31 at depth and it persisted up to 300 km from the well, 64 days after deepwater dispersant 32 applications ceased. We conclude that DOSS was selectively associated with the oil and gas 33 phases in the deepwater plume, yet underwent negligible, or slow, rates of biodegradation in 34 the affected waters. These results provide important constraints on accurate modeling of the 35 deepwater plume and critical geochemical contexts for future toxicological studies. 36 37 38