Identification of persistent oil residues in Prince William Sound, Alaska using rapid spectroscopic techniques.

Helen K White, Alexandra E Morrison, Charvanaa Dhoonmoon, Hasibe Caballero-Gomez, Michelle Luu, Camille Samuels, Charles T Marx, Anna P M Michel

Marine pollution bulletin 2020 Dec

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Spectroscopic techniques including X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and attenuated total reflectance - Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) are used to examine oil residues persisting on shorelines in Prince William Sound that originate from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and oil released as a consequence of the 1964 Great Alaska earthquake. When coupled to classification models, ATR-FTIR and XRF spectral data can be used to distinguish between the two sources of oil with 92% and 86% success rates for the two techniques respectively. Models indicate that the ATR-FTIR data used to determine oil source includes the CO stretch, the twisting-scissoring of the CH2 group, and the CC stretch. For XRF data, decision tree models primarily utilize the abundance of nickel and zinc present in the oil as a means to classify source. This approach highlights the utility of rapid, field-based spectroscopic techniques to distinguish different inputs of oil to coastal environments. Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citation

Helen K White, Alexandra E Morrison, Charvanaa Dhoonmoon, Hasibe Caballero-Gomez, Michelle Luu, Camille Samuels, Charles T Marx, Anna P M Michel. Identification of persistent oil residues in Prince William Sound, Alaska using rapid spectroscopic techniques. Marine pollution bulletin. 2020 Dec;161(Pt B):111718