Molecular level characterization of oil and aggregate oxidation products: MICROX, a mesocosm for studying microbial oxidation and degradation of oil, two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCxGC-MS) data

Mesocosm experiment was conducted in June 2018 as part of ADDOMEx-2 program funded through the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI). Marine oil snow samples were collected during the mesocosm experiments and analyzed using gas chromatography (GC) with flame-ionization detection (FID) and two-dimensional gas chromatography and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GCXGC-TOFMS). Here, a highly advanced analytical tool, comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) was employed to investigate the chemical composition of oils and their degradation by microbial activities. Alkanes and oxidized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were quantified and their changes were tracked along with the mesocosm experiments.