Soil carbon and nitrogen content data obtained from salt marsh cores collected in northern Barataria Bay, Louisiana from 2011-10-20 to 2016-10-25

This dataset contains soil carbon and nitrogen content data obtained from salt marsh cores collected in northern Barataria Bay, Louisiana from 2011-10-20 to 2016-10-25. Soil cores were collected from the top 15 cm of soil using a 5 cm diameter by 50 cm long semi-cylinder peat corer from each of 21 sampling sites representing a range of oiling conditions: heavy oiling (n=7), moderate oiling (n=7), and no oiling as a reference (n=7). All soil cores were initially dried to a constant mass at 60 C and weighted to determine the bulk density (g/cm3). Dried soil samples were ground to a fine powder first using a mortar/pestle and then with a ball mill grinder. Dried samples from each site were then weighed into small aluminium weigh dished and analyzed for total carbon (%) and nitrogen (%) content using an Elemental Combustion System.