Petroleum hydrocarbons in water samples, northern Gulf of Mexico, May 2010, August 2010, and May 2011

This dataset contains concentrations of alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface water (~top 5cm) without visible oil, collected in May 2010, August 2010, and May 2011 in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Hydrocarbons were measured in both dissolved and particulate phases, which were differentiated by 0.7 GFF filters. A biomarker ratio of 17α(H),21β(H)-30-norhopane over 17α(H),21β(H)-hopane was applied to confirm whether the samples contain oil sourced from Deepwater Horizon Oil spill.