Molecular level characterization of oil and aggregate oxidation products: LTOPOS, a Long Term Oil and Particle Oxidation Study, two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCxGC-MS) data

Mesocosm experiment was conducted in May 2019 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 with flame-ionization detection (GC-FID) and two-dimensional gas chromatography and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GCXGC-TOFMS). Alkanes and oxidized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were quantified and their changes were tracked along with the mesocosm experiments. The results clearly showed rapid degradation of oil by microbes within 3 days of experiments. The bio-degradation trend was further confirmed by a decrease in the ratios of straight-chain to branched-chain hydrocarbons, as the straight-chain hydrocarbons are more labile.