Impact of sediment type on movement of hydrocarbons through artificial beaches and the microbial response

Two experiments were carried out using artificial beaches. Sediment was collected from a tidal flat and a sandy beach and used to construct the artificial beaches. Water from a nearby location was added daily and drained to mimic a tidal cycle. At t=0 weathered IFO40 oil was added to treatment beaches. Samples were collected over 5 days of the leachate and 1 core that was divided into bottom, middle and surface. Along with monitoring the hydrocarbon concentrations, samples were subjected to 16S and 18S rRNA gene sequencing.