Benthic footprint of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill data analyzed from sediment cores collected aboard R/V Ocean Veritas and R/V Gyre cruises in the northern Gulf of Mexico from 2010-09-16 to 2010-10-22

This dataset contains data on the expanded footprint of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill on benthic macrofauna and meiofauna communities analyzed from the sediment cores collected aboard R/V Ocean Veritas and R/V Gyre cruises in the northern Gulf of Mexico from 2010-09-16 to 2010-10-22. Samples were collected using an OSIL, Bowers and Connelly, multiple corers (multi-corer) from 116 stations. 12 sediment cores were collected per deployment and each deployment is a "replicate drop". Organisms were identified taxonomically and their abundance was determined. Taxonomic richness, diversity, and evenness were calculated. Concentrations of oil contaminants, organic compounds, and trace metals were measured. Grain size distribution was analyzed. A principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that 263 square kilometers were affected by the DWH oil spill, an area 78% larger than a previous estimate based on 58 stations (Montagna et al., 2013). The dataset also includes the location (latitude and longitude), date and depth of the sampling collection site. The cruise documentation was provided for the R/V Gyre (09-14-2010_Gyre) and R/V Ocean Veritas (09-24-2010_Ocean_Veritas) cruises led by chief scientists Dr. Abby Spencer and Dr. Frank Coluccio respectively.