Temporal analysis of NRDA sediment chemistry data, northern Gulf of Mexico, 2010, 2011, and 2014

Sediment samples from the northern Gulf of Mexico were collected with multi-corers on research cruises during 16 September - 30 October 2010, 23 May - 11 June 2011, and 29 May - 28 June 2014. The sediment was analyzed for indicators of contamination from the Deepwater Horizon, including total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), 44 major polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH44), and barium (BA). Furthermore, the grain size was analyzed to determine the mud (silt + clay) content of the sediments. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) were conducted to determine, if any of the measured contaminants varied significantly between impact and non-impact zones (as defined by Montagna et al. (2013) Deep-sea benthic footprint of the Deepwater Horizon blowout) or between the different sampling times.