Rates of depletion of lubricant and fuel contaminants from Antarctic regions during natural attenuation and remediation procedures - GC_MS lubrication oil data

These data relate to the Max Easton Honours project, carried out at Macquarie University in 2010, supervised by Simon George THE LONG-TERM DEGRADATION OF LUBRICANT OIL IN ANTARCTIC MARINE SEDIMENTS.

A simulated marine spill has been carried out by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) over a five year period, in which Antarctic sea-bed sediments were doped with various petroleum products and left in a shallow marine environment to examine the extent and rate of natural degradation. Of these pollutants, unused Mobil lubricant oil (OW/40; Exxon Mobil) was analysed qualitatively and semi-quantitatively by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) to determine the composition of the oil and the rates and modes of degradation.

The Mobil Lubricant Oil was found to consist of three dominant compound classes;

1) a series of branched alkanes with chain lengths of C25-26 and C33-34,
2) a series of long chain alkylnaphthalenes (formula C26H40), and
3) a series of bulky alkanoate esters.

Other minor compounds were also identified. The alkanoate esters were depleted most readily, to less than 20% their initial values after 65 weeks. Branched alkanes and long chain alkylnaphthalenes were both recalcitrant over time, present at ~10% of their initial value after 260 weeks. Both the branched alkanes and long chain alkylnaphthalenes exhibited near identical behaviour through the sediment profile over time, depleting at the surface and increasing at depths consistent with migration through the sediment profile. Branched alkanes were depleted most rapidly relative to all other compounds, perhaps owing to preferred the biodegradation of long alkyl chains.

No clear interpretation of the dominant mode of degradation was able to be defined, although it is believed that a multitude of removal mechanisms participate in the removal of lubricant oils in Antarctic marine sediments.

1) Retention time - Minutes
2) Region - It is a retention time window, labelled A to G as colours
3) Peak area - Peak area is in arbitrary units.

本数据集关联马克斯·伊斯顿（Max Easton）于2010年在麦考瑞大学（Macquarie University）开展的荣誉学位项目，该项目由西蒙·乔治（Simon George）指导，研究主题为《南极海洋沉积物中润滑油的长期降解》。

澳大利亚南极署（Australian Antarctic Division, AAD）开展了一项为期五年的模拟海洋溢油实验：将多种石油产品掺入南极海底沉积物，置于浅海环境中，以探究其自然降解的程度与速率。在本次实验涉及的污染物中，研究人员通过气相色谱-质谱联用法（Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy, GC-MS）对未使用的美孚润滑油（OW/40；埃克森美孚，Exxon Mobil）进行了定性与半定量分析，以明确该润滑油的组分及其降解速率与模式。

经分析，该美孚润滑油主要包含三类化合物：
1) 一系列链长为C25-26与C33-34的支链烷烃；
2) 一系列长链烷基萘（分子式C26H40）；
3) 一系列大体积烷酸酯。

此外还鉴定出多种微量化合物。实验发现，烷酸酯最易被降解：65周后其残留量仅为初始值的20%以下。支链烷烃与长链烷基萘则均表现出较强的难降解性，至260周时残留量仅约为初始值的10%。随时间推移，两类化合物在沉积物剖面中的演化行为近乎一致：表层中含量降低，而在与沉积物剖面迁移路径相符的深度处含量升高。相较于其余所有化合物，支链烷烃的降解速率最快，这可能得益于长烷基链更易被优先生物降解。

尽管研究认为南极海洋沉积物中润滑油的去除涉及多种机制，但目前仍无法明确其主导降解模式。

相关参数说明如下：
1) 保留时间：单位为分钟（Minutes）；
2) 区域：指保留时间窗口，以颜色标记为A至G；
3) 峰面积：峰面积以任意单位表示。