Chemical Characterization of Crude Oil Residues from an Arctic Beach by GC/MS and GC/FID

摘要

A complete "total oil analysis method" suitable for monitoring chemical composition changes and studying the fate of 12-year-old weathered oil residues from an arctic beach is described. The characterizations not only are through analyses of individual aliphatic, aromatic, and biomarker compounds but also are through "pattern recognition" plots involving more than 100 important oil components and component groupings. The weathered percentages of residual oil in Baffin Island oil spill samples are quantified using C_(29) and C_(30) αβ-hopane in the "fresh" source oil as internal oil references. The values of the weathered percentages show excellent correlation to the total solvent-extractable materials (TSEM), total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), aliphatic, aromatic, and biomarker compound analysis results. Biodegradation is demonstrated to have played an important role in the degradation and removal of the residual oil. Twelve years after the spill, the composition changes due to weathering progress much more slowly, and this slower rate of change will continue under these arctic conditions.