229
There were complex hydrocarbon backgrounds throughout many of the records in
the southern GoM, which confounded fingerprinting petroleum inputs (Lincoln
et al. unpublished; see Lincoln et al. 2020). At sites up to 80 km west of the Ixtoc
1 wellhead, terpane biomarkers, alkylated PAHs, and dibenzothiophenes provided
evidence of Ixtoc 1 oil-residue input greater than 35 years after the spill (Lincoln
et al. unpublished, 2020). Lincoln et al. (unpublished) and Radović et al. (unpublished) have been able to fingerprint hydrocarbons in deepwater sediments and
relate them to Ixtoc 1, based on the available reservoir geochemistry data of
Campeche basin petroleum systems but also by analyzing the reference Ixtoc 1 oil
sample. Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS)
was used to assess the transformation and preservation trends in heavy, non-GC
amenable oil fractions (Radović et al. 2020). The analysis of putative Ixtoc
1-impacted stratigraphic horizon reveals abundant content sulfur containing residues, including poly-sulfur and oxy-sulfur species, likely decadal-scale residues of
spilled oil. Using the same analytical tool, similar oxygen containing products of
Fig. 13.4 Sediment core photographs comparing records (site SW01, collected at 1110 m water
depth, photo credit: R. Larson) from the northern GoM and the southern GoM (site E55, collected
at 1553 m water depth, photo credit: M. Machain). The white arrows are the depth interval influenced by the Deepwater Horizon event in the northern Gulf of Mexico and by Ixtoc 1 in the southern Gulf of Mexico, respectively. The white lines are the depth interval corresponding to the year
2010 in the northern GoM and 1979 in the southern GoM, respectively, determined by short-lived
radioisotope chronology (Brooks et al. 2015; Sanchez-Cabeza 2016). Influences seen above and
below the actual date of each event are due to carbon loading, redox processes, and redeposition
13 The Sedimentary Record of MOSSFA Events in the Gulf of Mexico: A Comparison…
There were complex hydrocarbon backgrounds throughout many of the records in
the southern GoM, which confounded fingerprinting petroleum inputs (Lincoln
et al. unpublished; see Lincoln et al. 2020). At sites up to 80 km west of the Ixtoc
1 wellhead, terpane biomarkers, alkylated PAHs, and dibenzothiophenes provided
evidence of Ixtoc 1 oil-residue input greater than 35 years after the spill (Lincoln
et al. unpublished, 2020). Lincoln et al. (unpublished) and Radović et al. (unpublished) have been able to fingerprint hydrocarbons in deepwater sediments and
relate them to Ixtoc 1, based on the available reservoir geochemistry data of
Campeche basin petroleum systems but also by analyzing the reference Ixtoc 1 oil
sample. Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS)
was used to assess the transformation and preservation trends in heavy, non-GC
amenable oil fractions (Radović et al. 2020). The analysis of putative Ixtoc
1-impacted stratigraphic horizon reveals abundant content sulfur containing residues, including poly-sulfur and oxy-sulfur species, likely decadal-scale residues of
spilled oil. Using the same analytical tool, similar oxygen containing products of
Fig. 13.4 Sediment core photographs comparing records (site SW01, collected at 1110 m water
depth, photo credit: R. Larson) from the northern GoM and the southern GoM (site E55, collected
at 1553 m water depth, photo credit: M. Machain). The white arrows are the depth interval influenced by the Deepwater Horizon event in the northern Gulf of Mexico and by Ixtoc 1 in the southern Gulf of Mexico, respectively. The white lines are the depth interval corresponding to the year
2010 in the northern GoM and 1979 in the southern GoM, respectively, determined by short-lived
radioisotope chronology (Brooks et al. 2015; Sanchez-Cabeza 2016). Influences seen above and
below the actual date of each event are due to carbon loading, redox processes, and redeposition
13 The Sedimentary Record of MOSSFA Events in the Gulf of Mexico: A Comparison…