Cruise data from the GYRE vessel captured chemical, physical, and sediment properties in the Gulf of Mexico for 10 days following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Subsurface Monitoring Unit, a multi-agency group, collected provisional laboratory analysis results for organic carbon, metals, and petroleum hydrocarbons. This dataset represents a direct environmental response to the April 2010 disaster.
Use Cases
- Analyze sediment core properties and photos to assess oil deposition patterns on the seafloor.
- Model relationships between Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) and Volatile Organic Compounds concentrations in water samples.
- Correlate Metals and Semivolatile Organic Compounds data with physical oceanographic profiles from the cruise.
- Use Carbon - Total Organic measurements to study microbial degradation of oil in the water column.
Strengths
- Multimodal data includes chemical laboratory analysis, physical sediment cores, and imagery.
- Data collection focused on a specific, high-impact environmental event over a defined 10-day period.
Limitations
- Analytical chemistry data are labeled as provisional, indicating potential unverified results.
- Sample size and geographic scope are limited to one cruise vessel over 10 days.
- Data staleness: last updated in 2010, representing a single snapshot.
Provenance
- Source
- NOAA_NCEI (National Centers for Environmental Information)
- Collection Method
- Data collected aboard the GYRE vessel using bottle samplers, sediment corers, and other physical devices, with subsequent onshore laboratory analysis.
- Time Range
- 2010-09-19 to 2010-09-28
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Gulf of Mexico