Geoscience Australia's marine survey S282 detected a variety of organic contaminants in sediment samples, including fatty acid amides, chemical antioxidants, and UV absorbers. The dataset documents the identification of contamination sources, such as specific plastic sampling bags and sunscreen, which could be mistaken for natural petroleum evidence. This work aims to inform sample handling protocols for organic geochemists involved in multi-disciplinary studies.
Use Cases
- Identify and correct for sample contamination based on documented contaminant profiles.
- Develop improved sampling protocols based on identified sources like plastic bags and sunscreen.
- Distinguish anthropogenic contaminants from natural hydrocarbon seepage evidence in marine sediments.
Strengths
- Identifies specific contaminant compounds like butylated hydroxytoluene and Irganox 1076.
- Traces contamination to concrete sources such as two brands of plastic bags and sunscreen.
- Provides context from a defined marine survey (S282) in the Arafura Sea.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
Provenance
- Source
- Geoscience Australia Data
- Collection Method
- Sediment samples collected during marine survey S282, with solvent extraction of samples and potential contamination sources.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-04-20 03:53:56.426181; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Arafura Sea