HYDROCARBON DISTRIBUTION AND WEATHERING CHARACTERISTICS AT A TROPICAL OIL SPILL SITE

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Abstract
A study was performed on the state of an oil spill site on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico. The location of the study was Bahia Sucia, the site of the Zoe Colocotroni spill of 17 March, 1973. Particular attention was given to the weathering characteristics of the stranded oil remaining at the sites and to the presence of biogenic hydrocarbons in the sediments. High resolution gas chromatography of the aliphatic and aromatic fractions of the sediment hydrocarbons was used to distinguish the types of hydrocarbons present and their distribution. It was observed that oil weathers much more rapidly in a tropical environment as compared with spills in temperate areas. Even in the most heavily impacted areas, the Zoe Colocotroni oil had weathered practically to the point of being tar. It was also observed that a tropical site has a significant chronic input of hydrocarbons from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Gas chromatograms of extracts of leaf waxes from live mangroves compared with biogenic hydrocarbons observed in the sediments. Tar-balls also account for a significant fraction of the hydrocarbon burden in the sites studied. The conclusion is that a tropical area has the potential for making a much more rapid recovery from an oil spill than a temperate one. Moreover, in assessing the effects of a tropical oil spill, care must be taken to distinguish the relative contribution to the total hydrocarbon burden in a spill area by oil, pelagic tar, and biogenic sources.

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