| Contributors | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Joye, Samantha B. | University of Georgia (UGA) | Principal Investigator |
| Rauch, Shannon | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI BCO-DMO) | BCO-DMO Data Manager |
CTD data from cruise WS1010 in the Gulf of Mexico (May 26, 2010 to June 6, 2010).
All CTD sensors were calibrated by U Miami or WHOI technicians prior to sailing except the CDOM sensor, which was obtained directly from WETLABS by collaborator V. Asper. That instrument was calibrated by Wetlabs. CTD casts in the vicinity of the Macondo Wellhead were complicated by the presence of oil on the sea surface. A saltwater hose was used to spray the sea surface, parting the oil to create a clean area for the CTD to be dropped through; a similar procedure was used for deployment and recovery.
Note: There is no cast number 78.
The CTD data were processed on Seasave software as per routine operating procedures.
BCO-DMO made the following modifications:
- Replaced blanks and values of '99999' with 'nd' to indicate 'no data'.
- Separated original date/time field into separte columns.
- Changed parameter names to conform to BCO-DMO conventions.
- Added date_start_utc, time_start_utc, lat_start, and lon_start from the WS1010 event log.
| File |
|---|
WS1010_CTD.csv (Comma Separated Values (.csv), 679.00 MB) MD5:be11b80040f5f55ed26a91e9e83c9878 Primary data file for dataset ID 3729 |
| Parameter | Description | Units |
| cast | Consecutive cast number of the instrument. | unitless |
| event | Unique event number. First two digits are the station number. The two digits after the decimal are the cast number at that station. | unitless |
| date_start_utc | Date at start of CTD cast; UTC. format: mm/dd/YYYY | unitless |
| time_start_utc | Time at start of CTD cast; 24-hour clock; UTC; in hours and decimal minutes. format: HH:MM | unitless |
| lat_start | Latitude at start of cast; postive values = North. | decimal degrees |
| lon_start | Longitude at start of cast; negative values = West. | decimal degrees |
| time_utc | Time; UTC; 24-hour clock; in hours and decimal minutes. format: HHMM.mm | unitless |
| day_utc | 2-digit day (dd) of month; UTC. | dd (01 to 31) |
| month_utc | 2-digit month (mm) of year; UTC. | mm (01 to 12) |
| year | 4-digit year. | YYYY |
| lat | Latitude; postive values = North. | decimal degrees |
| lon | Longitude; negative values = West. | decimal degrees |
| alt | Altimeter reading. | meters |
| press | Pressure. | decibars |
| depth | Depth. | meters |
| temp | Temperature from primary sensor. | degrees Celsius |
| temp2 | Temperature from secondary sensor. | degrees Celsius |
| cond | Conductivity from primary sensor. | S/m |
| cond2 | Conductivity from secondary sensor. | S/m |
| sal | Salinity from primary sensor. | PSU |
| sal2 | Salinity from secondary sensor. | PSU |
| density | Density in kilograms per cubic meter. | kg/m^3 |
| flag_density | Density quality flag. | unitless |
| sigma_t | Sigma-t density in kilograms per cubic meter. | kg/m^3 |
| O2_mg_L | Oxygen in milligrams per liter. | mg/L |
| O2_sat_pcnt | Percent oxygen saturation. | % |
| trans | Percent beam transmission. Originally named 'Beam_Attenuation_Pct'. | % |
| beam_c | Beam attenuation. | 1/m |
| chl_a_fluor | Chlorophyll fluorescence in micrograms per liter. | ug/L |
| CDOM | CDOM in milligrams per cubic meter. | mg/m^3 |
| PAR | PAR in micro Einsteins per square meter. | uE/m^2 |
| PAR_depth | PAR depth. | meters |
| PAR_pcnt | Percent PAR. | % |
| SPAR | Surface PAR in micro Einsteins per square meter. | uE/m^2 |
| Dataset-specific Instrument Name | CTD Sea-Bird 9 |
| Generic Instrument Name | CTD Sea-Bird 9 |
| Generic Instrument Description | The Sea-Bird SBE 9 is a type of CTD instrument package. The SBE 9 is the Underwater Unit and is most often combined with the SBE 11 Deck Unit (for real-time readout using conductive wire) when deployed from a research vessel. The combination of the SBE 9 and SBE 11 is called a SBE 911. The SBE 9 uses Sea-Bird's standard modular temperature and conductivity sensors (SBE 3 and SBE 4). The SBE 9 CTD can be configured with auxiliary sensors to measure other parameters including dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, fluorometer, altimeter, etc.). Note that in most cases, it is more accurate to specify SBE 911 than SBE 9 since it is likely a SBE 11 deck unit was used. more information from Sea-Bird Electronics |
| Website | |
| Platform | R/V F.G. Walton Smith |
| Start Date | 2010-05-21 |
| End Date | 2010-06-11 |
| Description | The WS1010 cruise departed from Gulfport, Mississippi. Operations consisted of hydrographic characterizations of the water column and sampling of water for geochemical and microbiological characterization using a standard CTD/Rosette.
See more information from the R2R Cruise Catalog. |
During late spring and summer of 2010, the Northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) was exposed to an oil spill different in magnitude and scope from any previous spill. The Deepwater Horizon, an ultra-deep, offshore drilling platform, began working GoM oil fields in 2001. While working a well in Mississippi Canyon on April 20, 2010, a bolus of methane gas ascended the drill pipe and exploded at the surface. Two days later the platform sank and since then, substantial quantities of oil and gas have leaked from the damaged wellhead. This work addressed the offshore oceanic impacts of the BP spill.
Sediment microbial mediated processes are capable of oxidizing oil and methane in the environment. The PI's examined the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on microbially mediated processes in the deep waters and sediments in the vicinity of the spill site. The work complemented several funded or planned geochemical and microbiological sampling programs focused on the oil spill response. PI's evaluated rates of water column methane oxidation and sediment sulfate reduction and methanogenesis at multiple sites around the spill site. Additional experiments quantified the impact of nutrients, oxygen and substrate concentrations on these important microbially mediated processes.
The Joye group participated in six research cruises during 2010 and received samples from another six cruises from the study area. On all cruises, water samples were collected using a CTD rosette and Niskin or Go-Flo bottles. Sediment samples were obtained by box coring, multi-coring, or using the manned submersible ALVIN.
The PI's extended the monitoring/assessment program that was initiated through the NOAA National Institute of Undersea Science and Technology (NIUST) funded cruise and further leveraged by NOAA/NIUST (cruises in July 2010, October 2010) by conducting three major expeditions in 2010. This RAPID project directly supported the PI's efforts for cruises in May/June 2010 (NSF Joye chief scientist); August 2010 (NSF Montoya, chief scientist); November/December 2010 (NSF Joye chief scientist); and July 2011 (NSF Montoya, chief scientist)
GOM - Broader Impacts
The need to understand the impact of this largest oil spill to date on ecosystems and biochemical cycling is self evident. The consequences of the disaster and accompanying clean up measures (e.g. the distribution of dispersants) need to be evaluated to guide further mediating measures and to develop and improve responses to similar disasters in the future. Would it be advantageous if such oil aggregates sink, or should it rather remain suspended? Possibly measures can be developed to enhance sinking or suspension (e.g. addition of ballast minerals) once we understand their current formation and fate. Understanding the particle dynamics following the input of large amounts of oil and dispersants into the water is a prerequisite to develop response strategies for now and in the future.
| Funding Source | Award |
|---|---|
| NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE) |