MRI RAPID: Increasing through-put of novel Ramped Pyrolysis Radiocarbon Preparation Technique for Gulf Coast oil spill studies - Instrumentation Development

Tulane University, New Orleans LA

Investigators

Abstract

1058517 Rosenheim This MRI RAPID award funds technical development of a novel analytic technique which separates sedimentary organic material based on its lability. RAPID proposal will increase sample throughput to allow Macondo wellhead blowout samples to be independently analyzed and will help elucidate organic material decomposition reaction kinetics for natural and Gulf-oil spill related geomorphological processes (land use, subsidence, sea level rise, sediment starvation). The ramped pyrolysis technique is based on the underlying hypothesis that older sedimentary organic material is more stable and thus breaks down at a higher temperature than younger sedimentary organic material - within the same sediment. Oil, being both old and potentially labile depending on degree of weathering, will challenge this hypothesis. Technical development funds will be used to better understand pyrolytic decomposition kinetics in sedimentary organic material containing oil pollutants. Funding will be used to build a parallel reactor, with some shared components, devoted to oil-spill related research and to perform chemical experimentation on pyrolysis residuals of interrupted decompositions. Solid state NMR will be used to determine pyrolysis residue chemical compositions during different stages in the reaction. Ultimately, radiocarbon analysis and X-ray near edge adsorption may be employed to differentiate the oil-derived material from natural organic matter. Freshly deposited oil, heavily weathered oil, and pristine coastal sediment will be measured from different sites and regions of the Gulf Coast, providing kinetics models from which coastal geomorphology can be investigated in terms of oil pollution during the next several years to decades. RAPID funding is sought to capitalize on the need to gain this information in a timely fashion while fresh oil is still washing ashore along the Gulf Coast and just beginning to weather and incorporate into sedimentary environments. This RAPID will support studies ranging from local coastal geomorphologic changes due to the oil spill to chronology of difficult-to-date sediment horizons in sediment sequences to riverine carbon cycling. Several undergraduate students will participate in fieldwork, sample preparation, and analyses. The P.I. has compiled a waiting list of undergraduates from different academic backgrounds that are eager for field and analytical experience. This project will advance knowledge of geomorphologic changes that may result from oil degradation of sediment-trapping marshes and mangroves. The project will enhance teaching at graduate and undergraduate levels. Current graduate students include 3 underrepresented minority students and two women. Results will be dovetailed into existing K-12 outreach programs and gain high visibility given the public concern over the Gulf oil spill. The PI . has established an excellent working relationship with the park manager at Grand Isle State Park and has routinely shared with the park data and observations from field surveys involving the oil spill. Environment-specific information will create a broader knowledge base whereby decisions concerning the cleanup and land-use change will be better understood. ***