Weathering of an Arctic oil spill over 20 years: the BIOS experiment revisited

A small experimental oil spill was conducted on the northern tip of Baffin Island Nunavut, Canada (72°31′ N, 79°50′ W) in August 1981, and the natural weathering of the oil has been followed by periodic visits. This paper reports on the chemical composition of oil collected in August 2001. The vast majority of the initial oil has gone, but small patches remain. Some samples remain essentially unaltered despite their 20 years of exposure to the elements, while others show that biodegradation and photooxidation can play important roles in removing the majority of the components of the oil. Using 17α(H)21β(H)hopane as a conserved marker within the oil, we show that the most biodegraded sample has lost more than 87% of the hydrocarbons initially present, while another has lost a substantial proportion of its initial chrysene and alkylated congeners. Potential explanations for the different weathering patterns seen in samples collected from this small site are briefly discussed.