Winter Concentration of Particulate and Dissolved Petroleum Related Hydrocarbons in the MacKenzie River Delta Using Conventional Grab Sampling, In-situ Pumping and Continuous-Flow Centrifugation

Data are presented for winter hydrocarbons in the Mackenzie River Delta. Different methods of collection of water and particulates were compared. An NBS-type drop sampler with glass bottles and Seastar in-situ pumps with in-line filter and XAD-2 resin columns were used to collect dissolved and particulate hydrocarbons. A Sedisamp System I continuous-flow centrifuge was used to collect suspended particulates. Dissolved n-alkanes and PAH were below detection in NBS collected samples and at detection limits (130 ng/L total alkanes, 30 ng/L total PAH) for the Seastar sampler. Alkanes nC24 to nC36 were quantifiable in all particulate samples; the lighter molecular weight alkanes were only slightly above the detection limits for the NBS samples. Both the Seastar sampler and the Sedisamp gave lower mean values than the NBS sampler. Qualitatively, the particulate non-polar hydrocarbons were very similar in samples collected by all methods. A distinct odd carbon predominance was apparent in all samples characteristic of terrestrial plant wax derived hydrocarbons.