David L. Elmendorf

ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEPREVArticleNEXT17.alpha.(H)-21.beta.(H)-hopane as a conserved internal marker for estimating the biodegradation of crude oilRoger C. Prince, David L. Elmendorf, James R. Lute, Chang S. Hsu, Copper E. Haith, James D. Senius, Gary J. Dechert, Gregory S. Douglas, and Eric L. ButlerCite this: Environ. Sci. Technol. 1994, 28, 1, 142–145Publication Date (Print):January 1, 1994Publication History Published online1 May 2002Published inissue 1 January 1994https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es00050a019https://doi.org/10.1021/es00050a019research-articleACS PublicationsRequest reuse permissionsArticle Views1295Altmetric-Citations357LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail Other access optionsGet e-Alertsclose Get e-Alerts

Abstract Battelle Ocean Sciences has developed an analytical approach to identify and’ quantify petroleum products, coal products, and individual hydrocarbon components at trace levels in complex environmental matrices. The hydrocarbon analysis strategy uses capillary gas chromatography/flame ionization detection for alkane and total oil analysis, combined with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry for polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon analysis. The method provides environmentally realistic analyte detection limits (parts per trillion in water, parts per billion in sediments) and an analyte list that is designed specifically for petroleum and coal‐based products. Results are compared to a detailed computerized library of total, water‐soluble, and degraded hydrocarbon products. The systematic data interpretation strategy maximizes the accuracy of petroleum and coal product identification in environmental matrices and represents a vast improvement over standard EPA methodology.

Abstract Experiments to identify taphonomic variables influencing the fossilization of eggs and eggshells in marine environments were carried out using chicken eggs as models. We examined: (1) the recruitment of eggs into the sea by wave and tidal action; (2) the transport of eggshell fragments by simulated turbidity currents; (3) the capacities of whole eggs to withstand hyperbaric pressures: and (4) the fates of eggs placed on and beneath the benthic surface. Eggs placed along a beach during rising tides were quickly recruited into the sea. Once in the water, fresh eggs rolled along the benthic surface to deeper sites, whereas partially dehydrated eggs floated away from shore. Eggshell fragments transported by simulated turbidity currents settled toward the bottom of the resultant turbidites, with the number and size of fragments decreasing as a function of increasing distance from the source. Fresh eggs lowered in the ocean to a depth of 626 m did not fracture. Most eggs placed at or just beneath the benthic surface in a shallow bay remained unbroken for at least 44 days and became infested with epibionts. Paleontologists interested in fossil eggs should not overlook paleomarine sediments as one likely source of these important trace fossils.

ABSTRACT Bioremediation, the stimulation of the natural process of biodegradation, played an important role in the cleanup of the oil spill from the Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Since there were already substantial indigenous populations of oil-degrading microbes in the area, it was apparent that degradation was likely to be nutrient—not microbial—limited. Bioremediation therefore involved the application of carefully selected fertilizers to provide assimilable nitrogen and phosphorus to the indigenous organisms, with the intent to stimulate their activity and enhance their numbers. We show here that the indigenous microbial populations were indeed substantially increased, throughout the sound, approximately one month after widespread fertilizer applications in both 1989 and 1990. Furthermore, while oil-degrading bacteria made up a significant fraction of the microbial populations on contaminated beaches in September and October 1989, they had declined to less than 1 percent by the summer of 1990, suggesting that the microbial populations on the shorelines were returning to their pre-spill conditions.

Oil spill remediation aims to enhance the natural process of microbial hydrocarbon biodegradation. The microbial foundations have been studied throughout this century, but the focus of most of this work has been on the degradation of well defined compounds by well defined microbial species. This paper addresses laboratory studies on crude oil biodegradation by microbial consortia obtained from oiled beaches in Prince William Sound, Alaska following the spill from the Exxon Valdez. It demonstrates that oil degradation is indeed likely to be nitrogen-limited in Prince William Sound, the different molecular classes in crude oil that are subjected to biodegradation, the identification of conserved species in the oil that can be used for assessing biodegradation and bioremediation in the field, the effectiveness of fertilizers in stimulating sub-surface biodegradation, the role of the olephilic fertilizer Inipol EAP22, and the identification of the oil-degrading microorganisms in Prince William Sound. Together, these laboratory studies provided guidance and important insights into the microbial phenomena underlying the successful bioremediation of the oiled shorelines.