Shoreline impacts in the Gulf of Alaska region following the Exxon Valdez oil spill
- Bowdoin Coll., Brunswick, ME (United States)
- Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)
- Arthur D. Little, Inc., Cambridge, MA (United States)
- West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States)
- Dames and Moore, Seattle, WA (United States)
Forty-eight sites in the Gulf of Alaska region (GOA-Kodiak Island, Kenai Peninsula, and Alaska Peninsula) were sampled in July/August 1989 to assess the impact of the March 24, 1989, Exxon Valdez oil spill on shoreline chemistry and biological communities hundreds of miles from the spill origin. In a 1990 companion study, 5 of the Kensai sites and 13 of the Kodiak and Alaska Peninsula sites were sampled 16 months after the spill. Oiling levels at each site were estimated visually and/or quantified by chemical analysis. The chemical analyses were performed on sediment and/or rock wipe samples collected with the biological samples. Additional sediment samples were collected for laboratory amphipod toxicity tests. Mussels were also collected and analyzed for hydrocarbon content to assess hydrocarbon bioavailability. Biological investigations at these GOA sites focused on intertidal infauna, epifauna, and macroalgae by means of a variety of common ecological techniques. For rock sites the percentage of hard substratum covered by biota was quantified. At each site, up to 5 biological samples (scrapes of rock surfaces or sediment cores) were collected intertidally along each of 3 transects, spanning tide levels from the high intertidal to mean-lowest-low-water (zero tidal datum). Organisms (down to 1.0 mm in size) from these samples were sorted and identified. Community parameters including organism abundance, species richness, and Shannon diversity were calculated for each sample. 43 refs., 13 figs., 3 tabs.
- OSTI ID:
- 382765
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-930442-; ISBN 0-8031-1896-1; TRN: 96:025724
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 3. symposium on environmental toxicology and risk assessment, Atlanta, GA (United States), 25-28 Apr 1993; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Exxon Valdez oil spill: Fate and effects in Alaskan waters; Wells, P.G.; Butler, J.N.; Hughes, J.S. [eds.]; PB: 961 p.; ASTM special technical publication, 1219
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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