Introduction 



The intent of the sampling and preliminary sample treatment was to allow j 

 analyses for detecting high levels of oil contamination from the Argo Merchant 

 oil spill, or to provide background data prior to the arrival of spilled oil in 

 the area, eventually resulting in high concentrations in water and /or sediments. 

 High concentrations in this context are 50 micrograms/liter of water or more 

 and between 10 and 100 micrograms/gram dry weight of sediment or more, depending 

 on sediment type. 



The personnel participating in the cruises were fully aware that the gear 

 being used was not optimal for obtaining samples for low level hydrocarbon 

 analyses in water. Suitable sampling devices were not available at the time of 

 the cruise. 



Special Samples - R/V Oaeanus Cruise 20 



One sample of DC 20/13 surface tar at station 13 was obtained by stainless 

 steel bucket. This sample was scraped from the bucket with a stainless steel 

 spatula rinsed with ethanol. The tar was transferred to a 0.32-ounce, pre- 

 cleaned glass jar with aluminum foil cap. After equilibrating with the main j 

 laboratory temperature the tar flowed like honey down the jar, coating its in- 

 side. Total volume of tar was about 100 milliliters. | 



Two vials of R/V Oaeanus fuel were obtained for passive tagging comparison 

 in the event samples were contaminated with the ship's fuel. 



Sediment Sampling and Storage Procedure 



2 

 Sediment samples were taken with a 1/25 m Van Veen grab sampler mounted 



on a circular based frame, which insures perpendicular penetration. The 

 sampler was lowered near the bottom at about 10 meters/minute until the sheave 

 on the winch post slacked. The sampler was gently drawn out and returned to 

 deck at 10 to 20 meters/minute. Once on deck, the grab was lowered to rest on 

 a stainless steel bucket that had been precleaned with sea water and several 

 rinses of 'v-lOO milliliters each of ethanol from a polyethylene squeeze bottle. 

 The grab was emptied into the bucket by opening the top doors and forcing the 

 sediment out the bottom of the one-third to one-half opened grab with a stain- 

 less steel bucket and subsampled. About two one-quarter portions of the 

 sample were placed in glass jars with aluminum foil lined caps, with aluminum 

 foil placed in them between the glass jar and the cap. These operations were 

 all conducted on the main deck of R/V Oaeanus near the starboard access hatch 

 to the main laboratory. The samples were then placed in the main laboratory 

 in a freezer maintained at -10 to -20°C. After return to Woods Hole the 

 samples were transferred to another chest freezer in the barn freezer storage 

 area at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and maintained at -10 to -20°C. 



The jars these sediments were stored in had been precleaned prior to the 

 cruise as follows: soap wash, water rinse, acetone rinse, and distilled 

 pentane rinse. 



V-4 



