An oil spill experiment measuring the response of soils to oil spills: chemical and microbial analysis, nutrient analysis, soil moisture and temperature

To measure how quickly soils respond to oil spills, JP5 jet fuel was spilled onto contained soil cores at Scott Base. 105 PVC soil cores (10 cm x 30 cm deep) capped at the bottom sitting in plastic containers were embedded in soil near Scott Base level with the ground surface and filled with soil from disturbed areas around Scott Base. The tubes were left over winter. The following summer 60 ml of JP5 jet fuel was evenly applied to the surface of 60 cores.

Samples were destructively sampled 0.1, 1, 3, 7, 10, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 days after fuel application from the oil darkened layer and from the dry layer below for microbial and nutrient analysis, total petroleum hydrocarbons and moisture content. Soil moisture levels and in situ temperature was monitored. The experiement was run over three years.