During the active 87-day Deepwater Horizon spill in the northern Gulf of Mexico, a significant fraction of the spilled Macondo oil was transported to the seafloor via the sedimentation of marine snow. Here we present a detailed characterization of oil that arrived together with marine snow at a 1400 m deep sediment trap six weeks to 13 months after the spill had ended. These data give insight into the nature and evolution of the sedimentation of the marine snow and oil, the latter of which remained as droplets in the water column after the spill ended. Four pulses of oil flux were recognized; three of which were associated with peak sedimentation rates of diatoms. Detailed chemical analysis (TPH, alkylated PAH, and petroleum biomarker fingerprints) reveal the sinking oil's lack of evaporation and photo-oxidation, which indicated it was not derived from the sea surface but had “lingered” within the water column after the spill. Measurable amounts of the increasingly weathered (biodegraded and water-washed) Macondo oil was collected in the trap for ~1 year after the active spill ended, over which time the oil flux decreased overall. The results indicate that sinking diatom aggregates and other marine snow scavenged measurable amounts of weathered Macondo oil droplets remaining in the water, and carried them to the deep-seafloor for approximately 1-year after the spill ended.

在活跃的87天深水地平线期间在墨西哥湾北部发生的溢油事故中，很大一部分溢油的Macondo油通过海洋积雪的沉淀被运输到了海底。在此，我们对漏油结束后六周到十三个月内，油与海洋雪一起到达1400 m深的沉积物捕集阱的过程进行了详细的描述。这些数据使人们深入了解了海洋积雪和石油沉积的性质和演变，溢油结束后，后者以水滴形式保留在水柱中。识别出四个脉冲油流量；其中三个与硅藻的峰值沉降速率有关。详细的化学分析（TPH，烷基化的PAH和石油生物标志物指纹图谱）表明，下沉的石油缺乏蒸发和光氧化作用，这表明它不是源自海面，而是在泄漏后“徘徊”在水柱内。主动溢漏结束后约1年内，可测量数量不断增加的风化（经过生物降解和水洗）的Macondo油收集在疏水器中，在这段时间内油的通量总体上下降了。结果表明，沉没的硅藻聚集体和其他海洋积雪清除了水中残留的可测量数量的风化的Macondo油滴，并在泄漏结束后将其带到深海海底约1年。