Table 2.
Summary comparison of the chemical analysis of total petroleum hydrocarbons, qualitative determination of oil presence, and molecular quantification of bacterial abundance in Pensacola Beach sands collected from 2 July to 2 September 2010
| Samplea | Total hydrocarbons (mg kg−1) | Qualitative oil assessmentb | Total bacterial SSU rRNA gene copies (g−1) | Alcanivorax SSU rRNA gene copies (g−1) | % Alcanivorax |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OS-71b | 3,600 | 3 | 4.44E + 06 | 3.10E + 06 | 69.9 |
| OS-67 | 3.8 | 0 | 2.42E + 05 | NDc | 0.0 |
| OS-69 | 4.2 | 0 | 2.45E + 06 | 1.69E + 04 | 0.7 |
| OS-82 | 130 | 1 | 1.42E + 08 | 2.77E + 07 | 19.4 |
| OS-88a* | 680 | 2 | 3.38E + 07 | 4.04E + 06 | 12.0 |
| OS-88b* | 2 | 4.45E + 07 | 6.23E + 06 | 14.0 | |
| OS-89a* | 320 | 1 | 3.99E + 07 | 3.82E + 06 | 9.6 |
| OS-89b* | 1 | 5.34E + 07 | 7.05E + 06 | 13.2 | |
| OS-90a* | 7.7 | 0 | 1.40E + 07 | 6.30E + 05 | 4.5 |
| OS-90b* | 0 | 1.57E + 07 | 8.90E + 05 | 5.7 | |
| OS-306 | 3.1 | 0 | 8.21E + 05 | 1.20E + 04 | 1.5 |
| OS-307 | 55 | 0 | 2.75E + 05 | 3.06E + 04 | 11.1 |
| OS-311 | 3,600 | 3 | 1.02E + 08 | 1.36E + 07 | 13.3 |
| OS-312 | 480 | 1 | 1.84E + 07 | 2.68E + 06 | 14.5 |
a
*, replicate beach sand samples collected at the same depth and time. Only single replicates were analyzed for total petroleum hydrocarbons.
b
O, no visible oil contamination; 1, low-level contamination; 2, medium-level contamination; 3, high-level contamination.
c
ND, none detected.