Ehrhardt, Manfred and Derenbach, Jens (1977) Composition and weight per area of pelagic tar collected between Portugal and south of the Canary Islands. Meteor Forschungsergebnisse: Reihe A, Allgemeines, Physik und Chemie des Meeres, 19 . pp. 1-9.

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Abstract

Pelagic tar has been collected daily on a transsect from off Prtugal to south of the Canary Islands in January/February 1975. A new neuston sampler was used which may be towed at speeds between 7 and 10 knots (DERENBACH & EHRHARDT 1975). A total of 22 samples was taken. Dimensions of tar balls ranged from potatoe-size to small specks approximately 1 mm in diameter. Concentrations were found to vary between 20.5 and 0.007 mg/m2, except for one instance of an extremely high tar concentration of 2270 mg/m2. 49 GC analyses were made. 61% showed bimodal peak distributions characteristic of crude oil sludges. The composition of tar balls was independent of their size suggesting diffusion controlled degradation.

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