Experimental site and design

Design and site selection criteria for the Svalbard oil spill experiments are described. All three experimental sites have coarse and mixed sediment beaches of sand and pebble; within each site wave exposure is very similar; along-shore and across-shore sediment characteristics are also relatively homogeneous. Tidal range is in the order of 0.6 m at neaps, and 1.8 m at springs. All three sites are open to wave action and are ice-free during the experimental period of mid-July to mid-October. Study plots at each site were selected for different treatments from within the continuous stretch of oiled shoreline, with oiled buffer zones between plots and at either end of the oiled zone. Treatments included mixing (tilling), sediment relocation (surf washing) and bioremediation (nutrient enrichment). Measurements and observations were carried out during the summers of 1997 and 1998. The characteristics measured were: wave and wind conditions; beach topography and elevation; sediment grain size distribution; mineral fines size distribution and mineral composition; background hydrocarbons; concentration of oil within experimental plots and the rate of oil loss over time; depth of oil penetration and thickness of the oiled sediment layer; oil concentration and toxicity of near-shore benthic sediments; mineral composition of suspended particulate material captured in sub-tidal sediment traps; and oil-fines interaction in near-shore water samples. 1 fig