Aromatic hydrocarbon data in sediments from Port Valdez, Alaska

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were measured in sediments from 14 locations in Port Valdez, Alaska in an effort to understand changes associated with the operation of a marine terminal where crude oil delivered by pipeline was transferred to tankers for marine shipment. Samples of surficial sediment were collected annually from 1989 through 2019 at water depths of roughly 30 to 240 m by haps corer of Van Veen grab. PAH concentrations were determined by flame-ionization gas chromatography from 1989 to 2002 and by single ion monitoring gas chromatography-mass spectrometry from 2003 to 2019. Geographic coordinates and environmental variables (water depth, total organic carbon, and sediment grain-size) were also determined. The data are useful for comparisons to trend data elsewhere as well as the investigation of measurement uncertainty in chemical measurements.