Petroleum hydrocarbon contaminations in the intertidal seawater after the Hebei Spirit oil spill - Effect of tidal cycle on the TPH concentrations and the chromatographic characterization of seawater extracts

► Spatiotemporal distribution and the fate of oil in the water column were reported. ► Seawater contamination was mainly by dispersed oil rather than by dissolved fraction. ► TPH contents correlated with the flood-ebb and spring-neap tidal oscillations. ► Half-life of oil in seawater was lower than those of oil in sediment and biota. ► The oil in seawater was chemically fingerprinted to the cargo oil of the Hebei Spirit.