Trace metal and black carbon data in aerosol, seawater, and floodwater samples taken in southern California during the 2017 Thomas Fire

These samples were used to examine how fire-flood sequences affect metal and black carbon delivery to coastal waters, such as the Santa Barbara Basin (SBB). On day 11 of the Thomas Fire, aerosols sampled at sea level under a smoke plume over the SBB found high levels of PM2.5, levoglucosan, and black carbon (average: 49 μg/m^3, 1.05 μg/m^3, 14.93 μg/m^3, respectively) and both soluble and total aerosol metal concentrations were consistent with a forest fire signature.

Metal, nutrient, and chlorophyll a concentrations in surface seawater (average: 2.42 nM Fe, 0.14 µM phosphate, and 0.44 µgChla/L) were similar to concentrations during non-fire conditions, thus we could not establish fire-related increases in the SBB surface waters. On days 37 to 40 of the fire, before, during, and after a flash flood in the Ventura River, dissolved organic carbon, dissolved black carbon, and dissolved metal concentrations were positively correlated with discharge.