Concentrations and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surface coastal sediments of the northern Gulf of Mexico

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Date

2014-03-19

Authors

Wang, Zucheng
Liu, Zhanfei
Xu, Kehui
Mayer, Lawrence M.
Zhang, Zulin
Kolker, Alexander S.
Wu, Wei

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Geochemical Transactions

Abstract

Background: Coastal sediments in the northern Gulf of Mexico have a high potential of being contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), due to extensive petroleum exploration and transportation activities. In this study we evaluated the spatial distribution and contamination sources of PAHs, as well as the bioavailable fraction in the bulk PAH pool, in surface marsh and shelf sediments (top 5 cm) of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Results: PAH concentrations in this region ranged from 100 to 856 ng gāˆ’1, with the highest concentrations in Mississippi River mouth sediments followed by marsh sediments and then the lowest concentrations in shelf sediments. The PAH concentrations correlated positively with atomic C/N ratios of sedimentary organic matter (OM), suggesting that terrestrial OM preferentially sorbs PAHs relative to marine OM. PAHs with 2 rings were more abundant than those with 5ā€“6 rings in continental shelf sediments, while the opposite was found in marsh sediments. This distribution pattern suggests different contamination sources between shelf and marsh sediments. Based on diagnostic ratios of PAH isomers and principal component analysis, shelf sediment PAHs were petrogenic and those from marsh sediments were pyrogenic. The proportions of bioavailable PAHs in total PAHs were low, ranging from 0.02% to 0.06%, with higher fractions found in marsh than shelf sediments. Conclusion: PAH distribution and composition differences between marsh and shelf sediments were influenced by grain size, contamination sources, and the types of organic matter associated with PAHs. Concentrations of PAHs in the study area were below effects low-range, suggesting a low risk to organisms and limited transfer of PAHs into food web. From the source analysis, PAHs in shelf sediments mainly originated from direct petroleum contamination, while those in marsh sediments were from combustion of fossil fuels.

Department

Marine Science

Description

Zucheng Wang is with the Department of Geography, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China. -- Zucheng Wang and Zhanfei Liu are with the Marine Science Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, Port Aransas, TX, USA. -- Kehui Xu is with the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA ā€“ and ā€“ the Coastal Studies Institute, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA. -- Lawrence M Mayer is with the School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine, Walpole, ME, USA. -- Zulin Zhang is with The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, UK. -- Alexander S. Kolker is with Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Chauvin, LA, USA. -- Wei Wu is with the Department of Coastal Sciences, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, The University of Southern Mississippi, Ocean Springs, MS, USA.

Keywords

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, grain size, surface area, organic carbon, principal component analysis, bioavailability, coastal sediments, Northern Gulf of Mexico

LCSH Subject Headings

Citation

Wang, Zucheng, Zhanfei Liu, Kehui Xu, Lawrence M. Mayer, Zulin Zhang, Alexander S. Kolker, and Wei Wu. ā€œConcentrations and Sources of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Surface Coastal Sediments of the Northern Gulf of Mexico.ā€ Geochemical Transactions 15, no. 1 (March 19, 2014): 2. doi:10.1186/1467-4866-15-2.

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/2152/27943

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