Hydrocarbons in Washington coastal sediments |
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| Authors: | Fredrick G Prahl Roy Carpenter |
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| Institution: | School of Oceanography WB-10, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA |
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| Abstract: | The sources and distributions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and aliphatic hydrocarbons are characterized in seventeen sediments from a highly river-influenced sedimentary environment off the southwestern coast of Washington. The major hydrocarbons are land-derived, introduced as preformed compounds and display long-term stability in sediment cores. A series of PAH of anthropogenic origin and two naturally derived compounds, retene and perylene, dominate the PAH composition in these sediments. Plantwax n-alkanes are the major aliphatic hydrocarbon constituents. Aliphatic hydrocarbons of marine origin, pristane and a series of four acyclic, multibranched C25 polyolefins, are also observed in many sediments. The concentrations of these marine-derived hydrocarbons decrease to negligible levels rapidly with sediment depth from the sea-sediment interface, suggesting degradation.In general, the major land-derived hydrocarbons are concentrated in the midshelf silt deposit which extends northwestward along the continental shelf from the Columbia River mouth. A quantitatively more minor, natural series of phenanthrene homologs, also of terrestrial origin, is preferentially advected further offshore and deposited in continental slope sediments. These distributions are consistent with recognized particle associations for these compounds and sediment dispersal processes in this coastal environment. Sediment core records suggest the present pattern of dispersal has persisted for at least the past century and possibly since the Late Pleistocene. |
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| Keywords: | hydrocarbons organic matter sediment cores distributions Washington coast |
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