Distributions and Accumulation Rates of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Northern Gulf of Mexico Sediments

Puspa L. Adhikari, Kanchan Maiti, Edward B. Overton, Brad E. Rosenheim, Brian D. Marx

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

<p> <p id="x-x-abspara0010"> Sediment samples collected from shelf, slope and interior basin of the northern <a title="Learn more about Gulf of Mexico from ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages"> Gulf of Mexico </a> during 2011&ndash;2013, 1&ndash;3 years after the <em> Deepwater Horizon </em> (DWH) oil spill, were utilized to characterize PAH pollution history, in this region. Results indicate that the concentrations of surface &Sigma;PAH <sub> 43 </sub> and their accumulation rates vary between 44 and 160 ng g <sup> &minus;1 </sup> and 6&ndash;55 ng cm <sup> &minus;2 </sup> y <sup> &minus;1 </sup> , respectively. &Sigma;PAH <sub> 43 </sub> concentration profiles, accumulation rates and &Delta; <sup> 14 </sup> C values are significantly altered only for the sediments in the immediate vicinity of the DWH <a title="Learn more about wellhead from ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages"> wellhead </a> . This shows that the impact of DWH oil input on deep-sea sediments was generally limited to the area close to the spill site. Further, the PAHs source diagnostic analyses suggest a noticeable change in PAHs composition from higher to <a title="Learn more about lower molecular weight from ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages"> lower molecular weight </a> dominance which reflects a change in source of PAHs in the past three years, back to the background composition. Results indicate low to moderate levels of PAH pollution in this region at present, which are unlikely to cause adverse effects on <a title="Learn more about benthic communities from ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages"> benthic communities </a> . </p></p>
Original languageAmerican English
JournalEnvironmental Pollution
Volume212
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2016

Keywords

  • Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
  • Sediment
  • Gulf of Mexico
  • Deepwater horizon oil spill
  • Radiocarbon (Δ14C)

Disciplines

  • Life Sciences

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