Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, and Department of Science, United States Coast Guard Academy, New London, Connecticut 06320
Environ. Sci. Technol., 2002, 36 (22), pp 4754–4760
DOI: 10.1021/es020656n
Publication Date (Web): September 27, 2002
Copyright © 2002 American Chemical Society
Abstract
The long-term fate of petroleum hydrocarbons in marsh sediments (West Falmouth, MA) contaminated in 1969 by the spill of the barge Florida was investigated. A 36-cm-long sediment core was collected in August 2000, and sediment extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chroma tography (GC×GC). The latter technique is capable of separating 1 order of magnitude more compounds than the former and was used to observe whether any compositional changes in the unresolved complex mixture (UCM) occurred. No evidence of petroleum residues was detected in the top 6 cm (0−6 cm) and the lower 8 cm (28−36 cm) of the core. However, the central sections (6−28 cm) were dominated by a UCM in the boiling range of n-C13−n-C25 alkanes, consistent with a No. 2 fuel oil source. The 12−14- and 14−16-cm sections had the highest concentrations of UCM (
8 mg g-1). These values are similar to concentrations observed shortly after the spill. Initial GC×GC analysis revealed that only the n-alkanes were completely degraded, and contrary to previous studies, pristane and phytane as well as numerous other branched alkanes are still present in the sediments. These results suggest that at this site hydrocarbon contamination will persist indefinitely in the sedimentary record.
8 mg g-1). These values are similar to concentrations observed shortly after the spill. Initial GC×GC analysis revealed that only the n-alkanes were completely degraded, and contrary to previous studies, pristane and phytane as well as numerous other branched alkanes are still present in the sediments. These results suggest that at this site hydrocarbon contamination will persist indefinitely in the sedimentary record.Citing Articles
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