Distribution and sources of hydrocarbons in surface sediments from
tail reaches of the Yellow River Estuary
Chuanyuan Wang and Shijie Ho
1
Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Yantai, China. E-mail: cywang@yic.ac.cn
n-Alkane and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from surface
sediments were analyzed and discussed to better understand the
distributions and sources of organic matter in Yellow River and its
adjacent sea. The total n-alkanes and total PAHs concentrations from
Yellow River Estuary (YRE) (0.21- 0.56 μg/g, 0.06-0.08 μg/g) were
higher than those from tail reaches of the Yellow River (0.60 -2.44 μg/g,
0.08-0.61μg/g). In addition, the n-alkanes and PAHs concentrations from
north section of YRE were higher than the south section. All stations in
tail reaches of YRE were threatened by different levels of petroleum
contamination, compared to tail reaches of the Yellow River, the
petroleum contamination was more serious in YRE. Organic pollutants in
tail reaches of the Yellow River showed a mixed input pattern, including
terrestrial plants and algae. According to ratio analysis (Ant/(Ant+Phe),
BaA/(BaA+Chr), Flt/(Flt+Pyr) et al.) and the factor analysis P multiple
linear regression analysis, PAHs contaminations in tail reaches of YRE
showed a mixed PAHs input pattern, including oil pollution, fossil fuels
burning, and wood combustion. The ecological risk assessment showed
low toxicological levels of PAHs were found in tail reaches of YRE, and
there was no serous ecological risk in the study area.