| Title |
Marine Snow Aggregates are Enriched in Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Oil Contaminated Waters: Insights from a Mesocosm Study |
|
Authors |
Hernando P. Bacosa, Manoj Kamalanathan , Joshua Cullen , Dawei Shi, Chen Xu, Kathleen A. Schwehr, David Hala, Terry L.Wade, Anthony H. Knap, Peter H. Santschi, and Antonietta Quigg |
|
Publication date |
2020 |
|
Journal |
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
| Volume |
8 |
| Issue |
10 |
| Pages |
781 |
| Publisher |
MDPI |
| Abstract |
Marine snow was implicated in the transport of oil to the seafloor during the Deepwater
Horizon oil spill, but the exact processes remain controversial. In this study, we investigated the
concentrations and distributions of the 16 USEPA priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
in marine snow aggregates collected during a mesocosm experiment. Seawater only, oil in a water
accommodated fraction (WAF), and Corexit-enhanced WAF (DCEWAF) were incubated for 16 d.
Both WAF and DCEWAF aggregates were enriched in heavy molecular weight PAHs but depleted in
naphthalene. DCEWAF aggregates had 2.6 times more total 16 PAHs than theWAF (20.5 vs. 7.8 g/g).
Aggregates in the WAF and DCEWAF incorporated 4.4% and 19.3%, respectively of the total PAHs in
the mesocosm tanks. Our results revealed that marine snow sorbed and scavenged heavy molecular
weight PAHs in the water column and the application of Corexit enhanced the incorporation of PAHs
into the sinking aggregates. |
| Index terms / Keywords |
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); marine snow; oil spill; mesocosm; Gulf of Mexico; water accommodated fraction (WAF) |
| DOI |
|
| URL |
|
Mindanao State
University - Iligan Institute of Technology