Assessing the Oil Pollution Trend in Surface Sediments along the Coastal Area of the Caspian Sea (Mazandaran Province)

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Department of Petroleum Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

2 Faculty of Natural Resources and Marine Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Noor, Iran

3 Department of Nature Engineering, Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan, Mollasani, Iran

Abstract

Coastal areas of the Caspian Sea have been affected by pollution in recent years. These areas are exposed to environmental problems due to the presence of hydrocarbon resources in the Caspian Sea basin as well as human factors. To determine the amount of contamination in the coastal strip of this sea, the concentration of normal alkanes in 6 different stations was investigated by taking 30 samples from a depth of 5 meters from the water surface. Investigating the concentration of normal alkanes in the studied stations show that the amount of hydrocarbons contaminated in the studied area, compared with the previous year’s studies, shows a significant increase in concentration. The concentration of n-alkanes are among the 24.3 µg/g (the minimum concentration) in Nashtarood Station to 690.7 µg/g (the maximum concentration) in Noshahr Station, and most of the stations have moderate concentration of n-alkanes. The increase of pollution in recent years as a result of increased oil activities related to the exploration, production, and exploitation of oil resources and human factors. Also, the presence of Hyrcanian forests on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea and increasing seizure of forests in recent years have led to increased contamination in the region due to pollution transmission to the Caspian Sea. To determine the origin of normal alkanes in the region, the indexes of CPI, LMW / HMW, Pristane / Phytane, n-C17 / Pristane and n-C18 / Phytane were used. The results show petrogenetic and biogenic inputs at sampling stations that petrogenetic contamination is prevalent in the region.

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References

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Amirkabir Journal of Civil Engineering
Volume 52, Issue 2
May 2020
Pages 427-436

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