Sublethal effects of oiled sediment on the sand worm, Nereis (neanthes) virens: Induced changes in burrowing and emergence

The burrowing and emergence behavior of sand worms, Nereis (Neanthes) virens Sars, in sediment contaminated with sublethal concentrations of Prudhoe Bay crude oil ranging from 74 to 5222 ppm, was studied in the laboratory. Initial burrowing in oiled sediment did not differ from that observed in unoiled sediment. Emergence of exposed worms was related to the oil concentration and the extent of weathering of oiled sediment. Sand worms buried in unoiled sediment did not emerge. Worms dug from oiled sediment after 12 hours' exposure and placed on unoiled sediment were impaired, resulting in a significant increase in time to burrow. However, after 12h, they recovered and burrowed at normal rates. Worms held in oiled sediment for 96 h also recovered. Possible causes for recovery are discussed. Results suggest that oil-induced aberrations may increase vulnerability to predation.     

柴油的中重度风化鉴别指标研究

以柴油为研究对象,采用溢油风化模拟实验,从分子级水平揭示中长期风化作用对溢油组成的影响。利用相对偏差和重复性限法进行评价和筛选,研究表明,柴油在较短时间(10 d)内,phytane/n-C18和pristine/phytane特征比率可较好地作为油品鉴别的依据;在10~30 d的风化期间,pristine/phytane仍可作为油品鉴别的依据;较长期的风化过程后,上述三个正构烷烃特征比率对于油品鉴别已不再具备意义。所选多环芳烃诊断比值指标中,除MNR、MP/P外,其他参数(MPI-1,MPI-2,Rc,MPDF1,MPDF2,MNR)相对标准偏差在1.10%~5.40%,可较好地用于重度风化溢油源鉴定。     

Fate and effects of a heavy fuel oil spill on a Georgia salt marsh

Addition of a heavy oil to a Spartina salt marsh in the autumn resulted in high concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediment and benthic animals. The highest concentrations of phenanthrene, chrysene and fluoranthene in the sediment were 112, 105 and 75 ng/g sediment, respectively. These concentrations rapidly decreased during the 20 week period following the spill. The times for these hydrocarbons to decrease to 50% of their highest values, i.e. half-life, were approximately 100, 70 and 30 days in sediment, mussels and oysters, respectively. Benthic macrofauna species showed three responses to oil addition which included no change, an increase, or a decrease in the population. No changes were noted in populations of fiddler crabs (Uca pugnax), oysters (Crassostrea virginica), and mussels (Modiolus demissus). Mud snails (Nassarius obsoleta) increased in density after the spill due to immigration of adult snails from untreated areas to scavenge on animals killed by the oil. Many of the adult periwinkles (Littorina irrorata) were killed by the oil. In the spring, juvenile periwinkles recolonised to oiled areas as a result of larvae settling.     

In situ microbial degradation of Prudhoe Bay crude oil in Beaufort Sea sediments

This study examined the fate of Prudhoe Bay crude oil in nearshore sediments of the Beaufort Sea, in situ, with emphasis on the rôle of microorganisms in the weathering process. The results indicate that oil is degraded in Arctic sediments very slowly; only after 1 year's exposure was biodegradation evident. Several factors probably contributed to the slow rate of microbial weathering, including: limited populations of hydrocarbon utilising microorganisms; localised high oil concentrations; low temperatures; limiting nutrient concentrations (unfavourable C:N and C:P ratios); low oxygen tensions and limited circulation of interstitial waters in fine-grained sediments. Abiotic weathering of the oil was also slow, with limited loss of low molecular weight aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons during 2 years' exposure. Significant features of the overall weathering process were: lack of initial loss of low molecular weight compounds; aliphatic compounds were not preferentially degraded over aromatic compounds and C₁₇, and lower molecular weight normal alkanes were preferentially degraded over higher molecular weight alkanes. The results of this study indicate that hydrocarbons will persist relatively unaltered for several years if Beaufort Sea sediments are contaminated with petroleum.     

原油中的正构烷烃类在海沙和海水中风化的模拟实验

通过自然条件下沙表层和水面溢油的模拟风化实验,采用GC-MS作为检测器,研究原油中的正构烷烃在厦门地区的风化规律.结果表明,在一个月的风化模拟实验中,两种不同介质溢油风化均明显体现轻组分的正构烷烃丢失现象,且正构烷烃组分在水面溢油的风化速率低于沙表层溢油速率1～2个碳数.沙上模拟实验后期APr/APh比值明显受到风化影响,诊断比值不适用于油源鉴别.诊断比值An-C17/APr、An-C18/APh在短期风化过程中受风化影响小.水面溢油模拟实验结束后发现水体中n-C13-n-C29的正构烷烃组分含量升高2.9%～327.4%.     

Transport of no. 2 fuel oil between water column,surface microlayer and atmosphere in controlled ecosystems

No. 2 fuel oil hydrocarbons put into the bulk water columns of controlled estuarine ecosystems were found to accumulate in the surface microlayer at the air-water interface. The alkane hydrocarbons were disproportionately enriched in the microlayer compared with the aromatic hydrocarbons. A comparison of hydrocarbon boiling point distributions between bulk water, microlayer and air samples indicated that the oil hydrocarbons underwent extensive weathering by evaporation upon reaching the air-water interface. No evidence was found of increased biodegradation in the microlayer compared with that in the underlying water. A fraction of the high molecular weight alkanes, the least water soluble and least volatile constituents of the oil, appeared to be coated out from the microlayer onto the inner walls of the ecosystems.     

Incorporation,distribution and fate of saturated petroleum hydrocarbons in sediments from a controlled marine ecosystem

A simulation of a chronic input of petroleum into an estuarine environment was investigated using the facilities at the Marine Ecosystems Research Laboratory at the University of Rhode Island. An oil-water dispersion of No. 2 fuel oil was added to the system (twice weekly for 24 weeks) and the saturated hydrocarbons from this oil were measured in suspended material and sediments. After the initial chronic oil addition, trace amounts of hydrocarbons were detected in the sediments within two weeks, but substantial accumulation was not detected for approximately 135 days. The oil appeared to enter the sediment via the suspended material, with most of the saturated hydrocarbons associated with smaller size sediment particles (< 45 μm to > 0·3 μm). With time, the fuel oil saturated hydrocarbons in the sediments were mixed to a depth of 3 to 4 cm. Although only 12% of the total saturated hydrocarbons added to the system were found in the sediments, these hydrocarbons appear to be relatively stable and were still detectable in these sediments for at least six months after the last oil addition.     

Source diagnostic and weathering indicators of oil spills utilizing bicyclic sesquiterpanes

Bicyclic Sesquiterpanes (BSs) are ubiquitous components of crude oils and ancient sediments. BSs in crude oils and diesel oil were identified and characterized, the effects of moderate weathering on BS distributions were discussed, and a methodology using diagnostic indices of BSs was developed for oil correlation and differentiation. The results showed that crude oils and oil products had different abundances and distributions of BSs and, consequently, resulted in different diagnostic ratios. The selected diagnostic ratio indices of BSs, such as BS4/BS5 (ratio of 4,4,8,9,9-pentamethyl-decahydronaphthalene to 8β (H)-drimane), BS6/BS5 (ratio of 4,4,9,9,10-pentamethyl-decahydronaphthalene to 8β (H)-drimane), BS8/BS9 (ratio of the second peak to the third peak of C 16 sequiterpane), and BS8/BS10 (ratio of C 16 sequiterpane to 8β (H)-homodrimane), still maintained better stabilities (%RSD < 5%) after weathering for 30 d. The longer weathering process (150 d) had some effect on such ratios (5% < %RSD < 10%). The facts of the uniqueness, abundance in petroleum, and chemical stability of BSs enable them to be suitable as an effective diagnostic means for identifying spilled oil with moderate weathering, particularly for lighter refined product samples that are difficult to identify by current techniques.     

A chemical investigation of the transport and fate of petroleum hydrocarbons in littoral and benthic environments: The TSESIS oil spill

The fate of saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons discharged into the coastal Baltic Sea environment from the TSESIS oil spill has been studied in the acute and postacute (one year) phases of the spill. Periodic samples of Mytilus edulis (mussels) from eight littoral zone stations and Macoma balthica from nine soft bottom stations were obtained as well as sediment trap samples and surface sediment samples. Glass capillary gas chromatography and gas chromatographic mass spectrometry were used as the analytical tools to determine saturated and aromatic hydrocarbon composition and concentrations in these samples.Sediment trap samples indicated that sizable quantities of chemically and microbially weathered oil were sedimented, and available for benthic uptake shortly after the spill. After initial uptake of sedimented oil (500 to 1000 μ/g dry weight), Macoma populations appear to have begun slow depuration through the first winter after the spill, but TSESIS oil was again introduced to the benthic stations studied during the following summer. Mytilus populations in the region were severely impacted by the oil. Initial depuration of spilled oil during the first month was rapid and nearly complete at all but the most heavily impacted stations one year after the spill. The post-spill depuration of assimilated hydrocarbons was characterised by a relative retention of alkylated dibenzothiophenes and alkylated phenanthrenes compared to their unsubstituted parent compounds and compared with the entire homologous naphthalene series.These data suggest that petroleum hydrocarbons from the TSESIS spill have become a chronic source of degraded saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons to the soft bottom benthic communities. Petroleum hydrocarbons in the benthic environment from this spill appear to reside in the difficulty sampled and mobile flucculent layer at the sediment/water interface and may affect epifaunal communities for an extended period of time.     

An experimental investigation of the effects of shorebird and flatfish predation on estuarine invertebrates

Shorebirds and flatfish were selectively excluded from areas of mudflat of the Ythan estuary in two separate experiments. Exclosures and control areas were monitored over several months for sediment and faunal characteristics and compared by 2-way ANOVA. There was no significant effect of the exclosures on sediment properties, due to the relatively large open area of the exclosure material used. Exclosures had little effect on invertebrate densities. The results are discussed in relation to prey mobility and the effects of predation estimated from energy demands of the predators. It is suggested that, over the study period, predators did not significantly affect the numbers of invertebrates in the mudflats. Over the winter period, Corophium within exclosures were significantly larger than those in control areas, probably due to size-selective predation by shorebirds.     

大连湾石油污染沉积物中细菌群落结构分析

大连新港"7.16"输油管道爆炸溢油事故发生后,为探究石油污染与细菌群落结构变化之间的关系及在石油生物降解过程中起重要作用的细菌菌群,本研究对大连湾表层沉积物中石油烃含量和细菌宏基因组16SrDNA V3区进行分析。结果表明:溢油初期2010年8月DLW01站位表层沉积物石油烃含量高达1 492mg/kg,符合第三类沉积物质量标准,随着时间推移,2011年4月、2011年7月、2011年12月航次各站位沉积物中石油烃含量基本呈下降趋势,且均符合第一类沉积物质量标准;16S rDNA PCR-DGGE方法分析表明,石油烃含量高的区域优势细菌种类少,反之则较丰富;海洋环境中同一地点的细菌群落能保持一定稳定性;大连湾石油污染沉积物中变形菌门γ-变形菌纲和拟杆菌门一直保持较高的优势度,是在石油生物降解过程中起重要作用的细菌菌群,而厚壁菌门只在石油烃含量低的区域出现;此外,出现的对污染物敏感的嗜冷杆菌可作为石油污染指示生物进行深入研究。     

Effects of macroalgal mats and hypoxia on burrowing depth of the New Zealand cockle (Austrovenus stutchburyi)

Macroalgal mats commonly occur in estuaries and sheltered embayments where they are thought to affect the oxygen conditions in the sediment, influence the geochemical process and influence the burrowing activity of bivalves. Laboratory experiments evaluated the effects of sediment hypoxia and algal mats on the burrowing ability and survival of the New Zealand cockle Austrovenus stutchburyi at 15 °C. Both dissolved oxygen concentration and time affected the burial depth of the cockles over the 12 days of the experiment. In hypoxic conditions (<2 mg L^?1), cockles migrated to the sediment surface after 3.5 days and mortality occurred after 11 days. Bivalves exposed to oxygen concentrations of 2–3 mg L^?1 buried closer to the sediment surface than those in the other treatments. Using a simulated tidal regime, in a mesocosm, burrowing behaviour of the cockle and pore-water oxygen conditions in the sediment were measured on exposure to experimental mats of Gracilaria chilensis and Ulva spp. for over 6 days. Algal mats on the surface of the sediment significantly lowered the dissolved oxygen concentration of the sediment pore-water and this effect was greater for the Ulva spp. treatment than the G. chilensis treatment. Cockles were buried more deeply in the control treatment without algae than in either of the two algal treatments. It is concluded that reduced oxygen conditions (<3.5 mg L^?1) develop under macroalgal mats and that this reduces the burial depth of cockles. The potential harmful effects of the mats can depend on the species forming the mat and these effects are likely to be greater in the field than they are in controlled laboratory conditions.     

Impact of crude oil on sulphate reduction and methane production in sediments impacted by the Amoco Cadiz oil spill

The activities of methane-producing and sulphate-reducing bacteria in intertidal sediments along the Brittany coast of France were examined in order to determine the effect of the Amoco Cadiz oil spill on sediment microbial processes. Porewater chemistry, methane production, sulphate rate and [2?¹⁴C]-acetate metabolism did not vary significantly between beach, estuary, and marsh sites, oiled or unoiled, after the Amoco Cadiz spill. Oiled sediments contained highly weathered oil of Amoco Cadiz origin, but unoiled comparison sites also contained hydrocarbons from anthropogenic sources. The additions of weathered Amoco Cadiz mousse, fresh and slightly weathered light Arabian crude oil, benzene or toluene to sediments from the oiled and unoiled marsh site did not significantly affect rates of sulphate reduction or methane production. The oxidation of [2?^14C]-acetate to ¹⁴CO₂, however, was significantly decreased when mousse, crude oil, benzene or toluene was added to sediments from the unoiled site. Inhibition seemed to be proportional to the extent of weathering. Sediments recently exposed to Amoco Cadiz crude oil were less affected by a second oiling, suggesting that the indigenous populations may have been replaced by organisms more resistant to oil toxicity. These results suggested that the Amoco Cadiz oil spill did not have major long-term effects on sulphate reduction or methane production.     

Spilled Oil and infaunal activity—modification of burrowing behavior and redistribution of oil

A series of experiments in Willapa Bay, Washington, indicates the degree to which the presence of spilled oil modifies the burrowing behavior of infauna and the extent to which the animals redistribute oil into interridal sediment. Small amounts of North Slope crude oil introduced at low tide directly into burrow openings (mostly made by the crustacean Callianassa) resulted in a limited and temporary reduction in the number of burrow openings. In contrast, a layerof oil-saturated sand 1 cm thick buried about 5 cm below the sediment surface sharply reduced the number of burrow openings. After a year, the few new burrows penetrated only the margins of the experimental plot, and bioturbation below the buried oil saturated sand layer declined dramatically.The experiments suggest that small amounts of oil temporarily stranded by tides in themselves have no long-range effect on burrowing behavior. The fauna, however, are capable of introducing measurable amounts of oil into the subsurface, where it is retained long after the rest of the stranded oil has washed away. A buried layer of oil-saturated sand greatly reduces infaunal activity; the oil presents an effective barrier that can persist for years.The oil incorporated into the sediment from burrow openings showed evidence of degradation after 7 months. In contrast, the layer of buried oil remained essentially undegraded after a period of two years, even though oil in lower concentrations above the layer was degraded after a period of one year. This variation in degree of dgradation of the buried oil, as well as the heterogeneity of oil distribution wherever the oil has been incorporated from the surface, emphasises the importance of careful sampling in any attempt to locate or monitor the presence of spilled oil in the substrate.     

Recovery of added 15N-labelled ammonium-N from Louisiana Gulf Coast estuarine sediment

The loss of added ¹⁵N-labelled NH₄⁺ from bottom sediment was studied in situ in a shallow saline Louisiana Gulf Coast lake. ¹⁵N-labelled NH₄⁺ was uniformly mixed with sediment at the level of 35 μg N g^?1 dry sediment for 24 h before being weighed into polyethylene containers. The ¹⁵N-enriched sediment was incubated on the lake bottom for periods up to 337 days. At intervals, triplicate samples were taken and analyzed for inorganic NH₄⁺, organic N, and denitrification rates. Concentrations of NH₄⁺ in the ¹⁵NH₄⁺ enriched sediment samples were at levels similar to those measured in vertical intact cores removed from the lake at each sampling date. The initial and final isotopic compositions of NH₄⁺ in the incubated sediments were 44.26 and 0.521 atom % ¹⁵N excess, respectively. ¹⁵N enrichment in the organic N fraction increased rapidly during the first 15 days of incubation and then increased slowly from 15 to 123 days. Denitrification, estimated by the acetylene blockage technique, ranged from 0.994 to 0.079 ng N g^?1 dry sediment per hour. The mean denitrification rate for the 337-day period was 0.28 ng N g^?1 h^?1. There was no statistical difference in the recovery of ¹⁵N between 15 and 337 days of incubation. When the added ¹⁵N became incorporated into the organic N pool, little or no further ¹⁵N was lost.     

短期风化对混合溢油组成的影响

对两种原油进行混合配比实验,将混合后油样置于人工气候箱进行风化模拟实验,采用气相色谱质谱联用仪(GC-MS)检测风化样品中的生物标志化合物,短期风化作用对混合溢油的油指纹、生物标志化合物诊断指标等的影响。结果表明,混合溢油的正构烷烃总质量变化与单一原油油品的变化规律相近,即前期风化较快,质量减损较多,而后期风化趋缓,不同混合比例的溢油表现差异不明显。常用于短期风化的诊断比值对各混合油样的风化具有指示意义,但难以定性鉴别油品是否发生混合。重复性限法检验只能判定短期风化过程前后的油样为同一油源,而难以反映油样是否为混合油源的特征,各诊断比值的RSD%值较大可能是混合溢油的一个表现。     

88ka以来冲绳海槽北部古环境演化:来自元素地球化学的证据

对CSH1岩心全样沉积物样品进行元素地球化学分析,揭示了过去88ka冲绳海槽北部沉积物成分、水动力条件及陆源碎屑物质源区风化历史。冲绳海槽北部碎屑沉积物母岩主要以长英质为主,在MIS 1期沉积物存在大量火山源物质。过去88ka,沉积物源区风化程度较弱,但是自冰消期以来有逐渐增强的趋势。沉积物Zr/Nb比值表明在MIS 1期和MIS 5.1期水动力较为强烈,这与黑潮增强的时间一致,可能是指示黑潮强度的一个指标。冲绳海槽北部陆坡沉积物陆源碎屑贡献在低海平面时期显著增加,而在MIS 1和MIS 5.1期生源贡献显著增加。冲绳海槽北部沉积物成分变化明显受到黑潮和入海径流的调节,实际上受海平面和东亚季风的制约。     

Sources of heavy metals in sediments of the Hudson river Estuary

Sediments in the Hudson Estuary contain zinc, copper and lead from metal pollutants discharged to the harbor in the New York City area, from dispersed sources of contamination introduced upstream, and from natural weathering processes. The magnitude of the contribution from each of these three sources to particular sites can be estimated on the basis of total metal abundances, relative proportions of several metals, and other sediment properties. The pattern of recent heavy-metal contamination in Hudson sediments closely follows the distribution in sediments of ¹³⁷Cs which was derived over the past two decades from global fallout and local releases from a commercial nuclear reactor. Several simple empirical corrections related to grain size and mineralogy variations are suggested for comparing heavy-metal contamination levels of sandy continental shelf sediments with fine-grained estuarine and coastal sediments. Iron has little variation in Hudson sediments while manganese is greater in surface sediment of some low-salinity and fresh-water areas than deeper in the sediments, and generally less in the high-salinity area of rapid sediment deposition in New York harbor. Much of the pollutant Cu added to the harbor appears to be rapidly deposited in the sediments.     

Carbon dioxide emission and carbon accumulation in coastal wetlands

Direct measurements of CO₂ fluxes were made in salt, brackish and freshwater marshes and parallel adjacent open water areas in Barataria Basin, Louisiana. Vertical flux density was determined by monitoring the accumulation of CO₂ in aluminum chambers placed over the water or sediment surfaces. Annual CO₂ fluxes were 418, 180 and 618 g Cm^?2 from the salt, brackish and freshwater marsh, respectively. Water bodies adjacent to the marsh evolved 103, 54 and 242 g CO₂-Cm^?2yr^?1 to the atmosphere from saline, brackish and freshwater lakes, respectively. The role these marshes play in serving as a major carbon sink was determined from the carbon content of the sediment, vertical accretion rates and the bulk density of the sediment. Accretion rates were calculated from the depth in the sediment of the 1963 horizon, the year of peak ¹³⁷Cs fallout. Net carbon accumulation was essentially the same in all three marshes; 183, 296 and 224 g Cm^?2yr^?1 from the salt, brackish and fresh marsh, respectively. Data presented suggest a limited net export of carbon from these coastal marshes. A large percentage of fixed carbon remained on the marsh, being immobilized in accretionary processes or lost to the atmosphere as CO₂.     

Greenhouse gases generated from the anaerobic biodegradation of natural offshore asphalt seepages in southern California

Significant offshore asphaltic deposits with active seepage occur in the Santa Barbara Channel offshore southern California. The composition and isotopic signatures of gases sampled from the oil and gas seeps reveal that the coexisting oil in the shallow subsurface is anaerobically biodegraded, generating CO₂ with secondary CH₄ production. Biomineralization can result in the consumption of as much as 60% by weight of the original oil, with ¹³C enrichment of CO₂. Analyses of gas emitted from asphaltic accumulations or seeps on the seafloor indicate up to 11% CO₂ with ¹³C enrichment reaching +24.8‰. Methane concentrations range from less than 30% up to 98% with isotopic compositions of –34.9 to –66.1‰. Higher molecular weight hydrocarbon gases are present in strongly varying concentrations reflecting both oil-associated gas and biodegradation; propane is preferentially biodegraded, resulting in an enriched ¹³C isotopic composition as enriched as –19.5‰. Assuming the 132 million barrels of asphaltic residues on the seafloor represent ~40% of the original oil volume and mass, the estimated gas generated is 5.0×10¹⁰ kg (~76×10⁹ m³) CH₄ and/or 1.4×10¹¹ kg CO₂ over the lifetime of seepage needed to produce the volume of these deposits. Geologic relationships and oil weathering inferences suggest the deposits are of early Holocene age or even younger. Assuming an age of ~1,000 years, annual fluxes are on the order of 5.0×10⁷ kg (~76×10⁶ m³) and/or 1.4×10⁸ kg for CH₄ and CO₂, respectively. The daily volumetric emission rate (2.1×10⁵ m³) is comparable to current CH₄ emission from Coal Oil Point seeps (1.5×10⁵ m³/day), and may be a significant source of both CH₄ and CO₂ to the atmosphere provided that the gas can be transported through the water column.