Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) and hopanes in stranded tar-balls on the coasts of Peninsular Malaysia: applications of biomarkers for identifying sources of oil pollution

Malaysian coasts are subjected to various threats of petroleum pollution including routine and accidental oil spill from tankers, spillage of crude oils from inland and offshore oil fields, and run-off from land-based human activities. Due to its strategic location, the Straits of Malacca serves as a major shipping lane. This paper expands the utility of biomarker compounds, hopanes, in identifying the source of tar-balls stranded on Malaysian coasts. 20 tar-ball samples collected from the east and west coast were analyzed for hopanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Four of the 13 tar-ball samples collected from the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia were identified as the Middle East crude oil (MECO) based on their biomarker signatures, suggesting tanker-derived sources significantly contributing the petroleum pollution in the Straits of Malacca. The tar-balls found on the east coast seem to originate from the offshore oil platforms in the South China Sea. The presence of South East Asian crude oil (SEACO) tar-balls on the west coast carry several plausible explanations. Some of the tar-balls could have been transported via sea currents from the east coast. The tankers carrying SEACO to other countries could have accidentally spilt the oil as well. Furthermore, discharge of tank washings and ballast water from the tankers were suggested based on the abundance in higher molecular weight n-alkanes and the absence of unresolved complex mixture (UCM) in the tar-ball samples. The other possibilities are that the tar-balls may have been originated from the Sumatran oil fields and spillage of domestic oil from oil refineries in Port Dickson and Malacca. The results of PAHs analysis suggest that all the tar-ball samples have undergone various extent of weathering through evaporation, dissolution and photo-oxidation.     

Desorption kinetics of hydrophobic organic contaminants from marine plastic pellets

This study investigated the desorption behavior of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from marine plastic pellets. Long-term desorption experiments were conducted using field-collected polyethylene (PE) pellets. The results indicate that the desorption kinetics highly depends on the PE-water partition coefficients of PCB congeners. After 128 d of the experiment, the smallest congener considered (CB 8) had desorbed nearly completely (98%), whereas major fractions (90–99%) of highly chlorinated congeners remained in the pellets. An intraparticle diffusion model mostly failed to reproduce the desorption kinetics, whereas an aqueous boundary layer (ABL) diffusion model well approximated the data. The desorption half-lives are estimated to 14 d to 210 years for CB 8 to CB 209 in an actively stirred solution (ABL thickness: 30 μm). Addition of methanol to water enhanced the desorption to a large extent. A need for further work to explore roles of organic matter in facilitating solute transfer is suggested.     

Paleoenvironmental analysis of the Mawaki archaeological site,central Japan,in relation to the stratigraphic position of dolphin bones

In order to elucidate the paleoenvironment associated with the early Holocene Mawaki archaeological site on the Noto Peninsula of central Japan, a high‐resolution stratigraphic study was conducted of 17 boreholes drilled at the archaeological site. We selected three boreholes for which lithological and/or chronological data are reported. Initial magnetic susceptibility was utilized for correlation of clastic core samples with the assistance of 26 radiocarbon dates. Four lithological units (A, B, C, and D in ascending order) were identified and interpreted as a sequence in a cycle of marine transgression and regression. Dated coastal horizons were chosen to indicate former sea levels. A Holocene relative sea level curve was generated on the basis of the geological data, and a rapid rise from 8000cal. yr B.P. to 7000cal. yr B.P. and a succeeding minor sea level fall represent the basic eustatic trend around the Sea of Japan because hydroisostatic and tectonic effects are moderate in the study area. Abundant dolphin bones lay just above the top of the marine sequence (boundary between Units C and D), located in the seashore environment. Cultural artifacts are found in a subaerial deposit (Unit D) near the dolphin bone level that is assigned to a period of high, stable sea level after the post‐glacial eustatic highstand. Dolphin bones are associated with stone artifacts (arrowheads, knives, and scrapers) and ritual wood columns, indicating the presence of a longstanding fishery during the early Holocene on the Sea of Japan coast. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.