Relationship Between Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Pelagic Tar in the Mediterranean Sea, 1974–75

• Published in: Environmental Conservation
• Main Authors: Zsolnay, Adam, Morris, Byron F., Butler, James N.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1978
• Subjects: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis; Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law; Nature and Landscape Conservation; Pollution; Water Science and Technology; North West Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0376892900006354; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0376892900006354

During the winter of 1974–75, both tar and aromatic hydrocarbons were sampled in the Mediterranean Sea. A detailed report of the tar findings were given in a previous paper (Morris et al. , 1975). Aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations at a depth of 1 m averaged 167 ng/1 (expressed as phenanthrene equivalents). This is only about 60% as great as the average aromatic hydrocarbon concentration found in the Baltic Sea, but is 5 times greater than what was found in the north-west Atlantic—including the Sargasso Sea (Zsolnay, 1977). No relationship was found between tar and aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations. This would indicate that the concentration of the latter is dependent upon other factors—such as the presence of other organic compounds that are capable of keeping the hydrophobic hydrocarbons in the water column by ‘solubilization.’