Presence, Sources and Transport of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Arctic Ocean

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Lihong Zhang, Yuxin Ma, Simon Vojta, Maya Morales‐McDevitt, Mario Hoppmann, Thomas Soltwedel, Jane Kirk, Amila DeSilva, Derek Muir, Rainer Lohmann
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2023
• Subjects: Geophysics. Cosmic physics; QC801-809; Arctic Ocean; Canadian Archipelago; Davis Strait; Fram Strait; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL101496; https://doaj.org/article/0f474d6763e845c0bd240cdd7938adce

Abstract Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are continuously released from multiple sources and are prone to long‐range transport. Little is known regarding their presence, transport and fate in remote and deep oceans. Polyethylene passive samplers were hence deployed at deep moorings and surface seawater in the Fram Strait and Canadian Archipelago, as well as in air and surface water of the lower Great Lakes, a potential high‐emission region, to understand the transport of PAHs to the Arctic. Dissolved PAHs showed significantly higher concentrations in the lower Great Lakes than those in the high Arctic. Concentrations of dissolved PAHs (Σ19PAHs) ranged from 33 to 300 pg/L in the Fram Strait; the vertical profiles generally exhibited a decreasing trend toward deep waters, which was potentially influenced by hydrological and biogeochemical processes. PAHs were exported from the Arctic Ocean to the North Atlantic through the Fram Strait and the Davis Strait.