25th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry IMOG 2011

P-150
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surface sediments of the
Jade Bay, North Sea, Germany
Angelika Klugkist, Barbara M. Scholz-Böttcher, Jürgen Rullkötter
Institute of Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), Carl von Ossietzky University of
Oldenburg, P.O. Box 2503, D-26111 Oldenburg, Germany (corresponding author:angelika.klugkist@unioldenburg.de)
The Jade Bay, with an areal extension of 190 km 2 , is
a tidal flat embayment in the eastern part of Lower
Saxony west of the Weser and Elbe estuaries. In
contrast to the nearby estuaries, the Jade Bay has no
significant fluviatile inflow. Besides some small
streams there is only a temporary freshwater
discharge through tidal gates [1]. Hence, most of the
allochthonous organic matter and pollutants enter this
system via aeolian deposition and the tidal currents.
As part of an interdisciplinary scientific monitoring
program investigating the present environmental
status of the Jade Bay in terms of nutrients, heavy
metals and organic pollutants, the distribution of the
16 EPA polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in
surface sediments are presented here. More than 105
sediment samples from a sampling grid covering the
whole Jade Bay were analysed by ultrahigh
performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) with
fluorimetric detection.
The PAHs are not homogeneously spread over the
sampling area. On a dry sediment basis low amounts
of the 16 EPA PAHs were found in the eastern and
central Jade Bay, whereas PAH loadings were higher
in the southern, western and northern part of the
study area. The PAH contents, ranging from less than
50 µg/kg dw to more than 500 µg/kg dw in the area of
the Nassau harbour, Wilhelmshaven, are below
legally permitted values [2]. High proportions of
naphthalene, phenanthrene and fluoranthene relative
to total PAHs point to domestic fuel and industrial
combustion processes as main emission sources.
The TOC content of the Jade Bay samples is closely
associated with the grain size fraction