Gschwend%20thesis.pdf

"Also, short range transport and deposition should be measured in
field studies performed in coastal regions relatively close to
maj or urban sources. A prime site for such a study is the area
off the northeast coast of the United States. "
NAS, 1978
Chapter 4. SOURCE OF Ci- and C~-ALKYLATED BENZENES TO COASTAL SEAWATER
INTRODUCTION
Recently there has been a great deal of discussion concerning the
tropospheric transport of petroleum-derived hydrocarbons to the oceans
(Duce et al., 1974; NAS, 1975b; Garrett and Smagin, 1976; NAS, 1978).
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Approximately 6 x lO metric tons of petroleum hydrocarbons per year are
estimated to be delivered to the sea by the atmosphere (NAS, 1975b). This
amounts to 10% of the estimated total petroleum hydrocarbon input to the
marine environment.
The gaseous hydrocarbons in urban air are chiefly benzene homologues
(NAS, 1978). Several investigators have reported between i and 40 ng
individuaIC2- and C3-benzenes/l-urban-air (Grob and Grob, 1971; Altshuller
et al." 1971; Bertsch et al., 1974; Ciccioli et al., 1976). Lonneman et
al. (1978) have found 0.2-4 ng/l-air in regions of Florida, including the
Everglades. If air parcels with these concentrations were equilibrated
wi th coas tal seawater, water levels of 0.3- 120 ng/kg-seawa ter would result.
This includes the range of values found for the C2- and C3-benzenes in a
year-round study of coastal seawater (Chapter 3; Schwarzenbach et al. ,1978).
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