Quantifying nitrate sources in a large reservoir for drinking water by using stable isotopes and a Bayesian isotope mixing model

Drinking water reservoirs are threatened globally by anthropogenic nitrogen pollution. Hydrochemistry and isotopes were analyzed to identify spatial and temporal varieties of main nitrate sources in a large drinking water reservoir in East China. The results showed that NO₃^? was the main nitrogen form in both the dry and wet seasons, but dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) was increased in the wet season. The δ¹⁵N-NO₃^? values (+?1.3‰ to +?11.8‰) and δ¹⁸O-NO₃^? values (+?2.5‰ to +?13.5‰), combined with principal component analysis (PCA), indicated that chemical fertilizer was the main nitrate source during the dry season, while chemical fertilizer, soil N, and sewage/manure were the main nitrate sources during the wet season in the Qiandao Lake area. And, the nitrate isotopes showed the significant nitrification and assimilation in the Qiandao Lake area. A Bayesian isotopic mixing model (Stable Isotope Analysis in R) was applied to the spatial and seasonal trends in the proportional contribution of four NO₃^? sources (chemical fertilizer (CF), soil nitrogen (SN), sewage and manure (SM), and atmospheric deposition (AD)) in the Qiandao Lake area. It was revealed that CF was the most important nitrate source in the dry season, accounting for 53.4% with 19.2% of SM and 18.9% of SN, while the contribution of SN increased in the wet season, accounting for 31.6%, followed by CF (30.8%) and then SM (24.2%). The main nitrate sources in the urban area, rural area, and central lake area were CF and SN, accounting for 66.1% in the urban area, 71.7% in the rural area, and 68.2% in the central lake area. Measures should be made to improve chemical fertilizer use efficiency and to reduce nitrogen loss in the Qiandao Lake area.

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Preliminary measurements of summer nitric acid and ammonia concentrations in the Lake Tahoe Basin air-shed: implications for dry deposition of atmospheric nitrogen

Over the past 50 years, Lake Tahoe, an alpine lake located in the Sierra Nevada mountains on the border between California and Nevada, has seen a decline in water clarity. With significant urbanization within its borders and major urban areas 130 km upwind of the prevailing synoptic airflow, it is believed the Lake Tahoe Basin is receiving substantial nitrogen (N) input via atmospheric deposition during summer and fall. We present preliminary inferential flux estimates to both lake surface and forest canopy based on empirical measurements of ambient nitric acid (HNO3), ammonia (NH3), and ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) concentrations, in an effort to identify the major contributors to and ranges of atmospheric dry N deposition to the Lake Tahoe Basin. Total flux from dry deposition ranges from 1.2 to 8.6 kg N ha-1 for the summer and fall dry season and is significantly higher than wet deposition, which ranges from 1.7 to 2.9 kg N ha-1 year-1. These preliminary results suggest that dry deposition of HNO3 is the major source of atmospheric N deposition for the Lake Tahoe Basin, and that overall N deposition is similar in magnitude to deposition reported for sites exposed to moderate N pollution in the southern California mountains.     

The chemical composition of tropospheric aerosols and their contributing sources to a continental background site in northern Zimbabwe from 1994 to 2000

Atmospheric aerosols were collected in separate coarse (2–10 μm diameter) and fine (diameter less than 2 μm) size fractions at Rukomechi Research Station (16.1°S, 29.4°E), Zimbabwe, in the central part of southern Africa, from September 1994 to January 2000. The samples were analysed for the particulate mass (PM), black carbon, and 47 elements. The overall data set and the separate wet and dry season data sets were examined with absolute principal component analysis (APCA). Natural and anthropogenic aerosol sources were identified in both seasons, but the sources and their contributions to the total PM were found to vary between seasons and between size fractions. Crustal matter, sea salt (SS), a mixed biogenic (BIO) emission/biomass burning (BB) component, and a copper component were identified for the coarse aerosols during the wet season. APCA attributed 29% of the total wet season coarse PM to the mixed BIO/BB component, and 32% to SS. The copper component is likely due to the copper smelters in the Zambian Copperbelt. The dry season coarse PM originated from crustal matter, BB, BIO, and SS sources, with the major contribution (32%) coming from BB. Four components (crustal matter, BB, non-ferrous smelters, and SS) were identified for the fine particles for both the wet and dry seasons. The BB component provided the major contribution to the total fine PM, accounting for 44% and 79% in the wet and dry seasons, respectively. The relative contributions to the total PM (both fine and coarse) for all sources were greater in the dry season than the wet season, except for SS.     

Phosphorus mass balance and input load estimation from the wet and dry periods in tropical semiarid reservoirs

The dynamics of total phosphorus (TP) in 18 strategic reservoirs of the high-density reservoir network of the Brazilian semiarid was evaluated during the wet and dry periods for the past 12 years. Seasonal overlying concentrations presented no significant differences for about 90% of the reservoirs (p>0.05). This was attributed to a trade-off between the hydrological/limnological processes occurring in the two seasons. Then, a transient complete-mix mass balance model was applied with particular adaptations for the tropical semiarid reservoirs to estimate the TP load for each season. Because of the relatively well-mixed conditions and high hypolimnetic dissolved oxygen concentrations during the wet season, the wet load was assumed to represent the external TP load. On the other hand, because of the absence of reservoir inflow during the dry season, phosphorus release under anoxic sediment conditions and wind-induced resuspension under shallow water depths, the dry load was assumed to reflect the internal TP load. The maximum external loads were related to peak inflows, notably after drought periods. Consistently, the largest internal loads were obtained during the drought periods, when the reservoirs were shallower and more prone to phosphorus release and resuspension. By comparing the impact of the two input load types, the wet period load was predominant in 72% of the reservoirs. The areal phosphorus loads ranged from 0.66 to 7.29 gP m² year^?1, which were consistent with the literature, despite the very high density of reservoirs. Finally, power-law curves including data for all studied reservoirs were adjusted between the dry period load and volume, dry and wet period loads, wet period load and inflow, and total load and catchment area, resulting in satisfactory R² (0.84–0.98).

     

Gross fluxes of methyl chloride and methyl bromide in a California oak-savanna woodland

Temperate woodland ecosystems are believed to be both a source and sink for atmospheric methyl bromide and methyl chloride. To separate the gross production and consumption fluxes in this ecosystem, we applied a stable isotope tracer technique in field and laboratory-based experiments. Flux measurements were conducted in a California oak-savanna woodland ecosystem at several intervals throughout the day during the wet and dry seasons to observe the diurnal and seasonal variability of fluxes. While gross production was small and variable, gross consumption showed a clear difference between seasons, with much larger rates during the wet season and negligible rates during the dry season. Laboratory incubations confirmed that fluxes were strongly affected by soil moisture. Consumption rates of methyl bromide, however, are less than half of the previous estimates of temperate woodland soil uptake rates during the growing season. Nevertheless, woodlands cover a significant portion of the world's land surface area and may still be an important component of the soil sink for these methyl halides.     

Climatic, socio-economic, and health factors affecting human vulnerability to cholera in the Lake Victoria basin, East Africa

Cholera epidemics have a recorded history in the eastern Africa region dating to 1836. Cholera is now endemic in the Lake Victoria basin, a region with one of the poorest and fastest growing populations in the world. Analyses of precipitation, temperatures, and hydrological characteristics of selected stations in the Lake Victoria basin show that cholera epidemics are closely associated with El Ni?o years. Similarly, sustained temperatures high above normal (T(max)) in two consecutive seasons, followed by a slight cooling in the second season, trigger an outbreak of a cholera epidemic. The health and socioeconomic systems that the lake basin communities rely upon are not robust enough to cope with cholera outbreaks, thus rendering them vulnerable to the impact of climate variability and change. Collectively, this report argues that communities living around the Lake Victoria basin are vulnerable to climate-induced cholera that is aggravated by the low socioeconomic status and lack of an adequate health care system. In assessing the communities' adaptive capacity, the report concludes that persistent levels of poverty have made these communities vulnerable to cholera epidemics.     

Effects of river-lake interactions in water and sediment on phosphorus in Dongting Lake,China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - As a large river connected lake, Dongting Lake is influenced by anthropogenic activities and the discharge from its upstream tributaries in the lake...     

Macroinvertebrate community in relation to water quality and riparian land use in a substropical mountain stream,China

Exploring how water quality and land use shape the benthic macroinvertebrate community composition is of widespread interest in biodiversity conservation and environmental management. In this study, we investigated the structures of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages and their environmental controls in terms of water quality and riparian land use in the Jinshui River, China. We carried out three campaigns including wet season (August 2009), dry season (November 2009), and normal season (April 2010) based on the hydrological regime in Jinshui basin. The result showed that macroinvertebrate assemblage variations were better explained by water quality factors than land use based on variance partitioning procedure. The land use of 2 km upstream from the sampling sites had explained more variation than that of the whole riparian zone in upstream catchment on macroinvertebrate community, and land use of 2 km upstream also had more interactions with water quality. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) indicated that the elements or nutrient of magnesium (Mn), selenium (Se), strontium (Sr), silicon (Si), dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DN), sulfur (S), total organic carbon (TOC), and total nitrogen (TN) in water exhibited a strong relationship with macroinvertebrate assemblages. However, the variance in water quality explained by land use was lower than that explained by water quality in rivers using redundancy analysis. Our study suggested that proximate factors (i.e., water quality) were more important to interpret the macroinvertebrate community compared to ultimate factors (i.e., land use) for macroinvertebrate assemblages in river system.     

Spatial variability in chromophoric dissolved organic matter for an artificial coastal lake (Shiwha) and the upstream catchments at two different seasons

Selected water quality parameters and spectroscopic characteristics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) were examined during two different seasons for an artificial coastal lake (Shiwha Lake in South Korea), which are affected by seawater exchange due to the operation of a tidal power plant and external organic loadings from the upstream catchments. The coastal lake exhibited much lower concentrations of organic matter and nutrients than the upstream sources. The spectroscopic properties of the lake DOM were easily distinguished from those of the catchment sources as revealed by a lower absorption coefficient, lower degree of humification, and higher spectral slopes. The observed DOM properties suggest that the lake DOM may be dominated by smaller molecular size and less condensed structures. For the lake and the upper streams, higher absorption coefficients and fluorescence peak intensities but lower spectral slopes and humification index were found for the premonsoon versus the monsoon season. However, such seasonal differences were less pronounced for the industrial channels in the upper catchments. Three distinctive fluorophore groups including microbial humic-like, tryptophan-like, and terrestrial humic-like fluorescence were decomposed from the fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) of the DOM samples by parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) modeling. The microbial humic-like component was the most abundant for the industrial channels, suggesting that the component may be associated with anthropogenic organic pollution. The terrestrial humic-like component was predominant for the upper streams, and its relative abundance was higher for the rainy season. Our principal component analysis (PCA) results demonstrated that exchange of seawater and seasonally variable input of allochthonous DOM plays important roles in determining the characteristics of DOM in the lake.     

Assessing the chemical behavior and spatial distribution of yttrium and rare earth elements (YREEs) in a coastal aquifer adjacent to the Urmia Hypersaline Lake,NW Iran

This study aims to shed light on the seasonal behavior of yttrium and rare earth elements (YREEs) in the Urmia Aquifer (UA), in the immediate vicinity of Urmia Lake (UL) in Iran. Samples of groundwater, collected under dry and wet conditions in coastal wells of UA, suggest a large degree of variability in both YREE abundance and normalized patterns. Although weathering or water-rock interactions (between the surface/groundwater and rock samples) were predicted to be the most probable source in explaining YREEs in groundwater samples, results to the contrary indicate that the groundwater do not inherit aquifer rock-like YREE signatures in the study area; this might be due to the relative stability of YREEs during the process of water-rock interactions, which suggest that methods based on YREEs can be beneficial in discrimination of water sources. Furthermore, findings demonstrated no significant relationship between Ce/Ce* and salinity (0.08 and 0.05 in wet and dry seasons, respectively), and between Eu/Eu* and salinity (0.1 and ?0.04 in wet and dry seasons, respectively). Dissimilarity of patterns of YREEs in rock and water samples reveals YREEs as no conservative tracers in determining the UL saltwater intrusion into coastal groundwater. Therefore, the groundwater YREE concentrations and fractionation patterns in UA warrant controlling by coastal aquifer need to be controlled by other chemical weathering, adsorption, desorption, and solution complexation reactions. Finally, comparison of REE concentration values in groundwater samples with corresponding indicative admissible drinking water concentrations (IAC) demonstrated their suitability for drinking purposes.

     

Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Sediment Cores of Selected Creeks in Delta State,Nigeria

The spatial and seasonal distribution and concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were investigated in core sediments of Ubeji, Ifie, and Egbokodo creeks in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. A total of 222 core sediment samples were collected during the wet season (August 2010) and the dry season (January 2011). The samples were dried, Soxhlet extracted, fractionated, and injected into a gas chromatograph with flame ionization detector (GC-FID). The concentrations of PAHs ranged from not detected to 2,654 μg/kg (wet season) and not detected to 3,513 μg/kg (dry season). In general, the concentrations of PAHs for a number of stations in this study are comparable to sites with high anthropogenic activities in the Niger Delta. The toxicity risk assessment based on the total BaP equivalent quotient of the seven carcinogenic PAHs (BaA, Chry, BbF, BkF, BaP, DBA, and Iper) was 97.416 μg/kg and did not exceed the method B cleanup level for benzo(a)pyrene (137 μg/kg), according to toxic equivalency factors, which implied that PAHs in sediments of the present study currently have minimal adverse effects. This study provided information on the concentrations and profiles of PAHs sediment cores, which is useful for source diagnosis, environmental quality management, contamination history, and environmental forensic studies.     

Dynamics of suspended sediment exchange and transport in a degraded mangrove creek in Kenya

This study focuses on sediment exchange dynamics in Mwache Creek, a shallow tidal mangrove wetland in Kenya. The surface area of the creek is 17 km2 at high water spring. The creek experiences semidiurnal tides with tidal ranges of 3.2 m and 1.4 m during spring and neap tides, respectively. The creek is ebb dominant in the frontwater zone main channel and is flood dominant in the backwater zone main channel. During rainy season, the creek receives freshwater and terrigenous sediments from the seasonal Mwache River. Heavy supply of terrigenous sediments during the El Ni?o of 1997-1998 led to the huge deposition of sediments (10(60 tonnes) in the wetland that caused massive destruction of the mangrove forest in the upper region. In this study, sea level, tidal discharges, tidal current velocities, salinity, total suspended sediment concentrations (TSSC) and particulate organic sediment concentrations (POSC) measured in stations established within the main channel and also within the mangrove forests, were used to determine the dynamics of sediment exchange between the frontwater and backwater zones of the main channel including also the exchange with mangrove forests. The results showed that during wet seasons, the high suspended sediment concentration associated with river discharge and tidal resuspension of fine channel-bed sediment accounts for the inflow of highly turbid water into the degraded mangrove forest. Despite the degradation of the mangrove forest, sediment outflow from the mangrove forest was considerably less than the inflow. This caused a net trapping of sediment in the wetland. The net import of the sediment dominated in spring tide during both wet and dry season and during neap tide in the wet season. However, as compared to heavily vegetated mangrove wetlands, the generally degraded Mwache Creek mangrove wetland sediment trapping efficiency is low as the average is about 30% for the highly degraded backwater zone mangrove forest and 65% in the moderately degraded frontwater zone mangrove forest.     

Estimating risk at a Superfund site using passive sampling devices as biological surrogates in human health risk models

Passive sampling devices (PSDs) sequester the freely dissolved fraction of lipophilic contaminants, mimicking passive chemical uptake and accumulation by biomembranes and lipid tissues. Public Health Assessments that inform the public about health risks from exposure to contaminants through consumption of resident fish are generally based on tissue data, which can be difficult to obtain and requires destructive sampling. The purpose of this study is to apply PSD data in a Public Health Assessment to demonstrate that PSDs can be used as a biological surrogate to evaluate potential human health risks and elucidate spatio-temporal variations in risk. PSDs were used to measure polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Willamette River; upriver, downriver and within the Portland Harbor Superfund megasite for 3 years during wet and dry seasons. Based on an existing Public Health Assessment for this area, concentrations of PAHs in PSDs were substituted for fish tissue concentrations. PSD measured PAH concentrations captured the magnitude, range and variability of PAH concentrations reported for fish/shellfish from Portland Harbor. Using PSD results in place of fish data revealed an unacceptable risk level for cancer in all seasons but no unacceptable risk for non-cancer endpoints. Estimated cancer risk varied by several orders of magnitude based on season and location. Sites near coal tar contamination demonstrated the highest risk, particularly during the dry season and remediation activities. Incorporating PSD data into Public Health Assessments provides specific spatial and temporal contaminant exposure information that can assist public health professionals in evaluating human health risks.     

Impact of impoldering and lake restoration on land-cover changes in Dongting Lake area, Central Yangtze

Human activities can have a remarkable effect on land-cover patterns over time. This study characterized long-term (1930s-1998) land-cover changes in Dongting Lake area in the Central Yangtze River, China, by digitalizing historical topographical maps for the 1930s and 1950s and interpreting satellite remote sensing data for 1978, 1989, and 1998. The study indicates that land-cover patterns in Dongting Lake area have been greatly altered by impoldering and subsequent lake restoration activities in the past 70 years. There are two distinct periods of change characterized by impoldering (1930s-1978) and lake restoration (1978-1998). In the former period, cropland increased sharply at the cost of a drop in other land-cover types, which had resulted in significant negative consequences, while the pattern of land-cover changes reversed in the later period.     

Nitrogen biogeochemistry in the Adirondack Mountains of New York: hardwood ecosystems and associated surface waters

Studies on the nitrogen (N) biogeochemistry in Adirondack northern hardwood ecosystems were summarized. Specific focus was placed on results at the Huntington Forest (HFS), Pancake-Hall Creek (PHC), Woods Lake (WL), Ampersand (AMO), Catlin Lake (CLO) and Hennessy Mountain (HM). Nitrogen deposition generally decreased from west to east in the Adirondacks, and there have been no marked temporal changes in N deposition from 1978 through 1998. Second-growth western sites (WL, PHC) had higher soil solution NO(3-) concentrations and fluxes than the HFS site in the central Adirondacks. Of the two old-growth sites (AMO and CLO), AMO had substantially higher NO(3-) concentrations due to the relative dominance of sugar maple that produced litter with high N mineralization and nitrification rates. The importance of vegetation in affecting N losses was also shown for N-fixing alders in wetlands. The Adirondack Manipulation and Modeling Project (AMMP) included separate experimental N additions of (NH4)2SO4 at WL, PHC and HFS and HNO3 at WL and HFS. Patterns of N loss varied with site and form of N addition and most of the N input was retained. For 16 lake/watersheds no consistent changes in NO(3-) concentrations were found from 1982 to 1997. Simulations suggested that marked NO(3-) loss will only be manifested over extended periods. Studies at the Arbutus Watershed provided information on the role of biogeochemical and hydrological factors in affecting the spatial and temporal patterns of NO(3-) concentrations. The heterogeneous topography in the Adirondacks has generated diverse landscape features and patterns of connectivity that are especially important in regulating the temporal and spatial patterns of NO(3-) concentrations in surface waters.     

Reconstruction of centuries-old Daphnia communities in a lake recovering from acidification and metal contamination

Paleolimnological and molecular genetic techniques were combined to reconstruct the long-term patterns in Daphnia community composition in Hannah Lake--a lake recovering from industrial acidification, metal contamination and faunal extirpation. Like many zooplankters, Daphnia produce diapausing eggs that can remain viable for decades and even over a century. Yet, the appearance of D. mendotae in Hannah Lake during the last two decades is likely the outcome of dispersal from other nearby lakes, not by colonization from the sediment egg-bank. Our genetic tests using PCR, SSCP and sequencing indicate that D. mendotae diapausing eggs are absent within the sediment record of the previous 250 years and that, prior to metal smelting operations in the region, the community was dominated by D. pulicaria. This species shift following the lake's chemical restoration is consistent with earlier historical changes in lake acidity. Environmental fluctuations may have governed community composition throughout Hannah Lake's more ancient past. Extending this molecular-paleolimnological approach to other lakes should help develop more accurate formulations of the biological recovery process.     

Bacterial community structure analyses to assess pollution of water and sediments in the Lake Shkodra/Skadar, Balkan Peninsula

- Goal, Scope, Background. Lake Skadar is the largest lake in Balkan Peninsula, located on the Montenegro-Albanian border. The unique features of the lake and wide range of endemic and rare or endangered plant and animal species resulted in the classification of the Skadar as a wetland site of international significance. In spite of its importance the Lake is influenced by inflowing waters from river Morača and other regional rivers contaminated by the industry, municipal and agricultural activities in the area. Therefore, the Lake has been subject of various physical, chemical, biological and toxicological examinations. However, community-level analyses are most relevant to assess the effect of stressors on aquatic ecosystems. In the present study bacterial community structure among differently polluted sites of the lake was compared by genetic fingerprinting technique. Methods Water and sediment samples were collected from five differently polluted sampling sites on the Lake Skadar in spring and autumn of the same year. The bacterial community structure in the samples was characterized and compared by temporal temperature gel electrophoresis (TTGE) analysis of polymerase chain reaction-amplified bacterial 16S rRNA genes. Results and Discussion The TTGE analysis resulted in many distinguishable and reproducible band patterns, allowing reliable comparison of bacterial communities among sampling sites. Results on the bacterial community structure revealed that three of the selected locations can be considered as sites that have not shown any pollution degradation determined by our method, due to similar structure of bacterial community in the sediment samples. On the other hand, significant shifts in bacterial community structure in the mouth of the river Morača and Plavnica were shown. Since the results coincide with some of the bioassays and chemical analysis performed previously, the changes in bacterial community structure are explained as an effect of antropogenic pollution on the lake ecosystem by waters of river Morača and stream Plavnica. Conclusion The TTGE has proven to be an efficient and reliable method to monitor bacterial dynamics and community shifts in aquatic environment, especially in the sediments. Within the variety of environmental quality assessments the use of TTGE analyses of bacterial community is strongly recommended, particularly as an initial investigation. However, in any conclusion on the state of the environment, the TTGE results should be combined to some other biological, chemical and hydrological data. Recommendation and Outlook Since prokaryotes are a crucial group of organisms in the biosphere, the ecosystem function studies are largely based on bacterial communities. Therefore, bacterial community structure analysis should be a part of an integrated weight of evidence approach in pollution assessment. In case of Triad approach, consisting of chemical analyses, bioassays, and community studies in the field, the TTGE bacterial community structure analyses should be placed in the later Triad leg. In comparison to other community studies, based on various biotic indices, the TTGE bacterial community analysis has proven to be very sensitive, reliable and less time consuming.     

Variations in source apportionments of nutrient load among seasons and hydrological years in a semi-arid watershed: GWLF model results

Quantifying source apportionments of nutrient load and their variations among seasons and hydrological years can provide useful information for watershed nutrient load reduction programs. There are large seasonal and inter-annual variations in nutrient loads and their sources in semi-arid watersheds that have a monsoon climate. The Generalized Watershed Loading Function model was used to simulate monthly nutrient loads from 2004 to 2011 in the Liu River watershed, Northern China. Model results were used to investigate nutrient load contributions from different sources, temporal variations of source apportionments and the differences in the behavior of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP). Examination of source apportionments for different seasons showed that point sources were the main source of TN and TP in the non-flood season, whereas contributions from diffuse sources, such as rural runoff, soil erosion, and urban areas, were much higher in the flood season. Furthermore, results for three typical hydrological years showed that the contribution ratios of nutrient loads from point sources increased as streamflow decreased, while contribution ratios from rural runoff and urban area increased as streamflow increased. Further, there were significant differences between TN and TP sources on different time scales. Our findings suggest that priority actions and management measures should be changed for different time periods and hydrological conditions, and that different strategies should be used to reduce loads of nitrogen and phosphorus effectively.     

Assessment of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in sediment of Asunle stream of the Obafemi Awolowo University,Ile-Ife,Nigeria

Assessment of levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) from the sediment of Asunle stream, an adjourning stream of the Obafemi Awolowo University dumpsite, has been carried out. Sediment samples were collected from the stream at six locations for a period of 8 months, composed of 4 months each of wet (May–Aug) and dry (Nov–Feb) seasons. Soxhlet extraction was employed for the isolation of all the target compounds from the sediment samples. Extracts were further subjected to multi-layer column chromatography employing different forms of silica gel. The prepared samples were analyzed using GC-MS. The overall mean concentrations of the total PBDEs ranged from 1.80 to 9.46 ng/g. The results showed that the concentrations of the PBDEs were slightly higher during the wet season than those during the dry season. In all the studied locations, BDE28, BDE47, BDE99, BDE100, BDE153, and BDE154 were detected in all the sediment samples at concentrations that ranged from 0.73 to 10.43 ng/g. Results of this study indicated that BDE153 was the major pollutant of the Asunle stream sediments.     

Aliphatic Hydrocarbons Distribution in Sediment Cores of Select Creeks in Delta State,Nigeria

The spatial and seasonal changes in the distribution, composition, and concentrations of aliphatic hydrocarbons were investigated in sediment cores of Ubeji, Ifie, and Egbokodo Creeks in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. A total of 222 sediment core samples were collected during the wet season (August 2010) and the dry season (January 2011). The samples were dried, soxhlet extracted, fractionated and analyzed for aliphatic hydrocarbons by using a gas chromatograph with flame ionization detector (GC-FID). The concentrations of aliphatic hydrocarbons ranged from 37 to 286,894 μg/kg (wet season) and from 30 to 11,773 μg/kg (dry season). The concentrations of n-alkanes for a number of stations in this study are comparable to sites with high anthropogenic activities in the Niger Delta. The carbon preference index (CPI) and the pristane/phytane ratios showed that the major source of hydrocarbon pollution in the sediment core was from petrogenic origin.