Research Article
Distribution and Sources of Aliphatic Hydrocarbons in Surface Sediments of Al-Arbaeen Lagoon, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Turki AJ*Department of Marine Chemistry, Faculty of Marine Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- *Corresponding Author:
- Turki AJ
Department of Marine Chemistry
Faculty of Marine Science
King Abdulaziz University
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Tel: +966 2640 0000
E-mail: touliabah2@hotmail.com
Received Date: January 22, 2016; Accepted Date: March 08, 2016; Published Date: March 22, 2016
Citation: Turki AJ (2016) Distribution and Sources of Aliphatic Hydrocarbons in Surface Sediments of Al-Arbaeen Lagoon, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. J Fisheries Livest Prod 4:173. doi: 10.4172/2332-2608.1000173
Copyright: © 2016 Turki AJ. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Al-Arbaeen lagoon, in the central part of Jeddah city, well-known for tourists and fisheries, receive high inputs of organic matter mostly anthropogenic. Samples of surficial bottom sediments were collected from eighteen stations along the Al-Arbaeen lagoon and have been analyzed and characterized in terms of their contents of biogenic and anthropogenic hydrocarbon biomarkers. The analysis of aliphatic hydrocarbons in surficial sediments, based on GC/ MS and biomarkers (triterpane and sterane) fingerprinting, showed that these hydrocarbons were mainly derived from petroleum sources. The coastal sediments analyses of all sites of the study area indicate that levels of petroleum hydrocarbons (60.13-2510.35 μg/g dry wt total hydrocarbons) are generally far higher than those from sediments adjacent to effluent discharge sites of a sewage treatment plant in Chesapeake Bay, USA. The continuous deposition of hydrocarbons in Al-Arbaeen lagoon might be connected with different pollutant sources (petrogenic and/or biogenic) via the effluent discharge point and/or the highly urbanized areas located very close to the lagoon.
