Atmospheric Deposition and Marine Sedimentation Fluxes of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin

Abstract

Atmospheric input was studied and found to be the major source of PAHs in the eastern Mediterranean open marine ecosystem. Dry and wet atmospheric deposition, airsea exchange, and sediment trap fluxes of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the eastern Mediterranean basin were estimated from November 2000 to July 2002. Seven dry and four wet deposition samples were analyzed in total and PAH concentrations were determined. Airsea exchange fluxes based on air-water concentration gradient were drawn from five air and water samples collected concurrently from a coastal area in the eastern Mediterranean. Total annual average deposition fluxes of dry, wet, and air-sea exchange 35PAHs were 58.0, 165.7, and -706.4 ìg m-2 y-1, respectively. Only 1.1 and 0.7percent of the total atmospheric deposition flux of PAHs was measured in the sediment traps at 280 and 1440 m depth, respectively.