sources, vertical fluxes and accumulation of petroleum hydrocarbons in sediments from the mandovi estuary, west coast of india

the mandovi estuary is highly influenced by mining and tourism related activities in the centralwest coast of india. vertical fluxes and accumulation of petroleum hydrocarbons (phcs) in three sedimentcores (d1, c1 and og) from the mandovi estuary were assessed using ultra-violet fluorescence (uvf)spectroscopy. the range of phcs values in estuarine sediments varied from 5.4 to 12.34 μg/g enrichment ofphcs values in the upper parts of three sediment cores were mostly derived from terrestrial and marinerelated sources including petrogenic (discharge of land based effluents and petroleum products), pyrogenic(emission of fly ash from industries and vehicles and combustion of petrol from ore-filled barges, boats andships) and biogenic (mangrove vegetation along the banks of the estuary) sources. the significant positiverelationship between mud (silt + clay) and phcs unveiled that high specific surface of area of mud contentraise the level of petroleum hydrocarbons. cluster analysis was used to discriminate the sediment samplesbased on their degree of contamination. values of phcs in the upper part of sediment cores were distinctlyhigher than the background but were lower than those found in the thane creek, west coast india (7.6–42.8μg/g) and off chennai, east coast of india (1.8 – 39.72 μg/g). this baseline phcs data can be used for regularecological monitoring and effective management for the mining and tourism related activities in the mandoviestuary.