GRIMALT, JO , CANTON, L , POSTIGO ALONSO, BÁRBARA
No
Environ. Sci. Technol.
Article
Científica
0
0
01/11/1992
A1992JV98900031
The statistical significance of the coastal pollution mapping studies based on the sedimentary composition of aliphatic, chlorinated, and aromatic hydrocarbons has been evaluated from the replicate sampling (four research vessel cruises) and analysis of six coastline perpendicular transects, each situated in front of a river mouth. The analysis of variance has shown that this type of sediment network affords the recognition of the main coastal pollution discharge sites at the 1 % confidence level, but it is not useful for tracing their area of influence. In addition, qualitative and quantitative changes in polychlorinated biphenyl composition (also significant at the 1 % confidence level) have shown that the concentrations of coastal sedimentary hydrocarbons are not in steady state. All hydrocarbons studied are log-normally distributed, which parallels the grain-size composition of the sedimentary matrices and is consistent with a close association between these hydrophobic compounds and water-suspended particles.