title: Vertical fluxes of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea.
abstract: Aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon fluxes were measured in time series sediment trap samples at 200 m and at 1000 m depths in the open Northwestern Mediterranean Sea, from December 2000 to July 2002. Averaged fluxes of n-alkanes, UCM and T-PAH(35) were 2.96 ± 2.60 μg m(-2) d(-1), 64 ± 60 μg m(-2) d(-1) and 0.68 ± 0.59 μg m(-2) d(-1), respectively. Molecular compositions of both hydrocarbon classes showed a contamination in petrogenic hydrocarbons well above the background levels of such an open site, whereas pyrolytic hydrocarbons stand in the range of other open Mediterranean locations. Fluxes displayed ample interannual and seasonal variabilities, mainly related to mass flux variation while concentration evolutions trigger secondary changes in pollutant fluxes. High lithogenic flux events exported particles with a larger pollutant load than biogenic particles formed during the spring bloom and during the summer. Sinking hydrocarbons were efficiently transported from 200 m to 1000 m.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat, Expérimentation et Approches Numériques, LOCEAN/IPSL, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-CNRS-IRD-MNHN, UMR 7159, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France.
authors.forename: Rémi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Deyme
authors.forename: Ioanna
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bouloubassi
authors.forename: Marie-Hélène
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Taphanel-Valt
authors.forename: Juan-Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Miquel
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lorre
authors.forename: Jean-Claude
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Marty
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Méjanelle
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006839:Hydrocarbons, Acyclic / Q000032:analysis*; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D012621:Seasons; D012623:Seawater / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D006839:Hydrocarbons, Acyclic; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical