Quantitative evaluation of n-alkanes, PAHs, and petroleum biomarker accumulation in beach-stranded tar balls and coastal surface sediments in the Bushehr Province, Persian Gulf (Iran)

Coastal areas within the Bushehr Province (BP), Persian Gulf, Iran, face great challenges due to the heavy organic contamination caused by rapid industrialization, and the presence of numerous oil fields. In addition, in 2014, a significant number of tar balls are found along the coasts of BP. A total of 96 samples (48 coastal sediments and 48 tar balls) were taken from eight sampling points at the BP coast during the summer of 2014. These samples were analyzed to identify the sources and characteristics of their organic matter using diagnostic ratios and fingerprint analysis based on the distribution of the source-specific biomarkers of n-alkanes, PAHs,¹1Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons hopanes and steranes. Mean concentration of n-alkanes (μg g⁻¹ dw) and PAHs (ng g⁻¹ dw) varied respectively from 405 to 220,626, and 267 to 23,568 in coastal sediments, while ranged respectively from 664 to 145,285 and 390 to 46,426 in tar balls. In addition, mean concentration of hopanes and steranes (ng g⁻¹ dw) were between 18.17 and 3349 and 184.66 to 1578 in coastal sediments, whereas in tar balls were 235–1899 and 520–1504, respectively. Pri/Phy²2Pristane/Phytane ratio was 0.25 to 1.51 (0.65) and 0.36 to 1 (0.63) in coastal sediment and tar ball samples, respectively, and the occurrence of UCM³3Unresolved Complex Mixture in both matrices, reflecting the petrogenic OM⁴4Organic Matter inputs and chronic oil contamination, respectively. The C₃₀ and C₂₉ homologues followed Gammacerane were detected in both matrices, in particular those collected from intensive industrial activities, suggesting petrogenic sources of OM. The coastal sediment PAHs profiles were significantly dominated by HMW⁵5Higher Molecular Weight-PAHs in the Bahregan Beach (BAB) (78% of total PAHs), Bandare-Genaveh (GP) (66%), and Bandare-Bushehr (BUB) (61%) stations, while the Bashi Beach (BSB) (40%), Bandare-Kangan (KP) (57%), and Bandare-Asaluyeh (AP) (51%) stations exhibited higher proportion of LMW⁶6Lower Molecular Weight-PAHs. PCA⁷7Principal Component Analysis indicated that the tar ball and coastal sediment samples deposited along the Southwest of the BP beaches are most likely originated from the Abuzar oil. Based on the intensity of the anthropogenic activities, NPMDS⁸8Non-Parametric Multi-Dimensional Scaling analysis revealed that the GP, BAB, NNP, AP, and KP sampling sites had a high concentration of detected organic pollutants. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that investigates oil pollution in costal sediments and tar balls in the BP, providing insights in to the fate of oil in the coastal areas of the Persian Gulf, Iran.