Hydrocarbon contamination of coastal sediments from the Sfax area (Tunisia), Mediterranean Sea

The coastal area off the city of Sfax (730 000 inahitants), well-known for fisheries and industrial activities, receives high inputs of organic matter mostly anthropogenic. Eighteen stations were selected in the vicinity of t he direct discharge of industrial sewage effluents in the sea in order to s tudy the spatial distribution of the organic contamination, Surface sedimen ts sampled in the shallow shelf were analysed for hydrocarbons by Fourier t ransform infrared spectroscopy, gas chromatography and gas chromatography/m ass spectrometry, Total hydrocarbon distributions revealed high contaminati on as compared to other coastal Mediterranean sites, with an average concen tration of 1865 ppm/dry weight sediment. Gas chromatographic distribution p atterns, values of unresolved mixture/n-alkane ratio and distributions of s teranes and hopanes confirmed a petroleum contamination of the Arabian ligh t crude oil type. Biogenic compounds were also identified with a series of short-chain carbon-numbered n-alkenes in the carbon range 16-24, (C) 2001 E lsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.