Origin of Hydrocarbons in Suspended Matter and Bottom Sediments near the Crimean Peninsula

Abstract

The study of hydrocarbons has shown that their content in the surface water of Feodosiya Gulf varies greatly (from 11 to 179 µg/L) and sometimes exceeds the maximal permissible concentration (MPC) for oil hydrocarbons. Their greatest concentrations were revealed in 2016. Alkanes were of mixed autochthonous and allochthonous origin. Weathered oil hydrocarbons were revealed only in some samples. The content of hydrocarbons in bottom sediments depended on their granulometric composition, and they were dominated by terrigenous alkanes. Oil and pyrogenic hydrocarbons were revealed as components of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In an open part of the Black Sea to the south of the Crimean Peninsula, the content of hydrocarbons in the surface water and bottom sediments was at the level of background concentration, and they were dominated by terrigenous homologues.