Search

The desorption behavior of phenanthrene, pyrene, and benzo[a]pyrene was investigated for three Norwegian harbor sediments and their respective particle size fractions using the Tenax desorption method. Rate constants for rapidly, slowly, and very slowly desorbing fractions were on the order of 10(-1), 10(-2) to 10(-4), and 10(-4) to 10(-6)/h, respectively. Relatively small amounts were present in the rapidly desorbing fractions (F(rapid): < 6% for phenanthrene, 3-19% for pyrene, and 1-12% for benzo[a]pyrene). With the exception of benzo[a]pyrene, these F(rapid) values were generally lower than median F(rapid) values obtained from more than 100 literature values for native polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (22% for phenanthrene, 29% for pyrene, and 8% for benzo[a]pyrene). To understand which parameters influence PAH desorption, relations between desorption behavior and the sediment characteristics were investigated. A significant positive correlation was found between the extent of slow and very slow desorption and the ratios of black carbon to total organic carbon, as well as the temperature at which 50 and 90%, respectively, of the organic matter was oxidized, as obtained from oxidation-only Rock Eval analysis. Thus, black carbon-bound PAHs probably desorb slowly and very slowly. Furthermore, significant positive correlations between desorption behavior and the average particle size were observed, which could be explained by retarded intraparticle diffusion.

It has recently been shown that the presence of carbonaceous geosorbents (CG, including black carbon (BC), unburned coal, and kerogen) can cause strong sorption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments. We studied sorption of native PAHs in four Norwegian harbor sediments of which high fractions (21-56%) of the total organic carbon (TOC) consisted of CG carbon (CGC), as shown by organic petrography. PAH sorption coefficients were 1-2 orders of magnitude above predictions based on amorphous organic carbon partitioning alone. In recent studies, such strong sorption was attributed solely to BC sorption under the implicit assumption that sorption is linear for coal and kerogen. The most important result of the present study is that total sorption is better explained by considering all three nonlinearly sorbing CGC materials than by only considering BC. In addition, it was evaluated whether activated carbon (AC) amendments could be effective in reducing the freely dissolved pore-water concentrations (CW) and thus the environmental risks of the PAHs in such strongly sorbing sediments. The results indicated that an addition of 2 weight % AC reduced the Cw by factors of 21-153 for the four sediments (average values for all PAHs). Itwas shown that phenanthrene sorption to AC was, on average, reduced by a factor of 6 in sediment-AC mixtures compared to pure AC.

Pyrogenic carbon particles in sediments (soot and charcoal, collectively termed "black carbon" or BC) appear to be efficient sorbents of many hydrophobic organic compounds, so they may play an important role in the fate and toxicity of these substances. To properly model toxicant sorption behavior, it is important to (i) quantify the magnitude of the role of BC in sorption and (ii) elucidate which geochemical BC characteristics determine the strength of environmental BC sorption. Sorption isotherms of d10-phenanthrene (d10-PHE) were determined over a wide concentration range (0.0003-20 microg/L), for five sediments with widely varying characteristics. From the sorption isotherms, we determined Freundlich coefficients of environmental BC sorption, K(F,BCenv. These varied from 10(4.7) to 10(5.5). From the data, it could be deduced that BC was responsible for 49-85% of the total d10-PHE sorption at a concentration of 1 ng/L. At higher concentrations, the importance of BC for the sorption process diminished to <20% at 1 microg/L and 0-1% at 1 mg/L. There were no significant relationships between BC sorption strength and the tested geochemical BC characteristics [the fraction of small (<38 microm) BC particles, the BC resistance to high-temperature oxidation, the fraction of biomass-derived BC, the native polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and total organic carbon contents]. Because of the limited variation in BC sorption strength with widely varying BC characteristics, the presented BC sorption coefficients may putatively be used as generic starting points for environmental modeling purposes.

The aim of this study is to interpret the palaeoenvironmental conditions established during the formation of several lignite seams at the Mavropigi deposit, Ptolemais, Greece (corehole MAK-48). In nine representative lignite samples, ash contents, as well as the contents of the elements C, H, N, O, and S were determined. Polished block sections from the same samples were examined under the microscope. The ash contents (750°C) of the studied lignite seams range between 10–29% (on dry basis). The contents of C, H, N, and O display values between 36–55%, 2.4–4.6%, 0.7–2%, and 21–37.5%, respectively, while S contents do not exceed 1.4%. Huminite is the prevailing maceral group (87–95%). All the samples, except No. 35, display a distinct prevalence in detrohuminite maceral subgroup (up to 69 vol%, mmf). Liptinite and inertinite maceral groups show low contents, which do not exceed 9% and 7%, respectively. The Mavropigi lignites are medium to low grade coals and can be regarded as peat to lignite in terms of thermal maturity. The studied lignite seams formed in fens, possibly from herbaceous plants under limnotelmatic regime. During peat deposition, conditions were very moist and intense reducing with increased bacterial activity. The ratio of plant growth and peat accumulation versus rise of water table due to the subsidence rate was not well balanced. As a result, the petrographical composition of the Mavropigi lignites is related either to a long residence time of the organic matter in the acrotelm or to a herbaceous vegetation origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to provide useful coal-petrographic data, which will further help the characterization, exploitation, and utilization of the Kardia lignite deposit and also initially to access the depositional conditions mainly in terms of water table level and subsidence rate of the fen substrate. Ash contents, as well as the C, H, N, O, and S were determined in nine lignite samples from core KT6A-3. The ash contents (750°C) of the studied lignite seams range among 14–37% (on dry basis). Contents of C, H, N, and O have values between 34–52%, 2.5–4.2%, 0.8–2%, and 21–30.6%, respectively. Sulfur does not exceed 1.2%. Huminite group dominates with values between 84–99 vol%, mmf. All samples display a distinct prevalence in detrohuminite (up to 82 vol%) with attrinite being most abundant. Liptinite and inertinite macerals have low contents, which do not exceed 8% and 12%, respectively. The Kardia lignites are medium to very low-grade coals. They formed in fens under limnotelmatic regime and originated from herbaceous vegetation. During peat deposition, conditions were well moist, intense reducing, and favored increased bacterial activity. The ratio of plant growth and peat accumulation versus rise of water table due to the subsidence rate was not well balanced. The petrographical composition of the Kardia lignites is related either to a long residence time of the organic matter in the acrotelm or to an herbaceous vegetation origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]