Contents and Distribution of Petroleum Hydrocarbons (PHC) in Jiaozhou Bay Waters

doi:10.4236/ojms.2011.13011

Paper Menu >>

Journal Menu >>

Open Journal of Marine Science, 2011, 3, 108-112

doi:10.4236/ojms.2011.13011 Published Online October 2011 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/ojms)

Contents and Distribution of Petroleum Hydrocarbons

(PHC) in Jiaozhou Bay Waters

Dongfang Yang1,2,3, Youchi Zhang1, Jie Zou1, Qing Zhou 1, Hailing Yang1

1North China Sea Environmental Monitoring Center, SOA, Qingdao, China

2Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environment & Disaster Prevention and Mitigation,

Qingdao, China

3College of Marine Science, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan, China

E-mail: [email protected]

Received July 24, 2011; revised August 18, 2011; accepted September 11, 2011

Abstract

Based on data from the investigation in Jiaozhou bay waters in 1979, the distribution, pollution source and

seasonal variation of PHC in Jiaozhou Bay are analyzed. It is showed that in Jiaozhou bay PHC contents ar-

rived the national Category of the water quality standard during this year. In summer in the bay the pollⅡu-

tion of PHC was heavy, while relatively light in spring. In the coastal waters in the east and the northeast of

the bay, the PHC contents in spring surpassed the national Category , and surpassed the national Category Ⅱ

Ⅲ. In the coastal waters, in the northeast of the bay, the change of the PHC contents formed the grads: the

contents presented the falling trend from the big one to the small, which unveiled that the PHC souce in the

bay mainly came from the discharge of the industrial waste water and living sewage.

Keywords: Petroleum Hydrocarbons (PHC), Distribution, Content, Source, Jiaozhou Bay

1. Introduction

Marine oil pollution has become the most serious and

public-interested marine event, which cause serious da-

mage to the marine and coastal environment. The pro-

duction of the oil has been increasing every year. Accor-

ding to the estimate, in 1970 the production was 22 mil-

lions, while in the 1990 the production reached to 30

millions [1], lots of oily wastewater, oil pollution, and

some other industrial effluent and the living water has

been discharged into the ocean, which polluted the land

as well as the coastal waters [2,3]. So, studying the con-

tamination of petroleum hydrocarbons (PHC) in the

coastal waters is very important to improve coastal envi-

ronment and to restore the sustainable ecological devel-

opment.

In this paper, based on the PHC data in 1979, we dis-

cussed the source, distribution and the transfer process of

PHC, and studied the distribution characteristics and the

seasonal change of the PHC which provided the theoretic

basis for the control and restoration of the environment

of the PHC pollution.

Jiaozhou Bay is a semi-closed natural inland bay, lo-

cated in the central of Yellow Sea, south of Shandong

Peninsula, between longitude 120°04' - 120°23' and lati-

tude 35°58' - 36°18', its depth is shallow (average depth

of 7 m), the bay mouth is narrow (about 2.5 km), and the

time of completing the seawater exchange in the Jiao-

zhou bay is about 15 days [4-6]. In the eastern and

northeastern coast of the Jiaozhou bay there is the Qing-

dao’s industrial-intensive area. There are some main riv-

ers such as Yang River and Dagu River into the Jiaozhou

bay. In the east of the bay, Haibo, Licun and Lou Rivers

with a lot of industrial and domestic waste water into the

bay brings a lot of pollutant, causing the damage of the

bay environment.

2. Material and Method

The data used here were recorded in May and August in

1979 by the North China Sea Environmental Monitoring

Center, SOA, in eight stations: H34, H35, H36, H37,

H38, H39, H40, and H41 (Figure 1). Water samples

were collected according to the depth of water (if more

than 15 m, collect surface layer and bottom layer; if less

than 15 m, only collect surface layer). In the investiga-

tion and sampling, 500 ml seawater of surface layer was

collected by non-oil glass hydrophore for petroleum hy-

drocarbon analysis and then 1:3 H2SO4 solution was

added in the sample immediately, and adjusted the sam

D. F. YANG ET AL. 109

Figure 1. Investigation sites in Jiaozhou Bay.

ple to weak acid (Ph ≈ 4), and then extracted it twice

with 0.01m3 petroleum ether and stored it at (5 ± 2)℃

away from light. In the lab 751 GD ultraviolet spectro-

photo- meter was used to mensurate oil content in water

sample, which was used with the same the method as in

Monitoring Standards of Ocean (GB 17378. 3, 4, 7 - 1998).

3. Results

3.1. Amount of Content

In May, in the surface water in the whole Jiaozhou Bay,

the PHC content ranged from 0.08 to 0.32 mg/L, whose

seawater quality was worse than CategoryⅠ(0.05 mg/L)of

the National Standard of China for Seawater Quality

GB3097－1997(in which 3 categories 1 to 3 are classi-

fied from the best to the worst). Except for station H38,

the seawater quality in the whole waters reached the

CategoryⅡ(0.30 mg/L). The seawater quality only in the

waters of station H38 was worse than the CategoryⅡ

(0.30 mg/L).

In August, the PHC content in the water body increa-

sed distinctly, reaching 0.10 to 1.10 mg/L, whose sea-

water quality in the whole waters was worse than the

CategoryⅠ(0.05 mg/L). Except for station H39, the

seawater quality in the whole waters reached the Category

Ⅱ(0.30 mg/L). Only the seawater quality of station H39

was worse than the Category Ⅲ (0.50 mg/L) (Table 1).

3.2. Horizontal Distribution

In May, in the surface water in the Jiaozhou Bay, the

PHC content decreased from the northeast to the south-

west gradually, declining from 0.32 mg/L to 0.08 mg/L.

In the surface water off the shore between estuaries of

Haibo River and Licun River which were the adjacent

rivers in the east, there was a series of semi-concentric

circles with the center of H38 where PHC was the high-

est (0.32 mg/L), and decreased generally outwards, evi-

dently higher than that in the southwestern waters includ-

ing the center, mouth and outside of the bay (Figure 2).

In summer, the isoline (Figure 3) on the PHC content

in the surface water showed that with station H39 as the

center, a series of semi-concentric circles in different

gradients formed. In the northeast of the Bay there was

the two adjacent rivers of Licun River and Loushan

River, and in the coastal waters between the estuaries of

these two rivers, there was an area with a high content of

Table 1. the surface water quality in Jiaozhou Bay in May

and August.

May August

PHC content in

seawater（mg/L）

The National Standard

of China for Seawater

Quality

0.08 - 0.32

CategoryⅡand Ⅲ

0.10 - 1.10

CategoryⅡandⅢ

D. F. YANG ET AL.

110

Figure 2. PHC distribution at the surface in Jiaozhou Bay in May (mg/L).

Figure 3. PHC distribution at the surface in Jiaozhou Bay in August (mg/L).

PHC. With station H39 as the center, the PHC content

declined from a high content (1.10 mg/L) in the center to

along the gradients. From the coastal waters in the north-

east to the central waters of the Bay, the PHC content d

creased from 1.10 mg/ to 0.10 mg/L. In this way, along

the flowing direction of the Haibo River, Licun

D. F. YANG ET AL.111

River and Loushan River, the PHC content in the water

body in Jiaozhou Bay fell gradually (Figure 3).

3.3. Seasonal Distribution

In spring, in the whole water body of Jiaozhou Bay, the

PHC content range in the surface water was from 0.08

mg/L to 0.32 mg/L, while in summer it was from 0.10

mg/L to 1.10 mg/L, reaching a very high value. At sta-

tions H34 and H40, the minus value between the PHC

contents in August and May were minus, ranging from

–0.02 to –0.01, but the values of other stations were

positive, ranging from 0.01 to 0.91. Station H34 was

located outside of the Bay, while station H40 was in the

northernmost part of the Bay, which demonstrated that in

the surface water body of the Jiaozhou bay, almost all the

PHC content in the surface in summer surpassed that in

spring.

4. Discussion

4.1. Water Quality

In the Jiaozhou Bay waters, the PHC content in spring

reached the CategoryⅡand Ⅲ, so did it in summer. In

addition, in summer, the PHC content in some waters

was far beyond the Category Ⅲ, which indicated that

PHC had seriously polluted the waters. Therefore, in the

whole year, the waters of the Jiaozhou Bay were seri-

ously polluted by PHC in spring, while the pollution was

even more severe in summer.

4.2. Pollution Sources

In the temporal scale, the PHC change in between spring

and summer was taken into consideration. The results

showed that in Jiaozhou bay, almost all the PHC content

in the surface water in summer was higher than that in

spring. Thus, from spring to summer, the PHC content in

the whole waters of the bay increased. In addition, in

spatial scale, the estuaries of Haibo River, Licun River

and Loushan River were in the northeastern waters of

Jiaozhou Bay, and these rivers provided a transport for

the northeastern coastal waters of the bay. Along the

flowing direction of rivers, the change of PHC content

with gradients showed a declining tendency from the

high content to low. In spring, in the coastal waters be-

tween the estuaries of these two rivers, Haibo River and

Licun River, an area with a high PHC content formed; in

summer, in the coastal waters between the estuaries of

the two rivers, Licun River and Loushan River, an area

with a high PHC content also formed. The results indi-

cated that Haibo River, Licun River and Loushan River

in the northeast in Jiaozhou Bay were the main sources

of PHC pollution.

4.3. Transfer Process

In the waters of Jiaozhou bay, the PHC content trans-

fered from the estuary to the outside of the bay.

In the eastern and northeastern coast of the Jiaozhou

bay, there were industry-intensive areas in Qingdao city.

Thus, the industrial wastewater and the domestic sewage

were discharged a lot. There existed three rivers, includ-

ing Haibo River, Licun River and Loushan River along

the eastern and northeastern coast of the Jiaozhou Bay,

which played the function of discharging the industrial

wastewater and the domestic sewage into the Jiaozhou

Bay, bringing a large number of pollutants with PHC

into the bay.

In spring, Haibo River and Licun River run into the

sea in the northeast of the bay, bringing a large amount

of PHC from the land, and leading to serious pollution of

PHC in the eastern and northeastern areas of Jiaozhou

bay. The results revealed that the PHC content was high-

er in the northeastern areas of the Bay, decreasing gradu-

ally towards the southwest. And the PHC content in

spring was comparatively lower in the waters of Jiao-

zhou bay.

In summer, Licun River and Loushan River ran into

the sea from the northeast of the Bay, bringing a large

amount of PHC from the land. At the same time, the riv-

ers in the rainy season resulted in a widespread increase

of PHC content in the whole waters body of Jiaozhou

bay. The results revealed that in summer, the PHC con-

tent began to increase gradually in the eastern and north-

eastern areas of Jiaozhou Bay, and it was higher, de-

creasing gradually towards the southwest. And the PHC

content in summer was comparatively higher in the wa-

ters of Jiaozhou bay.The content of PHC was high in the

waters of the Jiaozhou Bay.

5. Conclusions

In May, the PHC content in the whole waters of Jiaozhou

bay reached the CategoryⅡ, and in the coastal waters of

the bay northeast, it reached the Category Ⅲ. In addition,

in other waters including the center, mouth and outside

of the bay, it reached the CategoryⅡ.

In August, the PHC content in the whole waters of

Jiaozhou bay reached the CategoryⅡand Ⅲ, and in the

coastal waters of the bay northeast, it was worse than the

Category Ⅲ. On the other hand, in other waters includ-

ing the center, mouth and outside of the bay, it reached

the CategoryⅡ. The results showed that in the temporal

scale it has been increasing from spring to; in the spacial

D. F. YANG ET AL.

112

scale, from the coastal waters of the bay northeast to

other bay waters such as the center, mouth and outside of

the bay, it decreased.

The Haibo River, Licun River and Loushan River,

their estuaries in the waters of the bay northeast, brought

a lot of industrial wastewater and domestic sewage,

leading to the higher PHC content in waters of the bay

northeast than that in other bay waters. As the rainfall in

summer obviously increased, the PHC content in the

waters of the bay northeast would become even higher.

Therefore, the PHC in Jiaozhou bay mainly came from

industrial wastewater and domestic sewage, which showed

that the protection of the environment was strengthened,

resulting in the fact that the PHC pollution would be re-

duced.

6. References

[1] S. C. Wilson and K. C. Jones, “Bioremediation of Soil

Contaminated with Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons

(PAHs): A Review,” Environmental Pollution, Vol. 81,

No. 3, 1993, pp. 229-249.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0269-7491(93)90206-4

[2] Y. Sun, Y. Cui and H. Yu, “The Analysis of the Distribu-

tion and Pollution of the PHC, COD and Cr,” Marine

Aquatic Study, Vol. 13, No. 13, 1992, pp. 123-129.

[3] J. M. Pan, C. X. Qi and X. Y. Liu, “The Relation of the

PHC Distribution and the Estuary Environment in the

Sediment in the Zhujiang Estuary,” Marine Environ-

mental Science, Vol. 21, No. 2, 2002, pp. 23-27.

[4] D. F. Yang, J. Zhang, J. B. Lu, Z. H. Gao and Y. Chen,

“Examination of Silicate Limitation of Primary Produc-

tion in the Jiaozhou Bay, North China Ⅰ.Silicate Being a

Limiting Factor of Phytoplankton Primary Production,”

Chinese Journal of Oceanology and Limnology, Vol. 20,

No. 3, 2002, pp. 208-225.

[5] D. F. Yang, J. Zhang, Z. H. Gao, Y. Chen and P. Y. Sun,

“Examination of Silicate Limitation of Primary Produc-

tion in the Jiaozhou Bay, North China Ⅱ. Critical Value

and Time of Silicate Limitation and Satisfaction of the

Phytoplankton Growth,” Chinese Journal of Oceanology

and Limnology, Vol. 21, No. 1, 2003, pp. 46-63.

[6] D. F. Yang, Z. H. Gao, Y. Chen, J. Zhang and P. G.

Wang, “Examination of Silicate Limitation of Primary

Production in the Jiaozhou Bay, North China Ⅲ. Judg-

ment Method, Rules and Uniqueness of Nutrient Limita-

tion among N, P, and Si,” Chinese Journal of Oceanology

and Limnology, Vol. 21, No. 2, 2003, pp. 114-133.