Upwelling impact and lateral transport of dissolved PAHs in the Taiwan Strait and adjacent South China Sea

Jiandong Ye; Haowen Zheng; Mengyang Liu; Yina Tanli; Huaiyuan Qi; Lingkun Jing; Jiajin Huang; Kazi Belayet Hossain; Hongwei Ke; Chunhui Wang; Shanlin Wang; Minggang Cai

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165159

Upwelling impact and lateral transport of dissolved PAHs in the Taiwan Strait and adjacent South China Sea

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Oct 15:895:165159. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165159. Epub 2023 Jun 28.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China; College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China; College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China; State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, 999077, Hong Kong, China.
³ Coastal and Ocean Management Institute, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China; College of Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China; College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China. Electronic address: shlwang@xmu.edu.cn.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China; College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China; Coastal and Ocean Management Institute, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China; College of Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China. Electronic address: mgcai@xmu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37385490
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165159

Abstract

The spatial distribution and depth profile of dissolved polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were investigated in the western Taiwan Strait (TWS) and northeastern South China Sea (SCS) during the southwest monsoon for a comprehensive study of spatial distribution, potential sources, upwelling, and lateral PAHs transport flux to assess the impacts of oceanic processes. The concentrations of ∑₁₄PAHs were 33 ± 14 ng L^-1 and 23 ± 11 ng L^-1 in western TWS and northeastern SCS, respectively. A minor difference in potential sources in different areas was shown in principle component analysis results, which illustrated mixed sources (petrogenic and pyrogenic) in western TWS and petrogenic sources in northeastern SCS. An "enrichment in surface or deep but depletion in medium water" distribution pattern of PAHs depth profile during summertime was observed in Taiwan Bank, which was potentially influenced by the upwelling. The greatest lateral ∑₁₄PAHs transport flux was found along the Taiwan Strait Current area (43.51 g s^-1), followed by those along South China Sea Warm Current and Guangdong Coastal Current areas. Though the oceanic response to PAHs varied relatively slowly, the ocean current was a less-dominant pathway for PAHs exchange between the SCS and the East China Sea (ECS).

Keywords: Coastal dynamics; Lateral flux; Oceanic transport; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); Vertical profiles.