Distributions of Anionic Surfactantin Sea Water and Total Organic Carbon in Bottom-Surfacesediment along theTurkish Coast of the Black Sea

Abstract

The aim of this work is to determine the distributions of anionic surfactant (AS) in seawater, total organic carbon (TOC) in bottom-surfacesedimentand to make an assessment of the organic matter pollution. Seawater samples for AS in the autumn of 2010 and winter of 2011, and bottom-surfacesediments for TOC in the autumn of 2010 were collected from the Black Sea coastline of Turkey. According to the results, concentrations of AS in seawaterwerechanged withseasons, regions and distance from the anthropogenic sources including industrial and domestic discharges. Generally, winter values of ASwere higher than autumn at the nearshore stations of the eastern and middle Black Sea coasts. Maximum AS values(except Yenice River mouth) were measuredin surface seawater of Ordu and in bottom seawater of Sile in the autumnand in surface and bottom seawater of Bafra in the winter. Additionally, the highest amount of AS in both seasons near Yenice River mouth showed the influence of the river. On the other hand, the highest amount of TOC was obtained in the sediment of Igneada (9.73%) and the C/N ratiosindicated that organic matters in the sediment samplescould berelatedtoboth marine and terrestrial sources. Anionic surfactant valueswerepositivelycorrelated(r=0.8-0.9) with total suspended solid, negatively correlatedwith pH (r=0.6-0.4) and dissolved oxygen (r=0.96-0.87) insurface seawaters of the nearshore stations.