International Journal of Marine Science 2015, Vol.5, No.52: 1-8
7
Figure 4 Gas chromatogram of
n
-alkanes from surface soil at
stations Center of Basrah (a) and Al-Zubair (b)
Figure 5 The spatial
trend of
UCM
in
surface
soil of Basrah city
Figure 6
The spatial variation of CPI in
surface
soil of Basrah city
concentration of pristine alone indicates a biogenic
source. In uncontaminated soils, the pristine to phytane
ratio is typically between 3 and 5 (Punyu et al., 2013).
However, pristane to phytane ratio was low (0.823-1.100)
in most of the present samples, indicating mainly
petroleum input. The spatial trends of pristane to
phytane ratio in soil of Basrah city are shown in
Figure (7)
Figure 7 The spatial
trend of pristine to phytane ratio in surface
soil of Basrah city
The soils of the present study area contained relatively
low TOC, with values ranging from 0.61 % to 0.85 %.
No significant correlation between % TOC and
concentrations of total
n
-alkanes was found (r= 0.189).
This suggested that TOC did not play the important
role in the distribution of hydrocarbons in the soils of
recent area.
Conclusions
The survey determined the background information of
aliphatic hydrocarbons concentrations in the soil of
Basrah province and their distribution in the industrial
area and urban and rural regions surrounding them.
The data can be used in the environmental impact
assessment in future studies. The concentration of
total aliphatic hydrocarbons in soil ranged from 3.575
to 21.266 µg g
-1
dry weight. Higher concentration of
total aliphatic hydrocarbons was accumulate in the city
sites which associated with discharges of petroleum
wastes (e.g. Al-Rumella, Al-Shiabah, Al-burjsia,
Kor-Al-Zubairand, Center of Basrah, Al-Fao, and
Um-Qasir). Based on the distribution patterns and
diagnostic indices, it can be concluded that the
n
-alkanes in the soil of Basrah city were mainly from
both biogenic and anthropogenic sources. Refined oils
and gas production plants, power plants, oil wastes
discharges, transportation, and domestic activities can
be potential sources of hydrocarbons at the sites
sampled. Similar results have been reported by several
authors for example (Kèlomè et al., 2012). On the
other hand seeps from oil deposits, degradation of
organic matter, and synthesis by certain organisms
might represent the natural sources (Zhang et al.,
2012). We should make every effort to reduce the
waste oil plants through the application of outfall
permits to determine the permissible levels on the
