GEOCHEMISTRY OF FOSSIL FUEL 
HYDROCARBONS IN MARINE SEDIMENTS: 
SELECTED ASPECTS 
John W. Farrington 
Associate Scientist 
Department of Chemistry 
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 
Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543 
ABSTRACT 
Three investigations are described which illustrate recent advances in 
analytical chemical and geochemical research on fossil fuel hydrocarbons in the 
marine environment. 
First: The application of quantitative gas chromatography-mass 
fragmentography to measure selected aromatic hydrocarbons in marsh and 
coastal sediments. Instrument precisions of 2 to 3% for 50 x 10’^ g of 
naphthalene and 1 -methylnaphthalene are achieved. The detection limit for 
naphthalene (signal/noise ratio of 2:1) is estimated to be 5 x 10’^ g/g dry 
weight of sediment with 25-50 g dry weight silt-clay coastal sediments. Using 
this method No. 2 fuel oil aromatic hydrocarbons incorporated into marsh 
sediments were precisely measured in samples taken within one week of a spill, 
and eight months after a spill. 
Second: Several sections from a core in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts have 
been analyzed for alkanes, cycloalkanes, and aromatic hydrocarbons. This is an 
initial attempt at investigating an historical record of anthropogenic fossil fuel 
inputs to coastal sediments. The results indicate an increase of an order of 
magnitude in concentrations of fossil fuel hydrocarbons from circa 1810 to 
1840 to the present. The aromatic hydrocarbon distributions indicate urban air 
hydrocarbons as the major source. 
Third: The input of fossil fuel hydrocarbons from sewage sludge and dredge 
spoils in the New York Bight is discussed. An estimated 3.6 x 10 3 tons of fossil 
fuel hydrocarbons are discharged each year by dumping in this area. 
INTRODUCTION 
Research concerned with chemical pollutants in the environment can be 
most easily divided into two broad areas of investigation: biological effects and 
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