Seasonal Distribution of Dissolved and Particulate Hydrocarbons in Shatt Al-Arab Estuary and the North-West Arabian Gulf

摘要

Oil refinery effluent and losses during loading operations have been identified as the major sources of oil contamination in the waters of the Shatt Al-Arab River which empties into the North-West Arabian Gulf (Bedair and Al-Saad, 1992; Al-Saad et al., 1995). Estimates suggest that this river transports about 48 tonnes of oil residues to the Arabian Gulf annually (DouAbul and Al-Saad, 1985). The Arabian Gulf is also an extremely busy shipping route for oil, with accidental spillage being almost unavoidable. In combination, these sources provide a long-term input of petroleum. Major spills, these being either unintentional or as a consequence of military activities, have added occasional dramatic pulses of oil contamination to the long-term background (Price et al., 1993).