Abstract

In this study, levels and sources of aliphatic hydrocarbons and hopanes in surface sediments collected from rivers and estuaries of Peninsular Malaysia were assessed. The concentrations of total n-alkanes ranged from 21.19 to 364.54, and the concentrations of hopanes ranged from 0.23 to 2.45 mg kg⁻¹dry weight. Evaluation of aliphatic diagnostic indices including Carbon Preference Index (CPI), low molecular weight/high molecular weight ratio (LMW/HMW), terrigenous to aquatic ratio (TAR), carbon preference index (CPI), average chain length (ACL) and pristine to phytane indicate mostly petrogenic input especially in estuaries, which is indicative of anthropogenic activities in the study areas. The results also indicate biogenic origin n-alkanes masked by the anthropogenic features in some stations. The hopane ratios indicate hopanes from the Prai and Malacca Rivers were similar to Middle East Crude Oil (MECO), indicating MECO as one of the sources of petroleum hydrocarbons.

摘要

在这项研究中，评估了从马来西亚半岛河流和河口收集的表层沉积物中脂肪烃和藿烷的含量和来源。总正构烷烃的浓度范围为 21.19 至 364.54，藿烷的浓度范围为 0.23 至 2.45 mg kg ^-1干重。脂肪族诊断指数的评估，包括碳偏好指数 (CPI)、低分子量/高分子量比 (LMW/HMW)、陆地与水生比率 (TAR)、碳偏好指数 (CPI)、平均链长 (ACL) 和原始植烷表明主要是岩源输入，特别是在河口，这表明研究区域的人为活动。结果还表明生物起源n- 烷烃在一些站被人为特征所掩盖。藿烷比率表明来自北赖河和马六甲河的藿烷与中东原油 (MECO) 相似，表明 MECO 是石油烃的来源之一。