Characteristics of sedimentary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the subtropical Feitsui Reservoir, Taiwan

SummaryPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are usually loaded through atmospheric deposition into a water body and eventually into sediments. We study the PAHs from a 22-cm sediment core collected from the subtropical Feitsui Reservoir in Taiwan, and find the PAHs deposition characteristics in the reservoir, the man-made water body, is different from those in natural water bodies. The surficial sedimentary PAH fluxes are significantly higher than those in the European high altitude mountain lakes and those in the northeastern USA urban/industrial lakes. However, the catchment-corrected PAH fluxes normalized by the ratios of the catchment area to the water surface area are comparable to those of remote lakes in Europe and USA, suggesting the sedimentary PAHs in the reservoir is fluvial dominated, i.e., the reservoir system concentrated the atmospheric PAHs from the catchment area into the sediments. PAHs distribution found in the Feitsui Reservoir indicates both biogenic and anthropogenic origins. We also find the vehicular transport upstream of the reservoir is likely one of the PAHs sources to this reservoir.