Water Column Depth Dependence of Trace Metals, Inorganic Nutrients and Hydrocarbons in Caspian Seawater Taken from Areas of Azerbaijan

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate the heavy metal contents (As, Ba, Cu, Ga, Mo, Rb, U, and V), inorganic nutrients (NO2, NH4, NO3, PO4 and SiO2), THC and 16EPA PAHs in seawater samples, which were collected at two different sites of Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. The Agilent 7700x Series ICP-MS with HMI system is applied to analysis seawater. Inorganic nutrients defined by spectrocolorometry HACH DR5000. Dependence concentration of elements from water columns depth can be explained in accordance with the geochemical system of classification of dissolved forms of elements in the sea water. Hydrocarbons are extracted with methylene chloride, after the extracts are cleaned on silica-gel columns and then injected into GC/FID for determination of THC and GC/M Soperating in the selected-ion-monitoring mode for determination of the 16EPA PAHs. The average concentrations of THC were below the admissible environmental levels. THC ranged from 20-29 μg/L and PAHs from < 10-29 ng/L, respectively.