Characterization of organic matter in a sediment Core near the Mataripe refinery, Bahia-Brazil.

A sediment core was taken from the Todos os Santos Bay, near the Mataripe Bahia-Brazil refinery. The results of dating, (210)Pb and (137)Cs methods, combined with organic indicators, Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), n-alkanes and total organic carbon (TOC), showed significant change with the start of production of the oil fields of Aratu, Itaparica and Dom João (1939-1947) and the construction of the Mataripe refinery (1949-1950). This event was marked by a series of significant changes, including an abrupt increase in TOC and the growth of PAH concentrations and the presence Unresolved/Resolved ratio (UR/R)>4 in n-alkanes fraction, which indicated that the contamination was of petrogenic origin. The δ(13)C of specific n-alkanes compounds showed gradual deplete with the depth.