Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2013

Journal / Book Title

Stagnant Water Bodies Pollution

Abstract

Coastal lagoons and embayments near urban centers around the world share many common characteristics and problems. Physical impediments to free water circulation (spits, barrier islands, internal islands, tombolos, submerged sills) often lead to water stagnation and, in the presence of excess nutrients, eutrophication. Urban and industrial activities provoke (usually accidental) spills of hazardous materials into these confined water bodies, such as crude petroleum and refined petroleum products, leading to difficulties for resident biota and potential hazards for human health. The sluggish turnover of these water bodies (or low-energy zones within them) may retard the natural attenuation of the spilled contaminants. The environmental forensics approach uses organic molecular fingerprinting to characterize spills and identify sources, as well as quantitatively monitor the progress of pollutant attenuation. Environmental nuisances and hazards may occasionally be turned to beneficial use, as with the attempt to harvest algal biomass from blooms as a biofuel feedstock and the use of anoxic deep water to sequester polluted sediments. Case studies from locations worldwide including Jamaica Bay (United States), Venice and Orbetello Lagoons (Italy), Lagoa dos Patos and Baía da Guanabara (Brazil), Pearl River Estuary (China), and Grisefjorden (Norway) illustrate these principles.

Book Publisher

Atelier Libros Jurídicos (Barcelona)

Journal ISSN / Book ISBN

9788415690344

Book Editor(s)

M. Salgot

Published Citation

Kruge M.A. (2013) Oil pollution in water bodies of restricted circulation. In, M. Salgot, ed., Stagnant Water Bodies Pollution, Atelier, Barcelona, ch. 4, p. 63-80.

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