Organic matter degradation causes enrichment of organic pollutants in hadal sediments.

ABSTRACT: Burial of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in deep-sea sediments contributes to 60% of their historical emissions. Yet, empirical data on their occurrence in the deep-ocean is scarce. Estimates of the deep-ocean POP sink are therefore uncertain. Hadal trenches, representing the deepest part of the ocean, are hotspots for organic carbon burial and decomposition. POPs favorably partition to organic carbon, making trenches likely significant sinks for contaminants. Here we show that PCBs occur in both hadal (7720-8085 m) and non-hadal (2560-4050 m) sediment in the Atacama Trench. PCB concentrations normalized to sediment dry weight were similar across sites while those normalized to sediment organic carbon increased exponentially as the inert organ

SUBMITTER: Sobek A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10086072 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature