Hydrocarbons in the marine environment

The concentrations and distributions of alkanes have been determined in samples of sediment, fish, benthos and a land plant mixture from King Edward Cove, South Georgia. The fish muscle and water samples exhibited the relatively smooth envelope typical of this type of material whereas the plants, benthos, fish liver and sediments had a strong odd carbon predominance. No trace of fuel oil from previous spills or leaking storage tanks could be found in any of the samples examined although possible evidence of wastes from the whaling station were found in the deepest sediment layers in the centre of the Cove.