Abstract
Hydrocarbons and fatty acids in suspended solid (>0.5μm) of surface water and surface sediment samples from Lake Baikal, Russia were analyzed preliminary to elucidate their features in relation to source materials. The predominance of short-chain n-alkanes (C12-C19) maximizing at n-C17 and n-alkanoic acids maximizing at n-C14 or n-C16 showed that organic matter in surface water is mainly derived from plankton. In contrast, bimodal distributions of short-chain and long-chain (>C19) n-alkanes maximizing at n-C17 and n-C27 and n-alkanoic acids maximizing at n-C14 or n-C16 and between n-C22-n-C28 in the sediments revealed that organic matter is originated both from autochthonous and allochthonous sources. The presence of unresolved complex mixture of hydrocarbons with matured triterpanes and steranes in some suspended solid and surface sediment samples suggests that some parts of surface water and surface sediment are contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons.
