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5298195 
Technical Report 
Organo-sulfur compounds in sediments of the Puget Sound basin, USA 
Bates, TS; Carpenter, R 
1979 
43 
8 
1209-1222 
HEEP COPYRIGHT: BIOL ABS. Sediment samples from a variety of different environments were analyzed for organo-sulfur compounds (OSC) to provide the 1st characterization of the amounts and types of these compounds in sediments of the greater Puget Sound basin. A gas chromatograph equipped with a S specific flame photometric detector was used to quantify individual OSC. Compositions of OSC mixtures were essentially constant. Dibenzothiophene (DBT), its alkylated homologs and an unknown compound were the predominant OSC in most samples. Concentrations of total OSC and DBT ranged from 4-60 and 0.4-2 mug/g organic C, respectively. The flux of OSC to the sediments at a station in central Puget Sound west of Seattle (Washington, USA) was approximately 140 ng/cm2 per yr. The profile to total OSC concentration with depth showed 3 organic S compounds that are apparently created in situ in the vicinity of where H2S production begins. The concentrations of the aromatic OSC were relatively constant with depth. Although several anthropogenic sources of OSC were identiified, there was no evidence that OSC from these sources were accumulating in the sediments. The major source of the aromatic OSC in the sediments is apparently atmospheric input from natural sources such as forest fires.