n-alkanes as a tool for estimation of the biodegradation of oil-type pollutants in alluvial sediments (Danube, Yugoslavia)

An attempt was made to assess the microbial degradation degree of an oil-type pollutant in an alluvial sediment on the basis of n-alkane abundance changes in saturated hydrocarbon fractions within a ten-month period. For that purpose, oil-contaminated alluvial ground waters were investigated, taken from three drill-holes (three depths), three times each (winter '97/'98, spring '98 and autumn '98) in the area of an oil refinery, in the immediate vicinity of the Danube (Yugoslavia). The results have unambiguously confirmed that depth-dependent, but obviously existing, biodegradation processes of oil-type pollutants occur in a very short time period