Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides an overview of primary pollutants found in coastal and oceanic environments and the legal initiatives undertaken to control marine pollution problems. It focuses on enrichment of nutrients and organic carbon in estuaries and coastal marine waters. The book examines estuarine and marine oil pollution. While major oil spills from supertankers and accidents at offshore oil platforms are commonly perceived by the public as the principal causes of oil pollution in the coastal zone, other anthropogenic sources actually release greater quantities of oil to the sea. The book discusses polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a group of ubiquitous compounds widely distributed in estuarine and nearshore oceanic environments, especially those in proximity to urban industrialized centers. It reviews national monitoring surveys of US coastal waters. The book also addresses the subject of radioactive waste.