ABSTRACT
The Elizabeth River is a highly industrialized estuary bordered by the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, VA. Study of Elizabeth River sediments in midchannel shows a nearly exponential increase in sedimentary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) content from the river mouth extending up the Southern Branch to about km 20, above which, concentrations fall off somewhat rapidly. There are numerous other pollutants in the Elizabeth, ranging from trace metals emanating from heavy industries to advanced primary treated sewage effluent from the city of Norfolk. The Elizabeth River is a rather simple system consisting of a main stem and three major branches. The individual compounds that comprise the PAH fraction also vary in relative abundance between sites throughout the river. The compounds found in the highest absolute concentration are not always those with the highest mean concentrations throughout the river. Inspection of individual samples shows that there are major differences between samples when compounds are ranked in order of relative abundance.
