Abstract

Sedimentary PAHs are regionalized variables and their levels, source, and ecological hazards must be discussed in relation to their spatial locations. Our research targeted GIS and Chabahar Bay-Iran to trace spatial variability of PAHs, improve the diagnostic ratios and receptor models in source identification, and determine hotspot of PAH-originated hazards. The entropy Voronoi map distinguished an “entropy strip” in which ∑22PAHs levels increased sharply. Different molecular signatures were individually interpolated and the indicative ratios of distinctive sources were extracted and summed by GIS. The resulting code map reduced potential disagreement among molecular signatures and highlighted the areas where petroleum inputs are prevalent. PCA-MLR analysis extracted three potential sources including fossil fuel combustion (54.36%), petrogenic inputs (29.03%), and vehicle exhaust emissions (16.61%). Interpolated risk layers were re-arranged and overlaid via Fuzzy Membership Functions. The obtained ''Fuzzy AND" map showed the hotspot of the study area in the vicinity of a seasonal estuary.

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