Conclusions
The Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 was only overshadowed
by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami
with more than 15,000 fatal casualties, but also the nuclear
accidents and meltdowns in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear
Power Plant. Apart from investigating significant concerns
about the effect of PAH aerosols on human health, the
comprehensive investigation of the “fingerprints” of PAH
aerosols from marine deposits in 2004 Tsunami affected
coastal areas of Thailand may contribute to the science
leading to better Tsunami prediction.
Molecular diagnostic binary ratios of PAHs in Tsunami
2004 affected coastal sediments, Hat-Yai urban aerosols, and
PM10 from various sources in Songkhla province were comprehensively
investigated and compared. Three-dimensional
plots of molecular diagnostic binary ratios successfully
discriminate “Pakarang group” from other global marine
sediment samples. Since hydroacoustic profiles show the
impact of terrestrial deposits adjacent to “Pakarang Cape”
coastal area [69, 70], it appears reasonable to ascribe Tsunami
backwash 2004 to high deviations of “Pakarang group” sediment samples observed in three-dimensional plots of
binary ratios. Interestingly, five of six binary ratios were
significantly different when comparing the average values
of PAH contents in PM10 collected at Hat-Yai city with
Khao Lak sediments.This indicates that Khao Lak sediments
have been influenced by more complicated emission sources
rather than occupied by a long-range transportation of urban
aerosols from Hat-Yai city. The application of HCA using
PAH contents highlights the contribution of both pyrolytic
combustions and biomass burning aerosols to distribution of
PAH contents in Khao Lak coastal sediments. Overall, these
findings may open a new window in using binary PAH ratios
to investigate the paleotsunami from core sediments in other
coastal regions and thus deeper insights into the science of
Tsunami.