Comparative study of some physic-chemical parameters along Egyptian Mediterranean western coast, winter 2009 and 2010

The present study aims to evaluate and compare the environmental parameters; temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), oxidizable organic matter (OOM) and total alkalinity during winter 2009 and 2010 of the western Mediterranean coast of Egypt starting from El Mex to El Salum with three to four vertical stations being sampled at each marine sector. The surface distributions of both temperature and salinity decrease westwards during both winter seasons. The data revealed that, the total averages of temperature (except El Mex area) and dissolved oxygen during winter 2009 (16.6 °C and 10.96 ml/l) in the studied marine sectors are higher than their corresponding values during winter 2010 (16.61 °C and 5.81 ml/l) but an opposite trend is obtained with total averages of salinity (38.55 and 38.675) and total alkalinity (2.52 meq/l and 2.98 meq/l) measured during 2009 and 2010. The maximum average of oxidizable organic matter at El Hamam sector during winter 2009 was found to be 2.23 mgO2/l lower than its value during 2010 (2.72 mgO2/l), while an opposite result was obtained with the total average of OOM at El Salum sector.