Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
4540990 Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 2010 12 Pages PDF
Abstract

Spatial distribution of metal concentrations in the surface sediment samples collected from 16 marine locations covering different coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrasses, dead coral and sandy beaches of the Andaman islands, India was studied. pH, EC, sediment grain size and heavy metal (Al, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) concentrations were determined and contamination factor (CF) and geo-accumulation index (Igeo) were calculated to understand the pollution status of the study area based on the background values. CF of different heavy metals has revealed that different metals have different levels of accumulation viz. Al: 0.01–0.22, Mg: 0.38–1.85, Fe: 0.06–0.74, Mn: 0.04–1.18, Cu: 0.18–2.93, Cr: 0.52–12.6, Zn: 0.3–1.39, Ni: 0.06–0.89, Pb: BDL–0.74, Co: 0.1–0.35 and Cd: 2.3–12.9. In general the metal concentration was less in these ecosystems when compared to similar ecosystems of mainland of India. Concentration of some metals like Cr and Cd was comparatively higher than the background values which is an important issue of concern to the coastal managers of the region. Spatial data on heavy metals, collected now, would help the coastal zone managers to identify the vulnerable sites and take remedial actions.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Earth and Planetary Sciences Geology
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